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 HYPE US! If you’d like to give our channel a boost, tap the HYPE button. It’s a brand‑new YouTube feature that helps small creators like us rise above the noise and get discovered by more viewers. Every tap genuinely makes a difference for our little community. —— VALKRY BBQ, SMOKER, ROTISSERIE If you’d like to get your own VALKRY BBQ, you can use our link below. It won’t cost you anything extra, but it helps support our channel. https://www.valkry.com/?sca_ref=10252671.3CPHxDmU43n4 LibertyKite, Australia For more information: www.navtrak.com.au Wendy Eriksson’s Paintings Art Lovers Australia: https://artloversaustralia.com.au/artist/wendy-eriksson Bluethumb: https://bluethumb.com.au/artworks/popular/wendy-eriksson Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StudioWhitsunday/ Where’s Nutshell now:  See where we are in real-time https://www.patreon.com/lifeinanutshell If you’d like to keep us moving and support us, you can become a Patron for as little as $1 per month. https://www.patreon.com/lifeinanutshell Be up to date with what we’re up to and where we are. You can support our channel by simply liking us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/nutshellliving If you’d like to buy us a beer: paypalme/lifeinanutshell.com We’re on Instagram too! https://www.instagram.com/nutshellliving/ Follow us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Nutshellliving Epidemic Sound Music Credit: Four Steps Anywhere #NorthSeaCrossing #StormySailing #LittleNutshell #SailingToBelgium #SchengenCheckIn SUBSCRIBE BUTTON CLICK link to http://www.anfx.co.