Fri 18th July

An old friend from way back who now lives in Australia was over so we agreed to meet up and go down to the boat for a few days. It would be nice to have some company instead of solo sailing.

 Arriving at Pin Mill in the  early eve we had a pint at the Butt & Oyster before heading out to the boat. Early morning saw us slipping the mooring and with a little breeze motoring down the Orwell. Out past Cliff Foot Buoy and all sail set and a gentle sail took up past Walton pier and down the Wallet to eventually enter the Colne. The recurring intermittent problem of no cooling water emerging from the engine on start up reared its ugly head again. We anchored under a slip of sail and then bare poles in the mouth of Pyefleet. An investigation revealed no faults, no blockages, impeller fine so all a bit baffling.

Sat

 Lots of rain overnight with some thunder and lightning, the forecast wasn’t great, unsettled wether and next morning was dreary with rain showers and heavy clouds so we stayed put for the day,

Sun

An overcast morning with drizzle and forecast of 2-4 SE winds with showers,

Hopefully we weighed anchor and set off. By the Colne Bar buoy it was raining hard and blowing 20 knots. We crossed the Spitway and turned  down towards Maplin towards West Swin. With poor visibility it would not be just a case of buoy hopping. My mistake whether from laziness or thinking I knew the area well enough, had been not to draw up a proper passage plan with courses, bearings and distances all noted down. I normally do this in a notebook or on a white board with a chart pen. In these conditions consulting the chart and course setting with rain smeared glasses was challenging. I made a note to myself not to skip proper planning in future it is time and effort rarely wasted. Hard on the wind we found that we could not hold the course and would need to short tack down the channel. We had been on the go 3 & half hours – it was still raining hard – showers I didn’t think they lasted this long. Anyway with conditions like this we would not reach the Medway, which had been the objective, in time. That plus the unreliability of the engine cooling water, we gave it best and turned around. Later returning to Pyefleet the cooling water problem was there again. Puzzling and annoying.

Mon

Lets visit the Blackwater was the thought so weighing the anchor under sail we exited the Colne and turned up the Blackwater. Shortly the wind deserted us so after a while of aimless drifting it was on with the engine – cooling water ok  this time. We anchored just before the Stone sailing club moorings.

Tue

Weighed anchor and ran down towards Bench Head buoy under just the Yankee and so up the Wallet. We might have made marginally better speed by using the main earlier but with the wind dead astern it was more relaxing with just a foresail and so no risk if an unintentional gybe. By Walton Pier with then wind more abeam we hoisted main and staysail and we sailed as far as Harwich Shelf. Here the wind died so on with the engine, thankfully no water cooling problem and we turned up the Stour to anchor at Ewerton Bay. That turned out to be a popular spot that evening.

Weds

A calm day so we  motored to Halfpenny Pier where we filled up with water, having run out. This involved filling jerry cans ashore but with 3 cans and two of us didn’t take to long. Afterwards we went for a wander around, I had never used the pier before. There was not really much to find in the town, barely any shops but we had a nice coffee followed by a fish & chip lunch and managed to get some fresh milk. Even though it was fairly calm day the chop on the outside of the pier was notable and I was glad we were on the inside.

Late afternoon we slipped away and motored back to the mooring.

Thurs

Tidied up the boat and around HW dinghied ashore and headed home.