In the event, though the wind was very stong at times, and the rain showers very heavy, the sea state was actually not bad. We locked through on Saturday afternoon and then into Hamilton and didn't go out, but from the shore I was surprised to see only a relatively slight swell.
We opted to go from Lowestoft to Yarmouth by sea yesterday afternoon rather that spend ages at the lock (it was being manually cranked on Saturday due to a motor problem). The wind had changes to NW, so there was a bit of a chop, but no problem for us, Ian and Gav at all. It was nice to get back out in the salt after a month of engine rebuild!!!