This is a sad time of year for Maria’s family since it combines the anniversaries of the funeral of her father, Chris, and the death of her younger sister, Natalie. The later was only last year so it is still very fresh in people’s minds. So we decided that we would spend some time with Maria’s step mum on the anniversary, Friday, and hopefully get some time over the weekend on the boat, something that Chris and Natalie would both have loved.

Weather-wise the weekend was to start quite breezy but this would die down with potential occasional showers.  I had booked the Friday off work so that there would be no distractions on the day and so we decided that we would head to Harwich on the Thursday evening once I had finished work.  This would mean a 7pm departure with a couple of hours to get to Half-penny pier.  In preparation, Maria spoke to Nick the harbourmaster and checked that the outside of the pier, which is the only spot we can go, was clear and he confirmed that there was nothing there and nothing expected.  I have to say that all of the harbour masters at Half-penny pier have been really good to us whenever we have been there.  They’re really friendly and want to help although I believe that the RNLI station may have been told to rename our boat “likely call”…

I arrive back from work at about 6:45pm and Maria has the boat ready.  There is a strong North-Easterly wind blowing at 15-20 knots as we prepare to leave.  We are untied and as Maria slowly inches Mariadz out of her berth, it seems particularly gusty.  The wind is blowing us off the pontoon which is great but also closer to our neighbours a few feet away.  It is the first test of the new bow thruster and everything works fine as Maria controls the bow and exits the berth.  We will need to go into the lock to get down the river and the water level is high, which also means we are a little exposed to the wind as we enter the lock.  Once again we are being blown off the pontoon as I call down the distance to the pontoon from the hull.  At 50cm, I step off, one never jumps…. ;), I have a mid cleat line in my hand. I am able to get this attached but as I reach back for the standard second line, the aft line, it is not in reach. I ask Maria to tick over forward and steer away from the pontoon which should point the bow out, move Mariadz forward and with the mid line holding her bring the stern into reach.  A quick bust of bow thruster speeds this up and I am able to get the aft line on, tighten up the mid line and stroll forward with the bow line in the knowledge that Maria can control this with the bow thruster anyway.  We are tied up even if it was a little more exciting than normal 🙂 . The other thing we have done is successfully tested the bow thruster, which had already been done in the berth before setting off but there is nothing like a real test.  This whole process reminds Maria why she likes to have the bow thruster available.

We start to head down the river after a cheery wave from the lock keeper.  Maria phones up half-penny pier to reconfirm and we are fine.  Nick asks us to phone him after we arrive just to confirm that we are there safely – now that’s service…or maybe he’s worried about whether we will successfully make it!  We have some sail up although it is gusty and we are doing over 7 knots down the river. Unfortunately the wind picks up and gets more gusty which just makes the journey uncomfortable so before long we have reduced sail a little.

As we round the turn to Felixstowe, I have booked us for some food at the Thai up at the Quay, our favourite Thai restaurant.  As we approach half-penny, we can see it is clear and the wind is blowing down the pontoon so we will turn Mariadz around and face Felixstowe rather than down river.  After the experience at Ramsgate, I am taking no chances and I rig most of our nine fenders on the starboard side and at the right height but I needn’t have worried.

Maria approaches the pontoon at a sensible speed and the first thing she has to do is a ninety degree turn in a tight spot, adjust for the flow of water and then flick the bow out using the rudder as Mariadz settles against the pontoon and I step off to start tying her off – Mariadz not Maria! Parked like a boss though! Interestingly, Maria didn’t use the bow thruster at all.  It should be said that Maria doesn’t over use the bow thruster normally but she has used it markedly less since its replacement which means more concentration beforehand to get the boat in the right position rather than relying on a correction.  It’s impressively done with no fuss whatsoever.  I decide to move Mariadz back a little so that we leave some space at the front of the pier but it seems that we will be alone here this evening.  It’s 8:50pm and we have ten minutes to retrieve the cats – you know Clyde has jumped off as soon as we touched land, shut the boat down and get to the restaurant.

We are big fans of Thai up at the Quay, it’s a family run business which is normally quite busy, to the extent that probably 50% of the time we can’t get in last minute like this.  Today we are in luck. We take some recommendations for food, the staff always know what’s best, and our faith in them is justified as the food is excellent.   The service is excellent too, with the son being our main person today and being both efficient and friendly.

Now the problem that Maria and I have on holiday is that we are normally quite happy when it starts and the first evening is a bit of a “celebration”…. this normally means a late night and some alcohol resulting in sore heads the next morning.  It doesn’t seem to matter if this is a fortnight away, a long weekend or even, sometimes, a normal weekend away! Tonight is no exception but at least our plans for Friday are to arrive at Jean’s at lunchtime so we have some time to get ourselves sorted.

We have brought food with us for lunch with Jean, a lovely fish platter but without oysters this time, not sure she really enjoyed them last time. We have some drink with us too so we can toast Chris and Natalie and before long we are in the taxi to Dovercourt. We spend the afternoon with Jean and have a great time although I am asked to demonstrate my IT skills by fixing her computer and setting up a new video player on the computer, no rest for the wicked! Also, they probably don’t know that there are loads of people who do this where I work so I don’t get my hands dirty normally.

My computer jobs done and after a really nice afternoon, it is time for us to return to Mariadz.  The cutoff point for half-penny pier is 4pm prior to which, it is free to moor. On our return to the boat, the wind is still blowing hard but all of the forecasts confirm that this will drop over the weekend so we plan to anchor down the Stour for a couple of days. We expect the wind and tide to pull us off the pier quite nicely but just in case we are set up to spring off the bow as usual.  As the mooring lines are removed, Mariadz gently drifts off the pier so I loosen the last bow spring line and we are ready to go.  Martin, our yachtmaster instructor, caught us out a few years ago when he was beside the Orwell as we sailed down.  He spotted that we had the fenders laid out on deck rather than tidied away. When we had the granny bars, or mast pulpits, fitted we decided that this would make a safe storage location for our fenders. Not least of all because if we needed to access the mast, we could easily move the two inside fenders around so that the bars could serve their true purpose.  It does reduce visability a little from within the cockpit but works for us.  Another change I have made when putting out the fenders is to tie them at the bottom of the stanchions and then run the line to the top of the stanchion to tie the knot.  This puts the pressure point for the fender at the base of the stanchion, it’s strongest point, and hopefully avoids us bending stanchions if a fender gets caught as we approach a dock.  However, these two decisions mean that it takes longer for me to stow the lines and fenders after we come away from the pier. We are a fair way down the river Stour, as I rejoin Maria having tidied everything up.  There’s some wind but we have decided since we are going less than two miles, there is no point in packing up the boat to sail and getting the sails out just to put them away again quite quickly. As we approach, Maria is checking the chart for where to go and sees a large anchor sign.  We both momentarily forget that this is a marker we put down in the raymarine plotter to signify a good spot. Normally, there are other boats here so it is nice to go to one of our favourite spots on the edge of the bay but away from the channel. The anchor routine is the same as always and we are settled down with the anchor alarm on but also having checked transits that will point to any problems of us moving.  That isn’t normally a problem but better safe than sorry. It is still quite windy as we settle down for the evening but during the night this dies down.

We wake the next morning to find ourselves in a mill pond, there is barely a ripple on the River Stour.  It’s gonna be a lovely chilling day and the cats are particularly ready for it as they rest and rest some more.

Maria has decided that today is a fishing day having bought rag worms during the week and fresh from her recent success of catching three small sea bass. She will need a bucket however which is when I find that the builders bucket and the two soft plastic buckets have all got holes in 😦 . The builders bucket is particularly galling since I have had that for several years, with it’s rusty handle, and never expected my old faithful to fail me.  It means that Maria’s source of water is an old washing up bowl rapidly filled from a leaking bucket. I also need to ask Alexa to add a bucket to the shopping list. I guess it is just all part of the constant refresh cycle on a sailing boat, nothing ever stays fixed for long.

Maria is fishing all day and constantly changing her bait as the combination of weeds, crabs and fast running water remove the worms from her hooks.  This is despite reverting to the internet half way through the day for another guaranteed way of baiting your line.

Still Maria is happy and that improves further after I shuck some oysters for lunch, that also explains why Jean didn’t get any!

Its late afternoon in the middle of May and that would mean the FA cup final which, this year, has my team, Manchester City, playing.  The TV is set up in the cockpit and I have checked the aerial adjustment to make sure that I will not have the same problems of not watching the game that I suffered for most of the last day of the premiership! The game is a nervy affair to start with but this quickly goes as City continue to score goals and approach a record final victory.  That isn’t bad, especially when you consider that the last time they played a similar placed team at this stage they got beat!  The football result helps my good mood as we realise that the whole day has gone and we have been really lazy and done nothing all day!

The evening is clear and still.  The river is like a mirror which only worries Maria since the first time Bonnie ever jumped off the boat was when conditions were like this.  She was young at the time and I think she learnt her lesson but it doesn’t stop Maria worrying. Clyde is also being cheeky, he knows the rule of “no toes on the toe rail” and has heard it often but it doesn’t stop him leaning over the side hypnotised by the water.

One day we will put up “brat nets” as a safety precaution and they are already acquired and waiting to be fitted.  We are not sure we will like the aesthetics and want to leave it til as late as possible. In the interim, we always hang a couple of covered fenders off the aft quarters of the boat. At anchor, we are always facing the tide so if they did fall in they would be pulled backwards towards the stern.  We are hoping that should the unthinkable happen, they would be able to grab the fender and climb their way back up to safety.  The alternative is of course that Maria would immediately dive in after them, while I worked out a way to save everyone!

Another good nights sleep on a flat calm river heralds another day when we will need to up anchor and return home. As we come up on deck, I look at the cockpit tent to see a mass of bird droppings.  These aren’t little ones either, as the boat is covered in elephant sized droppings.  That means we will have to give the boat a good wash down today but at least the weather is nice,

We’re contemplating leaving so that we can get a good push from the tide up the Orwell when one of our friends, John from Brigand, pops over in his jet rib from his catamaran deep in Holbrook Bay. We invite him on for a drink and I suggest to Maria that she lower the swim platform for him.  Now we haven’t used this since last year, and having told Maria which switch to use, we are both confused as the swim platform doesn’t move.  That is until we see that Maria is happily switching the lights on and off…. of course, the swim platform is controlled from the steering binnacle not the stern of the boat.  When pressing the correct button, the platform goes down easily which is a relief.  Over a cup of Tea, which is very refined for us, John gives us the benefit of his local knowledge by explaining where a channel is in the Bay that would allow us to come in closer to shore.  Definitely one to be explored next time we are down.

John leaves to put Brigand onto the mud to change anodes and we are set to head back up river and home. Retrieving the anchor is no problem although clearing the anchor buoy takes some effort – it is unbelievable how much weed goes through this river!  Our new weed clearing technique of leaving ten metres of chain down so that the buoy is adjacent to the boat for cleaning, works a treat though. We have remembered to take down the anchor ball up in the rigging and proceed down the river to the gentle buzzing of the anchor alarm telling us we are dragging our anchor at six knots…. why do I always forget to switch that off? This can be seen perfectly on the anchor track in the picture.

We’re fighting the tide and a light wind with some very light rain up the Stour which slows us down but we know this will all change when we hit the Orwell. There isn’t much wind so again and we will do this under power dodging anything sailing down the river.  Despite the light drizzle, I get the opportunity to take boat photos for the first time this year so we have some pictures of other boats on the Orwell.

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We’re closing on high tide but it looks like we will miss the lock being open by ten minutes but at least we won’t be in there for long. As we wait in the lock, another couple have come in and one of them catches the same train as me in the mornings from Ipswich station.  Not next week though as he is away on holiday on the boat and I try to hide my jealousy. I must have a recognisable face though 🙂 Once again, Maria gets Mariadz into the berth with the minimum of fuss and it isn’t long before our standard post-voyage routine is done and Mariadz is in her usual position with shore power.

This time, though, she is sitting there looking expectant, if that is possible, because SOMEONE has to clean her up!  That, as you can imagine, is a blue job!  I don’t mind though as she looks gleaming at the end of it.

It has been a tradition over the last ten years (wow ten years already!) that Mariadz starts her summer season at Easter.  There was memorably one Easter when we were sailing in company with Easily Led on a still, scorching Easter. Since then the weather hasn’t been quite so good, especially when Easter has been early.

So with a late Easter this year, we were planning on how to spend it and as it got closer, it seemed the weather was going to smile on us. The boat hadn’t been out of the water for over a year and so before our season started, there was some essential maintenance that needed doing. This was all planned and booked months in advance to be done a few weeks prior to Easter to avoid any risks.  Unfortunately, Ipswich Haven has limited large cradles and in fact because of the number of boats out of the water long term, they only have one cradle available for large boats.  One of our friends decided to come out the week before us, and booked for three weeks….. that was cutting it tight.  Fortunately, they were back in time for our scheduled three day maintenance window.  Of course the late reschedule meant that the people that were going to help us with the work on the boat weren’t available, so we were late coming back into the water but more on that in another blog.  We made it in time, which is the important thing.  So where to go…. we had previously spoken about returning to the North Kent coast, maybe Chatham, the creeks or Ramsgate so with some strong winds predicted for the start of the weekend, we decided to start in Ramsgate.  We will see where it goes from there.

I had some work to do which required some quiet time, two reports to write, so had decided to work from home the Thursday before Easter.  This meant that Maria decided that we could sail to Ramsgate on the Thursday while I worked, she does like to start the weekends as early as possible.  This, of course, works fine unless I have a call to do and of course I had a call to do at exactly the time we would be coming into Ramsgate! We would have to work that out but it really depended on how well we were doing.  We agreed that we would need to go early with the tide so that it didn’t mess up the day but unfortunately I was late back on the Wednesday night and so barely had time to do anything except the last bit of getting the boat prepped and fall into bed, ready for a 4am start! I hadn’t checked the engine, which isn’t normally a problem.  Although we do these before any long journey, there seems to be little difference in oil or coolant levels and I rarely have to tighten up the belts. So that shouldn’t be a problem…

So we are up at 4am, it’s dark. Pre-engine checks show we are low on oil…..we top it up and check coolant levels which are a little low but fine.  I have spare coolant anyway so that shouldn’t be a problem.  The loss of some oil is something we will need to look into though.  Unfortunately, this delays us until nearly 5am and with a low tide we are another 30 minutes in the lock waiting for the levels to balance out.  This time we have decided to take the “inside” route down black deep to fisherman’s gat and then south-ish from there to Ramsgate.  The wind is in a favourable north easterly direction and with a good tide, we should take about six hours from our standard passage start point of the langard buoy outside of Harwich. It is about 43Nm and we would normally expect this to be about six hours which puts it right in the middle of my only work call scheduled at lunchtime. Typical.  We make reasonable progress down the river, out of Harwich and through the Medusa channel.  We are always incredibly observant here because we have seen fishing nets across the channel as well as a minefield of lobster pots which could trip us up and ruin our weekend!  This time everything is fine and we get to the top of Black Deep.  At this stage, we will surf with the fast running tide and wind so we will fly down the channel. So far a really uneventful trip with nothing to report apart from the large tanker following us down the Deep which caused us to slightly adjust our course to avoid causing them any trouble. We are making good time and can tell the difference a clean hull is making to Mariadz’s speed, compared to the end of last season when she sported a hula hula skirt of speed-sapping weed. I am busy working away and Maria has done her job hunt and gets the needle and cotton out to repair our fender covers! Anyone that knows Maria will recognise a bored Maria right there! Maria does a fantastic job with the fenders, repairing holes and stitching in new elastic to neaten them up as I finish the first of my reports.  Now to send it in before the deadline…. but we are several miles offshore and I have no mobile signal. Ah, I hadn’t accounted for that! But there is a silver lining since I have an IPad from 3, my personal phone on O2, a work phone on Vodaphone and a boat Mifi on EE – one of them has to work ;).  I achieve the deadline and we have turned south on approach to the Kent coast as it gets to midday. That means arrival outside of Ramsgate in the middle of my call as feared.  So how to slow us down….Maria had been keen to arrive early at Ramsgate to get a good spot and chill for the afternoon after an early start. This meant at this time we were motor sailing so I can slow us down a bit, and with a slight adjustment of course to give us a longer approach to Ramsgate, I can get the call done before we have to get busy.

In the end my work call finishes a little early and so I have lots of time to get the boat ready for the entrance.  Before I do though, we have a visitor. A little bird decides to take a rest on Mariadz about four miles offshore.  Maria is so confident of my knowledge of these things that she asks me what it is called, after a swift check I decide that it is Samuel which I found highly quite amusing, but Maria not so much. We eventually find out that it is a Siskin from the north, maybe trying to get back there for the summer and maybe a bit upset that I am going the wrong way. Obviously not as upset as it will be if Bonnie or Clyde wake up and notice it there.  It sticks with us for about 20 minutes while the cats sleep.

The approach to Ramsgate can get a bit lumpy in the confused seas just outside the entrance.  This can mean putting on fenders and lines is a bit of a challenge akin to a bucking bronco ride.  The water is cold too. However, we are ready early so I can get the fenders on now, perfect! Except…. I usually adjust the fenders by touching the water, lifting a little tying off.  This works really well and makes sure that the fender is perfectly set for the pontoon. The problem with doing this in a one metre swell is that “touching the water” is not quite as low as usual.  And I didn’t notice!  We are set for our approach, have called into the port to get permission to go through the outer harbour to the marina area and are on approach.  Since we are at a good time, we have the choice of the outer long pontoon, which is perfect for Mariadz and where we normally go.  This did need a little persuasion though to stop us being put into the tight area of the marina (at least tight for a 54 foot plus davits yacht!). We always do the turn in the harbour ( avoiding the submerged sand back) so that we are facing the entrance which makes the stay more comfortable.  As we approach, we realise that the wind is quite strong and north Easterly, blowing us onto the pontoon as it always does whenever we are in Ramsgate. We’re all set to dock, with our fenders a little high, as Maria swings Mariadz round to approach the long linear pontoon at the end closest to town. The wind is strong and Maria touches the pontoon about ten metres ahead of where we need to end up.  So we will need to move the boat backwards.  Now normally this wouldn’t be a problem but there is a strong wind blowing us onto the pontoon and I may have mentioned the fenders not being optimally positioned.  Maria tries to go straight astern and of course this squeezes the fenders against the pontoon.  Being set too high they start to pop up.  Now normally in this position, Maria is able to get Mariadz pretty much moving sideways off the pontoon.  In forward, she turns into the pontoon which kicks the stern out and then uses the 10hp bow thruster to push the bow off the pontoon. In astern of course, the wheel is reversed…. you need to turn away from the pontoon and still use the bow thruster to stop the bow hitting the pontoon.  This is our first trip out this year so we are a little rusty and it takes a few minutes for us to get this right.  In which time our beautifully polished hull is rubbing against the pontoon, causing some scuff marks. I have told Maria and, since she can’t see it, she is fearing the worst. Actually it’s not too bad and will clean up fine but neither Maria or I are looking forward to telling Terry, our GRP expert, who did all that fine work a week ago!

This is an opportunity for us to get our pop up steps out which makes the step down to the pontoon so much easier.  We’re now set up and I have a few hours of work to do writing reports and it is warm in the cockpit tent despite the strong, cold winds outside.

Maria settles down to start planning the weekend in detail (I.e. has a drink), thinks of a few ideas for food and since we will be here a couple of days, maybe some touristy stuff. We’re sure that Ramsgate has put its prices up since it is nearly fifty pounds a night for Mariadz – no wonder the marina is empty!  I finish work and we have an early evening on the boat chilling listening to music, watching TV and playing with the cats. Dinner will be a return to our favourite Thai up in the arches, the Thai Orchid, which is excellent as always.  There is some lovely food and a few drinks so the evening doesn’t finish early 🙂

It’s Good Friday and time for the holiday to start properly but as always with Maria on the first night away, there are a couple of sore heads the next morning so it isn’t an early start. We take a look at the top ten tourist attractions of Ramsgate, an eclectic mix to say the least….. the marina is right up there, as is the sailors church right next to the marina and the maritime museum next to the marina! It’s not going to be a long walk! Maria has already discounted the mile and a half stroll to the next bay to see the Viking ship.  In one respect, I am disappointed but you know you will have walked for thirty minutes to see some wood strapped together on a concrete plinth which could be quite underwhelming. I hasten to add that we haven’t seen this so I could be doing it a huge disservice. One day we will go and probably be really pleasantly surprised – but not this weekend.  There are also the tunnels which have history from the war which could be interesting, if we can find the entrance….but I guess the hidden entrance is why they were useful during the war! It’s early afternoon and we decide that some food is in order before we get going, but neither of us can work out what to do.  We wander round the front seeking inspiration.  There are a couple of pubs for a great hangover cure like sausage, chips and beans.  There are some good seafood places, that’s a maybe, and of course the really nice Italian opposite the pier that we like so much.  We keep wandering around until we finally stroll into Little Ships, this used to be a bar until six months ago and the menu looks quite good. As we walk in a large bowl of mussels is being delivered to one of the tables, that looks excellent.  There’s also salt and pepper squid which is also a favourite so that is the starters sorted.  There’s a good selection of mains, Maria is thinking of the fish and chips while I look at the seafood pasta.  There is also a Chicken Kiev, now when was the last time I had one of those?  The decision is made more difficult when they tell us that their fish supplier is late and the last of the mussels has gone out, we missed it by ten minutes!  We make our choices but there is no rush and we are enjoying sitting there and chatting. After our oysters, didn’t I mention those, the starters are amazing. The chef is really talented.  We decide to have a bottle of wine with our dinner but I can’t choose so I ask if it is possible to try a couple before making a final decision. The management bring over a couple of small(ish) glasses of wine, as Maria start to open a conversation with the table next to us – doesn’t sound like Maria, does it? I try the more expensive one first which is very light and crisp, definitely drinkable.  The lighter coloured second wine is the house white.  The first sip is enough, this wine is dangerous and should come with a health warning, far too drinkable!  We have decided to go with this, living life on the edge. We are now having a lovely chat with the group next to us since Maria broke the ice. They have just come from a cruise, where they are used to striking up conversations with strangers, so this is no different.  Food wise, we have gone with the fish and chips and a Chicken Kiev.  I have to say it is probably the best fish I have had, very thin crispy batter, succulent fish and the thick cut chips are gorgeous.  It’s been a relaxing lunch break but it is now beyond 4pm by the time we clear out.  So off to the museum which we soon find closes at 4:30pm…oops, they are closing up and so we will have to do that another time.  Not before the lovely lady gives us a 15 minute history lesson on the difference between Greenwich Mean Time and Ramsgate time, sounds like an excuse to be late to me! So not much touristy stuff at all for us today.  Having had our fill at lunchtime, the evening will be a quiet affair where we will sit in the cockpit and watch TV. Quite relaxing actually as I nod off! We will also need to plan the rest of the weekend since Maria has been unable to make a decision.  We consider our options. We actually really like Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey and the creeks nearby, it’s a proper old maritime town and we know some people don’t like it, but we have only had good experiences there and the people who run the dock have been really friendly. We could go further down the river to Chatham, and check the historic dockyard since we haven’t done that before.  We could pop up to the Crouch and stay at Burnham which has always been a nice spot. There is also of course an anchorage, which is probably our preference having been marina bound all winter and the last few days. So Osea, Pyefleet, Hamford Water, the Deben or the Stour.  The wind is still blowing a fresh N going NE and this maybe even going easterly as the weekend goes on.  This will mean an unpleasant trip back on Monday into the wind from Chatham or Burnham. Based on the strength and direction of the wind, we decide to go closer to home and stay in the Stour.  Although if the wind goes Easterly, it may be a little bumpy, Mariadz will be more than comfortable riding this out.

Our standard route home from Ramsgate would be to head North to the Fisherman’s Gat and then North East through the Deep before turning North again to Harwich.  The expected wind would be on the nose for the whole trip which would be slow and mean no sailing.  There are a number of sandbanks in the Thames Estuary which splay out like fingers in an open hand and point north easterly.  As mentioned our normal routing is to cut across one of these and then go up the gap between two sand bank fingers.  The alternative is to go around the outside of the finger tips.  This is not something we have done before and this may allow us to sail close to the wind but at least at a faster and more comfortable pace.  Although this route is slightly longer, I suspect today it will be faster.

The Northerly is still blowing us onto the pontoon and so we can’t use our usual method of coming off the pontoon sideways with an angled rudder to kick the stern off and the bow thruster to move the bow .  This would also be complicated by a border patrol vessel which is moored in front of us and is twice our beam so blocks the route outquite a bit.  We can’t just steer off the pontoon or spring off the stern because of the overhang of the davits, rib and solar panels which would go three to four feet over the pontoon.  So it will be springing off the bow as usual then.  We are becoming quite experienced at this as I tie four fenders to the bow and a line from the bow to a cleat adjacent to our mid ships on the pontoon.  Maria has checked in with port control and we are good to go.  As I take the other normal mooring lines off, Mariadz is already starting to move her stern off the pontoon.  Maria turns the wheel into the pontoon and in tickover eases the bow in and onto the fenders as the stern slowly moves away from the pontoon.  With Mariadz at about 45 degrees to the pontoon, Maria straightens the wheel and slips into astern. I loosen the spring line and a quick burst of the bow thruster pushes the bow even more off the pontoon and starts to straighten Mariadz. We are now perfectly positioned parallel to the pontoon and ready to go as I retrieve the lines and put away the fenders.  As we leave, another larger border patrol vessel, Searcher, is also readying to leave.  Everything is stowed before we come out of the harbour and before we hit the rough patch of water outside of Ramsgate which throws us around.  The weather is fine, if a little cold, and in the distance we can see another warship in the channel, probably a frigate. So with that and Searcher behind us, we are feeling very safe! As we turn North East to our first waypoint, all hell breaks loose on the AIS. There is a fast moving vessel on a collision course about a mile away. This is an RNLI lifeboat returning to Ramsgate but clearly with our escorts and now a rescue vessel close to us, we are beginning to worry that someone knows something we don’t!

We have been able to put main and staysail up but have also left the engine on at low revs to keep driving us through the water because we are a little tight to the wind and we don’t want to arrive too late. We are getting a good push from the wind and tide so we are belting along at a reasonable speed.  When the wind is in the right direction, we passage plan at about 7 knots and we are able to keep up with this.

Bonnie and Clyde as usual are with us all the way and stay in the cockpit.  There is sun so they are either rolling around in the warmth or hiding from it.  Clyde just moves to shady spots but Bonnie has now taken to going under her blankets and hiding, including sometimes making a tent!

Having taken the long way round we pass Rough Towers and are able to turn towards Harwich which also gives us an opportunity to switch off the engine and enjoy the last few miles of the sail.  As we reach the langard buoy, it is seven hours since we left Ramsgate which is exactly the same time it took to get there but it had probably been quicker than returning the way we had come.

It is now early evening and we are keen to get anchored in the Stour, still our destination for a couple of days.  There are a number of anchorages in the Stour but we decide to go further down than our first stop of the weekend opposite Harwich Parkeston Quay. In fact, we are going to go close to Holbrook Bay, the shallow bay under the Royal Hospital School. This is a common spot for us in the summer because it is so quiet and we intend to spend the whole of Sunday here before sailing gently back on Monday in the expected north easterly winds.

As we proceed down the river, the wind dies so we are back under power and starting to take the sails down as we prepare for the anchorage. Maria selects her spot and I follow our anchoring routine. Anchor ball up, anchor buoy down, anchor down, long snubber deployed and short lines to hold the chain and protect the windlass from snatching if all else fails. This is all done quite quickly and we are able to sit down with the anchor alarm on and have a well earned drink!

Dinner is quite relaxed and we catch up on a couple of serials on the TV that we put up in the cockpit. Tomorrow is another chill day.

Easter Sunday dawns clear but with quite a cool breeze so the cockpit tent stays closed up so we get the heat of the sun but not the chill of the wind.  Early in the morning Maria breaks out the fishing gear having had another lesson from our tackle shop – and been taught another way of setting up the rig with guaranteed results. Hmmm, we’ll see!

We’re both chilling and chatting when the first of three fish is caught and Maria has

clearly got the gift again despite the first couple of hours of just catching large clumps of weed. They are all too small to keep with the first one being especially keen to return to the river as he flies out of Maria’s hands. But not before a kiss!

It’s a Sunday and Maria will always prepare a roast dinner irrespective of where we are and she is enjoying pottering in the galley getting dinner ready. As always it is a feast, I’m sure she is seeing double as she prepares the food and cooks for four rather than two.  Anyone who has eaten Maria’s roast dinner will know it is gorgeous but you will never run out of food!

It’s been a relaxing day which, with my work being hard and the stress of Maria looking for a new job, is a good thing.  It has been sunny all day and the batteries are full with the solar having soaked up 4kWh of power or 330Ah of power at 12V. It’s fantastic but as the evening comes, the wind starts to make us cold.  We decide to start the generator so that we can run the heating, heated blankets etc as well as getting the water piping hot for a lovely warm shower.

During the evening, we have decided to leave reasonably early and catch the tide on the Orwell to arrive at the top of the river while the lock is on the level. Bringing the anchor up reminds me of the amount of weed in the river and the problems this can cause. The anchor buoy works well as a marker for our anchor, a tripping line should we need it (which is unlikely) and a way to retrieve the anchor if our chain failed.  However, we did suffer once in this anchorage where the weight of the weed on the buoy actually stopped the anchor turning around and stowing properly. It jammed sideways on and had to be shaken out when we docked.  Last year, at Osea, I had swam to the buoy to clear it and struggled to get back. I certainly wasn’t going to try that in an East Coast river in April.  My solution was to retrieve the anchor until there was only ten metres of chain left.  The buoy is on 10 metres of line. This means that, as it hangs off the anchor, it goes in the same direction of the tide as Mariadz. So the buoy is quite close to our bow and using a boat hook, I am able to clear the weed from the line and reduce the weight pulling on the anchor.  The last part of retrieval goes perfectly and we are ready to start our sail home.

Overnight the wind has turned Easterly and reduced a little but we have plenty of time and so we deploy the main and stay sail and decide to tack up river. We remember from our courses the shouted instructions and responses which feel quite redundant when you have a self tacking stay sail which means the only think you need to do is turn the wheel. It doesn’t stop us calling out anyway even if all it does is inform the other that we are about to change the way the boat is heeling – which can be quite important. We make unspectacular progress up river, there isn’t really enough wind to get Mariadz going and we are going against the tide with the wind driving right down the river at us. At some stage I go below and as I pass the instruments I notice something strange. We are in fantastic sunshine but we are pulling out 30A of power. My first thought is something must be wrong, we should be using 8-12A which is more than covered by the solar and allows us to run the boat (fridges etc) and have all of the navigation on. I am looking at the panel and start switching off areas to see if I can trace it.  After some time, I find that the large switch for the winches and bow thruster seems to be culprit.  This is adjacent to another switch for the domestic which has had an issue recently. We at least know what circuit it is but I could do with the winches and we are only going up river with a lot of battery power so we should be ok. It is one that needs fixing quickly though.

As we enter the Orwell, we only have just over an hour to make it all the way to the top of the river before high tide. As we make the turn at the end of Felixstowe, the wind picks up and is right on our beam, perfect. Mariadz moves like she has been kicked and probably has a little too much sail up but she is sailing well and we are flying along at well over the motorised speed limit of 6 knots. After this section and when you make the turn at Suffolk Yacht Harbour, the wind is less steady and the contours of the land can make this a bit variable. We persevere most of the way up the river before taking the call, as the wind drops even more, and decide it is time to get ourselves back.

Sails are down and engine is on as we approach the Orwell bridge but there is a new person on the lock gates. We are told that we will have to wait on the waiting pontoon rather than going straight through on freeflow. We had been hoping not to have to tie up to the pontoon but it now looks like I will have to rig fenders and lines on both sides, once for the lock or waiting pontoon and once for our home berth.  As we get closer it is clear that the gates are open so there is nothing to worry about. It would just have been easier if that had been made clear at the beginning – still another lesson learned.

The advantage of free flow, or on the level, is that there is no delay going through the lock and so we are tied up in our berth early afternoon giving us enough time to clean Mariadz down.  It also means that we can clean off the scuff mark that we have from Ramsgate and we are as good as new.

Now to go through the snagging list from the shakedown tour including that pesky 30A draw on our power!

I was obviously part way through writing this one when I stopped which will be why I recall writing it but couldn’t find it.  So having discussed this with my mother in law the other weekend, it was time to finish this off.

This summer has been glorious with fantastic weather and wonderful weekends. However, we all know that this is the UK and it can, and probably will, change at any moment. You have to take advantage of the great weather when you can. That said the wind forecast was a bit strange over the weekend – one of those force 1-9, variable meaning any direction and any wind strength!

This weekend we had Maria’s best friend Lisa on board and outline plans to have my mother-in-law Jean join us but she had other potential plans on the back of a hard week of hosting people at the house. We had decided to return to the tranquil Hamford Waters when we could visit the seals again.

Maria was working hard in London at the MHRA, and I am still between jobs although I had a great interview during the week and a number of other opportunities so it looks like this year I won’t get as much time for boat chores. But I am off on the Thursday and Friday and so the Admiral has given me a long list of tasks to complete before her return, readying the boat for our weekend away.

The first of these was to unload the boat of the liveaboard junk that is probably not necessary for a weekend away in 30+ degrees of heat. The dehumidifier can go, my work shoes, various blankets and the electric heated blanket that is such a godsend in the winter but comes off during the summer.

This is going swimmingly until I step off the boat with the blankets. Now I should explain that there is a four inch gap between the toe rail and the steps on the pontoon. Both hard surfaces where something can drop and I can retrieve it.  As I step off the boat, Davy Jones invisibly reaches up from the depths and gives the controller for the heated blanket a gentle tug. In slow motion, I watch it fall but my hands are full as it teasingly hits the top step before slipping off between the steps and the boat…. and into his locker. I leap down putting the blankets down to dip my arm in and grab the controller before it gets too far, even though it is electronics and probably wrecked already. My outstretched fingers tantalisingly touch the cable but I can’t grab it as the controller sinks and joins a set of keys for the rib, a set of keys for a BMW convertible and other trophies. I guess I will be ordering a replacement Heated blanket controller when I sit down for a minute.

Another one of my tasks is to get all of the washing and drying done in the marina facilities and this is easily done, I can see the pile of ironing that will undoubtably be one of my tasks over the next week as we prepare for our annual trek to Italy.

Additional shopping and boat prep takes the rest of the day including cleaning out the grey water system, fixing various minor issues that have been hanging around and getting the last of the shopping.  It means I have been run ragged getting everything prepped before getting to the station to pick up the girls as they return from their hard day at work. Of course, Maria immediately identifies something I haven’t done and asks what have I been doing all day! She’s a hard task master and I have to count to ten 🙂

We are leaving on Thursday night but with the long days we can get a fair way down the river Before it gets dark.  This is particularly useful with the tides. High tide is around 4:30am and eleven hours after. With the low depth at Pye End, at the entrance to Hamford water, I am only comfortable going here reasonably close to high water.  By being down river, we can cross this area shortly after high water without being stuck in the Orwell all day. So that is a plan especially with this being the last weekend away on the boat for a while since we are getting close to the end of the season and about to go away for three weekends.

So we set off and go through the lock and down the river.  We’ll pick up a buoy at Levington, and be perfectly placed for the short trip tomorrow.  h no we won’t, all of the buoys that we normally pick up are taken – unheard of especially mid week.. but that is ok maybe we will go to halfpenny pier….  hmmm, pop out for dinner at the Thai or maybe the Alma with steak and lobster – our mouths are watering already.We have set our hearts on lobster at the Alma.  That is until we turn the corner to see the pier full of boats, double parked (rafted) and no room at the inn. Right we will go back to the small anchorage near Shotley although there are a couple of boats already there, we should squeeze in.  We get back there and it is all looking a bit tight.  We have now been messing about for the best part of an hour! We try to squeeze in a few more times before Maria decides that we have had enough and we will go to the large anchorage at the top of the Stour opposite Harwich parkeston quay and then we can take the rib in to Harwich and have that lovely lobster. At last some up side.

This is no problem and we decide to leave the spreader lights on when we go for food so that we will easily find Mariadz on our return.  It is a lovely dinner as always and soon we are starting to head back.  We needn’t have worried about finding Mariadz since she is lit up for all to see.  We are probably quite lucky she didn’t attract planes landing there rather than Stansted.  It’s nice to get back to her, lower the swim platform using the remote control on the rib, switch even more lights on and get back on board safely.  We’re feeling pretty smug about the changes that we have made to this area.

Of course the problem with our cunning plan is that with the messing around on the river, two rib trips and a dinner that took a while which is our fault not the pubs, it is now getting late. So it looks like we will be in bed by midnight and up at 4am….oh dear.  We must remember next time to go to bed earlier.

The next morning we are able to get up with the alarm although it is a struggle. However, shortly after we are able to see a beautiful sunrise. The previous evening our temporary crew member, who may have been a little drunk, assured us she was desperate to wake up for sunrise… in the cold light of morning she is nowhere to be seen 🙂 So obviously, we take a lot of pictures so that she can see what she could have won….

It is near high water so there is lots of room through pye end, maybe we should have got more sleep.  However, it is interesting picking your way through especially when you know there is depth, at times it seems that there is more depth away from the recommended track.  We actually generally take the route a little south of the red buoys route where there is slightly deeper water which at this state of the tide doesn’t even trigger our depth alarms which are set to an actual depth of three metres and at least a metre under our keel.

The trip there is without note and we arrive at anchorage at 6:30am and we are not alone. Our friends Martin and Caroline who have a catamaran have come away to get away from everything but Ipswich Haven has caught up with them! We anchor 100 metres away and they paddle board over…flash gits 😉 I should say that they are excellent on the paddle board together and hopefully one day we will be as competent.  That day may be a while coming!  Still we will ply them with a few drinks and hopefully they will struggle on the way back… that wasn’t the motive but could have been a by product.  There are no surprises on the way back either as they get back safe, sound and dry.  Oh well no inadvertent entertainment for us then!

As we settle down to the day there is the opportunity to get on with a few jobs around the boat including cleaning up the stainless around the boat.

My job hunting is going going well too and it looks like I will have a well paid contract in the next couple of weeks so a good day.

It is blistering sunshine so a great solar day. So much so that I have to switch the immersion heater on early in the afternoon, which uses 30A out of our batteries.  Even this doesn’t drain our batteries too much and now we have hot water for the rest of the day as the sun refills the batteries.  It is going to be a 5KWh day, which doesn’t sound much for a home but for a boat is a huge amount of power on a boat.

During the afternoon we decide that the weekend can officially begin, so let’s get the toys out…. Fortunately, in one respect, our friends have moved on, although I am sure it isn’t to avoid us.  It does mean that we can go paddle boarding, now the professionals have left…. we both have a go and I am actually able to stay on board as I take it around the buoys, back and on board whilst staying dry. I’m quietly happy as I take a long drink to settle my nerves back down!  The heart rate monitor starts to settle below 100……

Maria has a go too with mixed results before we are going for a trip in the two man Kayak which is a lot more difficult to fall off of!

I’m back on board and I am reminded that August is Maria’s Birthday month, yes, you heard me right, not day but MONTH. So that means there is alcohol and the expectation of presents.  Unfortunately for her, I am not falling for that – it is nearly a week til her birthday! Lisa does have her present though and won’t be here on her birthday…. Maria always gets her way and so she is happy now.

Sunset at Hamford water is lovely with very little sign off human life. As long as you don’t look North to the cranes standing like Martian war machines that is.  Despite a bit of a breeze during the afternoon, which obviously made my feat of paddle-boarding even more impressive ;), it is now completely still which adds to the calming effect. as the evening starts we are sat in the cockpit chatting and listening to music at a low level.  That is until there is a bump on the side of the boat… as we peer over, fearing a body or tree trunk, we see a seal seemingly smiling back at us.  He plays around the boat for about thirty minutes with us desperately, and failing, to take photos.  In these situations, alcohol is not your friend! Not a worry, there will be a couple of hundred we can look at tomorrow.

The next day we have agreed to pick up my Step mother-in-law, Jean, from Harwich to spend some time with us on Mariadz.  Rather than uping anchor and taking Mariadz to halfpenny pier, we have agreed that I will drop the rib and fly up to Harwich, pick her up and bring her back to Mariadz. How hard can that be? Now I should mention that Jean is a very young 72 but has recently been having some problem with her hip.  Hmmm, jumping into a rib and a quick jaunt around the harbour sounds perfect then!  However, when I say a young 72, as soon as I mentioned pick up in a speed boat, she was up for it!

So I am in the rib leaving Mariadz behind as I come out of the river to go up the coast to Harwich.  Actually, the river has been quite sheltered from the northerly wind which is a bit stronger than I expected.  The tide is also coming in which means I am going against both wind and tide on my way up to Harwich.  It’s therefore a wet and bumpy journey.  I am not worried for myself but I am about to bring Maria’s step mum down this route and I begin to doubt whether I am doing the right thing by my MIL.  It should be better on the way back when I am with the waves, he says hopefully.

Actually, the first problem is going to be getting Jean into the rib which is quite a step down from the pontoon.  We are lucky that there is a really nice guy with a motor boat that we have met before who offers to let her board from his swim platform which is quite a bit lower than the pontoon.  With a little difficulty and care this works and Jean is ensconced in the bow of the rib, reclining in her armchair setup and looking as comfortable as you like.  That could all change with a wave crashing over the bow as we go down to Hamford Water but I am sure I won’t be blamed….. We come out of Harwich and all is good and now we are turning towards the North Sea in a small 11ft rib with my precious cargo.  We make the turn south towards Hamford Water and it is remarkably comfortable, as long as I keep the speed “nice”.  That doesn’t mean driving miss daisy though since Jean seems to be enjoying the wind and light spray, it’s all very exciting. We are almost surfing and there is a little spray but no big waves drenching Jean.  Actually, her face is beaming as we travel down at about 15 knots.  It’s too noisy to talk but we are surfing a little so it isn’t too bumpy and certainly not the bone-jarring crashing  you can get, and I did, on the way up. It is with some relief that I turn into the river and the water smooths out in the shelter from the wind. As we approach Mariadz, Maria and Lisa are waiting expectantly, drinks in hand, and none of them have any idea how nervous I have been worrying that a rogue wave will soak Jean! We come up to the swim platform and Jean steps off nonchalantly as if she is a slightly damp Audrey Hepburn rather than a soaking Bridget Jones. Maria hands her a freshly filled Prosecco glass and the girls settle down for a natter.

One of the reasons for going to Hamford Water is to see the seal sanctuary, it’s actually a tourist boat trip from Harwich which is a little more comfortable than the rib! As we are preparing the rib for our excursion, a yacht crosses our bow towards the mouth of the brook where we will be heading. We are on a falling tide and as I recall there is quite a mud bank barely under the surface which is marked at the end with a red buoy. They must turn before they get there, mustn’t they? Errr, no. As they slam into the mud, oops. I am getting the keys for the rib and the hand held radio to see if they need some help when they start to move slowly, ploughing a path through the mud with their keel. They are soon free with a story to tell.  Our friends in other sailing areas aren’t used to touching the bottom but it is an occupational hazard on the East Coast of the UK.  To be fair, if you haven’t done that, you’re probably not really trying! Especially as you can be a mile off shore in three feet of water. We may have done some inadvertent dredging at times ourselves so certainly no criticism from us.

A spot of lunch before we go though. Maria prepares a gorgeous sea food platter, obviously all caught by her during the morning….. maybe not since the only nibbles she has had have been crabs stealing her bait.

We get in the rib to go and see the seals, with Jean/Audrey in her bow-shaped armchair. Lisa sat adjacent to the console and Maria next to me. I have no idea how the boat can be rated for five people since we have taken up all the room.

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There are a couple of hundred seals in this colony and with it being after low tide they are all basking on the mud.  That is until we arrive when they jump into the water as soon as we get close. There are a fair few creeks in this area for exploring and we get quite a few pictures.

We return to Mariadz and hear that Frazaz, our friends Mike and Sue from B Pontoon in Ipswich, are coming down to anchor.  They have solar as well which will get a good test as will their posh new anchor. They have settled down and we have invited them over for an afternoon drink and chat.  I have even offered to pick them up so they don’t have to go through the bind of getting their inflatable ready. It’s very sunny as the wind picks up and shifts to come straight up the river towards us.  We are teasing them about whether FraZaz looks a little further away than it was, but they are not biting! After a couple of hours, they are ready to return but the wind has picked up and because of the direction there is a metre of swell running through the anchorage. We’re able to get off Mariadz easily enough but as we get back to FraZaz it looks like boarding will be like changing bulls at a bucking bronco. Sue and Mike safely make it back on board where I am sure they checked their anchor alarm straight away 🙂

It’s a beautiful balmy clear evening as we sit in the cockpit chatting and listening to music. It’s quite a starry night and Lisa spots a particular bright star.  With some authority she reports to us that this is Venus which is quite impressive as it moves quickly across the sky and continues it’s journey towards Stansted where it is going to land! It’s getting later and we have two guests on board.  Maria has informed me that Lisa will be in the fore peak and Jean will be sleeping in our bed.  This leaves us sleeping in the cockpit, well it is a warm evening and the wind has dropped now. But of course we will be up quite early when the sun rises. The new cockpit cushions are quite comfy though and the cats also choose to sleep up top with us.

The next morning is an early start as expected and, over breakfast, we make plans to return to Harwich to drop Jean home, not in the rib this time.  Again we will depart on a half tide to make sure we have no worries with depth as we come out and with a slight breeze, we are able to sail most of the way back to Harwich.  Fortunately, the pier is clear so tying up is not an issue and it is easy for Jean to hop off and back to her car.

Shortly afterwards we are on our way up the river Orwell to home at the end of another glorious weekend.

What a stupendous summer it has been.  The weather has been fantastic and we have been out most weekends.  This weekend was no exception and our friends from Maldon had arranged several weeks ago for us all to gather at Osea Island for a barbecue and Amy Winehouse singalong with the Mariadz really-loud karaoke setup. It promised to be an hilarious weekend. This was my last work week at Moorfields Eye Hospital, a very successful stint but of course, like all interims, it is now time to be getting the next assignment. Due to the work relationship with Moorfields I was able to take the last two days of the week off and with Maria working from home, it would mean we could extend the trip and have a mini holiday, although Maria would need to work from time to time.

Our often use of the generator meant that the fuel we got at the end of last season is going down and we know better than to let the tank get too empty.  So we decide we will leave on Thursday so we can refuel before we go, rather than leaving Wednesday night. Then on Wednesday, I get called about another role in London and they want to interview me on…… Friday. Maria is not happy! We are able to work out a way where we can head down to Harwich for the night on Thursday, I can go to my interview from Harwich Town train station, get back and we’re off and an hour closer to our destination. A quick call into the harbourmasters (we love Sue, Nick and Mike) :), and we know we will be ok to moor overnight although with the maritime festival at the weekend, we will have to leave on Friday.  We can then head down to Osea, and maybe come back via Pyefleet, Hamford Water or the River Stour. It sounds perfect except the weather seems to be breaking. Normally we don’t need to worry about the weather as much as a smaller, lighter yacht and we have an excellent anchor and a good routine to keep us safe but there are question marks as it will gust well into the thirty knot range.

So it is Thursday morning and we decide to refuel. Unfortunately we are just after a training ship starts to refuel. An hour and a half later and they are finished, 2100 litres of fuel and then it is our turn for a piffling three hundred but apparently we can’t just add it to their bill, they’d never notice. We are getting close to high tide when the lock gates remain open and refill the locked area. The gates will be shutting soon as we finish refuelling and head out to the river but we just make it.  As seems to be always the case, the wind is right on the nose and having reserved a place on the pier we don’t want to be too late, so it will be a case of motoring downriver.  Others are more ambitious as they short tack up the channel. This presents a few challenges as we are under power and therefore have a responsibility to stay out of their way as much as possible. On the whole we do fine and I’m back out with the camera catching some action shots.

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We’re getting through Felixstowe and can see that the pier is clear. Sue has asked us to take the berth closest to the ferry berth since they have a long Thames barge coming in.  As we turn towards Harwich, there is a southerly breeze blowing us off the pontoon and the tide is coming out so we head straight in so that we are nose to tide as we approach. This will mean the rudder will always be able to turn us and we won’t lose steerage as we get close to the pier.  The Ferry is on its way back from Felixstowe and is right behind us. We toy with the idea of spinning around so that he can go through quickly so that we can take our time and maybe we should have done that. We are in a good position and so decide to go for it.   Maria brings her in nicely and I am off the boat with the mid line and ready to tie on. Maria has to keep Mariadz in gear because the tide is quite strong as I start to tie the lines.  The ferry then comes in as I a man still getting us straight.  On this part of the pier there is a coloured area which is reserved for the ferry. We are still trying to get Mariadz tied on and positioned correctly and our rib literally overhangs their area by one foot because I haven’t finished moving Mariadz forward. At this stage the deck hand for the ferry jumps off and starts shouting.  To be fair, we are a foot over their berth but we are sorting it out and this would be a lot quicker without some <please select your noun of choice> shouting in my ear as I am trying to move the boat forward. Needless to say shouting over me as I am trying to speak to Maria delays the process but within a few minutes we are in the right place and the ferry has offloaded, reloaded and gone. Still no need for abuse as already doing what they’d asked but he must have been stressed.

Since we are in Harwich, it is a nice opportunity for us to catch up with my mother in law, and Jean pops down to the boat with our daughter Kristy and Maria’s niece Ella-rose. We have a nice chat in the afternoon before Kristy has to go and agree to meet up later for dinner at Thai up at the Quai.  Dinner is really nice and very tasty, certainly one of the best Thai dinners I have had in a few years. It’s not a late night as I have an interview the next day.

Friday is another roasting day as I am ready for the interview and walk to Harwich Town station. It must look quite amusing seeing someone dressed for the City coming off a boat because I always seem to get strange looks. The plan is that I will do the interview and get back as quickly as possible so that we can get away quickly down to Osea Island. Unfortunately, the return train is only on the hour only so I need to make sure I don’t miss that!

As I arrive in London I get a message from Maria saying that Sue thought we would be leaving by 11am which is when I am due out of my interview. Oops, Maria will have to wait until I am back which actually makes it more difficult for Sue having to juggle the variety of boats coming in for the Harwich Maritime Festival. The interview goes well and I am on the midday train so should be back at the boat shortly after 1:30pm.

The tide is coming out as we leave Harwich and with the slight wind, it is quite easy to get off the pier. We do make a minor mistake when we let Mariadz drift back on the tide a little to get away from the Thames Smack in front of us.  This of course means that we lose steerage and the stern starts to head back into the pier but this is quickly corrected and we are far enough off to correct it without causing any problems.

We head out into the North Sea but progress is slow since we are against a strong tide and into the wind although there isn’t a lot of wind. As we come out into the Medusa channel, we are greeted by the sight of the Romford Navy, a standard term for a fleet of motor boats, descending on Felixstowe.

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We are constantly checking different weather sources to get a definitive view of what the next few days will be like.  Despite the weather being excellent right now, there are a number of reports of thunderstorms forming inland. The question is will these track up the UK or come over to the coast.  It could also mean that our proposed barbecue on Osea Island will be a washout.  We’ve now progressed slowly through the Medusa Channel into the Wallet and are adjacent to Walton on the Naze.

The good weather has a few boats out but I suspect they will all be running for cover before too long.  The wind is in a direction we can use but we still aren’t making great progress although since we are reconsidering our plans that is not a bad thing.  We see a couple of other Moody yachts racing down the Wallet, I suspect they are going home to Bradwell or Brightlingsea. They are making good progress but the latest weather forecast has us Debating whether to turn back.  Although there is likely to be 20knot winds in the anchorage, there are also going to be gusts into the high thirties. So just as discretion is the better part of valour, we decide that cowardice is the better part of discretion! We’re turning around but what to do? It looks like a thunderstorm is likely to be coming through but we decide that we will pick up a buoy outside of Levington and then head home tomorrow for a chilling weekend.

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With the tide with us, we are making good progress and are soon back in Felixstowe and heading to the River Orwell.  It is noticeably quieter on the river as we pick up our berth for the night.  Most of the people you see on the river are very courteous but after last week’s fun and games of a motorboat doing more than twenty knots on the plane, this week we have another example. At the bottom of the river there is a waterskiing area but I had assumed that the intention was that people got to this point, had their fun and then went home.

Tonight we saw someone waterskiing down from Pin Mill! I guess they are having their fun but like last week not caring about the other people in the river being hit by their wash. Although it has to be said that sometimes a boat on the plane makes less wash than a displacement boat! But there are rules…

Our arrival at Levington coincides with an evening race out of Suffolk Yacht Harbour and they will need to be quick to get that done before the weather breaks. They are clearly all having a lot of fun and the range of different types of yacht is amazing. To get the best line for the race they are sailing between the boats on the buoys so they get quite close, let’s hope they don’t misjudge it…. but coming so close does give me another chance to take lots of photos 🙂

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The race is finishing and the weather starts to break with the first rain we have seen for ages, ah better remember to close all of the hatches then! This is soon followed by a huge thunder storm with both sheet and forked lightning. This is probably about the time we wondered if we had done the right thing. We are in the middle of a river, with low countryside around us with a metal 70ft lightning rod pointing heavenwards. A bit like standing in a field with a metal broom handle over your head daring the weather gods to hit it or the old golf joke about holding a one iron, because not even god can hit a one iron! It’s a spectacular light show, best watched from within the cockpit tent, as the rainwater hammers down. At least we can be assured that the cockpit tent is fully waterproof after our efforts over the last year.

The next morning it is still windy, on the nose as always, but a lot brighter with blue skies, as we decide to return to Ipswich. The weather forecast is still suggesting strong variable winds and although I am sure our anchor setup would be adequate, we wouldn’t get a comfortable night and there is no way there will be a big party on the beach in this weather. The trip up the river is uneventful although there is no point getting sail out with the wind in the wrong direction. Even on a quiet day you have to keep your wits about you if there is something big coming down the river or someone sailing across you but there is lots of time to make any necessary adjustments although I did get us a little closer to a green buoy trying to keep out of the way of one boat! As we head past Wolverstone, I can see the fleet of motor boats that we observed at Felixstowe, all rafted up with each other at the North end of the pontoons. At least they will be protected from the worst of the wind but it’s probably not the nicest place to be with a strong wind up or down the river. We approach the lock and the wind has changed slightly and is blowing across and slightly behind us at about twenty knots.  This would have been a concern in our early days as you combat a strong wind trying to throw you into a wall and then, because it is low tide, you enter the lock and there is no longer that sideways push.  Maria and I work quite well in these situations, with her making the fine adjustments and me calling down the distances so she knows exactly where we are. Soon enough we make it into the lock and are tied off, completely alone.

We arrive back in Ipswich to the news that two of our braver friends have made it to Osea Island, the rest having bailed.  The video of them anchored makes it look like they are on a tricky passage in a storm so even they decide not to stay for too long. Out of the lock and the wind is still blowing a fair bit but we get into our berth fine although that is helped by our neighbours being out of the water for a few days, not that we needed the extra space, I hasten to add!

It’s now Saturday morning and our weekend away is a complete wash out. Over the rest of the weekend we make our own entertainment, singing and dancing til late and watching films all of Sunday, when we eventually woke up that is.

And during Sunday, a large fleet of motor cruisers invaded Ipswich and had to get into some pretty tight spots with a lot of wind blowing. On a yacht this is bad enough but with 15 tonne of boat and very little under the water to give any grip, it is incredibly difficult and you need to understand how to use your bow thruster, twin engines and stern thruster if you have one. Having taken lots of photos of them, I am happy to share them and apparently this particular “navy” is not from Romford at all, but from Norfolk.  Well that’s blown a myth.

So it’s not quite the weekend we hoped for, but we had fun anyway. Cheers!