Sailing trip no. 3, up the East coast

{Notes}

11/8/10:

  • Arrived on boat at 11:00, and left Conyer (Faversham, Kent) at 12:00 with Ahab, Crusoe, and guest Mr. Lamb.
  • Headed towards Bradwell, but lack of wind meant we had to motor. Reaching Bradwell Marina before dark looked unlikely, so we turned North and moored at a buoy off East Mersea, an island opposite Brightlingsea
  • Curry for dinner on the boat.

12/8/10:

  • Ahab, Cruso and Lamb woke up and started us off at 06:30, but were kind enough to let me sleep in for an extra hour
  • Set off with the wind and current behind us, taking us up to 8 knots
  • Headed in the direction of Harrich, then on to Pin Mill
  • Tide turned against us in the early afternoon, but was with us again when we came in to moor at Woolverstone Marina
  • Walked through some fields and a bit of forest to The Butt and Oyster for food and (lots of) beer

13/8/10:

  • Set off down the River Orwell (from Woolverstone) past Felixstowe harbour and some mighty cargo ships
  • Had to beat into the wind down a stretch of water called The Wallet
  • Reefed the mainsail in preparation for the thunderstorm, which hit us shortly after. Soaked
  • Navigation Officer Lamb remained dutifully dry, studying the maps in the cabin
  • After the storm passed, we beat up to the Coln bar and continued in that direction, mooring at Brightlingsea Marina, where the harbour-master showed us to our berth and Crusoe motored us in somewhat perfectly
  • HUGE Polish square rigger anchored outside the Marina, with its crew watching the storm anxiously from the deck
  • Took water taxi to shore for fish and chips and a few beers
  • Lowest tide of the year that night

14/8/10:

  • Set off fro Brightlingsea towards the Bench Head buoy with myself at the helm
  • Lost a seat-back overboard, used it as an excuse to practise the man overboard exercise - Crusoe jilled about near it whilst Ahab flung a bucket at it. I was stuck lying on the deck being told not to move (because of the boom jibe as we went about) but also being whipped by the foresail lines. Not so much fun, that
  • Turned starboard, downwind, and headed towards Bradwell
  • Tacked downwind (“with unerring concentration”: Lamb, of myself) to the moors of the Blackwater River, and on to Bradwell Marina
  • Ahab’s motoring to the pontoon was a slight… ‘struggle’
  • Walked to The Green Man, a pub drenched with the history of Essex’s coastal smugglers - more on this later
  • Lots of beer and wine, and an animated discussion on the nature of education and what it truly means to be intelligent
  • The “obturousy” of Nav. Officer Lamb
  • Ahab wanted cheese on toast. In bed. Evidently a ‘fortified’ a bit too much

15/8/10:

  • Woke up at 07:00, set off between 07:30 and 08:00
  • Weather forecast (inland, shipping and Thames) was predicting medium to rough seas, medium to heavy rain, and wind at 5-6 turning into 7-8 (a gale!) later on. Not good.
  • Decided we needed to get back a day early rather than wait out the storm and risk the sea getting even rougher the following day, so we left Bradwell Marina and sailed down Blackwater River out into The Wallet and past The Wallet’s spitway
  • Rounded the Whittaker Beacon, then bore away from the wind into the East Swin
  • Rounded the West Barrow buoy and headed towards Faversham
  • Interrupted at the Oazes Deep shipping channel, having to dodge two rather large and speedy cargo ships - a task made more difficult by the large and rapid waves
  • Continued past the Red Sand Towers (abandoned WWII AA battery stations out at sea) to The Swale
  • Entered Conyer Marina when the tide allowed us, and ended our trip. 
{1 note}
Heavy storm and gale force winds are keeping us in the boat, out of the dinghy, and, more importantly, away from the pub.

Heavy storm and gale force winds are keeping us in the boat, out of the dinghy, and, more importantly, away from the pub.

{3 notes}
clintvalentine: It was the night before my departure home. We were moored just in the harbor protected from the projected hurricane. The Timberwind idled around it’s dead hold as the tide ebbed around the hull. Jo left the boat for Dave and I was alone. I climbed the main boom and extended past the gallows to tidy the sails until the sun set.

clintvalentine:

It was the night before my departure home. We were moored just in the harbor protected from the projected hurricane. The Timberwind idled around it’s dead hold as the tide ebbed around the hull. Jo left the boat for Dave and I was alone. I climbed the main boom and extended past the gallows to tidy the sails until the sun set.