Undertaking a P&O Ferries 'Car park Shopper' round-trip duty-free shopping trip aboard the Pride of Canterbury from Dover UK to Calais and back again without disembarking in France, the whole journey should have taken around five hours.
However, on the return journey to Dover the winds picked up considerably. Around five miles off Dover an announcement was made to advise of a short delay of around forty minutes as other ferries needed more time to manoeuvre within the confines of the port.
Later, were granted permission to enter...the winds at this time were approaching from the south-west meaning we kept close to the Southern Breakwater of Dover Harbour to ensure as much space as possible between us and the Eastern Arm Breakwater on our starboard side to prevent collision.
Coming to rest within Dover Harbour only one tug was available to assist with our manoeuvre onto the berth. The wind now between Severe Gale 9 and Storm 10, fortunately it was low tide which prevented waves from cascading over the port's breakwaters.
The single tug not being powerful enough, Dover Port Control gave us a green proceed aspect and we duly headed back out to sea where it was thought to be safer, as there would be no chance of us drifting and colliding with other ships.
As soon as we left the Port of Dover the winds picked up to Beaufort Scale Severe Storm Force 11 - HUGE towering waves hitting the ships' bow and starboard quarter.
P&O Ferries Pride of Burgundy followed us out of the port - truly mammoth waves engulfed her forward superstructure and blew over her funnel!
Continuous announcements from the bridge officers kept passengers up to date with the situation and reassured us that both we and the ferry were safe.
Complimentary meals and hot/cold beverages were offered to passengers. Customer service was excellent - second to none - well done!!
A Belgian band who was travelling to the UK were granted permission to play to the ships' passengers to keep spirits high and to distract us from the lengthy delay.
We finally arrived and successfully berthed in the Port of Dover some nine hours late - around 14hrs after I initially left Dover!
More videos of my storm crossings can be found in my YouTube playlist 'When travelling doesn't go to plan'.
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