Forecast - Inshore Waters, Gibraltar Point to North Foreland
W or NW 3 or 4 becoming variable 2 then becoming S or SE 3 or 4, smooth or slight, fair, good
HW North Fambridge 04:28UT
LW Harwich 09:11UT 0.8m, HW Harwich 15:54UT 3.7m
Dep North Fambridge approx. 05:00UT towards Harwich e.t.a approx. 14:00UT
Intend mooring Halfpenny Pier, Harwich, if not available will divert to Shotley or Levington
Wednesday 31 May 2017
Tuesday 30 May 2017
Spring Cruise 2017 - Days 2 to 5
Circumstances got in the way of updating the blog over the last few days so here's a potted catch-up
Our cousin Maire joined ship on Friday evening and a catching up session ensued which went on well into the early hours of Saturday morning!Saturday was spent recovering (!) and preparing for the third Fambridge River Festival the following day
Glen arrived on Saturday on the final leg of his South Coast tour in his new camper and a second catching up session ensued into the early hours of Sunday morning!!
Pagan was dressed overall ready for the show which got off to a great start.
Unfortunately, a family crisis developed which necessitated us all decamping half way through the show and dashing back to Kettering. This kept us in Kettering all day yesterday too.
Happily all's well that ends well and first thing this morning Jane and I were back on the road to Essex. Meanwhile, the marina lads had moved Pagan onto the river pontoon for us so we didn't risk being neaped in our berth and unable to go anywhere
Today has been all hands to the pumps to get ready to go sailing tomorrow. The new autohelm installation has been finished (a bit Heath Robinson in places but it will serve for now - I'll try and get some pics posted in the next couple of daysPagan is now all ready to go (we hope!) and we'll be heading off about 06:00 towards Harwich
Friday 26 May 2017
Spring Cruise 2017 - Day 1
Summer is icumen in. Is it ever!
It's been seriously hot the last couple of days and of course this is my busy time of year work wise. But all work and no play etc.
Jane has 12 whole days off so yesterday I drove up to Kettering, had the van serviced and did my laundry ready for a very early start back down to Essex this morning.
We had a good run down, for once and arrived earlier than we'd thought we might. On stepping aboard, the dodgy duckboard in the cockpit, which I've been meaning to beef up, gave up and I put my foot through it!
Ho hum.
After a bit more sleep, I cut a piece of ply to suit and screwed it down as a temporary fix. Some nifty work with the table saw and bench planer will be needed to make new teak sections to rebuild it but that will have to wait
My next mission was to sort out a working light in the guest cabin ready for the arrival later of my cousin who is joining us for the weekend. Then it was all hands to tidy boat
Tomorrow, I need to complete the new autohelm install (it needs power and I need to figure out a means, even if only temporary, of securing the motor).
And on Sunday it's the third Fambridge River Festival which promises to be bigger and better than ever this year.
Monday will see us off our berth late afternoon and, if all goes to plan, underway.
It's been seriously hot the last couple of days and of course this is my busy time of year work wise. But all work and no play etc.
Jane has 12 whole days off so yesterday I drove up to Kettering, had the van serviced and did my laundry ready for a very early start back down to Essex this morning.
We had a good run down, for once and arrived earlier than we'd thought we might. On stepping aboard, the dodgy duckboard in the cockpit, which I've been meaning to beef up, gave up and I put my foot through it!
Ho hum.
After a bit more sleep, I cut a piece of ply to suit and screwed it down as a temporary fix. Some nifty work with the table saw and bench planer will be needed to make new teak sections to rebuild it but that will have to wait
My next mission was to sort out a working light in the guest cabin ready for the arrival later of my cousin who is joining us for the weekend. Then it was all hands to tidy boat
Tomorrow, I need to complete the new autohelm install (it needs power and I need to figure out a means, even if only temporary, of securing the motor).
And on Sunday it's the third Fambridge River Festival which promises to be bigger and better than ever this year.
Monday will see us off our berth late afternoon and, if all goes to plan, underway.