Entering the Colne was straight forward but finding the final bouy could have been easier if they hadn't been servicing it.
A very gentle and pleasant sail up the Colne to Wivnehoe and Rowhedge in time for high water.
Through the tide barrier and up to Rowhedge, we had hoped to nip ashore for a beer at the Albion but we were too early. It might be a marketing gimmick but if a pub opened according to the tide then there might be some additional trade, there were a couple of boats tied up who seemed to be waiting for the pub to open. Then back down the Colne, again on the tide, to Brightlingsea. We stayed on the visitors pontoon overnight and went ashore in the dinghy. Not sure if I've mentioned the dinghy? It is probably as old as I am, has anyone seen a black Avon Redcrest with metal Schrader valves? It seems to stay afloat but in his inimitable style the king of bodge, my owner has added an extension to the outboard bracket so that it can take a long shaft Seagull 40! On the way back from the pub we found that the route from the Colne Sailing Club pontoon to the visitors pontoon was not a straight line. We took the dinghy over Cindery Island!! No damage done though.
On Tuesday it was off to Tollesbury to pick up another of my owner's friends, also called Dave. This is where the plan started to go wrong. It was very windy on Tuesday so the sail round to Tollesbury was a struggle against tide and wind. We moored up in Tollesbury fleet and after a bumpy evening we woke up to a mill pond.
The plan was to pick up Dave # 2 at 9AM from Tollesbury, this was too late and although he had said that he wouldn't be able to join us we still went up Woodrolfe creek for a nose around. We know it was too late because we encountered a draft / depth negative inequality!! Bugger, my owner had been doing so well all season, this was our first grounding.
As it turned out, 8 hours forced rest was just what everyone needed, albeit at a slightly uncomfortable angle. It meant that the planned run down to Heybridge was off but we did manage a run around the Saltings off Tollesbury in the dinghy and a scrub of the propeller which made it work a lot better, it seems to attract the small barnacles that are soft enough to rub off. When the water came back in we went straight into Tollesbury Marina for the night and had a beer in town and another in the Marina club.
On Thursday morning we left on the tide to sail down the Blackwater, against tide and wind it took four hours to reach Marconi Sailing Club before turning round and heading back to the Colne. The plan was to anchor in Pyefleet Channel overnight before heading back. When we reach the Colne which took less than two hours the wind was force 5 and Westerly, not ideal for Pyefleet. We sailed and motored up Pyefleet until we ran out of water then turned round and went back to the crossroads with the Colne and Brightlingsea. We decided to anchor in the lee off Mersea Island just down stream of the Offshore Essex Smack Pioneer.
A glorious sight in the evening sun.
As before, the wind died down and we could have stayed up the Pyefleet Channel overnight but maybe it was for the best, shortly after the sun went down several boats left Brightlingsea at full speed, one without any nav lights on, and went up to Pyefleet.
On Friday morning we weighed anchor under sail and started to make our way back to the Crouch. The sail back went very well, we made it through the Spitway about an hour before the tide turned and we tacked back down the Whitaker channel, we only needed to put the engine on for the last mile or so before the Crouch. Not too bad with the wind from the South West. Just off the Roach the wind backed enough for us to set the Genoa and we motor sailed through the moorings off Burnham. In Cliff Reach we turned the engine off and set the main sail for the final run up to Bridgemarsh.
A pleasant and largely restful trip even if we didn't achieve our objectives, there is always next time.
