Mid September 2015–Ipswich, Brightlingsea and Woodbridge

14th September – Monday

The next few days were taken up with boat stuff.  Mick had a new stainless steel tubular frame made for the back of the boat.  The tube will be used to create a Bimini (sunshade) and be part of our existing back canopy.  We now have to decide how to cover it.

We carried out more sewing repairs to the spray hood.  The thread on the outside covering deteriorates with the sun over time and weak areas split.  Our tiny Janome sewing machine soldiered on through material it was not designed to tackle.  More decisions to be made about potentially replacing the spray hood.

15th September – Tuesday

3 of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight spitfires passed over Ipswich and we were lucky enough to see them.

17th September – Thursday

Rodney and Sandra had invited us to their house for a couple of days, and Rodney came to collect us.  We have not been in a car for many months and it feels very fast.  We had a lovely lunch at their home and then went to Brightlingsea for a good walk around.  It is a charming town with enough useful shops to make it self sufficient without spoiling it. 

The sea front revolves around the pier and the recently built marina village.  Boats visiting Brightlingsea moor up onto floating pontoons and a water taxi takes people ashore. 

There are dozens of brightly coloured beach huts around the shoreline and in the middle there is a cafe.  From outside it looks quite ordinary, but inside you soon realise they offer a comprehensive menu and it is well patronised for its high quality fare.  Drinks and Ice Creams made a nice pit-stop in a lovely location. 

Rodney, Mick and Jake

Full compliment.

After a rest back at the house we went to the Red Lion for steak night, which we can honestly say was the nicest steak we have had for many a year.  Then a good sleep in a real bed!

18th September – Friday

Rodney and Sandra kindly took us to Colchester.  The town has a good combination of new and old.  Lovely old streets of independent shops and the best of modern retail. 

The castle was a surprise as it is surrounded by buildings and only reveals itself once you are quite near.

As the largest Norman Keep in Europe it is definitely on the list for a return visit.

Rodney dropped us back at the boat later in the afternoon.  We had a really good time with them both and Jake and we are already looking forward to our next meet up.

19th September – Saturday – To Woodbridge

The weather forecast for the next few days was just too good to stay put so we set sail for Woodbridge.  Normally people will head to the mouth of the River Orwell and overnight there before continuing on to Woodbridge.  However, Mick had calculated with a bit of good judgement and todays tides we could make the trip in one hit.  The 24 miles took us almost 5 hours, mostly on the engine.

It was good to go back down the Orwell and take a good look around as we arrived following another boat and did not fully take in the surroundings.

The biggest challenge of this journey is the ‘Deben Bar’.  Woodbridge is located on the River Deben and there is a notorious sand bar at the river entrance, which changes position regularly after gales.  Buoys are adjusted after these events but great care must still be taken negotiating the entrance.

We were behind another boat which was going very slowly (with an old, not bold sailor in charge, taking great care).  As usual in these situations there was someone in a hurry behind us, but he wasn’t in that much of a hurry as to try an overtaking manoeuvre.

With the Martello tower on our left and the sandbar on our right, full concentration was required.

See the birds sunbathing on the sand bar just yards from the boat.  At this point we had 7 metres of water under us and yet the ‘land’ was so close.

The Deben is said to be one of the most beautiful rivers to sail up.  We may say that next time.  This time was far too buttock-clenchingly scary to take our eyes away from the task in hand.  The rest of the river up to Woodbridge is almost as challenging as the entrance for the first-timer.  There are boats moored on both sides of the river for most of the journey and between that and searching for the next buoy we were fully occupied.

The Ransholt Arms looks like a good stop for another day.

Coincidentally on the way up the river we saw yacht ‘Demijohn II’ who we had met several times in France last year.  We managed to get them on the radio and had a catch up.

The famous Woodbridge Tidemill.

The Entrance to the Tidemill Yacht Harbour.  The entrance has a Sill which can only be approached near high water.

The town itself is really pretty and these few pictures do not do it justice.  Their is a lovely main shopping street with plenty of original shops.

Old half timbered pub ‘Ye Olde Bell and Steelyard’. 

The river at low water.  We had navigated our way through all those boats, through the narrow channel.  The chart gives a flavour of part of the winding route.

20th September – Sunday – To Harwich

We had another good walk around town and along the shoreline to see the river at Low Water. 

Woodbridge at Low Water.

Same aspect at High Water.

The Yacht Harbour Sill at low water.

The Sill as we passed it at 1.2 metres.  As we have a lifting keel we managed to leave as the tide was rising at 3.00pm.  Mick had cleverly measured 1.2 metres above the pontoon when the tide was just covering the sill and marked it.  So we just had to wait until the pontoon rose and for his mark to disappear to know that we could exit safely.

Sailors Info:  Tidemill Yacht Harbour is not the easiest of places to visit but is worth the effort.  The marina has relatively new facilities but I had to dry my hair in the hallway as there were no plug sockets.  At £31 inc electric it is not cheap.  The harbour masters office is a portacabin in the middle of the marina which is a ‘W’ shape.  You have to walk all the way to the centre of the ‘W’ and then he gives you an electric cable converter which has to be taken all the way back to the boat, unless you want to take the cable to the pub!  There are plans for a massive re-structuring of the marina, lets hope its soon.  There is a small supermarket in the town.

We left Woodbridge at 3.00pm to cross the Deben Bar again just before high water and continue to Harwich where we arrived at 6.30pm.

Sailors Info:  Halfpenny Pier is only £15 per night.  The Halfpenny Pier itself hosts the harbour masters office, the facilities and a cafe.  A pin-code of required for the facilities, which are more than adequate. We moored at the bottom of the jetty steps (pictured below) and were advised by other sailors that the creaking of the jetty steps could be cured with engine oil or WD40.  The WD40 worked a treat.  Beware this pontoon is used by fishing boats to refuel and our fenders took a battering and needed a good clean on our return to Ipswich.

Harwich itself is only a small town but has a rich history and an obviously enthusiastic local history society who have placed plaques on many of the buildings, which makes a walk round town much more interesting.  The harbourmaster also supplied a map and walking tour info.  Top marks for trying.

21st September – Monday

Along the sea front we came across this wooden ‘human powered’ crane.  It has 2 wheels inside the structure, which men would walk around to power the crane.  It is the only British example of a two-wheel man operated treadwheel crane.  Built in 1667 on the site of the Naval Yard, now Navyard. It was moved to its present site on Harwich Green in about 1932.

We walked on the seaside to Dovercourt, which is another small town.

Back in Harwich the ‘Electric Palace’ caught our eye, it is a cinema which is still in use.

We walked back to the Pier and the wind had got up a little.  The boat was rolling with the passing ships so we decided to head back to Ipswich.  The journey took only 1 hour 45 minutes to complete the 9 miles back.

The following few days were spent with more spray hood sewing, and cleaning.  Tricia and I went to Knit and Natter.  We met Patrick and Yvonne on ‘Rambling Rose’ from Holland who have the same type of boat as ours, so much comparing of notes ensued, mostly about stowage.

This weekend has been packed, more of which next time.

Early Sept 2015 – Shotley, Harwich to Ipswich

30th August – Sunday

The lady in Shotley marina kindly added us to her newspaper collection on the way into work today, so we had our first Sunday Papers and magazines to read for many months.

We later went for a walk around Shotley Spit.  There is not a great deal to see and we ended up in the Bristol Arms for a pint of ‘Doom Bar’,  its nice to be in England.

The HMS Ganges museum is located at Shotley Marina so we took a look around.  It was the Royal Navy’s land based training school.  Many of you will remember John Noakes climbing the rigging of the on-shore mast along with dozens of cadets lining the rigging.  Many of the old scholars now run the museum.

We walked back to Fleur and Mick stopped in his tracks, shouting ‘That’s Full Circle’ and then ran down the pontoon to make his way to the next jetty.

Full Circle is also a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35 owned by Jim and Lynn.  Mick has been communicating with Jim for the past 10 years since they both bought the same type of boat and met via a Sailing Forum.  Above is the moment of meeting.  To say they had a lot to talk about is an understatement and after the first hour Lynn and I retreated to our own pursuits and left them to it, with a promise to meet on our boat later.

They arrived with two other people Ian and Jo who were friends of theirs who had arrived on their boat Apogee.  We had a very jolly evening putting the world to rights.

The following day they were all leaving for Ipswich so we decided to tag along.

Sailors Info: Shotley Marina, Harwich.  Shotley is a welcome site to a weary sailor and is located across the river from the Port of Felixstowe.  The cost is £31 per night including electric.  The staff were very pleasant and obviously used to tired visitors.  On entering the lock you are given the berth details and map and an Electric socket adaptor which has to be used whilst on site, preventing people from stealing electricity.  The showers on the car park are reasonable, but there is no electric socket for dryers.  I did find a plug socket in the disabled toilet which served my purpose.  Stock up with supplies as there is no supermarket nearby.  The chandlers sells a small supply of necessities.  There is a farm shop next to the Bristol Arms, but this was closed on the Sunday we were there.  There is a well patronised pub on site called the Shipwreck which attracts weekend trade.  A water taxi to Harwich is available in summer,but at £3 each, each way we said we would visit later in the car.

31st August – Monday – To Ipswich

Shotley is a 24 hour access marina with a lock.  We timed our exit so that we would arrive at Ipswich when the lock was on freeflow (which means both gates are open and you can sail straight through).  We left at 11.00am through the narrow channel and around Shotley Spit towards the Port of Felixstowe.  We were dwarfed by the container ships.

We made our way up the River Orwell, passed Suffolk Yacht Harbour, Wolverston and Fox’s Boat Yard, all famous sailing destinations.  The river is very well buoyed and the moored yachts make interesting viewing. 

The Orwell bridge was a milestone for us both as we have driven over it on work trips many times, trying to sneak a peak at the yachts below.  So it was a real treat to finally sail under ourselves.

It seems much bigger from here.

Grey day but happy sailor.

Following ‘Full Circle’ through the lock at Ipswich.

Entering Ipswich Marina had a very good feeling about it, sometimes you just feel at home, and here we have stayed for 2 weeks now.

We all had a meal at ‘The Last Anchor’ which is the marina restaurant.  The day after the ladies went walking in town while the gents got mechanical.  We all went out for a last meal together at the ‘Zaika’ Indian Restaurant, a short walk away.  The food was excellent and the restaurant was very professionally managed.

 

Ian, Jo, Jim and Lynn left on Wednesday with small bears as a token of friendship and promises of future meetings to enjoy.

Over the next few days we relaxed into Ipswich, finding our way around, shopping, cleaning and generally making Fleur fully ship shape again.

6th September - Sunday

We met Jeremy and Tricia on their ship Tudora, passing a pleasant few hours talking about Holland and Denmark, its great to swop info. 

7th September – Monday

A momentous day.  My oldest school friend Greg married his partner Mark in Gretna Green and surprised us all.  The outpouring of love for them both on Facebook made us very happy.

Michael carried out a 900 hour service on the engine to celebrate.

9th September – Wednesday

Friends Rodney and his wife Sandra, who retired to the East Coast 5 years ago, paid us a visit today.  We had a lovely lunch in the Last Anchor and the weather was kind enough to lets us chew over old times in the cockpit of the boat, in the sunshine, for the rest of the afternoon, lovely.

10th September – Thursday

Jeremy and Tricia invited us for a walk to Christchurch Park.  It was a lovely day and the park is beautiful.  They were particularly keen to introduce us to ‘Mabel’  who is a bit of a local celebrity around here.  She is an Owl, who lives in a hollow of a tree in the park.  The behaviour is apparently very unusual as Owls tend to hide from view, but Mabel seems happy to be seen and is loved by the locals. 

You can just see her looking out in the centre of the picture.  Much better pictures are available by Googling ‘Mabel Ipswich Owl’!!!

The park also has a grand hall which we will investigate later.

Trevor and Lisa (Dignity II) returned from their holidays today and we had a good chat.  We met them in Padstow last year.  They are here preparing for their Baltic mission next year.

11th September – Friday

Our 3 day history trail started today.  The Ipswich Heritage days run from the 9th to the 13th so we had much to see.  Many of the beautiful buildings are open to the public at this yearly event.  Ipswich is blessed with a host of medieval and Tudor buildings, with it having been a safe harbour, trading and religious centre.

We went to Gippeswyke Hall which is a Tudor house which has been converted to a theatre via lottery funding.

The theatre gets good reviews and also performs outdoors at ‘Jimmy Farm’ too.  Lets just say its needs a good dose of organising.

12th September – Saturday

Ourselves and Tricia joined an organised walking tour starting at St Stephens, which is now the Tourist Office.  Our guide Mike Garland took us on a northerly route around town, pointing out some of the places we were able to visit and filling in the gaps on the towns history. 

‘Ancient House’ which is now a Lakeland shop which was refurbished by the council in the 80s and has been lovingly taken care of by Lakeland since they purchased it.  It is well worth a visit and holds some surprises, which I wont spoil.  Mike really brought this building to life for us.

Pykenham Gatehouse

He dropped us a St Margaret’s which has a unique painted roof inside.  We then went to the Freemasons Hall where Tricia left us to continue.

We continued around town visiting many different types of buildings.  Chapels, a private library, a gatehouse, an Admirals House, and old pubs.

We took a break in the library before our 2.00pm tour of the Town Hall, which Mike had strongly recommended.

The town hall was really the centre of operations in the past and held the offices, courts, fire and police departments.

The Mayors parlour holds this unique portrait of Queen Victoria, as she actually sat for it and it became the draft for a larger version now on display at Osbourne House.

In the parlour the town ‘Sergeant at Arms’ showed us the regalia and official sword and mace.  Then he asked for a volunteer, no one came forward so he asked a guy at the back of the room.  As he fitted the chain, he then told us that the only person allowed to wear this regalia is the Mayor and promptly introduced us to the Mayor, Glen Chisholm.

He was a really nice chap and was obviously enjoying his time in office.  He was wearing the chains to present the prizes to the winners of todays stage of the ‘Tour of Britain’ cycle race, due around 3.30pm.  We finally went into the Corn Exchange which is a venue for all types of performances.

We then made our way to the finish line and waited for the cyclists.

We managed by accident to be standing at the corner of the road the cyclists took after the race and managed to get a pretty good picture of Sir Bradley.

They pass so quickly at the end, we were lucky that they came by us.

We then stumbled across our last building of the day, the Unitarian Meeting House.  It was a very old, very simple and tranquil place.

13th September – Sunday

We enjoyed Mike’s tour so much yesterday we postponed the Sunday newspapers and went on his second tour, to the Waterfront area of town.  He was very knowledgeable and obviously enjoyed his work.

Isaacs Brewery timbered warehouse, still in use for weddings.

The Custom House, whose unique curved entrance meant that the harbour master could stand in the door way and be heard across the harbour.

The Wheatsheaf which is a contemporary of the ‘Ancient House’ but due to its lack of decoration is sadly overlooked.

Phew, what a weekend, some amazing buildings and a privilege to take a peek.

End August 2015 – Amsterdam – IJmuiden - Overnight to Harwich

According to the local papers there were 2.3 million visitors to SAIL Amsterdam.  With that, the clean up operation was a miracle.  Even the Ferris wheel had been dis-assembled by lunchtime on Monday.  You would struggle to know anything had happened.  Maybe it was all a dream!!

Sailors Info: Sixhaven Marina, Opposite Central Station, Amsterdam.  Free ferries operate constantly from Central Station to several places along the north side of the North Sea Canal, which makes Sixhaven a perfect spot for a stay in Amsterdam.  The famous harbour masters run around the jetties making sure new visitors are correctly moored.  In recent years all the pontoons have been replaced and the toilet facilities are new and very well taken care of.  You pay at a machine below the club house and the machine seems to take all major credit cards, with info in English, on self service screens which also provide SEP smart cards for the showers, water and electric.  There is a Dirk supermarket 10 minutes walk from the marina and the Foodmarkt Amsterdam store I mentioned previously.  There are also several large supermarkets in town.  We would highly recommend a stay at Sixhaven, and don’t worry they always seem to have space.

25th August – Tuesday

Our last proper day to have a final look around.  We found China Town and delicious Pork Buns, which were like soft rolls with spicy pork in the middle.  Really yummy and only 1 Euro.  The ploy worked for the ‘Hoi Tin’ Restaurant as we returned for a very enjoyable last dinner in Holland in the evening.

We bought a 2.50 Euro map from the Tourist office on our first day back and it has been the best money spent all trip, as we have wandered and wandered around all the less obvious places and found some real gems.  Small streets with small privately owned shops and cafes, a bit off the well-beaten track.

26th August – Wednesday

It was our turn to be boat movers today.  We have seen and helped so many boats to move around in the last 2 weeks we have become quite proficient at man-handling boats from the shore.  Today we moved across to an easy exit pontoon, which was less likely to be blocked in.  We also helped Brian and Wendy and Jack to rotate theirs boats for easier exits too.

We went for a big shop for food supplies to get us over the North Sea and managed to squeeze in a last Turkish Pizza en route.

We had farewell drinks with Brian and Wendy on their boat ‘Maximaal’.  It has been lovely sharing this experience with them and they have been great fun.  We also wished Jack on ‘Vegabond’ good luck with his future escapades.   

27th August – Thursday – To IJmuiden

08.30 start for the 15 mile trip to IJmuiden which is a main port of call for vessels crossing the North Sea.  It’s a bit like a Service Station on the sea.  Enough facilities but not enough to get too comfy.

On the North Sea canal heading towards the coast we encountered a number of interesting vessels.  At first we thought this crane was stationary on the shore, then it started to move.  Its amazing that it stays upright.  It is an ominous sight as it moves towards you.

We had a private viewing of the Tall Ship ‘Stad Amsterdam’ on her way back to town.

The lock at IJmuiden is a complex of locks catering for all sizes of vessels.  This is the entrance to the ‘Sport’ lock for smaller craft.

The platform above was anchored after the lock awaiting deployment into the North Sea.

We stayed at IJmuiden port for Thursday night in preparation for our crossing.

28th August – Friday – IJmuiden to Harwich

Mick had spent most of the previous few weeks planning, checking, re-checking, assessing and re-assessing all aspects of our crossing to Harwich.  It is not to be taken lightly and full consideration is applied to all aspects of the journey.  The thing we can do nothing about is the weather.  So you just have to put your trust in the forecasters and choose a weather window with a little leeway at each end which also allows for the tide times on the chosen dates. 

Mick used the ‘Northsea Passage Pilot’ by Brian Navin to aid the planning process.  He took his recommendations on passage 18 which advised a departure time, of high water Dover minus 3 hours, which gave us 3 hours of a following incoming tide for the last part of the trip into Harwich.

We set off a 06.00 as first light broke.  The forecast for the first day was for force 4 and 5 south-westerly winds.  The winds turned out to be higher than expected and as usual were on the nose of the boat. 

Rigs in the North Sea.

Wind-farms in the North Sea.

Mick helming at an angle mid-afternoon.

Night-fall.

The first 24 hours of the trip were more lively than was forecast, which makes the journey more un-comfortable.  The issue being the relentless motion.  Hour after hour of constant movement.  The positives were that there was an almost full moon, so it was never totally dark.  The other was that we had no rain and the wind was not too cold.

I had a nap in the afternoon and was therefore able to stay awake while Mick slept from 11.30pm to 02.30am.  I then slept from 03.00am to 06.00am while Mick stood watch for daybreak.

A welcome brew as the sea became calmer for our last 6 hours.  We surfed past Sizewell Power Station with the morning tide.

We had both taken sea sickness tablets which did their job, but we both felt the influence of the constant motion over the 30 hour trip.  We did not manage to plough through all the 15 teacakes I had prepared, but non were wasted as when we arrived hunger hit. 

When we stop to think about it, it is very usual for a human being to carry out any tasks for such prolonged periods.  There is usually an opportunity to stop and rest, but with sailing it is a no-option option, you just have to carry on.  My respect for sailors who do this alone grows each time I experience it.  We also think that our sedate summer of canals and lakes, did little to prepare us for this extended period of sailing. 

However, at no time during the trip did we feel in danger as our preparations and planning had been thorough and the weather conditions were well within the limits of the boat and ourselves.

In sailing terms this is not a long journey, but it is not my natural habitat, and I suffer it only because it is a means to an end.  A necessary evil to enable a fabulous summer.  I await the day when one of these trips is an actual pleasure.

Shotley Marina at Harwich was a welcome sight at 11.30am on Saturday the 29th.  A nice small lock leading to a big sleep.

We woke to the gentle tinkle of container ships being loaded across the river at the Port of Felixstowe.