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.