Harwich Archives - Sea Bear

July sailing

by chris | Jul 2025 | Voyage Logs

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.

Some sailing in August

by chris | Aug 2024 | Voyage Logs

I drove down to Pin mIll in the afternoon and after prepping and launching the dinghy I had a welcome half pint of Mosiac at the Butt and Oyster before rowing out to Sea Bear and boarding early eve. Time for a cuppa and cook some tea. It had been and hot and sunny day but it clouded over later and there where was a few spots of rain

Some more rain overnight but it had cleared by morning which I spent swabbing down the cockpit and decks to clear the bird droppings. Midday saw me making sail and running down the river with a very light breeze. In long reach we were becalmed so on with the engine after a while, Breeze back by Collimer so tacked down to the Orwell bouy and there turned around and ran back up the river under a 10k SE and so back to the mooring.

Next day was sunny but with a strong SW, about F6. Somehow I didn’t fancy battling the wind so pottered about the boat tidying and sorting. Always worth delving into the deepest depths of the lockers to refresh the memory of what and where you have aboard. I know some do this with lists.

In the night there was strong winds and rain with the wind veering to the NW. By morning it had eased so slipped the mooring, We ran down to Collimer where the wind deserted us. Motored out towards Harwich Shelf, wind returned and now with main, yankee and staysail set headed out past the Pitching Ground. Here I turned around, back in past Harwich and turned up the Stour. Here I anchored in Copperas Bay opposite the wood in about 5 m. I love this spot to anchor, wooded and peaceful and compared to the Orwell very little traffic.

In the night I heard some splashing, venturing on deck there was a seal in the dinghy. Damm that means it will be swamped in the morning. That dawned sunny and windless. Amazing how many buckets of water the dinghy holds and hard work lowering the bucket on a rope, hoisting and emptying. Once the water level is some way down I could carefully lower myself into the dinghy and finishing bailing out, but still half full of water it is pretty unstable and would be so easy to dip a gunwale under.

It was calm, hot and sunny all day, there was a little breeze late afternoon for a while but decided to stay put. I wasn’t in the mood for motoring.That evening, not fancying a return visit of the seal I hoisted the cub out of the water and set it on deck. Not too hard a task using the main halyard and the mast mounted winch. Actually it is another point in favour of having the the main hoist at the mast rather than led into the cockpit so it can be used for tasks such as this.

With a light breeze the next day I set sail, slow progress down past Harwich and out towards Medussa. Somewhat sort of this we were becalmed so I turned around and headed for home. It was a mixture of motoring, motorsailing, and some sailing with many tacks eventually saw us back up the Orwell and on the mooring.

The cub hoisted on deck