Ep 394 | STORM, Delays & a Midnight North Sea CROSSING, Little Nutshell’s TOUGHEST Test Yet

Our shakedown takes a dramatic turn as a sleepless stormy night, endless delays, and a Christmas detour all collide just as we’re trying to get Little Nutshell ready for her first North Sea crossing. What should have been a simple systems check becomes a test of patience, weather windows, and sheer determination as we fight to finally point the bow toward Europe.

We leave Titchmarsh Marina after barely any sleep and head back out into the river and then the estuary. Overnight, a brutal storm rolls through, and Magnus hardly sleeps—Little Nutshell is still an unknown, and we’re not sure how she’ll behave in the high, gusting winds.

Meanwhile, the solar panels still haven’t arrived. They haven’t even left the warehouse, and without them we can’t leave England. Because Titchmarsh doesn’t allow parcel deliveries, we’ll have no choice but to return to Shotley Marina to collect them once they finally ship. And then we wait. Again.
Christmas comes and goes before we can make any real progress. After spending time with family, we make the long journey back—multiple trains, delays, buses, the whole lot—returning to Titchmarsh to pick up where we left off.

We make our way, again, to Shotley Marina and finally take possession of the solar panels. Magnus temporarily straps them to Nutshell’s coach roof so we can at least make our North Sea crossing. Weather windows are rare and we’ve already missed a few. In between everything else, we squeeze in sewing mosquito covers for the windows—another small but essential job ticked off the list.

Finally, we head off on our North Sea Passage, leaving at midnight in below‑freezing temperatures and rough seas. After a very bumpy crossing, we arrive in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, where we attempt to check in using a little‑known bypass Schengen clause.

Hope you enjoy the episode.

Until next time,
Wendy and Magnus

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