July 31st, Orwell

Running with the tide towards the Orwell Bridge

Mark gaining practice at the helm...

Our GPS track

Sailing with brother-in-law Mark. Unusual for me to be sailing with extra ballast on board...! The forecast was for light F2 winds but, in the event, things were much windier. It was one of those gustier days where the wind just couldn't make up its mind, and varied from S to SW, F2 to f5 gusts.

We started off with full sail, but I soon hove-to and put in a reef. We then tacked our way down to Levington using the last of the ebb, and anchored for lunch on the south side of the Orwell, opposite Levington Marina. The wind showed no signs of abating, so we then picked up the flood tide on a long run all the way into Ipswich docks, and then motored our way back against the full flood to the mooring. Interesting speed attained at full throttle, for a brief period, against the tide of almost 6knts. Most of the time, we settled at lower revs at a speed of about 4.3knts. These are real speeds relative to land, measured by GPS. The paddle wheel on the echo-sounder is currently gunged up with fouling, so doesn't work which is why the photos show the depth, but seem to indicated zero speed... I hope to do something about this next Friday.

Total distance for the day measured at 13.0nm

Total for season 156.5nm

Next sail will, weather permitting, be a 5 day trip starting on Friday 7th August.