Ascension cruise, 27-30 May

Cruising upstream on the River Stour in light winds, Day 2.  Fortunately, much of the very evident, rotten inland weather bypassed this part of the east coast!

OK, so the title is a bit pretentious but I was at anchor in the Walton Backwaters, listening to an Ascension Day service broadcast on Radio 4.  Just me, the boat, various seals and birds and the radio...

A 'still, small voice of calm' stretched out in the Landermere Creek, Walton Backwaters

One of the Drascombe folk at the recent Rutland Water rally commented that, when it comes to planning good weather, I had much to learn.  After this week, I'm beginning to wonder whether he may have a point.  In actual fact, whilst a low pressure system containing torrential rain parked itself over the East of England for the first three days, I only had a serious soaking on the first day, the remaining deluges occurring overnight.  Sunshine was in short supply, however, and ominous-looking clouds continually threatened from all quarters.  Oddly, however, with the exception of the final sail, wind was in short supply.  Day three involved exceptionally slow and patient sailing in which, with the luxury of time on my side, I was happy to indulge.

Total distance, 72.0nm.  Day 1: yellow; Day 2: red; Day 3: white; Day 4: blue.

Day 1: 27th May, Pin Mill to Landermere Creek, Walton Backwaters
This trip involved two enforced stops whilst heavy showers passed by.  At the second of these, I watched, through the mist, the marvel of a container ship docking.
What makes a picture?  Fair weather helps....

An arriving container ship almost lost in today's drizzle.

What it can look like, when the weather behaves... (taken some time last year!)

Showers were heavy and slow-moving; wind was correspondingly light but, NW in direction, was in my favour.  This was a relief since, when I had to use the motor to avoid a departing ferry, it made strange screeching sounds - clearly not on top form.  I resolved, therefore, only to use it where absolutely necessary for the remainder of the trip.

At anchor, Landermere Creek at the upper end of Hamford Water, Walton Backwaters.  Sea and sky meeting at the mouth of this delightful, sheltered sailing area.

10.7nm

Day 2: 28th May; Exploring Walton Backwaters; trip to Wrabness on the River Stour
Yesterday's weather, together with fairly continuous overnight rain and further drizzle in the morning resulted in damp gear!  I had a lazy start, taking in some reading, lots of breakfast, a bit of brunch and slow communications via an iphone with minimal signal.
Absolutely no wind this morning so, in the absence of a good pair of oars, I used the motor to explore the upper reaches of the Walton Backwaters.

One of those pictures that might easily work upside down...!  The upper reaches of the Walton Backwaters; at higher states of the tide, this basin fills out forming a shallow lagoon; this image looks west towards Landermere Quay and illustrates the perfect stillness of this morning

 Beyond Landermere Quay, the man-made Beaumont Cut takes one under some alarmingly low power cables to Beaumont Quay which, along with the adjacent Lime Kiln, has an interesting history.  The stones for the quay were apparently from Old London Bridge which was handily being demolished when the quay was being constructed in 1832.  It's difficult to imagine this quiet, inaccessible place as a centre of trade.

Beaumont Quay, with stones taken from Old London Bridge

Looking east towards Landermere, showing Beaumont Cut.  I reached this about 2 hours before HW.  Water quickly drains away at lower states of the tide. A power cable is just about visible.  On previous visits, it was thought that it might just be too low to prevent a coaster from reaching this point.  Daisy II comfortably glided beneath.  My guess is that this wouldn't present a huge problem for any Drascombe although it always pays to be careful!

Lime kiln

The skeleton of an old Thames Barge, a haunting relic of the former importance of this trading outpost.

On my return to Landermere Quay, a south easterly wind finally showed some signs of awakening.  I hoisted all sails possible, and sailed slowly round to Kirby Creek where the fresh ebb necessitated use of the outboard to reach The Wade, behind Horsey Island, before it dried out.  I then sailed across The Wade, past Titchmarsh Marina into Twizzle Creek and down Walton Channel.  Exiting the Backwaters, I reached across Dovercourt Bay, into Harwich and up the Stour.  Progress was always slow although, as stated above, I had the time and was content to watch, listen and appreciate...

Sailing slowly past Parkestone Quay, Harwich

Intended anchorage reached around 7pm - on the west side of Wrabness.

19.8nm

Day 3: 29th May, visit to Manningtree; return to Walton Backwaters

A lazy start whilst the lunchtime tide allowed access to the upper reaches of the Stour.  Winds picked up from where they left off yesterday - light and easterly.  Around three hours before HW, I glided round Mistley Quay, still shamefully and utterly inelegantly fenced off to prevent access to cruising boats and, in so doing, destroying any lingering charm this soulless place might once have had.

Mistley Quay from its most flattering angle.  Everything else is shamefully fenced off.  

 There was just sufficient water to sail round to the first few moorings at Manningtree.  So I dropped anchor for elevenses to allow the tide to work its wonders and then explored the two upper arms of the Stour.  Any further progress would have necessitated dropping the mast in order to duck beneath the railway viaducts.

Railway viaducts marking the navigational limits of the River Stourr

Then it was time for a wonderful beat up the Stour, and some video fun.  Here, on the port tack, as I sail SE with Manningtree as a backdrop:

And, then, 'hove-to' as I prepare a little late lunch in Copperas Bay:

With nothing better to do, and a day left in which to do it, I decided to return to the Walton Backwaters for the night. An interesting spectacle in Harwich harbour was an extremely smoky container ship docking and creating plumes of diesel smoke covering the entire harbour and consuming Old Harwich.

A poor advert for clean shipping.

The north easterly breeze helped me across Dovercourt Bay as I reached a favourite anchorage adjacent to Honey Island, tucked safely inside the Walton Backwaters once again.

24.8nm

Day 4: 30th May, return to Pin Mill in lumpy seas!
The calculated risk in returning to the Backwaters was that the forecast F4 NE winds, beginning to gust, would not prevent a return across Dovercourt Bay.  These conditions create a very lumpy sea and, in the event, I just about got away with it.
Leaving the anchorage at 6am, I finally made it back to Pin Mill for a late breakfast at around 10.15am!  Winds were F4 gusting F5 and the passage back to Harwich did not disappoint with its lumpiness.  Daisy II behaved impeccably, of course, and I enjoyed sailing closer to the Harwich shoreline than usual.
In the earlier stages, I managed a couple of pieces of video, one on either tack.  Looking back, of course, these pieces of photography never quite seem to capture the conditions.

Later on, as I approached Beacon Cliff breakwater, conditions were much gustier and rather too challenging to be both sailing and filming!  I sailed the entire way - once leaving Kirby Creek, I furled the mizzen and used single reefed main and put a couple of rolls in the jib - resolutely denying the outboard any chance of involvement.  With the wind on the nose for almost the entire distance, this was one of those memorably challenging sails - rather more pleasant to look back upon than to be involved in at the time - there was a palpable measure of relief once I rounded Collimer Point on the Orwell, with the wind finally on the stern quarter.

16.2nm, 58 tacks!