We left Levington yesterday morning expecting to motor back to the Crouch
As it turned out, we had the sails up as soon as we cleared the entrance channel and the engine off shortly thereafter
We had a fairly gentle sail to and through Harwich then the breeze picked up as we cleared the river and we settled down just nicely laying the course to clear the Naze close hauled
We held that course all the way to the Gunfleet, tacked back across to Clacton pier and then we were able to lay the course for the Spitway on the next tack!
Beating the length of the Wallet in three boards, outstanding!
We continued to beat down the channel into the Couch to the North of the Swallowtail but by the time we approached the end of the channel the tide had turned foul
Because I'd expected to be motoring, we hadn't left Levington as early as we should have and now we paid the price. It was fairly slow going under motor against a surprisingly stiff ebb tide
We'd all but made up our minds to anchor for the night in the Brankfleet as the wind had dropped from the F5 we'd had most of the day to a more gentle F3 and the sun was out
But as we approached the Branklet buoy that marks the entrance to the Roach, a very nasty black cloud with heavy rain below it was coming our way and ahead of it the wind blew up to F6 so we decided to can that idea and head into Burnham Yacht Harbour instead
By happy chance, that led to an encounter with our friends Neal and Joscelyn who were out charging the batteries on their Westerly Falcon. We arranged to meet up for beers later
Once alongside in the marina, which went quite smoothly (we're starting to get the hang of this lark!), I sorted out on deck whilst Jane heated up a quick meal of tinned beef stew
Then it was off to the pub for beers :)
Today, as forecast, the yachtsman's gale (an F7) has arrived and it's set to stay very breezy tomorrow. If conditions are not too bad we'll run up to Fambridge and try to get back on our berth tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise it'll be Tuesday.
Either way, this cruise is effectively at an end.
It's been very enjoyable and we've managed to get some good sailing in. I'm pleased that I feel I'm beginning to get Pagan sailing properly as I've been struggling at times. Practice makes perfect and whilst perfection is still a long way off we're getting there
As it turned out, we had the sails up as soon as we cleared the entrance channel and the engine off shortly thereafter
We had a fairly gentle sail to and through Harwich then the breeze picked up as we cleared the river and we settled down just nicely laying the course to clear the Naze close hauled
We held that course all the way to the Gunfleet, tacked back across to Clacton pier and then we were able to lay the course for the Spitway on the next tack!
Beating the length of the Wallet in three boards, outstanding!
We continued to beat down the channel into the Couch to the North of the Swallowtail but by the time we approached the end of the channel the tide had turned foul
Because I'd expected to be motoring, we hadn't left Levington as early as we should have and now we paid the price. It was fairly slow going under motor against a surprisingly stiff ebb tide
We'd all but made up our minds to anchor for the night in the Brankfleet as the wind had dropped from the F5 we'd had most of the day to a more gentle F3 and the sun was out
But as we approached the Branklet buoy that marks the entrance to the Roach, a very nasty black cloud with heavy rain below it was coming our way and ahead of it the wind blew up to F6 so we decided to can that idea and head into Burnham Yacht Harbour instead
By happy chance, that led to an encounter with our friends Neal and Joscelyn who were out charging the batteries on their Westerly Falcon. We arranged to meet up for beers later
Once alongside in the marina, which went quite smoothly (we're starting to get the hang of this lark!), I sorted out on deck whilst Jane heated up a quick meal of tinned beef stew
Then it was off to the pub for beers :)
Today, as forecast, the yachtsman's gale (an F7) has arrived and it's set to stay very breezy tomorrow. If conditions are not too bad we'll run up to Fambridge and try to get back on our berth tomorrow afternoon. Otherwise it'll be Tuesday.
Either way, this cruise is effectively at an end.
It's been very enjoyable and we've managed to get some good sailing in. I'm pleased that I feel I'm beginning to get Pagan sailing properly as I've been struggling at times. Practice makes perfect and whilst perfection is still a long way off we're getting there
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