Renegade of Ipswich

Renegade Log 2014-2016

To publish your logs please send your write-up and photos to David W.

Wood-bridge too far?....29-30 October 2016

Crew: Tony Elliott, David Higginson, David Wells

With a midday HW and practically zero wind our options for the weekend were limited. The Deben or the Ore were candidates; this narrowed to the Deben when we heard the Ore buoys had just been removed for the season.

With tides of 3.8 – 4.0 metres, it looked that a first visit to Woodbridge might be possible, even with tidal heights suppressed by the forecast 1036 high pressure, provided it was viable both to negotiate a charted 1.9m drying shoal approaching Deben YC and to exit the Deben Bar at HW+1. A post on the YBW East Coast forum quickly drew helpful responses, included from a Deben based 1.83m keeler and another yacht whose mooring was in the vicinity of the shoal. Conclusion was unanimously positive.

We departed SYH at 0930, a little later than planned, with the Orwell an oily millpond and motor-sailed down river. A seabird (Turnstone in winter plumage is my best shot) took advantage of Renegade’s foredeck to take a few minutes rest before continuing its passage across to the Shotley shore. We had anticipated cloudy conditions but the sun quickly burned through the early murk and it was warm enough to sail in just a couple of light base layers most of the time.

We made good time to the Woodbridge Haven SWB, Tony helming us in around half an hour before HW. The East Knoll is covered at HW this season and the entrance is much narrower than previous years. This is very evident when leaving the SHB to parallel the shore; it is important to keep pretty close in. Had we not been totally focussed on navigation we would have taken some helpful photos...still it is practically the end of the season. 

The weather was glorious as we dashed up the Deben at around 6.5 knots with the push of the flood. Amongst the Horse Sand moorings, we spotted the Orford Haven buoys on the deck of a local work boat. The tree-clad landscape was still quite verdant, with the merest tint of autumn colour, beautifully bathed in the autumn sunshine. It was a real blessing to be out on the water.

We had notes for the pilotage right up to Woodbridge from East Coast Pilot and followed this carefully, especially in the latter reaches with the shallowest depths coinciding with the falling tide. Our forecast ETA at the Tidemill cill was 1245, around half an hour after HW. We called ahead to Steve the friendly HM for a berth and to double check we could pass over the cill OK. Steve confirmed that a 1245 entry would be fine and that our calculated ‘absolute latest’ of 1310 really was as late as we should cut it. As the ebb kicked in we just added a few more revs, arriving at the cill within a minute of our ETA.

It’s worth noting that neither ECP nor the Admiralty charts include all the buoys laid and many of the buoys are quite small, with several of them well hidden among mooring buoys (some of which are red and confusable  at distance with PHBs) or behind moored boats. In some stretches only the moorings themselves indicate where the main fairway lies. Suffice to say that great care is required not to wander astray or to miss a buoy. Happily all was well on this passage.

Once safely tied up in the marina, we celebrated our successful arrival with a beer, relaxing  in the cockpit in the warm sunshine, followed by a tasty lunch of creamy vegetable soup and spinach tortellini in spicy Arrabbiata sauce – very good. David H took advantage of the time available to trim the diesel filler gasket and to give the batteries a good charge on shore power (Marina now £30 for the night with £2 for electricity).

After lunch was cleared away we decided to wander into town. We had picked up a mini town guide from the display in the shower block. Woodbridge is a very pleasant town and very up and coming judging by the huge number of estate agents in the town. We walked up to the Market Square, returning via the High Street, then branched off towards the river, crossing the station footbridge and wandering through the boatyard and it’s collection of vintage pocket cruisers for sale, most of them ‘projects’ and a surprising number bearing ‘Sold’ stickers.  

It was around 1500 when we reached the river. It was interesting to see the route we had taken to get in, with the mud much more evident now, even though it was only half ebb. We had a good stroll along the river, rueing that neither Deben YC or Woodbridge CC was open – either would have been a lovely spot for a beer overlooking the river. We wandering back, popping into the Adnams’ shop (but not buying...) and taking a recommendation for the Cherry Tree for a good pint of Adnams. It’s a shame there is no riverside pub here.

Back at the boat later, Tony performed his usual magic in the galley, conjuring up a delicious chicken curry with poppadoms and Naan bread, plus samosas and pakoras on the side. It was a very welcome meal, enjoyed in the cockpit, after our couple of hours walking around town. We retreated to the saloon for an apple and rhubarb pie desert, as it had started to get nippy and damp. Coffee and red wine rounded off the evening in the glow of the last of the lamp oil and the last few inches of wick. We joked that dinner was all done before 2100!

By this time a blanket of unforecast fog had descended to shroud Renegade and the whole marina. The Tide Mill just across the marina was now barely visible. We discussed the implications for the passage home. It was expected to lift in the morning according to a revised forecast. We had estimated that we could clear the cill at around 1145 and we wanted to fill up with diesel, so would slip at 1100 and make out way to the fuel pontoon and get some more gas too. If the fog failed to lift we fortunately had a Memory Map track on iPad of the route in, which we could retrace out. We turned in before 2300 for a good night’s sleep with the benefit of the extra hour.

We all rose around 0700, still shrouded in fog (weather not heads) and took advantage of the very good showers to freshen up. After tea and granola, we opted to take another walk along the river towards Melton. The fog had pretty much lifted by this time. We returned to Renegade for Tony to cook a very welcome full English. David W headed off to check the tide gauge and was surprised to find 1.5m already over the cill. The HM was equally surprised – it was running at least half an hour ahead of the tide table. We could exit around 1100 he reckoned.  How typical that a leisurely start becomes a bit of a rush! But we didn’t want to miss the chance to exit or waste the deeper water for our exit back down the Deben. We decided to defer refuelling until SYH, cleaned down the decks and cockpit, did engine checks and were able to enjoy breakfast, slipping before tea was supped, exiting at 1115.

The sun again broke through, though it was a tad fresher than Saturday. There were quite a few yachts heading down river too or heading in to moorings or for lay-up? An uneventful passage downriver using our track for guidance, exiting at HW+1, breaking water visible on the East Knoll aswe headed out across the Bar, the strong northerly tidal set pushing us off the transit between the two PHBs, enough to register 1.8m before further correction – shallow enough on a falling tide!

We made SYH by 1500, tidying and cleaning underway as we all had late afternoon commitments, refuelled, refilled the stern greaser and attempting but failing to buy more gas, before clearing the boat with military efficiency and leaving around 1545.

A complete lack of sailing but a glorious Autumn weekend on and by the water.

Renegade Cruise 12th August to 19th August 2016

The Crew: David Higginson; Sam Higginson; John Strong; Miles Hornsby; Charlie Triggs

We went overnight Friday 12th August to Ostend; short stopover in Ostend to take in a free festival and then on to Dunkerque, Boulogne, Ramsgate, Burnham and back to SYH (what appears to be wallpaper is in fact the North Sea on the map / chart below)

Highpoints...

Fast night sail to Ostend on the first night – departed Levington 10pm arrived Ostend 14 hours later.

We enjoyed a free festival and music in Ostend.

We had great food and Belgian beer in the Royal Yacht Club Ostend.

Great fast sail down the French coast to Boulogne 

Another fast sail back across the channel to Ramsgate.

David cooked some fantastic food on board.

Fast passages all the way rarely less than 6-7 knots average.

Great meal in old town Boulogne for 15euros each – 3 courses included moules, steak frites and crème brulee.

The Thai restaurant in Ramsgate was £95 all up.

We found a very cheap Indian restaurant in Burnham on Crouch

Blackwater Cruise

Crew – David and Rebecca Wells - 29th July - 2nd August 2016

Another long weekend for Rebecca and me. Having undertaken longer passages to Kent last time out, alternative plans for the Deben and Ore, or the Blackwater were discussed. I think it was the mention of a 2100+ exit from Woodbridge in order to be able to exit the Deben on the morning HW, that swayed her into a Blackwater preference.

The initial idea was to anchor in Pyefleet on Friday night, Tollesbury on Saturday, Heybridge Basin on Sunday and our beloved West Mersea to break the return passage on Monday. I then looked at the practicalities of making the Heybridge HW lock-in after the constraint of clearing the cill at Tollesbury and a foul tide by the time we made the Blackwater. It didn't wash...

So we elected for an afternoon departure from SYH on Friday to make a pre-HW entry to Tollesbury that evening, and to overnight in Bradwell on Saturday which would allow decent flexibility in departure time to get upriver to Heybridge in time.

Friday 1230 saw us slipping our lines at SYH. Winds were just where we didn't want them, from the SW so it was a case of motor sailing to ensure we reached Tollesbury in time. It was a bit of a slog. I had not visited Tollesbury before because of an Admiralty charted 2.3m drying height on the approach channel. However when I mentioned this to Roger Gaspar, he advised that this is an anomaly and the max drying height in the approach is actually around 1.1m.

We reached the Nass beacon, diverting from the usual West Mersea approach to head off to port from the no. 6 PHB into the South Channel. The channel is reasonably well buoyed although the turn to starboard after the no. 11 SHB was a little ambiguous but we found our way in (outside the channel according to my older iPad electronic charts!) and into the Leavings, formerly the home of the local fleet of smacks.

I had calculated from the Tollesbury tide tables that we should be able to pass over the cill at around 1920. We had arrived early so picked up a vacant mooring buoy, the white conical waiting buoys all being taken by the time we arrived.

There are three tide gauges indicating the height over the cill - one in The Leavings, one in Woodrolfe Creek approaching Tollesbury and one at the cill itself.

All are marked in feet and once the mark below "6" is covered, Renegade can clear the cill at this depth. We had to jill around outside the entrance though as the required height was not reached until 1955, half an hour plus beyond the forecast time.

On the way out next morning however, applying the principle of the predicted depth at the time we entered to arrive at an 0905 exit, we found nearly seven feet as we passed over the cill, progressing quickly but carefully out before HW was reached just over half an hour later. Even on this near Spring tide 1.8m depths were encountered in the approach, though we had no sensation of touching or ploughing.

The prominent red lightship in the saltings is run by FACT - Fellowship Afloat Christian Fellowship. They provide day and residential sailing experience to all ages but especially youngsters - we passed their fleet of Wayfarers both on the way in and out. They also run the drying Tollesbury Saltings moorings and won an award for their renovation of the Edwardian Sail Lofts which now provides a modest income which, combined with donations and course fees, allowed it to break even last year.

We had some frustration on getting in as our allocated berth C27 in the tight marina was taken. We headed back to hail the helpful off duty HM aboard his houseboat. He advised us to take C10 which when we reached it was also taken. We gave up and took the vacant B1 at the landward end of the marina - a very acceptable and quiet berth.

We had booked a 2030 table in the Harbour Bistro, reading some good Tripadvisor reviews, and had just a few minutes to spruce up and head there. It offers commanding views over the marina and the food was very good - tasty Sea Bass fir Rebecca and garlic and rosemary Lamb Chop with creamed potato and leek for me - thoroughly enjoyed with a couple of pints of Maldon Gold and Sauvignon Blanc for Rebecca.

A beautiful sunny morning on Saturday as we exited Tollesbury and navigated back to the Nass.

In very light winds and no time constraints, we unfurled the genoa and ghosted, at some points stationary, against the ebb over to Bradwell. This was to be a pottering kind of cruise rather than mile-gobbling.

We entered Bradwell soon after midday before the Creek would become untenable an hour or do later. It did seem a little reduced in depth (juat after the SHB) since our last visit last season but we got in OK.

We had planned to walk to St Peters in the Wall, the ancient 7th C chapel built on a Roman wall, one of the oldest churches in Britain. We had a 6 mile walk printed out from the web but decided to modify it to walk only around the sea-wall, and not make it a circular walk. We tarried a while for an unforecast heavy shower to pass over. We started off along the sea wall near the sailing club.

It was a hot day and the walk became a bit of a slog so we stopped short and explored the beach just shy of Sale Point. It was a beautiful panorama with sea lavender colouring the salt marsh.

It was a hot day and the walk became a bit of a slog so we stopped short and explored the beach just shy of Sale Point. It was a beautiful panorama with sea lavender colouring the salt marsh.

We returned for a little chill time and showers before drinks in the cockpit, heading off for dinner in the Green Man at 2000. (The Cricketers gets the better reviews now but it's a 30 minutes walk from the marina). We opted for the rib eye steak with all the trimmings, great value at £12.50. Mine was as good as last time I had enjoyed it here. Rebecca's lacked the same exterior 'crusting' and was not quite as good, but the Green Man is still generally a good option particularly if you reserve a table in the buzzy bar.

(By the way, did you know that Bradwell Marina was set up in the 60s with funding from Sean Connery, Roger Moore and Bobby Moore the England football captain? News to me too…)

On Sunday we were up for an 0800 departure. Another gorgeous morning with decent breeze from the NNW backing to the W. We had a cracking 7 knot close reach up to The Doctor when we couldn't lay the tack further upriver.

With the lock keeper ideally wanting us locking in around 1013, we furled the genoa and motor sailed the last couple of reaches, arriving just ahead of lock-in. Radioing in on Ch 80 we were asked to hold station before being asked to approach, the traffic light oddly staying on red.

It was Rebecca's first time into a lock and she did really well rigging lines both sides and passing them up to the helpful weekend volunteers.

We were told that contrary to a previous email arrangement we could not lay in the lock but were directed to the first berth on the starboard bank immediately beyond the lock. We entered heading upstream, as the wind was directly ahead, as it was forecast to be for the next morning, so we could spring out if need be. The option of facing to seaward and departing with the granite wall of the lock just a couple of ahead with a following wind didn’t greatly appeal.  

We relaxed for a while with coffee and cake in the hot sunshine before venturing off later for an hour's walk with a picnic lunch along the sea wall, opposite Maldon's Promenade Park and Hythe, returning via Heybridge proper and the canal which is very verdant and tranquil beyond the basin. We chatted with the couple on another visiting boat, an Albin Vega based in Conyer Creek and a chap who had been cruising with Maldon Little Ship Club with Murray the previous week (Well done on a convincing victory over Tolllesbury CC in the Buxey Ashes Murray!)

Oddly we noticed later on that the seaward lock gates were open and a crowd had gathered around the lock edge. We joined them to see what was going on. Down below the lock was virtually empty with just a layer of ooze and a couple of deeper mounds of mud either side of the gates. And down there was a young guy, maybe the deputy lock master? In just his swim shorts and short wellies (he told me later he’d been assured that ‘waders’ were available).

It seems that they had found the gates to be obstructed by something. Numerous small and some substantial branches were retrieved from the mud, one or two looking like withies from the approach channel, and hoisted to the lockside in a large shopping bag. Some passers by got very confused and worried by the scene and created their own stories: “I think someone’s fallen into the canal”….”Looks like someone’s dog has fallen in” ventured one dog walker.

We elected to eat on board that night. A raft of three family boats opposite had been drinking together pretty much since tying up and became more loud, albeit friendly. Rose wine had followed beers, and prosecco corks had resounded regularly across the basin. They finally stopped me on returning from the toilet block to tell me that they had followed us into Tollesbury on Friday, seen us in Bradwell on Saturday, and now found us in Heybridge. Where were we all heading the next night?...West Mersea! They invited me and "my missus" to join them for drinks, waving a bottle of caramel flavoured vodka in my general direction. I thanked them but said that we were just off for a wander then eating dinner aboard. Inviting us to join them later on, I muttered something about turning in early. “You’ll only complain later” was the interesting response…

We slid back to the boat quietly after our walk along the sea wall and kept ourselves well under the sprayhood. The party had managed to reel in a visiting Dutch couple and conversation had turned to Brexit: "It doesn't mean we don't like you....we'll still go to France for our holidays”...A bulging,  clanking bin bag thudded into the waste bin from their boats next morning,  but I was impressed with their boat handling next morning as they turned and entered the lock given the previous day's consumption.

We were the second lock out the next morning. Grant, who has taken over from Martin as the lock keeper, started loading for the first boats soon after 1030. This included the Dutch boat as they were aiming to cross the cill at Tollesbury over the same HW.

Several visiting boats locked in. We noted the speed and confidence with which they headed out of the lock and turned to moor opposite, facing to seaward. One helm was even managing his tender painter at the same time, with outboard shipped. One boat was crewed by an older couple. He blatted out of the lock and turned assuredly to raft up against another new arrival. With his boat speed and with the wind now behind him, he couldn't slow the boat sufficiently and leapt off the bow to apply his shoulder to the stem to minimise the crunching impact that resulted...not the best arrival! I was glad I had chosen to moor into the wind.

We needed to turn around to enter the lock. Of course the wind had freshened and had backed overnight to hamper our turn into the canal. I was going to spring out but the wind helpfully veered at the last minute, so I elected to 'sprong' off, motoring forward against the stern line with the tiller hard over until the bow cleared the moored boats ahead, then slipping the stern and motoring out. We turned in the space vacated by boats in the first lock out and joined the other three boats in the lock. Even though he had none of his weekend volunteers, Grant moved swiftly from boat to boat, taking their lines.

We had heard from other crews and seen from the web that the forecast for Tuesday had deteriorated, with high gusty winds and varying degrees of deluge forecast from Monday night. So we had decided reluctantly to skip Mersea and return directly to the Orwell. It was. A mixed passage with periods of light wind sailing in short sleeves, some fresher winds, a little goose-winging and bouts of motor sailing. The wind really started kicking in as we approached Harwich and we raced in under main and furled genoa, arriving in SYH around 1830, managing to get our gear ashore and the boat cleaned through, departing before the rain really hammered down.

A very enjoyable few days all in all. One new port for me, two for Rebecca, and a pleasant blend of sailing and exploration ashore.

Kent Virgins

Crew – David and Rebecca Wells with Andrew Wells and Trine Hansen - 24th - 28th June 2016

Rebecca and I finally broke our 'Kent duck' over an extended weekend's cruise. In the days running up to our embarkation the winds had looked good, in the W/NNW for the outbound  passage, swinging round to a following SW for the return. Of course such a wind shift indicated a weather system tracking across the UK and yes, the winds turns southwesterly and stayed there in the final couple of days. In fact when outbound the apparent wind delighted in clinging doggedly to Renegades bows at every change of course.

Work commitments meant we arrived at SYH just after the rush hour with just fifteen minutes to load up before adding off for our 2000 table at the Ship Inn. We are finding that the more straightforward dishes are the ones to opt for - the Spaghetti Vongole,  which I love, was decent but not great.

After a decent night's sleep aboard, Rebecca and I slipped at 0730 Saturday and followed the 'Crossing the Thames Estuary'  route via the Wallet, Spitway, Swin, across the Yantlet Channel and via the edge of the Medway Channel into Sheerness.

It was a 9 hour passage given not perfect tidal timing to avoid a pre-dawn start and being rather constrained in arrival time to meet my son and seasickness-prone partner (not the one of 'Mal de Mersea' fame). Despite some broody clouds in the distance around us, we enjoyed long sunny spells and the forecast mid afternoon did not materialise. We motor-sailed the entire passage.

The shipping was fairly sparse and presented little challenge as we headed across the Yantlet and skirted the Medway channel. We were rather warm in our foulies donned in anticipation of the rain.

However the heavens darkened as we entered the Medway and we saw rain squalls to the south of us followed by a rumble of thunder and a flash of lightning. Now in a degree of lee approaching Sheerness, we dropped the main as we motored into wind, making towards the wreck site of the Montgomery. It was here that the squalls and lightning increased, giving rise to quite a bow-burying chop. It was a sobering thought, passing this massive, unstable munitions dump with the Liberty ship's masts the blue touchpaper waiting for a stray bolt!

As the lightning passed by, the chartplotter, which we were using for course to steer suddenly died. Was this the effect of the electrical storm we wondered? The lightning had not seemed too close and we hadn't felt the need to rush electronics into the oven as a precaution. Fortunately we had an iPad on a hatch mounted ram mount with the course loaded so we navigated in on this.

We edged across the tide into the Swale as the wind over tide conditions were sending some boisterous waves down the Medway which I did not want to take on the beam. It was still lively as we reached Queenborough and called our son, Andrew who had just arrived. We were 15 minutes ahead of the CTTE predicted arrival time. After a fishing boat had unloaded and departed the all-tide landing (ATL) we came in alongside in the 20 minute loading spot directly in front of the access gangway. Andrew and partner Trine had bought their £1 tokens from the HM and made their way down. Trine looked nervous - it's was still very choppy and squally. They has encountered and filmed hail the size of golf balls falling as they came over the Sheppey road bridge.  We reassured her that the forecast was for a quiet evening and they came aboard. We sprung off to counter the pressing wind with strong reverse revs to clear the pontoon. We were making for a nearby vacant buoy to wait for the weather to turn, when calm conditions returned and the sun re-emerged so it was back to plan A and a cruise along the Medway.

I had hoped to make Upnor Castle and to make the Chatham Lock approach our turning point but the original crew was getting tired and hungry, and the sky ahead looked increasingly broody, so we turned earlier, returning with the tide to nose into Stangate Creek.

There were yachts anchored just in the mouth but we headed deeper in. A few yachts were already anchored around Slaughterhouse Point and also in The Shade, so we located a spot with decent shelter just shy of the Point and anchored in eight metres. Drinks were enjoyed in the cockpit as we watched the Thames barge, Edith May creep along the shallows and turn in towards her berth at Lower Halstow,  before rain showers forced us into the homely saloon for a pre-prepared Moussaka dinner.

Sunday morning was a restful affair, a bit of a lie-in followed by a full English before the short passage back into the Swale towards Queenborough. The original plan was to drop the two crew back off here but it was such a lovely warm day with gentle breezes that they elected to stay aboard for a later dinghy transfer.

This meant that Rebecca and I would miss out on visiting Queenborough ashore although Andrew suggested I was not missing very much at all. I believe though it was an important Navy town in earlier centuries.

In time we were able to kill the engine and ghost down to Kingsferry lifting bridge under genoa.

On Sundays they usually lift at 15 minutes past the hour and we were in good time for the. 1315 lift but were advised that this might be at 1330 due to engineers on site, but as we tacked away, the bridge started lifting so we turned back and headed under behind a local pocket cruiser.

I had opted for the 1315 lift to give enough rise of tide for some 0.2m patches at CD we would need to navigate. It was a lovely relaxing sail in short sleeves with a picnic lunch in the cockpit enroute, the only decisions being which side of the channel to use at each turn to keep the genoa  filled and the wind safely on the desired quarter. The Swale, aside from Grovehurst Jetty and Ridham Dock is much less industrial than the Swale.

With just a couple of seals and a variety of sea-birds for company, we finally reached Harty Ferry at about 1600. I didn't quite understand the fabled attraction of this mooring/anchorage other than a lack of others in the Swale for deep-keelers. The Ferry House Inn is now a wedding venue and gastro pub and no longer offers showers to yachties. The crew booked a taxi while we prepared the Avon and we soon had them ashore and Queenborough bound, as we returned to move R to a deeper, vacant club berth on the opposite side of the Swale for the night.

On Monday morning we stowed the Avon properly and after breakfast, slipped our mooring around 1100 planning to make for Brightlingsea for showers and possibly dinner ashore.With the falling tide and low depths very much in mind we steered a careful course to the mouth of the West Swale, nosing in a little closer at Horse Sands to see the seal colony hauled out there.

With distant Whitstable to starboard we made for the SW corner of the Kentish Wind farm, skirting its Western fringe. The extension of the wind farm has left quite a narrow channel here between the turbines and the shallows of Red and Middle Sands.

Today the winds although not unfavourably following were mostly very light so it was hand in wallet again and on with the engine.

A rather dull passage aside from the views of the Shivering and Red Sand Towers and a bit more crossing shipping. As we approached the Spitway we accepted we would not really have time to go ashore, and the lure of Mersea became too strong. It was a long haul mind against the ebb heading into the Blackwater before we tied in our favourite Saltcott spot. As lovely as ever.

On Tuesday morning we set off around 0700 with breakfast underway. Winds were light and had a bit more north in them but we were able to steer an inshore course just outside the 2m contour with good views of the Essex coastline, making SYH by 1300. We then spent a few hours sorting the boat and investigating the chartplotter issue, realising that some battery monitor readings we had thought to be anomalies and some dim cabin lights the night before might be indicative of issues with the domestic batteries, as David H subsequently confirmed.

All in all a good cruise, if a little too much under motor. It increased the confidence of Trine in that river sailing can be just fine and it served to tick the Medway and Swale off my list. It was great to have an extra couple of days to achieve this, just like the retired among us...

Renegade Cruise North Sea Circuit June 2016.

Crew – David Higginson, Murray Smithson, Phil Meredith

Route SYH to Ostend; Neiuwport; Ramsgate; SYH. 216 miles over four passages.

Departed SYH 02.00 hours BST Saturday18th June arrived Ostend 19.00 hours BST.

Friday night meal at the Ship Inn; managed to get some sleep for three hours before getting up bleary eyed and crept out of SYH. Funnily enough the morning seemed to last forever whereas the afternoon went by quite quickly – that happens when a morning starts at 2am.

Ostend is a very friendly place and we were warmly welcomed at the Royal Yacht Club Ostend. Good pontoon berths at far end of harbour. Marine Police made a visit and went through the Ships papers in detail but very nice people. Excellent food in the Harbour restaurant. For our second night we bought fish from the market – very cheap.

Weather for the rest of the week was suspect so we decided to route south calling at Neiuwport and then push on back to Ramsgate.

Miserable wet (but mercifully short) sail down the coast to Neiuwport and stayed the night in a mega Marina (VVWN) but it does have a fantastic restaurant.

Left Neiuwport at 5am – great sailing down the costal route which requires some serious pilotage around various shoals albeit well buoyed – and arrived in Ramsgate about 7 hours later. Had a great meal in the Thai restaurant under the RTYC. However Murray did get “scarred” by the spectre of Mafia Miles and his girlfriend spoiling his sea view.

In order to beat the unpredictable weather left Ramsgate in the afternoon on Wednesday and arrived SYH at 10pm.

 Leaving black deep heading west

Sunset heading west to Harwich

Notes

Brian Navin North Sea Pilot is essential reading to get best passage plan through the shipping lanes and timings. This is aligned with Imray C30 chart which shows the passages (C30 is in library)

Routes are in chart plotter but these are not perfect so if using, use with caution.

Belgium apparently still has red diesel issue but we did not have problems. Advice is to have white diesel in the jerry can and keep all fuel receipts which are in ships papers.

Ostend and Neiuwport: - entry is easy but best to approach first time in daylight. 

Other - Did various odd jobs during the week:-

Repaired lazarette door

Refilled stern gland greaser.

Interior deep clean / polish and cockpit deep clean

Fridge not working – probably a bad connection block but did not fix.

Replaced the broken light above port side quarter berth (used seamark credit note)

Bought new ensign (used seamark credit note)

Fixed stern light

Replaced a broken saucepan

Adjusted the replacement heads grating – just needs a fillet of wood to fix permanently as a replacement.

In Local Waters

Crew – David, Rebecca Wells and Family - 13th to 15th May 2016

My original thought for the weekend was to explore the Deben or Ore. I fired off an early email to the honorary Ore port pilot and Orford harbourmaster (and ex-landlord of the Jolly Sailor) Philip Attwood for the latest advice on entry, which is not to get too close to the buoys as the spits extend further into the channel this season than the buoys might suggest. He also confirmed that he does offer a trot service, subject to his other duties at the time, at £1 per person each way. Handy if, despite the benefits of David H's new floorboards, you don't fancy hauling out the tender. You also need to call ahead for a visitor mooring, giving the LOA, draught and displacement (4.5 tons).

On a more precise check of the tide times and my workload however, I realised that it would just be too cheeky to abandon work for the required lunchtime departure from SYH. But the Deben might be achievable, entering shortly before HW, leaving the contingency of a little rise of tide in case of any issues with the narrower channel this season. A check of the forecast on Friday morning though revealed that not only were F5s forecast at the time of entry but gusts would be touching F7. Not wise I concluded.

The family didn't fancy one of Dad's longer passages, and we all were feeling rather jaded from our week, so we opted to stay local. We walked via Levington Creek to the Ship Inn for dinner on Friday night. It's a half hour brisk walk around the marina and along the river before following the creek inland. I wasn't so pleased with my dinner on this visit - the "tower" of homemade black pudding starter was barely visible over the rim of the bowl in which it was served and my Ghost Ship battered fish looked excellent but the batter was not especially well cooked and the whole thing was rather too greasy. But a lovely Friday night buzz in the bar and friendly service.

Saturday morning we took the ebb down the Orwell. It was pretty blowy from the NNE so we reefed down and watched out for the risk of an accidental gybe. A fleet of yachts followed us down under spinnakers and overhauled us. We needed to steer a careful course given their proximity as we entered the docks.

Gybing around Shotley Spit, we fell onto a nice beam reach. For ease of navigation, I had pre-plotted clearing lines on the iPad mounted on the hatch, denoting safe depths at any state of tide on both sides of the river. This made for very relaxed sailing. 

We sailed virtually down to Mistley, tacking just shy of Baltic Wharf at the NCB there, onto a reciprocal beam reach back downriver. In terms of moorings, I had ruled out Wrabness due to its exposure to the northerly winds. I had checked out the chart and East Coast Pilot and noted a couple of  potential anchorages on the northern shore. The first we came to off Stutton Ness required us to nose into the fleet with shallower depths to port and starboard into patches of 1.9 and 2.3 metres.

Having consulted the tidal chart I'd prepared I didn't find the depth I was looking for to be comfortably afloat at LW. The deeper water was also not as snugly inshore as we would like so we headed back into the main channel. I later found that in preparing the tidal chart, I had somehow missed an hour out so I was looking for an extra hour's rise of tide than there actually was! 

Our next candidate anchorage was just upriver from Erwarton Ness SCB which is recommended by ECP as having very good holding, unlike downriver of the beacon where patches of weed are reported. A few other yachts did subsequently opt for that side of the beacon however, perhaps lured by the bird life at the RSPB reserve it overlooks. We edged in as close as we could towards the beacon and the remains of an old hard it marks, looking for a minimum 4.4m within a swinging circle which we found just inshore of the beacon.

We snubbed the anchor well, a dip of the bow indicating it was well set and dug out the Avon, fitting the floor boards as per the instructions. By this time however it was more grey and overcast and the wind became squally so we secured the Avon to the stern ready for the next day when lighter winds were forecast.

As we relaxed in the cockpit, a small flock of Turnstones used Renegade as a staging post in their flight against the wind across the river, settling on the port side deck, one executing a hasty u-turn as it flew into the companionway! 

Pre-dinner drinks and appetisers (including seasonal Hertfordshire asparagus with melted butter Tony) were enjoyed in the cockpit, with the crew adjusting position now and then to optimise the benefits of lee and sun when the latter appeared intermittently.

We had noticed a Border Force cutter anchored further down river and,  against the low sun, we now spotted a rib visiting neighbouring yachts. A short while later, we too were visited by the officers, a casual conversation barely masking the key questions: How many on board? Where have you come from? Is that your home location? I was also aware of their eyes flicking towards the vintage Avon at the stern. I could almost see the 'News at Ten' images of refugees crowded onto sundry inflatables playing in their minds! They were friendly and courteous though and bade us a pleasant evening before moving on.

We tried some Sainsbury's tinned Beef Madras with boil in the bag rice for dinner. I had actually bought it  as more of a standby dinner but it was really tasty with reasonably hot spicing, followed by a cheeseboard and lemon cheesecake. 

A decent sleep albeit disturbed almost inevitably by the turn of the tide around 0100 and then by some unusual slapping around 0400. I grabbed my iPad and checked our position - no we weren't dragging. Then, as you do, I had visions of the Avon having slipped under the stern and being swamped so I had to go up and check. All was well of course and I returned to the black hole for a few hours more sleep, with all crew waking relatively late.

After cooking and enjoying a full English breakfast in the warm sunshine, I brought the Avon around to the starboard shrouds. The river was very still and glassy, the tide was on the turn and the gentler breeze was swinging Renegade across the stream. After all was cleared away we donned boots and life jackets and I rowed us across to the sandy beach a short distance away. We noticed quite a number of oysters in the shallows and were tempted but we decided we didn't truly know how to identify a good oyster from a bad one and I believe they can give you the worst, potentially fatal food poisoning so we let them be.

It was an OK landing but a little oozy and gloopy in places. We carried the Avon up the beach and then took a walk along the river footpath and foreshore,

admiring the views the few houses had across fields of yellow rape to the Stour beyond.

Returning to the Avon and togging up again, I noticed a spit of sand extending a little further out from the shore. On inspecting it, we found it drier and firmer than the surrounding beach so were able to launch cleanly. Fresh coffee, cake and a crossword back aboard, the sun far hotter than the forecast had suggested. 

With time marching on, we readied the boat for departure. We started up the engine as a precaution but with the intention of sailing off. In the end we needed to drive forward to break out the anchor from the glutinous mud, although it did come up reasonably clean. It was a slow languid sail back to the Orwell where we had to stay outside of the channel just keeping the sails filled as the wind had veered more southerly than forecast, as two coasters passed each other in the docks with an HHP launch policing the channel.

Safely back on our pontoon, we cleaned through, hosed and swabbed the decks and hull, before making our way home at 1830 for the remains of the evening. Whilst I do love the satisfaction of a longer passage to a new or familiar port, the weekend did remind me that, given decent conditions, our home waters offer the scope for a really enjoyable weekend. I think generally I will be looking for more anchorages offering good landing opportunities, maybe with a pub a short walk away for lunch. Let's get some suggested anchorages doing the rounds....

Four Guinea Pigs and a Stag

Crew – David, Andrew and Simon Wells with friend Chris B. - 15th to 17th April 2016

After waiting for Gerald to finish on the engine on Friday and a wet, traffic-delayed  journey to SYH, I arrived at the boat after 1800 and called Gerald to check that the engine was usable – he hoped it was but “you can only test from cold once” and he did have to jump start it. Loaded up the boat between heavy showers. My eldest son Andrew arrived shortly after but my youngest son Simon and his to-be best man Chris were not going to reach us until 2100. I had booked a table at the Ship Inn so the two of us headed there for a long-awaited pint of Ghost Ship.

Photos of menu and chalkboard were sent to the en route pair and orders relayed. Last food order is 2045 and kitchen closes at 2100, so we placed orders at the last minute with a round of drinks and, perfect timing, they walked in just as starters and drinks were being ferried to the table. (Decent moules mariniere starter and beef/bacon/cheese burger in the now ubiquitous brioche bun – very tasty). We discussed the passage plan, abandoning plans for Ramsgate in view of us being 'guinea-pigs' for the repaired engine plus general tiredness all round, as wives and partners had departed our homes in the small hours for the airport and a weekend in Nice. So instead we opted for the Blackwater with the option of Bradwell and a meal ashore, or West Mersea in extremis if we needed to pick up a buoy under sail. Returning to SYH we turned into our berths for much needed sleep.

Saturday morning, we prepared the boat and nervously started the engine after 60 secs pre-heat. It started to fire several times but would not quite run.  On the second attempt it was clear the battery was struggling so I attached the jump leads and the engine started on the next attempt. Simon appeared on deck looking resplendent in the sailor suit brother Andrew had procured for him which was supposed to be worn all weekend, as this cruise was part of his itinerary of 'stag-do' events.

The weather forecast and wind direction had been changing daily but potentially looked good for a beam reach down the Essex coast. We were able to sail down the Orwell and through the harbour after running the engine to charge the starting battery. Once in the Wallet we were able to achieve 6-7 knots consistently despite the foul tide. I called ahead to book a berth at Bradwell and a table in the pub  – very handy to have these numbers stored on the phone.

Approaching the Colne the wind really got up and we were hard pressed so rounded up to shorten sail – same speed, much more comfortable. We endured sharp cold showers but morale was good with the exhilarating sailing and pork pies, hot soup and Andrew's frequent brews to keep us going. The novice crew Chris was impressed with Renegade’s sailing ability and enjoyed his trick at the helm.

I was glad to get in when we did, as the wind was howling soon after, much stronger than the forecast. We were able to relax and grab a hot shower. Later we enjoyed drinks and appetisers in the saloon before making for our 2000 reservation at the Green Man which was much quieter than on previous visits but still very enjoyable, with a table right by the bar meaning we could order from our seats. Departing from the usual Southwold Bitter, we opted for East India IPA which was very refreshing. I enjoyed a very good rib-eye steak (swordfish steak, chilli con carne, steak and kidney pudding also enjoyed by the crew – a very reasonable £87.50 for four with three pints each). Returned to the boat for a nightcap before turning in around midnight. Full thermals and nestling deep into sleeping bags required in near zero temperatures but we all slept very soundly.

Very sunny but cold start to Sunday morning. After visiting the control tower to pay our dues, I cooked a full English breakfast which was very welcome. Engine started first time after turning over for a while with a long pre-heat given the temperature. There was a brisk wind which made slipping the mooring a little tricky – plus I think several of us have experienced turning difficulties in the marina – possibly a funnelling effect of the tide through the narrow creek and into the marina? Anyway, we exited OK, hoisting sail as we cleared the cardinal beacon and headed into the river proper.

With the benefit of the higher tide we carefully plotted a course direct to Colne Bar which would avoid us being headed as we turned into the Wallet and were able to lay an inshore course of around 068. Winds were lighter and more variable today but with a fair tide we were soon up to 6+ knots and topped out at 8.2 kts before experiencing more fickle winds approaching the Naze. With time on our side we elected to sail freer, overshooting the harbour before tacking back. We struggled to keep the sails filled though, so dropped the genoa and motorsailed for a time (good for the engine battery we consoled ourselves).

I thought we might have to continue under motor through the harbour but the wind began to back as forecast and we were just able to skirt the edge of the channel all the way through, with new crew Chris doing well under supervision at the helm, before the wind really hit as it often does just after the end of the docks and made for an exhilarating final sail before reaching SYH. We tidied, swept and wiped and I labelled up the primary winches temporarily to remind everyone about the temporary winch issues.

Skipper and crew departed tired but happy. It was cracking sailing in a variety of conditions on both legs and a sociable time to boot.

Renegade cross channel cruise 

Crew – David and Sam Higginson; Phil Meredith; Charlie Triggs; James Truett, 21st August to 28th August 2015.

The video link is at the bottom of the log........  It does not really show the bad weather as it takes courage to operate the camera even in good weather.....

We arrived Friday night at SYH just before it was getting dark.  For some reason, unloading the car prompted one crew member to check if he had his passport.... he didn’t so it was an anxious phone call and an anxious wait for a family member to arrive – not best pleased being summoned out to drive from Cambridge at 10 pm. Maybe this was an omen of things to come.... Still the curry was good.

Sunny Saturday morning and sailed to Ramsgate making good time under 9 hours sticking to the tried and tested Black Deep - Fishermans Gat. Some of us even had shorts on.

Not a nice day on Sunday so ambitions got rapidly curtailed. Nevertheless we set off south mid Morning but we lost the Main halyard when raising the mainsail off Ramsgate. Two metre waves and strong wind made recovery hairy.  Drama over – maybe omen number two; but we continued south – passed Dover and nervously crossed the Channel in very poor visibility arriving Boulogne mid afternoon after a very quick passage.

We then weighed up options – to discover a  changing forecast with a big weather front was moving across Northern France predicting storms for the Eastern Channel for the next few days. Rapid rethink and decision made to leave on the tide early the following morning (Monday) at about 3am and scuttle back. So we had a meal in the old town and made the most of our 11 hours abroad - and no one asked to see our passports!

Other British boats were planning to leave mid morning as they felt the bad weather would prevail early – but they would have to contend with a foul tide

Leaving in the morning there were plusses and minus’s.

Plus = the local fishing boats were going out;

Minus = British yacht towed in by Boulogne lifeboat as we slipped at 03.30am = sober faces.

We made the right call – we maximised the benefit of tides and as we went up the Downs back to Ramsgate the initial bad weather came through so we reflected over the fact that the other British yachts would be in that weather mid channel and also dealing with a foul tide. On the way we had a constant sound accompaniment of Mayday and pan pan calls of problems further afield.

The rest of the week until Thursday was not good so we decided to run along the North Kent coast to Chatham on Tuesday. The reason: - good shelter and something to do on the Wednesday when a gale was definitely coming through. A gruelling beam reach in steady rain – but some steady wind. Didn’t see any yachts but did see lots of ships.

Chatham was a good choice to hole up on Wednesday when an actual gale passed through – smart marina and we spent almost a full day at the maritime museum.

Thursday – still over cast an early start – but good tidal planning took us over Spitway with enough water – and then the sun came out with the ebb tide getting us speedily back to Harwich!

We hardly saw any yachts at sea for the entire week – in fact we saw more yachts between Walton and Harwich than we had seen all week!

Happy days

The you tube link does show some smiles so it probably was a fun if sometimes fraught week

Music courtesy of X ambassadors

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3YWy1p2kk&feature=youtu.be

Mal de Mersea
David & Rebecca Wells with Stewart & Sandra Bray, 18-19 July 2015

Having swapped this weekend with John, we decided to take along Rebecca's brother and sister-in-law who have been through some difficult times recently and could do with a break. 

First thought was a trip to the Ore but this changed given a later Sunday return due to tide times plus some small concerns about this tricky entrance on Springs with a light crew.  So we elected to visit West Mersea (again) where we have camped together in the past.

We travelled together to SYH after work on Friday. A broken-down lorry on the single carriageway at Bradwell (A120 not on-Sea) didn't help the journey time but we arrived by 1900. It was a lovely sunny evening and we enjoyed a drink in the cockpit after shipping the gear. I eyed the amount of visible mud in the marina channel with mild concern, knowing we would be leaving close to low water the next morning, before heading off for dinner in the Light Ship. We popped outside to enjoy the mild evening air and decided to stay outside to eat as it was so pleasant. After promising myself I would not chose the delicious haddock and chips again, the half pound steak burger I settled on had sold out, so haddock and chips all round it was. Very tasty too, washed down with a couple of pints of Southwold and the agreeable £3.50 house French white wine. Suitably refreshed, we returned to Renegade for a final glass of red before bedding down for our 0800 departure. 

Saturday morning we readied Renegade for departure. The depth sounder alarm immediately sounded and the display hovered between 1.5 and 1.7 metres. I decided the worst that would happen is that we ploughed a bit of mud or needed to wait for a little more water to float off, so we continued and exited without issue, needing to turn tightly around the boat on the hammerhead. We quickly hoisted the main and genoa out in the river and killed the engine, cutting through the early flood down to Harwich Harbour. 

At Cliff Foot I had already calculated our preferred course skirting the shallows of Dovercourt Bay and maximum sub-optimal course. Typically the preferred course could not be laid and gradually the wind pushed our beat further northward along the Gunfleet turbines until we finally laid the north most. Rebecca took a turn at the helm. She is growing in confidence at the tiller, compared to the wheels of former charter boats.

Delaying the tack as long as possible (as demonstrated by Tony previously) gave us the greatest flexibility on the next tack and a wind shift in our favour avoided a further tack to clear the Essex 'lump'. Unfortunately the quietness of one of our crew developed into greenness before mal de mer took hold. With a still rising spring tide approaching high water, we opted to take a direct route across Colne Bar and Bench Head, becalmed for a short time as the wind died completely, leaving us floating in company of a...is it a bawley, a small barge or a wherry?...answers on a postcard (or preferably an email) please. 

After a few minutes pause (useful heads opportunity for the helm) in kicked the wind again taking us close hauled into the Blackwater and ever onward towards the visually elusive Nass Beacon. We called up the WMYC boatman and were allocated a berth in the Salcott Channel. 

I was a bit disappointed with the mooring initially, lying only just inside the channel and more distant from the town. But our 'patient' was. Not really up to a water taxi or dinghy trip to shore, so we settled down to a mid-afternoon tea and cake which morphed seamlessly into early evening appetisers and beer/wine before a batch of chilli con Carne (from the same batch enjoyed with Tony) with a mixed leaf salad with coriander and avocado and tasty garlic bread (we chose to pass on the rice as the appetisers had been so good).

Our mooring was transformed as the tide ebbed. The withies close to marked the ooze that separated Salcott from Thorn Fleet. As the mud was revealed it became alive with bird life putting on an engaging show, with Renegade the grandstand. Most entertaining were the Herring Gulls soaing into the air with mussels before dropping g them from height to crack them open on stones below. Three soars seemed to be the going rate for a mussel meal. A fisherman came past and busied himself on the mud a way off for some time. I hailed him on his return with baskets of produce to ask what he had harvested. It was not mussels but Colchester native oysters. 

A lovely, sociable evening in the warmth in the cockpit. I did wince as I saw a lightweight modern yacht turn readily at the turn of the tide bang next to a heavy trawler. I'm sure they kissed. I was so shocked I only grabbed this photo a little later after they began to swing apart. I have contacted the appropriate folk at West Mersea in case it was more than an optical illusion. 

Another lovely sunset, perhaps not quite as fine as Tony and I enjoyed previously. 

During the evening I had resolved to change our departure plans for the morning. Originally we were planning to leave around 0900 for a mixed passage of fair and foul tide. I was concerned however about the effect of the likely wind over tide conditions on the 'patient' so I hatched a new plan to leave single-handed at first light while the others slept on. My alarm vibrated me awake at 0345. A quick change into clean togs and up on deck where my foulies, life jacket and other essentials had been stowed under the sprayhood. It was too dark initially but increased light or my improved night vision kicked in by 0420. After preparing the sails and checking the current in the channel, I fired up the engine for a few minutes before casting off the mooring buoy and returning quickly to the cockpit to reverse  away from the trailing lines before turning to head out to the lit Quarters Spit and on through the reds and greens to Nass Beacon.

Heading into wind, I think some single-hander beginner's luck was with me as holding the tiller into wind between my knees and hoisting the main went very smoothly, as did rolling out the Genoa before Renegade fell away onto a starboard reach towards Bench Head. Courses to steer were noted in my notebook, with my iPad close to hand for confirmation. Sailing on a falling spring tide I would be keeping strictly the buoys for the return, Bench Head, Colne Bar and North Eagle, before steering between 060 and 080 degrees down the Wallet. Of course a wind with more W than forecast and a strong cross tide had me struggling to hold even 080 without risk of an accidental gybe so I sailed a little freer, hoping than the tide would help make good my COG to some extent which it did.

Reaching the last of the Wallet buoys I prepared to gybe towards the Medusa Channel just as a rain-filled squall hit with gusty winds and I struggled to secure the genoa sheet on the winch. The two able crew below appeared on the scene at just the right time. We turned into wind and reefed the now overpressed main, furling away the genoa for the time.

We continued on towards the main channel, the rain disappearing and unforecast warm sunshine replacing it. We unsheathed the genoa again and hit the main channel, hugging it closely given it was low water.

My brother in law took the helm and had a fine sail up the river, close hauled to beam reach, before we turned into wind and dropped the sails, tied on fenders and headed into SYH. Return to the berth went smoothly and we quickly made fast and readied Renegade for the next member.

Rebecca took over the wheel from me part way through the drive home. The early start had got to me. It had been a great weekend, even the 'patient' agreed and we had gained the bonus of an afternoon back at home for recuperation. 
 

Marvellous Mersea

David W and Tony Elliot, 27-28 June 2015

With family crew indisposed, Tony kindly agreed to join me on my June weekend. We identified a few options: North to the Ore, south to the Crouch or Roach, or to the Blackwater. On meeting up at 0900 on Saturday morning at SYH with the latest forecast to hand, we elected for West Mersea.

With provisions aboard, we slipped around 1020, following an artful single-hander's tactic of reversing out and down pontoon N and around the hammerhead to straighten up ahead and past the various pontoons to the exit channel. We had the advantage of a vacant adjacent berth and a depth of tide. A beamy vessel on the hammerhead necessitated tight manoeuvring though to avoid ending up on the mud towards the bank between SYH and the Orwell.

It was a glorious sunny morning and we proceeded in short sleeves and, in Tony's braver case, shorts out into the river. We had the luxury of time as the South going tide would not kick in in earnest until after 1400 and we had plenty of daylight and time to reach Mersea by the evening, so we killed the engine soon after hoisting the main and drifted down to Harwich in light winds with the ebb below us. It was the day of the Pin Mill Barge race so we had half a dozen of these noble vessels for company as they started their race from Butterman's Bay. 

We negotiated the docks still under sail. The breeze picked up as we headed toward Stone Banks. With the wind forecast to back from WNW to W to WSW to SW we had laid a plan to sail to the wind, with the idea that we would sail in the general direction of Gunfleet to get a good angle on tacking to lay Colne Bar. It was liberating to have such a loose passage plan, no real time pressures and such a warm sunny day. We navigated by a combination of the chart plotter, some notes and an iPad mounted on a suction ram mount on the hatch (until it died). We skirted the edge of Cork Sands close hauled, keeping clear of West Rocks. With David at the helm, pinching up at much as he could whilst maintaining boat speed, Tony made a perfect call on the tack and we steered a great course towards Colne Bar via North Eagle. A lunch of pre-prepared rolls and an IPA was enjoyed en route, after the obligatory elevenses cuppa and slice of homemade cake of course.

The wind would not allow us to lay Bench Head directly so, with the flood well advanced we worked with the wind, over sailing our mark to get a better angle towards the Nass Beacon, which yet required several tacks to attain. Pilotage courtesy of East Coast Pilot led us through the buoyage to the Quarters ECB from where we followed the moorings into Thorn Fleet, picking up the buoy of our choice around 1830. The WMYC boatman had probably having gone off duty earlier as he didn't respond to our earlier call at 1745.

It was a sunny evening, warm though the breeze was athwart the cockpit.

Once secure to our mooring, we celebrated our arrival at the end of a great sail with a lager still ice cold from the cool box, the fridge not having been run during the passage. Homemade chilli con carne was heated in the oven to be enjoyed later with rice, garlic bread and salad, while we tucked into a selection of nibbles with some chilled Fiano in the sunshine. Still warm enough when dinner was ready, we ate in the cockpit with Tony's very pleasant bottle of red. Having enjoyed the sunshine, we were treated to a great sunset to the west and, as it reached its nadir, at the same moment a blue-bathed dusk to the east - glorious.

We didn't quite have room for the sticky toffee puddings and cheese selection, so after enjoying the last of the red, we retired tired and contended at 2300.

Up with the alarm at 0700, we got a brew underway and were enjoying a hearty egg, bacon, sausage and mushroom breakfast in the cockpit by 0745. 30 minutes later we were cleaned up and ready to depart. With the breeze just off the starboard bow and vacant moorings ahead to port, with the engine in tick over as a backup, we sailed off the mooring on the genoa, through the gap and back out towards through the Mersea Quarters. Close-hauled out towards the junction of the Blackwater and Colne, we eased the sheets to round North Eagle, having worked out that a course of anything above 055 degrees would take us nicely down the Wallet.

In the end we bore up a little on the SSW wind to enjoy a lovely beam reach at 6-7.5 knots virtually all the way to Medusa before tacking to make close-hauled for Stone Banks, passing several barges returning from the match, then directly to College to pick up the channel and navigate back up toward SYH.

A few spots of rain heralded the arriving front just past the docks and we decided to fire up the engine given the wind moving now coming from astern and a barge short tacking across the river just ahead of us. A momentary concern was that the engine panel was dead, after some time on passage was spent on the electrical fault, however this was swiftly identified as the engine battery key having been dislodged during the investigations and we tacked behind the barge into wind to drop sail before continuing to the marina, Cornish pasties warming in the oven for a late lunch. 

We took it nice and slowly turning up N and into Renegade's berth following Neil's advice and securing a midship line to the rearmost pontoon cleat before easing her into position and securing her with the newly rigged shorelines. 

All in all a great weekend. Around 70 nm sailed, mostly in sunshine with fair winds and tides, a lovely Mersea mooring, good food and refreshments and convivial company.

A dash for shelter in the Colne

Murray and David W with Bob Smith, 4-5 October 2014

Murray, Bob and David W. arranged to meet at SYH at 0900 with Murray and Bob arriving early, pipping David by ten minutes and readying the ark. With the Suzuki running sweetly against the early ebb, we were soon aboard Renegade. A check on the forecast showed little change – winds in the high teens with gusts reaching into the thirties at times and variable in direction. We readied the sails with reefing point 3 hooked over the ramshorn.

We discussed alternative passages - 7 hours to Burnham via the Wallet, 8 hours via the outer King's Channel, Brightlingsea sub 6 hours - all at an average 5 knots. The crew were all keen to make for Burnham and the inner route for the outbound felt the right choice given we would have a foul tide for a good part of the passage in order to make Burnham before dusk. A call ahead to Burnham Yacht Harbour secured a berth for the night. We would decide on a suitable hostelry once ashore – waiting for a table with a pint in hand would not be too arduous we thought.

We set off and hoisted the deeply reefed main and partly unfurled the genoa but the southerly soon headed us and we rolled the genoa away, motor sailing through the docks. Further attempts to get the foresail into action followed but the veering wind seemed to be in synch with every course change and the genoa was furled against by the time we turned south westward through the Wallet towards the distant Wallet Spitway SWB. Our planned course was to use the Spitway between the Gunfleet and Buxey stands to reach the Whitaker Channel for our approach to the Crouch. The wind was stiff and justified the deep reefed main.One ot two boats ahead carrying more canvas were over on their ear in the gusts.

Off Clacton the skyline darkened and we knew that the forecast rain and likely squalls were on the way. Around 1330 the rain and wind really kicked in. The gusts rose to a force that looked and felt considerable higher than forecast, more than the last F7 I have experienced, the waves around us with breaking crests and troughs several feet deep.Thank goodness the wind was with the tide rather than against it! Renegade however took it all in her stride, even beam on and gave us complete confidence. We decided however that unless the heavy weather abated by the time we reached the SWB we would make for Brightlingsea; it would not be wise to tackle the shallows of the Spitway in those conditions. Also, as we were running ahead of schedule we would need to wait for a rise of tide to negotiate the charted 1.5m in the spitway as we were approaching low water at the time.

Conditions had not improved as we reached the SWB, so we plotted a course for Brightlingsea via Knoll, Eagle and Colne Bar and called ahead to reserve a berth, remebering to also release the berth at Burnham - they appreciated that. We were grateful of the iPhone’s  Memory Map app giving us certainty from the cockpit of our position and depth. Visibility was fortunately still reasonable – no need to revert to radar. The wind did ease as we headed north west but the rain continued to pour. We moderated our speed of approach to the Colne as our tidal curve showed a limited rise of tide to clear the bar until 1630 at best.

Bob was at the helm as we headed in, turning to bisect the spit SCB and SHB with Bob doing an excellent job keeping us on the leading lines – just as well as we were on the margins depth-wise, but the sea state was benign by now and the tide was rising, even the sun was putting in an appearance. We turned as previously directed between the narrow outer two floating pontoons looking for “Burlesque”’s vacant berth (an omen for the nightlife ashore, we wondered?)  behind blue-hulled “Venquis”. We spotted a large blue hulled X43 on the other side of the inner pontoon as we passed but it had a cover over its stern masking the name, There was a vacant berth in front of it however. So at the end of the row we turned sharply to port (depths fall off rapidly in the creek beyond the pontoons) at which point the HM’s launch with two hands aboard appeared and signalled the berth, then deciding to use an alternative berth and signalling this to us, before jumping ashore and helpfully taking our lines as Bob brought us alongside. (Berths here are £15 for the night. Showers and loos are under the Colne yacht club above the hard.)

Once we had adjusted our lines, we got out of our wet togs and enjoyed the early evening sunshine in the cockpit with a well-served beer and nibbles, before calling up the water taxi to be ferried ashore (£1 per passenger per journey). We had asked the HM guys for a recommendation for a pub to eat in and the Rosebud Inn on Hurst Green was recommended, This is about a fifteen minute walk away. A friendly place, reasonably busy, we had to wait the estimated 40 minutes for our food (decent sirloin steak, lamb hot pot, venison sausage and mash – David was in the mood for hearty pie and chips but there was no pie on the menu). All washed down with a couple of pints of The Mighty Oak Brewery, Maldon’s “Captain Bob” (commemorating Bob’s exemplary boat handling perhaps?) - £56 for the three of us excluding a tip.

Extracting the boatman from the harbour office, we were ferried back to Renegade where we retreated to the warmth of the saloon for a post-prandial bottle of red and a nip of cognac for some from David’s hipflask. All tucked up around 2300 – warm enough to leave the washboards out.

We planned to departure around 0900 to catch the ebb north east back to the Orwell, The forecast was for very light winds, dancing around most points of the compass, and sun all day. What a contrast to Saturday – the day dawned bright and mild though we took our bacon, eggs and toast in the saloon due to the heavy dew on the cockpit. Revived, we slipped towards 0930, sweetly sliding the bow out using the last of the flood and a bit of forward against the stern line as we slipped the bow line.

The return passage was a story of sails proving hard to fill in the light wind – another largely motor-sailing today. But the warm sun kept us in good spirits and, despite Bob failing to serve either fresh asparagus or corn on the cob, we were well fed and watered; and entertained too by a passing paddle steamer plying a close inshore route (this may have been the dark shape we saw alongside Walton pier in the distance), a tug towing a large load out to the Gunfleet wind farm and a couple of seals diving in the Wallet.

We also had time to investigate the reported issue with domestic battery levels and have separately reported our diagnosis.

We finally motored up the Orwell from Stone Banks, past a small virtually becalmed racing fleet despite their spinnakers, reaching the mooring not too far off our 1500 target. Renegade was efficiently tidied, secured and checked; after Saturday’s weather, deck swabbing was one unnecessary job! We left SYH at 1645 still in the sunshine, after a satisfying weekend despite the vagaries of the weather. It had been useful to experience more of Renegade’s capabilities when the weather turns nasty and to be assured of a safe passage.

Bradwell by twilight

David W, Grethe with Andy, 20-21 September 2014

Traffic and a low-oil warning light enroute to SYH delayed our rendezvous until 1030 but we were quickly loaded and underway in the Ark.

Once aboard and stowed, an engine check revealed the oil level to be below minimum so a top-up was in order before a quick lunch of warm croissants filled with ham, smoked cheese and tomato and tuna, onion and cucumber rolls.

We cast off at 1300 and caught the ebb down towards Felixstowe under sail with some assistance from the motor. We would be plugging the north-going  ebb tide for a couple of hours once we turned south west and needed to keep up an average of 5 knots to make Bradwell by 1930 – not that we would lose the tide by then but the shortening day would reach dusk by then and we didn’t want to negotiate Bradwell Creek with limited depth by dark. David had called ahead to secure a berth (Brightlingsea was the back-up plan) – we even knew its number and that we would be berthing starboard to – very helpful!

We anticipated a passage of 5 hours from Medusa and David had a number of waypoint ETAs to check our progress, the majority of which we hit a few minutes ahead of schedule. This, with pre-prepared  CTSs and pilotage notes made for an easy passage with even the wind accommodatingly piping up more as we rounded Knoll, NW Knoll, Eagle and, with Bench Head abeam, sailed close-hauled up into the Blackwater, our nav lights now on, past a lurking Border Force cutter.

Rounding up and dropping sail with the entrance to Bradwell on the port beam and the rain making David grateful he had used pencil for his notes, we started our pilotage into the creek. It was a couple of hours after LW but our tidal curve told us we would have enough water and this was confirmed by around 9 feet indicated on the tide gauge as we entered, dog-legging around the SHB into 3m depth per the sounder. The pilot simply says to follow the line of boats in the moorings – mid-river offered the better depth and kept us clear of the lit end of the slipway. Knowing A pontoon was immediately ahead we turned to starboard and found F just shy of the western end of the marina with F8 starboard-to as advised.

Once secure we celebrated our modestly early arrival with some chilled white wine, artichokes, olives and garlic bruschetta – very welcome, before a refreshing walk lay to claim our 2030 reservation at The Green Man. As often happens when reviews set low expectations, it was better than we hoped – quite a buzz in the bar, good Southwold bitter and very decent Steak and Kidney pudding plus Creamy haddock and chicken with chorizo and tomato from the specials board.

Next morning an attempt to shower and pay the mooring fee in one visit ashore was thwarted by the fact that the marina office does not open until 0830. In fact it was only due to exiting users that access to even the toilet was possible! A later visit to the airfield-like control tower was required to cough up the required £19.70.

A welcome cup of tea back aboard followed by a good breakfast of egg, bacon and mushrooms went down very well, before we set off rather later than scheduled after the replacement of a shackle which was found to be abrading the alloy of the traveller. The wind was F4-5 gusting 6 from the North and with the tide running through the pontoons from a similar direction, Renegade was reluctant to turn her bow to the wind for our exit. More willing to show her stern to windward we exited the row astern, turning in the narrow creek with some difficulty but without major incident (i.e. we didn’t hit anything!).

With the tide now ebbing from the Blackwater marking the start of a favourable north going tide and the wind still stiff we hoisted sail with two reefs already tucked in and set off pushing 6.5 – 7 knots plus, Grethe's excellent Ethiopian filter coffee fortifying us. The wind was variable around N to NW as we rounded Knoll which made Medusa impossible to lay directly. (Another time, with the good depth of water he had, I might plot a careful course around the Colne Bar to get a better angle) As it was, we had to sail just off the wind to drive the sails which took us further southward than we wanted, one gust heeling us with the water running over the lee side-deck, despite our two reefs.

Eventually off Dovercourt we resorted to the engine to head back in to Felixstowe with Stone Banks taking an age to reach in some lumpy seas. Having gained the docks, attempts to tack upriver were abandoned given the limited progress and the advancing hour, the genoa furled and the engine fired up. We finally left SYH at 1945 with David texting an apology to Rebecca that he would be home more around 9:15pm than the target 1900. . .

4 3 Fools in a Boat  (a.k.a. Renegade’s 2nd Boulogne Adventure)

Simon & Crew, 6-14 September 2014

The collation of crew from across the country demanded a leisurely Saturday start, which meant Saturday lunch time in The Ship Inn in Levington as a liaison venue. A post lunch trip out to Renegade to bring her into SYH for loading up, fuelling and victualing led to an evening in the Lightship.

A dawn start aiming for Ramsgate was required based on the passage plan for across the Thames Estuary as linked on the Renegade web site. Essentially it aims to get to North Foreland at about slack water. It goes straight out across the top of the sand banks and runs down the outside of Long Sand. What we hadn’t realised was it meant plugging the tide for the length of Long sand and across the Thames.  There was very poor visibility (2 miles at most) and pretty much no wind for the whole of the trip which meant motoring all the way.

We were joined by a small feathered friend for an hour or two as he rested before his trip to Kent (He may have been aiming for Essex, but should have left earlier!). The issue of the day was the lack of charge being put back into the batteries – slightly alarming!

55 miles and 10 hours later and we requested entry into Ramsgate Harbour. We refuelled before berthing for the night in Ramsgate marina and after resolving the charging issue and ablut-ing wandered to the “award winning” chippy on the far side of the harbour. Discussion regarding actually which award it had won was carried on into the pub for the rest of the evening.

A beautiful dawn welcomed our departure for Boulogne. Carrying the tide down towards Dover and turning to cross the shipping lanes was all in a light northerly requiring some engine push to help keep the passage time realistic. 2/3 of the way across finally the donkey was shut off and we reached across the last of the lanes playing dodgems with the Big Boys.

Being joined by dolphins was a welcome diversion before turning south onto the slower run to try and clear Cap Gris Nez. With the tide already turned against us on the French side progress slowed markedly and gybing angles meant clearing Cap Gris Nez was turning out to be a challenge that required a bit of extra engine push for another half an hour. Once around the headland and tucked in underneath we had a superb run down to Boulogne.

45 logged miles in 9 hours ended in Boulogne marina in time for a late afternoon refreshment in the YCB (Yacht Club de Boulogne). The crew celebrated in appropriate style! Tuesday was a Lay Day dedicated to solving the steaming light issue, and other miscellaneous. tasks. As David H. indicated the fault did indeed lay at the foot of the mast, and a badly corroded pin in the socket of the connection. Stripping the whole plug and de-corroding the faulty pin with balsamic, the only vinegar on board, meant we had fully functioning set of mast lights. (Just as well!) A post lunchtime beer found the crew tackling Maia (as the Aries was christened). Well we fancied a go before writing the old girl off (sorry very poorly phrased!). The latter half of the afternoon was spent in a quandary, passage planning across the Thames Estuary to try and get to the Blackwater or Colne on Thursday. Given the fairly dated information aboard in combination with the up to date web info available we still didn’t feel safe enough crossing the Sunk Sand on the highest, strongest tide of the year! Reinforcements from along the pontoon were called, but merely added confusion. The decision was postponed and a restorative beer was required.

A civilised start at 09:30 for the return trip took full advantage of the tide from Boulogne all the way to Ramsgate with no foul tide – hoorah! With a NE-3 and beautiful visibility we had a sparkling sail home. Despite some of the crew’s keenness to try Maia we couldn’t shift one member from the helm. He was having a whale of a time. It was a brilliant sail. 6 hours back to Blighty and only 40 miles logged. Early evening was spent in the Royal Thames Yacht Club, with a Thai meal from an amazing little restaurant under the Yacht Club to round out the day.

Tough Thursday only required a midday departure so a full English in a brilliant café under the arches (bargain £3.90) presaged a long day back to the Orwell. With a reef and a couple of rolls we beat our way up to North Foreland and put a hitch out to Elbow to tack across to the entrance to Fisherman’s Gat. Visibility was probably only a mile for most of the day and the tide was in our favour-ish, but progress could best be described as steady. Once through Fisherman’s Gat a second reef and more rolls were tucked in the genoa as the wind was nearer a 5 than low 4 now, meaning a stiff old beat up Black Deep.  With Long Sand Head sighted on the starboard bow we tacked across hoping what little tide was left in our favour would allow us to clear Gunfleet and let us lay Medusa. Darkness fell before we reached Medusa allowing us to try out our lighting repair handy work – all good.

An evening fetch into Felixstowe, lit up like fairyland, stimulated the senses after a day of buckling down and doing the hard yards. We snuck into Shotley at about 21:00 and retired to lick our wounds in the bar.

Friday morning required a leisurely start to allow our fourth crew member to join, giving a chance to tidy and recover from the haul up across the Thames. On a beautiful afternoon we gently sailed all the way up to Ipswich having to wait for 40mins outside the lock for the tide to drop far enough for the lock keeper to open the flood barrier – very high tides.

Friday evening in Ipswich was boisterous, with a band in a pub and Isaac’s on the docks until the early hours. With the crew back down to three a great beat back down the Orwell was Saturday’s amusement. Tacking in among yachts on swinging mooring focused boat handling sharply, causing a lady to spill her wine in surprise as we swept very, very closely astern, tacked on a sixpence and cleared her bow by a foot or so. We turned back at Felixstowe to berth in the last available berth in SYH in a perfect summer’s evening. Dinner at the Lightship was rounded off by a walk to the village for last orders at The Ship Inn.  An interesting lift home from an ex-powerboater driving whilst still holding his whisky glass rounded off the evening!

Ore...no Deben...no Mistley...no Orwell - 8 - 9 August 2014

The mission for this weekend was to introduce my son-in-law to the joys of cruising after some previous hair-raising trimaran racing in foul conditions had left its scars.

The remnants of hurricane Bertha rather dictated our passage planning. The original hope for the weekend was a passage to the Ore. This was then adjusted to introduce daughter Laura and husband Darren to the charms of the Deben. As we entered the final week however, the uncertain forecast and track of Bertha caused us to adjust plans again - perhaps the Backwaters, a Walton Channel mooring or Titchmarsh berth with a rising tide visit to the seals in Oakley Creek or, as back-up a cruise of the Orwell and Stour with a HW visit to Mistley Quay and possible Halfpenny Quay and a ferry crossing to Felixstowe and Landguard Fort. Mistley was ruled out as a call to the Port Manager resulted in permission to lie alongside for an hour or too being denied - no reason was given, the forecast perhaps? ***Stop Press: I have since discovered that my East Coast Pilot, despite revision, is out of date. Mistley Quay has been off-limits to all small craft since 2008***

As the weekend approached, the forecast for Saturday improved, as the forecast for Sunday worsened. Would the gusts be 40 knots or a mere 35? A final decision would be made on Saturday morning.

We drove through torrential rain showers and arrived at SYH late Friday afternoon. Surprisingly the lanes around Levington were dry and the Ark needed very little bailing out. We punted around to the hammerhead to load up. The S4 started second pull and we pushed off. We made steady progress towards Renegade and arrived to find all well...phew!

The evening was warm but showery so after preparing replacement bow painters for the Ark and drinks and appetisers in the cockpit, we retreated to the saloon for Rebecca's Chilli con Carne with garlic bread and salad, returning to the cockpit for the cheeseboard.

During the night we wondered if Bertha had arrived early given the howling wind, rolling and slamming against the hull but conditions were calmer if brisk at 0700. A check of the forecast indicated 40 knot gusts around the time we would need to exit the Backwaters and we opted for plan B, slipping at 0800. We would take a view on Sunday based on a later forecast.

With reefed sails, we set off on a broad reach on the ebb. The wind direction was quite variable, at times a run before Collimer, alternating between a beam reach and a beat towards Shotley.

The waters were rather confused at the mouth of the Stour and we reverted to motor-sailing in the wind over tide conditions. After a time the crew decided they had taken enough flying spray and to be honest it was not much fun. We turned around to head back, tying fenders on both sides ready to put into Halfpenny Quay.

The quay was fairly full but one yacht was just leaving so we turned in the tight harbour and made for the pontoon, trying to balance a slow approach with enough momentum for the bow not to be blown off, roving fenders at the ready. But the HM was hurrying along the pier.

"How long you planning to stay?"

"A couple of hours if that's OK?"

"You don't want to put in here boy, the storm's on the way. You want to head in for the best shelter you can find!"

As we headed back out, he was clearing all the other yachts from the quay.

We headed back into the Orwell on the early flood. Rounding Shotley Spit I handed the tiller to my daughter while I consulted the latest forecast as I had intended to do in Halfpenny. Neither the inshore waters nor Harwich forecasts showed an imminent storm, this was still due on Sunday morning.

Much as I love the Orwell, there are limits to the fun one can have cruising it on one day. After beating up above Pin Mill, we elected to return to the mooring and end our weekend early before Bertha arrived. We tidied and cleaned, loaded the dinghy and headed off to SYH. The S4 faded and died soon after Raingoose and attempts to restart as we closed the channel under oars failed, as did further attempts after we had unloaded.

We headed off to the picnic area at Nacton to relax in the sunshine overlooking Pin Mill, then returned to home in Hertfordshire to enjoy the Provençal Chicken prepared in advance for our Saturday meal aboard.

A rather briefer weekend than envisaged but the crew had enjoyed their time together and both Laura and Darren are look forward to joining us again on Renegade next season. Mission accomplished...

 David & Rebecca Wells, with Laura & Darren Bignell

A Dash to Boulogne and Back - July 29th to August 1st 2014

Crew – David.H, Murray and Bob

The plan for a quick cruise to France was hatched sometime in the winter months when David and Murray were labouring away on Renegade at Pin Mill.

Murray fancied the idea of croissants, fine dining, leisurely cruising, pavement beers and hot sunshine whilst David was looking for some folks sufficiently naive to go with him.

Sometime later a date was fixed around various social and work engagements and the trio met up on the evening of Tuesday 29th July.

Tides dictated an early start from the Orwell on Wed 30th July – setting sails down river and out towards Black Deep with other boats who appeared to have similar objectives.

It was decided to go through Foulgers Gat following recent notices that the long sand wind farm construction was complete and buoyage had been provided to transit safely through the turbines.

Whilst the buoyage is there it seems to be deliberately inconspicuous and the whole experience was particularly negative being so close to the turbines.

We had some brief spells of sufficient wind to sail but for some 75% of the passage need to motor sail.

We arrived at Ramsgate at about 3pm – so not bad passage time – but messed around for a good hour while waiting to refuel for diesel. Dinner was served by Bob with Murray having prepared a Chicken stew earlier with lots of home grown vegetables.

Thurs 31st was another sharp start – to get to south Foreland by about 8am. We were across the Channel near Cap Gris Nez by about 11am and in Boulogne just after lunch time.

Boulogne marina filled up rapidly with a huge quantity of Dutch boats travelling east / west –with many boats rafting up.

The afternoon was spent having a pleasant ramble around the old walled city and dinner just off the square. Batteries were sourced for MOB lights and the Renegade “head torch”.

The next morning Fri 1st August was spent hoisting David up the mast to replace the bulb in the steaming light; unsuccessfully and with some drama when the unit fell to the deck and almost went overboard.

At about 11am (BST) along with about 50 other yachts we headed out of Boulogne harbour up towards Cap Gris Nez and head off to Dover.

When heading past south Foreland we noticed a patrol boat (with gun) silhouetted against the South Foreland White cliffs.  It then sharply altered course and while some distance from Renegade hailed us on channel 16 – and then requested we switch to 06. This was the Border Agency vessel Valliant who asked us to verify passage plan, numbers and nationalities on board.

It appeared that we were the first yacht across the channel that day (not a surprise given the readiness of the boat and capability of the crew J ) and all subsequent yachts were then intercepted for the same checks to be carried out.

The next day after squeezing into a very crowded Ramsgate marina for the night we set off again at about 04.30am using the” head torch” as a temporary fix for the defunct steaming light in the dark hours and arrived about midday back in the Orwell. Crucially we opted for Fisherman’s Gat to get through to Black Deep – which was far more relaxing and did not add any significant time.

In terms of objectives achieved – well we did get to Boulogne; we did have some fine dining; we did get some croissants; we did have a beer in a French café in the sunshine – but probably did not tick the leisurely cruising box - but anyway now Murray knows how to do it,  either sometime soon or next year.

Heybridge Basin, Blackwater - Syndicate Sailing 19-20 July 2014

At 6am or earlier after a hot sultry night, alarm clocks across Essex, Bucks and Hertfordshire stirred Renegaders for the journey to SYH. The first rendezvous was set for 0800. We would need two trips out in the Ark to ferry two genoas, six crew, gear and victuals and one dog (in fact there was no dog but it felt that the story would be incomplete without one...) Davids H and W with Murray formed the first wave with the cargo. On reaching Renegade our hearts sank as we immediately saw misplaced washboards and realised an unwelcome ‘guest’ had been aboard.

I will not dwell here on what was stolen, nor the additional security precautions that have been put in place - David H will communicate details of these, including the fact that no outboard is now stowed aboard. Suffice to say that a great display of Renegade teamwork both afloat and ashore dealt stoically with the situation and, after a bit of a struggle to hoist the old Hood genoa in the luff groove, we finally got underway at 1145 with the two Davids, Tony, Murray and guests Bob and Trevor aboard.

It was a warm and sunny day as we motor-sailed out of the Orwell, now against the early flood, chasing lock in at Heybridge Basin which was due to start at 1745. It was just as well some contingency had been build into the plan. The wind delivered a little extra power into the main and well-setting replacement genoa, but our main motive force was the iron topsail and fair tide which combined to keep us above 6 knots most of the way through the Wallet past Walton and Clacton, around the Colne Bar and into the Blackwater, deviating only from the buoyed route where we knew we had sufficient water on the rising tide.

Tony had again stepped forward to provide the crew with 'vittals'. Lunch underway was a fine affair with a creative substitution of his trademark asparagus for some delicious corn on the cob, salami with coleslaw, scotch eggs and marinated chicken wings and juicy prawns, brown bread and butter. This was followed by a choice of chocolate eclairs or custard tarts. A brief standoff ensued with David W and Bob finally claiming the tarts. Aside from the comedic value extracted from the "custard tart", it was all very civilised for a lunch underway…only the bowl of prawns had to be subjected to the ‘three second’ rule!

As we conned Renegade up the Blackwater, we mused on how little of the river was navigable for vessels of any draught, given the broad expanse of the river, but wide mudflats on either side await the unwary. David W consulted the iPhone MemoryMap app he uses for in-cockpit navigation and was getting a fairly consistent ETA of around 1805-1810. We called up Martin, the helpful lock master at Heybridge we had pre-booked with to check we were still ok for lock-in. Dan his deputy confirmed he would wait for us. As we finally cleared Northey Island, leaving Hilly Point No. 8 PHB to port and turning into Collier's Reach, we spied the Lock Reach SHB and the open lock gates beyond with three yachts already inside. Rigged with fenders and (10m minimum) warps both sides, we followed the port hand withies in the narrow channel and slid serenely into the lock watched by the army  of people basking in the sun outside the Old Ship Inn, lockside and on the sea wall, volunteers taking a turn of our starboard warps ashore and returning them for us to make fast. We were handed an information pack with code for the toilets, showers and laundry facilities and, as we were needing to be early out, were directed to headed up the canal a little to turn in the pool and return into the lock where we would be locked in ready for the morning departure. All smoothly executed aside from another yacht inexplicably reversing out from its mooring directly into our path as we approached the lock.

With less than 30 minutes until our booking for dinner at the Old Ship, some decided to hit the showers whilst others decided to avoid the rush and wait till morning. Bob and Trevor joined their wives and Mrs Smithson at a table outside the pub and had ordered up a first pint for the rest of the crew, Greene King IPA for some, the local, light and refreshing Maldon Gold for others. In time the party of nine was assembled and we laid claim to our reserved table inside the pub, only to find it suffered a complete lack of opening windows. Bob initiated a decamp to another table set for the same number but benefiting from the cooling draught of a ceiling fan. Murray procured a couple of the rather scarce laminated menus and David W. snapped photos of the specials boards and related their contents to the group (always surprising how many ‘specials’ are in fact regular menu items…)

Mrs Smithson injected some order into the proceedings by noting down everyone’s menu choices as Murray and Bob did a fine job as ‘Mein Hosts’ and kept everyone’s glasses filled.

We would like to commend the Old Ship on its fine cuisine and friendly, efficient service…well, we’d like to, but unfortunately we can’t. The menu is rather lacklustre – gammon and pineapple/eggs, chilli con carne, ham, egg and chips and the like with starters like whitebait and fishcakes that had obviously come straight from the freezer.  A long wait followed the starters before one of the friendlier casual waiting staff approached the table. We thought he would be telling us our mains were just on the way, but in fact he was only now telling two of our number that they had run out of ham! Steak Pie was the alternative selection and arrived with a pastry crust so dense that we concluded that the chef must have another job, entombing Bradwell power station in concrete slabs as part of the decommissioning process. The ‘homemade’ Chilli con Carne? Well if it was my home, I’d be leaving it! Murray had in all fairness warned us not to set our expectations too high. It appears that the lure of the lock and the pub’s grandstand view of the boat manoeuvres is enough to lure the punters in.  We noted that there are communal brick-built barbeques just back from the lock beyond the shower block. This may be a better future option in fine weather.

When the time came to settle the bill before Murray and his party took their leave in a taxi, first the drinks were inadvertently omitted (perhaps a concession we should have accepted), the landlord/manager berated us for not being able to find us and then the revised bill appeared to require complex and time-consuming calculations which might have taxed  the Office for Budget Responsibility. Eventually the bill was paid and the Maldon party bad us goodnight, leaving Tony and the Davids to take a post-prandial stroll along the sea wall and canal before returning to Renegade for some further refreshment in the cockpit before the first rain of the day forced us below. We finally turned in approaching midnight with alarm set for 0615.

Next morning broke warm but a little hazy. After some post break-in repairs and engine checks/top-ups, we locked out around 0700. David W taking the helm for the departure which all went smoothly until we got a little stuck on the mud on the edge of the channel out. David H took command and reversed us off, the prop walk turning us bow towards the lock so we reversed out into the river. We were surprised how shallow the channel was and the advice on the Basin’s website to keep a beam width out from the port hand marks may be a little overstated - it’s probably better staying a bit closer to them.

Slight drama over, we retraced our passage out of the Blackwater, past the imposing Stansgate Abbey Farm, former home of Anthony Wedgewood-Benn.  Tony (Elliott, not W-B) disappeared below and the scent of cooking wafted up the companionway. After dispensing an  ‘entrée’ of wholesome cereal, he re-emerged with a fine and hearty breakfast of bacon, sausages, egg, tomato and mushrooms, with accompanying brown bread and butter, all excellently prepared and delicious.

Light winds meant we were motor-sailing again, following the yachts which had had cruised in company over from Shotley. We followed the buoyed channels especially carefully given the falling tide, leading ultimately to an inbound passage of 39nm - 3nm more than outbound. The sun burned off the haze and sun lotion was required as we cut through the glassy waters.

It was a peaceful and serene crossing, punctuated only by few pot markers to dodge and the drone of a Sea King on exercises outside Harwich. Tony served a light lunch as we approached the Orwell just to top-up our substantial breakfast.

The sky was darkening as we closed SYH. We dropped the main to avoid stowing a sodden sail. Soon after making fast at the mooring, the first drops of rain began to fall. Plans to refill the tank were abandoned given the risk of water contamination from the increasingly heavy downpour. A final cuppa and slice of Rebecca's coffee, walnut and mocha cake while we waited for the rain to abate. It didn't of course, until we got drenched (well, wet oilies anyway) loading the Ark, and a further soaking during half the tender journey back to SYH. At least the rain had not interrupted either of our passages over the weekend or our enjoyment of our stay at Heybridge.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend on a happy boat in good company.

Tony, Murray and Davids H & W with Bob and Trevor

Neil and Jim’s trip to West Mersea, 4-5 July 2014

My friend Jim and I went for a 2 day trip to West Mersea and back on Friday/Saturday 4th and 5th July.

We left the mooring at Levington at 10:45  and battled the tide tacking out of the Orwell.  However this paid off as once out of the River we had fair wind and tide and made good progress towards West Mersea, averaging 6-7 knots.  An added bonus was brilliant sunshine.  On arrival we had difficult calling the boatman on the radio but he found us anyway and directed us to a vacant mooring for the night near the mussel packing shed.

We dined at the Coast Inn on Friday evening, good beer and good fish and chips.  However this was our first trip to West Mersea and we nearly got caught out by the drop in tide while we were in the pub.  We knew the tide was falling but we hadn’t calculated that the sand/mud bar would almost be blocking our return trip to the boat.  Luckily we spotted the sand/mud bar before we ran in to it, but it was difficult to see at dusk.  We had to head upstream a way before heading back downstream to Renegade.  A lesson learnt.

There was a bit of rain overnight which was lingering as we set off just after 8:00.  Weather was pretty good, just a few showers on the way back.  Sailing was brilliant, a bit lumpy at times, and again we took advantage of favourable tide and were cruising at between 6 and 7 knots SOG on a reach for the first hour or so.  As we turned North towards Felixstowe we were running dead downwind so decided to drop the main and sail on the Genoa.  This was much more controllable and we were still doing 6 knots SOG.

The only downside was that on Saturday when we set off we inspected the sails and there was some wear and tear on the Genoa which we monitored closely but luckily is did not get more serious.

Neil Oxenbury with Jim Black

Stour, Ramsholt, Harwich 21-22 June 2014

I had originally booked this weekend for a passage to Mersea but there was a preference from my family crew for a less lengthy trip so, given the early evening HW, we opted for a later start from home targeting a midday departure from the mooring. After coffee and pastries aboard, we slipped at 1200, on a broad reach down the river, becoming a nice beam reach as we rounded Collimer. Wind was little more than F1 but we had the last of the ebb helping us make decent way down the Orwell, before passing Shotley Spit cardinal to starboard and turning westward into the Stour. With the wind now on the nose, we short tacked up the river but it became clear that in these light winds we were unlikely to make our target late lunch stop at Wrabness any time soon. Eventually we spun Renegade around and ran back down river, picking up a spare buoy off Shotley SC for a welcome lunch and a beer. One issue we found on boarding was that the chartplotter/radar split screen option appears to have disappeared from the plotter menu, perhaps during demonstrating this kit to new members? In fact I could not find a radar option at all. This meant that my usual means of powering down the radar had also disappeared. In the end, I opted to leave the plotter off and navigate by iPhone/iPad when confirmation of our pre-planned course was required. I didn’t get to investigate this further during the weekend - its probably a setting been changed – the radome was certainly powering up. (Dennis has since confirmed that the Page button needs to be held for 3s to allow re-selection of the set of pages including radar).

We left our lunch mooring around 1530 with Andrew at the helm, turning to follow the PHBs at the edge of the channel, past the docks and the huge cranes that remind Rebecca of "dinosaurs"; "or giraffes" according to Andrew. On our return on Sunday both decided that 'dinosaur' was more apt. Crossing the channel to pass Rolling Ground, we were unable to lay a direct course to the Deben, so settled for an initial port tack. Although winds of a maximum 10 knots or so had been forecast, the wind really picked up. White horses appeared all around, the sea ran ever closer to the gunnels and it became harder work for David at the helm. We decided to come off the wind and tuck a reef in the main and shorten the genoa. This made the going more comfortable as we tacked back towards the Deben.

The wind eased a little as we eased ourselves through the pot markers that litter the corridor towards the Woodbridge Haven SWB. HW here was 1935 so I planned to enter at HW-2. The combined effect of tide and wind required extra care to maintain the transit, but we held a good line, with Deben virgins Andrew and Trine surprised at the breakers to starboard and just how near we closed the beach to port.

As we would have an early start next morning to get our before HW, I had called George Collins, the helpful HM at Ramsholt who advised he would be able to find a mooring for us, even though he already had a couple of boats coming in from Ipswich. Another yacht had followed us in so we shook out the reef and unfurled the genoa to show a clean pair of heels on a beam reach upriver with a good rate of tide in our favour, even at Neaps.

We dropped sails just before Ramsholt and I called up George. "You can take no. 39 just behind the black hull". We've become used to these kind of directions. There were many black hulls and we never saw 39. I called George again "Have we gone too far George?"..."You can take the buoy just behind the motor boat to port." We lassoed the buoy, bringing the rode aboard once we were secure. It was getting on a bit by this time and with the early start start to exit the river next morning, David opted not to give a master class in dinghy preparation. Instead after tidying the lines, we settled in the cockpit with a selection of hors d'heuvres (Get you! …artichokes are David's favourite by the way) and a few glasses of wine. Andrew, a keen carp fisherman, used the telescopic rod he had bought for David to spin lures off the boat for a while. (We have left the rod and a small tackle box in the forepeak – members are very welcome to use).

Unfortunately, this midsummer's night was cloudy and with the wind blowing across the moorings and the tide only helping offer shelter briefly around slack water. Trine told us how back in Denmark Midsummer's night is celebrated by burning bonfires to scare away witches; we checked our bin bags and fetched the matches and the Ark’s fuel can but thought better of it…

We opted instead for the flame of the oil lamp in the cosy saloon for our dinner of Rebecca’s homemade Moussaka, garlic bread and mixed salad before turning in at 2300. David had overlooked Simon’s sage advice of always laying out your sleeping bag before any alcohol is consumed. Wondering why he was still chilly after zipping up, he realised he had climbed into the straps that can be used to attach the bag to the cushion, rather than into the bag itself. Much shuffling and adjustment later, he finally snuggled down for the night.

The usual wake…doze…wake…doze…routine as the first light streams into Renegade before David’s phone alarm broke the silence at 0600. David wanted to get underway at 0630 to allow 45 minutes to reach the mouth for an exit at HW-1.  The reward for this early start was a beautiful early morning scene under a mackerel sky across the moorings. Rebecca joined David on deck as the others slept a few minutes longer, and we slipped on schedule, enjoying tea and biscuits as we motored down river with barely a zephyr of wind and a comfortable re-crossing of the bar back out to the SWB.

We motor sailed back to the Orwell, lifted by the south going tide, holding station before crossing the channel for a container ship to head out. At Guard PHB we turned westward for the Stour and, sails down, motored slowly into the entrance to Harwich’s Halfpenny Pier.

Inside, the only mooring available was tight between the bow of another yacht and the nasty metal framework jutting out from the pontoon. Already well fendered, David called for roving fenders at the starboard quarter/stern, and with just enough way to maintain steerage and using the weak ebb against us, we carefully edged in and arranged our lines to hold us on station, testing fore and aft surge and checking the effect of the wash of an incoming ferry as we had very little room to play with, especially aft with the Aries gear.

We took our late continental breakfast ashore on the ‘promenade’ overlooking Shotley and the docks, watching the sailing dinghies enjoying their advantages in the light airs over the lumbering yachts in the harbour.  A tasty medley of scotch egg, hams, cheese and crusty rolls with a cup of hot coffee sourced from the pier’s café. (no kippers or bacon this weekend Tony!).

After triple-checking Renegade’s lines, we explored Harwich in the hot sunshine, passing what looked to be the former houses of well-to-do sea captains’ houses visiting the treadmill operated crane and the High Lighthouse before returning via the shops and houses of the old town to the pier. The Harwich Society have done a good job with plaques on historic properties in the town. I hadn’t realised that the Mayflower was originally from Harwich and set sail from there with its Harwich Master to embark the Pilgrim Fathers for their voyage to the New World.

With a freshening breeze blowing us onto the pier, the yacht ahead of us had departed but had been replaced by Renegade’s baby sister, a UFO 31. With 'sis' moored close ahead, and the metal obstacle astern, springing out astern to swing the bow out was not a good option. We laid a plan to pack the starboard quarter with fixed and roving fenders, motor ahead gently to hold the stern clear against the stern line and to push off from the starboard bow, using the ebbing tide to help push us clear of the moored yacht. We executed the first part of this, holding ourselves clear astern but accepted the UFO 31 skipper’s offer of loosing “big brother’s” bow line and pushing us off. As expected, the tide pushed us further clear and we motored cleanly away.

Approaching SYH, we radioed ahead for permission to refuel, entering the channel and turning just beyond the fuel berth to approach down tide. The £44 in the honesty box plus the cash we threw in for our weekend’s use pretty much filled Renegade  (we even remembered the 60:40 split) and we took the opportunity to take on water too – a surprising amount considering David and Tony filled up at Titchmarsh recently. Back to the mooring, a final tidy, clean and check before returning to SYH in the Ark.

We capped a great weekend by stopping off at the Ship Inn, Levington which reopened in October last year and now serves food 12-5 on Sundays in addition to serving till quite late on Saturdays. (See the photos  above for sample menus). After decent beer battered haddock and chips (the fish we didnt catch) washed down with a pint of Ghost Ship in the warm sun on the rear terrace, we set the satnav for home, with a quiet journey as all but David snoozed contentedly.

Jobs Done:

Clutches labels checked – holding firm and a great help say the crew

Diesel tank filled

Water tank filled

VHF antenna reinstated and radio checked with CG

Deeper clean of the heads bowl (was not as fresh as usual)

Gave the sprayhood a light clean as per the instructions on the label

A number of tea towels taken home to launder (there is still a bagful on board)

Lessons learned:

With careful planning you can sail when there are no World Cup games on you don't want to miss…

David W can still operate the furling gear without incident

Be very carefully allowing Danes aboard on 21st June

David W has already visited the Deben enough times this season to qualify for residency

Harwich is quite an interesting free daytime stop but once is probably enough…

David W can now ‘park’ Renegade “on a sixpence” (famous last words!...)

Whenever you shop at SYH or Fox’s they think you are David Higginson…it’s just not worth arguing…

The Ship is once again a good place for a meal and or a pint. Staff ok but no charm school diplomas

Bring loo roll – we forgot ours on this occasion

Rebecca, Andrew and David Wells with Trine ’Firebrand’ Hansen

Orford, River Ore 14-15 June 2014

Tony, Simon and David W. met up at SYH at 0845 and loaded up the Ark. A little difficulty starting the outboard was remedied by turning the fuel switch to 'Run'! There was plenty of water in the channel approaching half flood Springs.

Reaching Renegade we quickly unloaded and discovered a canny way of pre-salting the rice by a quick dunk in the Orwell! You will need to make sure your shopping bags are suitably split to achieve this... We stowed, checked and made ready and were underway by 1000.

We had discounted taking the flood south to avoid a late return on Sunday or beating back earlier against the tide and forecast NE/NNE winds. Our initial plan was to make for the Deben where we had made preliminary arrangements for a mooring at Waldringfield - the pleasures of the Maybush and a good 3G signal on the moorings to watch the late England kick-off on David's iPad. But there was a groundswell in favour of pushing on to the Ore. We would make our decision as we closed the Woodbridge Haven SWB. It was motorsailing all the way, just off the wind to get some drive out of the main, maintaining a steady 5kts or so.

After avoiding the many pot markers approaching the Deben, one with a line a boat length long trailing from it just below the surface and several just-submerged plastic oil cans, We decided to push on to the Ore, where we could get in on a rising tide approaching HW in the benign conditions with plenty of water under the keel. We consulted the latest chartlet and steered the required 302/301 True transits from the SWB to Oxley and Weir before turning mid-channel up the Ore, navigating some shoal water even at this state of tide in the first reach up the river.

We plugged on, pushed along by the flood, opting for the North channel around Havengore Island, with the wind bang on the nose and David still muttering about the reach we could be enjoying on the Deben, the Maybush and the reliable 3G signal at Waldringfield for the game. Nonetheless, for all but Simon it was their first time in the Ore, and our first tick in the box of the weekend. We kept a lookout for a second tick – sight of one of the Avocets on Havengore. We weren’t successful however, partly due to the need to keep returning our attention to navigation. In addition to checking his iPhone for our position in the river, David was also monitoring the strength of the signal... “Down to two bars now!”.

We had hailed a Dutch yacht leaving the river which raised our hopes of picking up a visitor mooring at Orford where ECP reports just two are available “with a V topmark”. On reaching Orford, we found no such topmarks but passed an empty white buoy before spinning R around as the buoys petered out. David called the HM using the mobile number in the pilot. “Sorry you’re breaking up very badly”, he replied, “Call me on Channel 08”. The HM told us there was a buoy available astern of us. “What’s its number? over” asked David… “Er..if it’s got a number on it it’ll be 33 over”… “Any other way of identifying it? over” replied David looking astern at the two lines of virtually identical buoys... “It’s the only big white one, over” came the HM’s reply. We made fast to the buoy and settled down in the cockpit for the lunch Tony had provisioned and a welcome beer. David checked his phone again... “No service, not a whiff of one!” We dug out the Avon, which was now in the chain locker rather than the smaller locker where David had found it and re-stowed it previously. A short debate ensued about the merits of stowing the dinghy in the chain locker around the increased ease of access against the ability to run the anchor out quickly in an emergency, before David was introduced to the inflatable thwart and the pop out valve mechanism that allows the dinghy to be inflated/deflated more easily. Already sensitive to any task involving the furling gear, David was accused of “man-looking” for failing to locate the dinghy’s transom. “I was looking for a slot in timber transom. I thought that thing was some kind of step!” he offered in his defence.

The dinghy was quickly prepared, made fast and lowered onto the river, the Suzuki 2 attached, oars and pump shipped we set off to explore Orford. We heeded the warnings not to leave unattended tenders on the quay and landed on the pebble beach, carrying the tender higher up the beach.

We agreed we should pack small rucksacks in future, big enough for oilies and lifejacket as they are a pain to trudge around town with. We walked into the town proper, bypassing (yes, really) the Jolly Sailor and Kings Head and, shy of the Crown and Castle, arrived at a homemade ice cream stall that was still serving after a local food fair had finished earlier. You can perhaps judge the fair’s success by the fact that there were seven people in the queue and the guy said it was the busiest he’d been all afternoon. Verdict: very good rum and raisin, salted caramel decent but not spectacular.

We wandered up to the castle before retracing our steps, popping down a small lane to the smokehouse which was smoking but not selling. Tony elected to visit the quay in search of kippers for breakfast with David and Simon electing to line him up a pint in the Jolly Sailor. After all it is the responsibility of we sailors to boost the local economy of the ports we visit, no? A few Southwolds and Ghost Ships later we prepared to return to Renegade, once David had confirmed with the bar staff that there was "No way!" that we would get a 3G signal on any network and there was no leaky wifi signal that would reach that far. Dejected by the news but mellowed by the beers, we slunk off back to the beach, kippers in hand, mutterings of Waldringfield hanging in the air.

We were unsuccessful in finding any more volunteers to load into the dinghy to disprove the old adage that you can't fit more crew in the dinghy on the way back from the pub, so the three of us carried the boat back down to the waterline to launch in the falling tide. David and Tony thought the beer was having some strange effect on their legs until they realised that the ooze was almost up to their calves...well Tony’s calves, David’s ankles ;-)...We were advised (a little too late really) by a local to carry the dinghy onto the quay proper and launch from there which we did, via the hose point for a rinse off of boots and trousers. Then back to R for a very tasty dish of Orwell-salted rice with Italian (another reminder of the match we would miss) Meatballs (thanks Lisa) washed down with some very good red wine. We turned in at 2300 with Tony listening to the match through his "Sorry chaps, earphones only" radio, reporting on the first goal before he fell asleep, only reporting England’s defeat when we rose at 0700 on Sunday.

After a morning cuppa, David set to on the clutch labels having softened the tippex the previous evening using white spirit, But it still took more white spirit and careful use of a blade to remove as much as possible, before rinsing off and drying the clutches ready for the new Dymo labels. David had prepared these at home to save time and David H had expressed a preference for the various lines to be named in full. This is all fine except that the clutches are not actually long enough for “Genoa Halyard 1”, let alone “Genoa Halyard 1 – David W: DO NOT RELEASE, OK?!!!” So some re-stamping of labels was required before Simon called back the lines from the mast and boom while David labelled them. Mixed success, as the labels are not inclined to adhere firmly to the soft-touch clutch levers. David has made a note of the Left-Right clutch sequence in case any labels come adrift.

Tony started cooking breakfast – foil wrapped baked Orford Kippers (a second tick in the box), fried bacon and tomatoes before handing over to David to fetch Neil from the Quay. The Suzuki 2 obviously fancied a lie-in and was reluctant to run, so Tony resorted to rowing, but returned under motor with Neil. Breakfast was ready and served up with a cuppa all round.

We set off around 1020 to cross the bar at HW-2 which would give us 2.5m depth, running down the south channel this time, past a yacht that had tacked just a little too far toward the Western shore and was now aground, later making a sharp change of course ourselves as the sounder fell, touching at 1.4 at one point on the reach towards the mouth.

Simon helpfully pointed out an Avocet on the shore “They’re a similar size to Oystercatchers but longer legs” (a supermodel Oystercatcher perhaps?). David grabbed a quick photo, a third tick in the box. There were worrying breakers visible ahead as Weir SHB came into view in the distance. We took these to be the south going tide, wind assisted, crashing over the eastern spit but they are a disturbing sight nonetheless. We closed Weir and shaped the reciprocal course towards Oxley, needing to steer well uptide to hold the transit until the SWB was reached.

A course of around 220 was our aim, but we had to steer a little off this course to keep the wind on each quarter as we headed back to Harwich, making 6-7+ kts with up to 2.7 kts of that delivered by the tide, gybing as required.

Crossing the channel and turning up into the docks, we tacked up the river, joined by a fleet of classic yachts including several Stellas, getting back to the mooring around 1500 where we had a quick lunch, enjoying a sail past of a couple of Thames barges, before tidying the boat and disembarking in the Ark.

All in all a great weekend and a happy ship. David and Tony had their three ticks of Ore, Orford Kippers and Avocet. Simon had enjoyed his weekend as skipper and no crew had jumped ship – he had actually gained one. Neil had enjoyed the increased range a day sail allowed him.

Jobs Done:

Clutches labelled

Gas Bottle changed (DW has bottle to fill)

Fuel Tank dipped - half full

Lessons learned:

Take a rucksack ashore to carry your gear
David W can operate the furling gear without incident
David W is now more dinghy savvy
Dymo labels do not like soft touch clutch handles
Tony is tops at victualling and is a “modern man” (his words)
Lisa cooks mean meatballs, even if they are Italian
Don’t moor at Orford when there’s an important England game on (Waldringfield is much better…) ***Stop Press: The boatyard tell me they even have superfast Wifi on their moorings! ***
For bird identification forget Bill Oddie - Simon will do the job
Suzuki outboards make great gull perches
Syndicate Sailing is a blast!

Tony, Simon, Neil and David W

Waldringield, River Deben 31 May – 1 June 2014

An early start of 0830 from SYH to check the sounder before departure which was working fine. Weather was warm and sunny with very little wind. A nice cup of fresh coffee from the new kettle and croissants before we got underway motor-sailing shortly after 1000. I had called up John White the evening before to check on the latest conditions over the bar and to discuss the forecast now for winds including a bit of east in them. He was happy with our plans to enter approaching local HW-2 and departing the next day at HW-1. He added a warning about not getting swept by the tide onto the West Knoll bank and checked I had the latest chartlet. He advised using the gable of the first house to the left of the N. Martello as a visual transit.

I briefed the crew on the crossing – I helmed and focused on the visual transit, another called out the compass bearing, another checked the reciprocal bearing aft and another called out the depth. We kept a good line, which this year passes very close to breakers on the East Knoll bank, with just a single alarm.

We pottered our way up the Deben using my pilotage notes, though there was plenty of water as long as any shoals were avoided – Green Point appears to extend quite a way into the river and should be given a wide berth. Through Ramsholt and onto Waldringfield. We had decided not to make for Woodbridge given the dash required back downriver to get out on a rising tide.

I had planned to use the boatyard’s visitor moorings which provide a rigid dinghy to get ashore. I had called up a couple of days before but they don’t reserve them though they assured me they would sort me out with something. As we approached I called them up only to be told they were full as a yacht club had come in (they later emailed to apologise – they had not realised  I was the previous enquirer). I tried ECP for the HM’s number which I had updated according to the ECP website but this number was itself four years out of date. I eventually found Tony Lyon HM’s phone number on the internet and called him up – a mooring was swiftly allocated to us.

We hauled out the dinghy from the forepeak and were pleasantly surprised with how quickly it inflated. And the step-fender is a great boon for getting aboard it. We were conservative initially and opted for two trips rather than one, as we didn’t yet know the beast’s ways (it was a single trip on the way back).

On a fine day it’s a pleasant wander past the sailing club and along the foreshore and the variety of grand and small holiday home available to rent. Then the sun kicked back in strongly and we made for the Maybush where we spent a very convivial couple of hours chatting and taking in the comings and goings in the busy moorings and watching more and more of the middle shoal being revealed.

Back aboard, we enjoyed (more) drinks and appetisers before a delicious meal pre-prepared and cooked by Rebecca who commends members who have tidied and spruced up the galley. It was a pretty warm evening and we stayed chatting in the cockpit until 2245.

Up at 7 on Sunday to a gorgeous morning. We had a leisurely breakfast on deck and I reran the furling line via a new turning block rigged to the aft toerail back to the coaming cleat, bypassing the jammer and no longer risking abrading the new hood as it runs under it. We set off towards 1100. Rebecca had thrown in the excellent idea of picking up a mooring at Felixstowe Ferry for lunch and a clean up below deck to save time back in the Orwell. The wind was a little brisker today and Renegade held her own in the river until local knowledge paid off for those taking a tighter line on the bends.

We re-crossed the Deben Bar at HW-1 to avoid the full flood but to still leave on a rising side and hailed the HM on our way past, managing to stay pretty much on the transit without a single alarm, then motor-sailed back to the Orwell. All in all a fabulous weekend.

David, Rebecca & Simon Wells with Kayleigh Layton