Summer cruise prep

Cruising recently has been foiled by a combination of scheduled concerts and bad weather.  Last week's window of opportunity looked like this:

Mirror Dinghy in still wind, rowing through a thunderstorm off Manningtree.

It wasn't only the rain: there was virtually no wind.  Several slow moving thunderstorms funnelled through Essex and Suffolk, successful in their bid to call a stop to sailing.  Still, having for the first time taken the opportunity to view the Stour from 'dry' land, the weather did eventually clear sufficiently for this panoramic view of Dovercourt Bay, often crossed by Daisy II as she sails between Harwich and Walton Backwaters.

Panoramic view of Dovercourt Bay

July 28th is the scheduled departure date for the summer cruise.  Today there was a welcome opportunity not only to sail but also to service some key pieces of kit, not least amongst them being the battery which hasn't been charged since the last launching at the end of May.  I also keep a number of 5 litre bottles of water, together with a 25 litre water tank; these needed to be cleaned through and refilled with fresh water.  The contents are only ever used for boiling in cooking and cleaning.  Fresh water comes from smaller bottles purchased in supermarkets.  All bottles have the handy second function of providing ballast, since they are arranged around - or, in the case of the large tank, forward of - the centre case.

Otherwise, today's sail was all about being afloat, sailing with no particular plan in mind and for as long as conditions allowed.  In the event, the forecast mid-afternoon rain failed to materialise and I sailed non-stop from mid morning until 5.30pm.
Key highlight of the day was seeing the latest Drascombe arrivals on the Orwell.  Coaster: Swift Tern in its unusual shade of pale blue has joined others at RHYC.

Coaster: Swift Tern

Meanwhile, lugger Millie has returned to her mooring at Pin Mill.

Lugger Millie

On 21st June, I wrote:

It really does seem that the local Drascombe population is approaching 'fleet' proportions.  At the latest count, we have no fewer than 5 coasters (Daisy II, Pamela Jean, Windsong, Valentine, Bounty), 2 luggers and 2 longboats at Pin Mill or just upstream at Royal Harwich Yacht Club/Woolverstone Marina.  Dinghy classes aside, I doubt if there is another more popular boat make.

So, to that list we can now add a sixth coaster and a third lugger!

I also met coaster Pamela Jean returning to the Orwell from an adventure somewhere.

Coaster Pamela Jean returning to the Orwell

19.4nm