2012 Summer Cruise - day 13

A late start today! Slipped our lines at Suffolk Yacht Harbour at the ridiculously late hour of 11 am and motored out past Felixstowe docks.

Several sailing barges were around today, mostly lying to anchor in the lower reaches of the Orwell. They are a magnificent sight to behold and I'd love to go for a sail on one sometime. One of my ancestors older brothers was a mate on one back in the 19th century so I have a famiuly connection with them

Shotley Point and HMS Ganges

The Orwell and Stour are rich in visual interest. As we motored out the modern container port of Felixstowe lay to port whilst across the river to starboard, above the masts of the yachts in Shotley marina, can just be seen the water tower and, with the eye of faith, the lower mainmast at the former HMS Ganges.

With the port and Navy Yard of Harwich completing the triumvirate it's a busy place and you need to keep your eye on the buoys and boats and an ear bent to the VHF.

Sneaking towards the Naze

A windless day meant a flat calm glassy sea so I cut the corner as tight as I dared towards the Naze. Got the sails up and the engine off for a while down the Medusa channel and just managed to pinch a course past the end of Walton Pier.

The slight breeze from the South East I'd been sailing with disappeared and it was back on with the engine for the rest of the trip. It's a shame to have to do so much motoring but on the other hand there's not much point in jilling about going nowhere at all

An uneventful run, apart from spotting a friend (Rog on Sabre) and having a chat on the VHF, saw us berthed in Bradwell Marina by twenty to six.

It was a lovely evening so we went for a stroll along the sea wall to St., Peters on the Wall. More of a hike actually but it made the first pint in the Green Man taste particularly good. Dinner and several more pints followed before staggering back to the boat and heading for bed

2012 Summer Cruise - day 12

After a rather sleepless night for the skipper (the crew fared a little better) we dragged ourselves out of our pits and set too putting the boat to rights.

The Genoa was bent back on, the cockpit tent stowed away and the lockers re-stowed. Finally, we got under way at a quarter to nine, rather later than intended.

We motored downriver surprised at how much wind there was given how sheltered it had been at anchor. Deciding discretion was the better part and all that, I put the first reef in the main before it was even hoisted.

Motoring out across the bar at the river mouth was a bit too exciting. Our late start meant it was well nigh the bottom of the tide and we only had inches under the keels and it was a bit bumpy to boot. We got away with it though and soon had reefed main and partial Genoa up as we bore away on the starboard tack to the South East.

Flat out sailing!

With a stiff breeze and a fair tide we made good progress through the minefields North of.Harwich. Yeah Gods there are a lot of pot markers around there! Eventually, we tacked to get around the North end of the Cutler holding well inshore before coming back around onto the other tack which took us nicely across the shipping lane well ahead of an incoming cargo ship. We actually crossed the lsne a good three miles ahead of the ship but of course he then crossed our track barely half a mile astern of us. We do 5 knots at best, he's eased back to ... 15!

Now it was tack for tack up the South side of the shipping lane. Rain was approaching from the South West so we skinned up in the nick of time. On our horizon in the rain we could just make out one of the sailing barges under full sail and we even managed to get some sort of photograph of it for once!

Once the rain passed, the wind dropped significantly so we shook out the reef in the main.

Dodging the other sailing boats, of which there were quite a few, we made our way gently upriver past the huge container ships at Felixstowe. It's quite sobering to consider that you could, with care, fit two Brigantias into just one 40' shipping container and these ships carry thousands of the things!

Calling up Suffolk Yacht Harbour on the VHF we arranged a berth for the night, dropped the sails and motored in. After booking in, a quick pint in the Lightship was followed by a snooze and a shower.

After dinner we returned to the Lightship and persisted with the beer even though it wasn't very good. I wouldn't be rushing back again and if I did it'd be something out of a bottle I think

2012 Summer Cruise - day 11

We finally got out of Southwold! It has been a lovely place to spend an extended spell in port but enough is enough. An early start was dictated in order to catch a fair tide southwards so we slipped our lines at twenty past seven and motored gently downriver on the last of the ebb tide.

Once clear of the harbour, it was up with the sails and off with the engine. A fair tide was good, a foul wind was fairly inevitable! Conditions were good though and we settled down to enjoy some brisk sailing in the sun on a sea that wasn't trying to get into the cockpit.

Rik spotted a porpoise frolicking in our wake. It was only there for a minute and we couldn't get a photo but it was a special moment - some people never see one at all.

As seems to be the way of things, by lunchtime the wind had got up and so had the seas. We rolled up some Genoa to calm things down only to set full sail again an hour later. Three quarters of an hour after that it was heave on that furling line and reef the damn thing again!

We made a tidy job of sailing across the bar and into Orford Haven. With the wind behind us now, we rolled away the Genoa and skated down the first reach of the Ore under main and tide alone! As we approached the divide in the river around Havergate Island, we started the engine and stowed the main before taking the right hand channel towards Orford Quay.

It being a pleasant afternoon we decided to explore up the River Alde and take a look at some if the recommended upstream anchorages. Alternatively we might be able to pick up a visitors mooring buoy.

We did see one visitors mooring below Aldeburgh but that was it and the anchorages above and below the mooring fields looked horribly exposed. With no pressing need to go ashore nor the inclination to inflate the canoe in order to do so we decided to go back down to our anchorage of the previous week.

We considered looking at the Butley River but the conditions off Abrahams Bosum looked good so we duly dropped the hook, this time ensuring we wouldn't sit on a lump of hard stuff in the middle of the night!
However, an hour later and after dinner had been cooked and eaten, the wind had kicked up quite a swell in the Ore which was coming around the corner and making life uncomfortable.

Nothing for it but to up anchor and shift the few hundred yards into the bottom end of the Butley River. Although very narrow, its a beautifully sheltered anchorage and we settled down again just as the rain started.

Ideally, we'd have put our feet up now but there was work to be done. With the cockpit tent erected, lighting arranged and the sailmakers kit retrieved from its locker, we dropped the Genoa and hauled its soggy unpleasant mass into the cockpit.

Several feet of stitching had come away along the edge of the UV strip and left unrepaired the whole lot would soon come adrift. A minor issue was the edge reinforcement around the tack cringle also needed stitching. A couple of hours with needle and palm fettled the job albeit only with some rough tack stitching. The UV strip needs replacing and the sail servicing this winter anyway, it can't be put off any longer.

We hit the sack just short of midnight with the anchor alarm set and an alarm call set for the turn of the tide.

2012 Summer Cruise - day 10

Our (hopefully) final day in port at Southwold. The day started with a Frosties bar breakfast before we drove up to the Southwold Model Railway Exhibition.

Glen is the big model railway enthusiast but Rik and I both had model trains as children and still have a passing interest. That whiled away a couple of hours then Glen dropped Rik off in town to pick up some essential supplies and me off back at the boat before heading for home.

The afternoon was spent on odd jobs. One key one was experimenting with using the main sheet tackle to host somebody back on board. A trial run with me in a lifejacket and Rik lifting me with the mainsheet clipped on to the D-ring worked well although it was far from being comfortable!

Decided we need a means of limiting the swing of the bloom with the mainsheet detached so purchased a spring clip that will run along a length of 10mm rope and put eye splices on each end of a suitable length of just that. Dropped over the stern cleats on either side of the aft deck and clipped on to the boom bail it limits the swing of the boom to the ideal arc.

The crucial job, of course, was fitting the new prop. Whilst the outboard was dismounted, I also chobbled away a bit more of the transom lip. Still haven't cut it back far enough though.

That job done, we fueled up, squeezing just over 3 litres into the main tank. We ditched the 20 litres of spare water under the cockpit floor as being surplus to requirements although we did refill several bottles and stow them around the tank in the forepeak.

A bit of sorting out below decks and a visit to the harbourmaster to pay our dues and we could declare ourselves as being in all respects ready for sea.

Dinner on board was followed by several beers in the Harbour Inn. We stayed later than we might have done as there was a folk session on the go. I resisted the temptation to stage a take over and made like an audience for once!

Tomorrow, we take the last of the ebb out of delightful Southwold around half seven in the morning and head South. Time, tide and wind will determine where we end up. Could be Orford Haven, the Deben or somewhere around Harwich/Felixstowe.

2012 Summer Cruise - day 9

Another day in port today.

Glen the Bosun arrived earlier than expected with the new prop so coffee and natter took up the morning before we walked up into Southwold via breakfast in the cafe on Blackshore.

Very breezy again today with proper waves with whitecaps on them rolling in. The harbour entrance looked a bit frightening to me but that didn't stop several yachts departing on the lunchtime tide. We had taken a walk out onto the pier and watched with interest as they battled to get sails up, battled to get anywhere in the conditions and eventually battled to get sails down again!

Meanwhile, having done the tourist bit, we had repaired to our natural environment and were supping pints of Adnams in the Lord Nelson. After sufficient beer to fortify ourselves for further exertions, we walked the mile or so back to the harbour entrance. The old lifeboat shed, originally from Cromer, was open so we went in to look at the usual collection of pictures and artefacts and the old Southwold lifeboat herself.

Rik and Glen headed back up the river whilst I wandered around to the North Pier to watch with interest a trimaran yacht surf back in to the harbour. A local boat so I guess he knew what he was doing but it looked a bit hairy to me. Mind you, I suspect no more so than our entrance on Thursday.

A bit of a rest on board and then we staggered the 20 yards or so to the pub for a meal and yet more Adnams.

Need to get back to sea to dry out!

2012 Summer Cruise - day 8

Here we sit in Southwold. There are worse places to be stuck I reckon, its quite nice here!

Its a real old working little harbour clinging precariously to the muddy banks of the River Blyth. Compared to a modern marina the facilities are basic but what we need is here. Although, much as I hate to be critical, the visitor mooring charges are a bit steep running out at much the same as a much more salubrious establishment.

However, that minor grumble aside the atmosphere is great, the river side workshops, fishermens huts and fish sellers are fascinating and the pub is pretty good!

Sailors Reading Room

A mile or so along the coast road and one finds oneself in Southwold town, somewhere that strangely I've never been (my work took me to most places in England outside of the far South West but never here)
Even quite full of tourists (I'm NOT a tourist, I'm a visiting mariner right!) the place has a nice feel to it and certainly didn't have the seedy run down air of so many seaside towns these days

Anyway, our new prop is awaiting collection in the morning - the Bosun is driving down to collect it and then coming up for a weekend on board. Sadly, he won't be getting any sailing in (we could go out early on Sunday morning but once we're out of here we won't be coming back in!) but there's beer and a model railway exhibition so hopefully he'll enjoy it!

Dinner has been eaten so there's only one thing left to do ... pub!

The pub!

2012 Summer Cruise - day 7

Set out from Lowestoft at 08:00 heading for Orford Haven. Quarter of an hour later we were sailing nicely and making good time.

An hour later we were putting in the first reef on a rising wind. Typically, half an hour later we were shaking it out again!

By lunchtime we'd lost the wind altogether. Sandwiches were prepared and eaten in a total calm albeit with quite a swell running. On with the engine at 12:30.

An hour later we were battling into the teeth of a full on F6 with steep and seriously big waves and a foul tide. Our VMG headed resolutely into negative figures and stayed that way on both tacks.

It was obvious by now that we couldn't make the tide for Orford Haven. Dialled up the course for Harwich looking at maybe Shotley for the night but that looked like being the early hours of the morning. To our annoyance, Lowestoft was only two and a half hours away so it was turn tail and head back North with a VMG of over 9 knots!

Rik queried whether we could make it into Southwold which we'd discussed as a possible destination before setting out from Lowestoft. So I set to working it out and laying off the course, we'd get there some two hours before low water which looked a little dicey but nothing ventured nothing gained. Calling up the harbour master for advice we got a go so went for it.

The approach to the harbour was interesting to say the least with rough seas, a huge tidal stream running entrance and the engine going full blast. The big tripper rib approached the entrance getting good air over the waves (and WE were out in THAT?!) and I'm sure could have gone in ahead of us without causing any issues but chose instead to circle around and follow us in. Once we got between the pier heads it was a real struggle to creep up river against the fill force of the ebb tide. The skipper of the rib warned us off the shallow bits and into the deep water which was much appreciated.

Gradually we made progress and crept up towards the visitor moorings where the very helpful harbour master was waiting to assist us in getting alongside. A tricky ferry glide, which I'm afraid led to me grabbing the tiller off Rik rather abruptly, put us against the staging and that was another fun day at sea over and done with!

After tidying up on deck, stowing the mainsail and sorting out mooring lines and fenders, we repaired to the pub for a well earned pint That led to another pint, some food then two more.

Todays' track log ...

On the face of it, the decision to tack at about 10:00 might be seen to have been a mistake. With the benefit of hindsight we might have been better served to continue as was even though it was taking us ever further offshore. That said, given the way the wind headed us and got up a couple of hours later, we'd have simply ended up being further from shelter than was actually the case.

Nb. For some reason not a single photograph was taken all day be either myself or Rik!