Thanks, I really enjoyed it.

I wondered why you didn't go the outside route, though - the prevailing winds are SW, so you'd be running most of the way, and the tides tend to be helpful too.

We did it from Harwich through the Kiel Canal 4 years ago, admitedly at the end rather than beginning of March, (with another Bob Harris as crew!). We went outside the Frisian islands, darting in between the islands to spend the nights in the harbours. (Den Helder, Terschelling, Borkum, Wangerooge, somewhere on the Kiel canal, Rendsburg). I guess we were luckier than you were with the weather, but it turned out to be a much less "challenging" experience than you had!