It's always good to begin a school holiday with a quick cruise. As soon as the kids had cleared the school gates, the coast beckoned. Three hours later, provisions purchased, I was casting off from the mooring.
Tuesday 21st July
Conditions were SW but rather gusty, and I wasn't brave enough to venture out to sea, content with a few legs up and down the Orwell. Eventually, I retired to the mooring for evening victuals and a reasonably early night.
A disorganised cockpit!
Wednesday 22nd July
Surfacing at dawn, I sailed with the ebb downstream to a choppy Harwich Harbour. Cutting the corner round Landguard point, I sailed up the coast.
Morning sunshine off Felixstowe
At Woodbridge Haven I negotiated the entrance without resorting to the engine - possibly a first for me, but then conditions were perfect! This video was taken once safely past the various shoals.
I then spent the day sailing up to Woodbridge and then returning to an anchorage just south of Falkenham Creek. As the day progressed, conditions became more gusty, my newly acquired wind speed instrument featuring several F6 blasts as the lugger Moondance graced its way downstream to its mooring at Felixstowe Ferry. The skipper is braver than I; these sorts of winds don't agree with me - I'd rather watch!
Lugger Moondance on the Deben, under full sail, heeling over during F6 gusts. Interestingly, nearly every other boat was well reefed.
Later that evening, post-supper, conditions abated slightly, and I set off downstream, bound for a late evening jaunt to the Walton Backwaters. This leg was the only part of the trip where I made serious use of the engine. As I approach the shipping channel off Harwich, three ships decided to depart and one container ship arrived. It is quite incredible how quickly the container ship was travelling. Adopting the cautious approach, I hove to whilst these ships passed before proceeding, arriving in Hamford Water by 10pm.
Dusk off Harwich, bound for the Walton Backwaters
Wednesday, July 23rd
I didn't trouble the engine on the return to Harwich. Winds were very light SW at first, predictably becoming stronger as I cleared the breakwater into Harwich Harbour. Several ships were in port but none were in motion and the sail into the Orwell passed by without incident and under full sail.
Huntingford helm impeder complete
Here's what the local birds managed in 24 hours of my absence...
This is a log of sailing activities aboard Daisy II, a 22ft Drascombe Coaster No.280. Formerly named Aquarius, she was built in July 1997 by Honnor Marine(UK) Ltd of Totnes, Devon. The original Daisy, a Devon Lugger, was purchased in 2005 following an unexpectedly early opportunity to realise a mid-life crisis! Daisy II, with cabin, afforded more scope for overnight stops, and was purchased at the end of 2006.
For several seasons she was moored at Pin Mill on the River Orwell, Suffolk. More recently, the trailer sailing option, utilising a versatile ‘roller coaster’ road trailer, has extended the sailing range. Over the years, we have sailed from various locations off the south coast from Cornwall to Hampshire, a number of inland reservoirs and the Norfolk Broads. However, her key stamping ground is the east coast, usually based around the Harwich area and reaching destinations ranging from North Kent up to Southwold, whilst also launching on the North Norfolk coast at Wells next the Sea. Most recently, a trip from Harwich to Whitby has served only further to whet the appetite: perhaps, one day, Daisy II might complete her journey, in small stages of course, around the UK!
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