Foremostly, it was our intention to use this voyage as a practical electronic navigation exercise, in order to test the latest Global Map 2000 system from Lowrance aboard six different RIBS. The electronic goodies came courtesy of John Ezendam C.E.S.M. of Lowrance Electronics, who had offered the units for the occasion. As for my skipper and boat, Stan Matheussen, himself a local dealer of Lowrance equipment at Old Turnhout in Belgium, had duly prepared his own RIB for the journey. Powered by a single Suzuki 150hp outboard, it was reassuring to see the craft was in tiptop shape for the trip.

Mind you, it needed to be. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and many teams de­cided not to start at all. The wind was blowing N.E. Force 5 - 6 Beaufort, with a great deal of rain. Some teams though, including the President of our Club, Boudoin Le Clef, decided to start in spite of the foul weather.

For the Lowrance Global Map 2000, the conditions were set to provide something of a trial by fire, (or rather water!). Programmed on 4 buoys, the first waypoint was the green buoy off Bergues, set on a course of 297 degrees. With our unit primed for the off, the rally started, but just outside the harbour wall the sea had somewhat of a sobering effect on our spirits. I pondered on how a wild water track popular in childrens' Lunaparks was nothing to the scene that confronted us here! When Stan opened the throttle, the RIB literally leapt into life. Flying from wave top to wave top can be an exhilarating feeling, but hitting the `deep' in these seas can also give your kidneys more than just a run for their money. Being somewhat inexperienced, I found it was difficult at first to get into the rhythm with my legs and knees when the boat plunged up and down. By the time we reached the `Barques' the seas were becoming higher and higher, but Stan being the confident helmsman he is, played with the boat as if he were biking in sunny weather on a Saturday afternoon.

As for the Global Map 2000, it continued to work without letting us down despite the bad weather, and duly `plotted' us 3 feet from the green buoy where we then got on course to `Sandetti'. Via the VHF, Boudoin Le Clef called us saying that he was also committed in his efforts to run for the `Sandetti' waypoint - this would mean the point of no return!

Slowly and cautiously, I held on to the various safety grips to steady myself and I tried to find my camera. Suddenly and to my surprise, in a burst of white water Boudoin appeared, his boat rearing over the seas off our port side. Whilst I grappled to catch him on film, Stan punched in the course on the Lowrance screen and we continue as before, though the wind had now risen to force 7.

To my dismay, and quite unexpectedly, the engine then began to make disturbing noises. Stop­ping the engine in these conditions could be very dangerous, but we had no choice for a large rope had evidently fouled the prop. After some while, we freed the rope and continued once more although suffering somewhat from the difficulties of working in the rolling swell. Happily, the boat had not sustained any damage.

After 3 hours or so we arrived in Ramsgate, feeling quite satisfied that we had made it. A party and dinner in the Royal Temple Yacht Club was enjoyed by the British, Germans, and some `crazy Belgians,' (which we considered as an English title

Upon waking the following morning, we dis­covered the wind had swung from N.E. through to S. W. Force 8 Beaufort! The reaction was as expected ....most crews decided to leave their boats in Ramsgate and take the ferry home! We telephoned base to ascertain the weather forecast for the Belgian coast - on Teletext it said the wind would weaken from force 8 to force 3 in the afternoon, however, most of the skippers ordered their ferry tickets!

The U.K. Coastguard advised us that if we were to leave for Belgium we should do it now, so in wasting no further time we forged our way out and hit the first of the big seas that rolled up to meet us beyond the harbour walls - the wind and water struck us with such force that I found I could hardly breathe. This was now no sight-seeing trip. Relentlessly, wave after wave beat over us with water continually landing within the boat as well as on the electronic equipment. We were concerned at this degree of punishment, but I have to say that the Lowrance unit continued to give us the information we needed and I was particularly grateful for the large digits showing data clearly on the Global Map screen. This factor proved absolutely vital under the circumstances as the violent movement of the boat made the most simple tasks very difficult.

The more we pushed out to sea the more we had to fight for every mile gained - the seas by this time were now running up to a height of 20 feet or so. Twenty five miles off the English coast, the wind began to turn to the West and again increased, this time to storm force 9 - there was a mass of white water over the `Sandetti' sand dunes. The waves here were even higher, with some I'm sure being well over 30 feet. We both looked at each other briefly, neither one said a word. Stan being a very experienced skipper, ably controlled the throttle and guided us safely along, easing her over the walls of water. The time we lost by doing this, we gained by `surfing' across the seas, until we hit the occasional `three­story' wave that threw our rhythm completely.

Then, quite strangely and without any apparent reason, the wind speed reduced dramatically and we found ourselves being able to hurry home at an ever increasing rate back to the welcome shelter of Nieuwport. Upon our arrival, after many hours at sea, Stan's only remark was that Nieuwport smelt a good deal better than Ramsgate. (He's evidently the type of man whose nose has been trained to lead him to the nearest good plate of Belgian food no matter what punishment the sea has put his insides through!)

In the sanctuary of the bar, we were delighted to hear that the guys from the Brugen Marine Centre had also returned safely. No small thanks to the performance of our sturdy navigation equipment which had continued to operate admirably under the sort of test conditions which even saw the men from Lowrance turning slightly green at the gills!

Belgian Pneumatic Club