Blackwater Booze Cruise Days 8 & 9

(Friday)

Once again, apologies for the delay but as a bonus you can have two days in one go. OK, so they're not actually very exciting days but sometimes it's nice to just potter around

The first order of business today was to tackle the rampaging mould in the forward cabin. I'd noticed a spot or two yesterday and wiped them off but it had returned with a vengeance overnight covering much of the teak woodwork



There was nothing for it but to clear all my gear and the upholstery out of the cabin, taking advantage of the unseasonably nice weather to give everything a good airing, and set too with the hot water and disinfectant spray to scrub the whole compartment out

That done, and the boat put back together, we set off for Fambridge. The tide was still foul but close to neaps and with a fairly stiff Sou'westerly we had a cracking sail upriver and only had to tack a couple of times

Back alongside at Fambridge, I had a little job to do on another boat (which had prompted our slightly early departure from Burnham). With that done, we showered and then repaired to the Ferry Boat for food and beer

(Saturday)

We were very glad indeed ti be berthed on the inside of the pontoon as it was blowing a hoolie from the start today

My main order of business was to one again step the forecabin and apply a coat of teak oil to all the woodwork. Although it's all going to need a proper clean and what have you over the winter, it needed a protective coat now after yesterday's scrubbing efforts

With the cabin restored to good order I was pleased with the results...



We then set about removing our gear and offloading all the clothes that Jane and I keep aboard for the summer. The car sank lower as Erbas rose higher!

She settled a bit deeper after we refilled the water tanks though! Then we cleaned down the decks and all was ready for our departure

Picking up the mooring was a bit interesting in the strong breeze. We had a couple of goes from the cockpit but Glen simply couldn't reach the buoy (something that was easy on Brigantia).

Our third try with Glen at the shrouds went rather better. Life would be easier with the buoy tails left in situ but they get fouled with weed and dirt which is horrible to handle and takes ages to sluice off the decks

With the strops back on the buoy and the boat secured, we set about the final shut down and checks before waving to Patrick on his way back from taking somebody out to their boat for a lift ashore

And that was the end of our week. Finishing a day earlier than we could have suited us both as we've stuff to be getting on with at home

Blackwater Booze Cruise Day 7

My apologies for the delay, I haven't been able to post to the blog due to a technical fault. Catching up now...

We had a less than conformable night on the pontoon at Wivenhoe. Erbas had settled into the mud with a list to port which was bad news for Glen especially as he is occupying the starboard saloon berth. He did have to transfer to the much more cramped port berth for a while

And then there was the creaky pontoons. It sounded like the full weight of the boat was hanging on the forward spring but when Glen beat me to it (by seconds) and went on deck to check it turned out to be the pontoon creaking against the joint.

Eventually everything settled down and shut up and wet got back off to sleep. Of course, then the alarm went off!

We had to be away as soon as the tide turned or we'd be stuck at Wivenhoe until mid afternoon.

Our exit was perfectly executed (smug smiley) and we motored off downriver in the early dawn light. I was glad of the chart plotter which made keeping in the channel easy, following the navigation marks without its aid would have been interesting!

As we came abeam Brightlingsea we had the breeze and the sea room so it was up with the white flappy things and off with the noisy thing.

The sail down to the Spitway was a cracker. We flew along at a cracking rate of knots and arrived at the Wallet Spitway buoy around half tide



There was, as one would expect, quite a cross set but I was able to lay a reasonable course across the swatchway.

Then it was decision time. I could start tacking down the narrower channel to the North of the Swallowtail Bank however I elected for the wider and slightly more Westerly aligned Whitaker Channel

Whether that was a good call we shall never know. I wasn't expecting miracles and I didn't get any. The wind was just about as due wrong as it could possibly be and, of course, the tide was foul.

That was expected and accepted. I was pleased to find that we were making appreciable progress though. Not quite quick, by any measure, but we were gradually clawing our way towards the river mouth

I was less pleased to deem it necessary to put a reef in as the breeze got up into the 18 to 20 knot range and stayed there only to have the breeze drop back to 12 to 14 knots as soon as we came back on the wind

With much gnashing of teeth and beating of the breast I had to accept the reef would have to be shaken out again

By the time the deed was done we were a matter of yards from where we'd hove to to reef in the first place!

Oh well, such is life.

By the time we made it as far as the Sunken Buxey (a shoal in the middle of the channel that marks the change from the Whitaker Channel to the Outer Crouch) the tide had turned

This meant, and I'd rather expected it, a wind over tide chop started to build. In a stiff Sou'westerly with the tide on the flood the Outer Crouch can get very rough indeed.

It wasn't too bad today but the chop was killing our progress and negating the gain from the fair tide.

A chap can only stand so much fun and another four or five hours slogging into the Crouch under sail was not an attractive proposition. So it was away with the genoa, centre the main and on with the engine.

Less than two hours later we were alongside in Burnham Yacht Harbour and wandering off into town. Our first port of call was Tesco Express for vital supplies (a jar of coffee!) and then it was off to the pub for a jar or three

We'd decided to have beer then eat on board and follow that with an early night. It was a good plan

We'd also decided that with the forecast for the weekend looking target too windy for comfort tomorrow would be the last day of the cruise

Blackwater Booze Cruise Day 6

Apologies for the late update, two early starts (I usually write the previous days blog over morning coffee) and two consequent early nights (yawn)...

Our departure from Heybridge was dictated by the tides. That meant either leaving a good hour before dawn or in the evening with barely an hour of daylight.

Since there's really nowhere to go less than an hour away, other than to anchor for the night, it was an 05:30 locking out that was arranged with Martin, the friendly and helpful keeper at the basin

It was by no means an unpleasant morning though. The half moon have enough light to see more than just the navigation lights and it was neither cold nor damp.

We motored off down the Blackwater in a virtual calm. Dawn dawned, as it does, with clear blue sky overhead but as we slid past Bradwell a horrible clag stretched from bank to back up ahead

Perhaps we should have bailed out into Bradwell Marina but we pressed on into what turned out to be ground level cloud (aka fog)

The visibility got steadily worse as we made our way over the Bench Head - no depth concerns today at more than half tide - and by the time we were into the lower reaches of the River Colne it was down to a couple of hundred yards

I was less than impressed to encounter a wind farm support vessel outbound from Brightlingsea travelling at over 18 knots (according to his AIS transmission). At that speed I would have no hope of avoiding a collision if he failed to see us on radar.

In contrast, the fishing boat we also encountered was proceeding at a sensible speed and followed the regs to the letter

I was most relieved to sneak round into the Pyefleet and pick up one of the visitor mooring buoys for a few hours.

Glen read and snoozed in the saloon whilst I retired for a nap in my berth. I hadn't slept well overnight (probably in anticipation of the early start) and the couple of hours extra sleep was very welcome



Upon awaking I discovered that the fog had gone, the sun had come out and it was a really nice day

The primary purpose of picking up the buoy was to wait out the rest of the ebb tide and then wait a bit longer for the flood to set in to give us enough water at Wivenhoe.

The visitor berths on the pontoon can be accessed about two hours either side of high water so leaving the Pyefleet at about half tide would be right.

Accordingly, we got under way just after two and had a go at sailing off the mooring but there just wasn't enough puff in the light breeze to overcome the tide so it was on with the engine for a few minutes to motor out of the fleet into the Colne

Then it was off with the engine to ghost upriver on the tide. Very pleasant it was too and quite scenic. The Colne is still a commercial waterway though and one of Priors small coasters came up astern just as the channel was getting very narrow and twisty!

I scandalised the sails to slow down and kept over to the side of the deep water which have him ample room to go by. Didn't even get a wave from the crew though!

Soon thereafter it was down with the sails and on with the engine anfd, after sticking briefly (we were on the early side time wise) we were berthed on the upstream side of the pontoons



Swiflty sorting out and locking up, we went for a wander ending up at the Rose and Crown, a very nice traditional looking riverside pub, for a pint.

We strolled back through the lower part of the town by the church, apparently famous for its unusual beacon atop the tower, and thence back to the moorings.

With the tide at slack water I decided to move from the upstream side of the pontoon system to the downstream side. This would give us an extra hour in bed as otherwise we'd have to underway before high water to avoid the possibility of being trapped in the pontoons by the ebb tide.

(This decision would have unforseen consequences but you'll have to wait until the next post to find out what they were!)

The ship's cook decided we were eating out tonight so it was back to the Rose and Crown for a reasonable meal and a reasonable pint at reasonable prices.

I don't understand the mentality of whoever in the pub management structure deemed it necessary to put a flat screen TV playing non -stop MTV on the wall of a fine traditional English pub.



We retired for the night at a sensible hour as another early start beckoned

Blackwater Booze Cruise Day 5

(Tuesday)

It had always been part of the plan for this week to spend two days, three nights, at Heybridge and this was the second of those days

Our major need today was diesel and the easiest way of getting some was by dinghy up to the Tesco Extra store in Heybridge

So after a leisurely breakfast of superbly cooked bacon butties (it's not hard) we set about blowing up the dinghy. Well I say we but if course I really mean I set about blowing up the dinghy

Having knackered myself blowing it up (what price an electric inflator?) I dropped the outboard onto the transom and, after Glen added some two stroke oil to the can, topped up the outboard tank with fresh petroil

To my considerable relief the beasty fired up without further ado and ran happily. Chucking the diesel cans and the spare petrol aboard, we set out up the Chelmer and Blackwater Canal.

The weather was just about holding off as we motored along with just the occasional interruption to our progress to clear weeds off the outboard leg

We duly arrived at the landing stage provided by Tesco and leaving Glen to mind the dinghy I soon procured two cans of diesel from the petrol station.

Back we motored to the basin to pour the cans intro the tank which took the fuel gauge to the halfway mark.d

Reckoning we now had enough for about twenty hours motoring, and with the weather looking reasonable, we decided to make a second run and put the issue of diesel beyond doubt for the rest of the week



I refilled the cans whilst Glen grabbed sine essential supplies from the store and then off we went again

We ran out of petrol half way back to the basin but this wasn't a problem. I'd anticipated that we would and had the fuel and the funnel to refill the outboard on board. I now know that we can go about four miles on a tank of fuel at full chat

Full chat, by the way, gave us 4.3kts over the ground with two fat buggers on board. Knocking the throttle back to two thirds gave 3.4kts and probably better economy but we haven't tested that



Arriving back at the basin, we clambered back aboard Erbas and chucked the larger can into the tank which brought the gauge up to the three quarters mark. The 5l can went in the locker full as a reserve.

I also chucked 50ml of diesel treatment in the tank to protect against diesel bug. We need to top off the tank before the winter to minimise condensation in the tank but sufficient to the day thereof

I gave the rather grubby dinghy a scrub and then tidied up on deck whilst Glen had did a spot of housekeeping in the cabin

Martin, the lockkeeper, rang me to confirm our departure in the morning and we arranged that I'd pop to the office about 5-ish to settle up

That done, I had a wash and brush up on board whilst Glen rustled up a very tasty ham paella sort of thing. Whatever it was, it was very tasty and didn't stay on the plate very long!

Washing up done it was off to the pub for some more excellent Broadside and inconsequential natter

Having made up my mind that we're heading back to the Crouch tomorrow, I've now had second thoughts. Maybe we'll go to Wivenhoe instead!

I'll make up my mind when the sun comes up which is a good hour and a half after we lock out of the basin in the morning

Blackwater Booze Cruise Day 4

I awoke briefly around 6-ish, heard the rain hammering down on the cabin and decided to roll over and have a lie in

Much to my considerable surprise it was nigh on midday when I next awoke. Even more astonishing was the lack of a headache which usually results from excessive sleeping

Glen had already breakfasted and I wasn't too bothered so a biscuit washed down with copious coffee was the next order of business

The rain had abated so we decided to take a chance on the weather and go for a walk into Maldon

It's a very pleasant stroll along the well maintained towpath of the Chelmer and Blackwater Canal. Glen has been actively involved in the work since the Inland Waterways Association took over the management of the navigation

I must admit that had I still been a trustee of the IWA at that time I would have been opposed to the decision. In hindsight, I'd have been wrong and I'm happy to admit it!

It's a shame that the canal operation is denied the use of the assets of the old Company of Proprietors which were sold off by the receivers. Much could have been done, I'm sure, with the buildings adjacent to the basin, for example.

Progressing into Heybridge the scenery takes a bit of a downturn. There are few sights of historic or architectural interest these days, Heybridge seems to be mostly an industrial suburb orf Maldon



The church of St. Andrew is where a number of our maternal ancestors were baptised, married and buried. It would be nice to go in but sadly in this day and age churches are no longer left open to the casual visitor.

The small graveyard looks to have been largely cleared of headstones and our lot were probably too poor to erect them anyway so we passed on by without going in

Crossing the bridge over the River Chelmer, we followed the footpath around the back of the various little boatyards and modern residential developments catching occasional glimpses of the old wharves and docks on the far side of the river by the flour mill.

That brought us out onto Hythe Quay and from there we set off up the hill past St. Mary's Church and thence to the bottom end of Maldon High Street.

High Street is where our family lived for a generation between Heybridge and ending up in Sunderland. Exactly where, however, is hard to pin down but I think it would have been nearer the top of the hill than the bottom (as several baptisms and marriages took place at All Saints, at the top end of High Street, rather than St. Mary's off the bottom end)



Many of the buildings are clearly Victorian, Edwardian or modern but a few glimpses of how the High Street might have looked in the mid-1800s can still be found

We lunched in the cafe that now occupies the former bar of the Kings Head, a building our ancestors would certainly have been familiar with but most probably not from the inside as they were Wesleyan Methodists. Very pleasant it was too if a little pricey

We picked up a couple of essentials (bread and coffee) from the Morrisons Local shop and then it was back down the hill to the river before retracing our steps along the towpath to the basin.

All in all, a very pleasant walk despite the rather dull conditions. The threatening rain never arrived, other than a few spots and it wasn't at all chilly

After a brief sojourn on board, we took ourselves off to the Jolly Sailor for a very decent steak pie and several pints of Adnams Broadside. Both pie and pint were top notch

Having started out with so little promise, it had turned out to be a good day in port

Blackwater Booze Cruise Day 3

We spent a very peaceful night at anchor in the Pyefleet and I awoke not long before the alarm I'd set would have gone off anyway. Glen had been awake a while apparently.

Whilst Glen got the breakfast on the go, sausage butties this morning, I rang the lockkeeper at Heybridge Basin to arrange a berth.

With the weather due to take a turn for the worse by this evening we really wanted to be holed up somewhere sheltered for a couple of days and Heybridge, which we'd originally planned to visit towards the end of the week, would suit perfectly

The only snag being that the evening high water on Tuesday would put us out on the river with barely an hour of daylight, Wednesday evening it would be dark and Wednesday morning high water, also in the dark, it's several hours earlier than the published 08:00 earliest locking time

However, a brief chat with Martin the lockkeeper resolved that problem as he's perfectly happy to be up and about and lock us out on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, Martin asked us to try and be off the approach to the lock at 14:45 as he'd then be able to run a single locking for the boats booked to enter and exit and get the tidal flood gates closed well before high water

It's about 17 miles from the Pyefleet to Heybridge and we'd got ample time so in due course we fired up the engine and weighed the very muddy anchor.

Of wind there was not a lot so we motored out into the Colne past the moored smacks and barges with Glen on the helm whilst I sluiced copious buckets of water down the decks to wash off all the mud

Leaving the Colne to head up the Blackwater at a good time to catch the flood upriver comes with a downside. It's a long haul out into the deep water channel down the edge of the extended spit of shoal ground called Bench Head

There's this tempting expanse of seemingly open water to starboard and yet you must hold a course that is 90 degrees away from where you want to go until you reach the green conical Bench Head buoy that marks the end of the spit

Then you can turn upriver at last!

A just about workable breeze had filled in now so we hoisted the sails and stopped the engine. The breeze promptly vanished and left us drifting on the tide with the sails hanging limp and nary a ripple to disturb the unusually placid waters off Start Point

Patience has never been one of my virtues so it wasn't long before I gave the command to furl away the genoa and start the engine. I had to do it myself of course but at least I obey my orders!

We pootled along at half throttle but even so we were now going too fast! With a fair tide and our speed through the water added together we were making getting on for 6 knots over the ground and we only needed to make around 4. Still, better early than late

With the still air and the sun shining it got quite hot and for a while it was t-shirt weather! It didn't last as the forecast cloud started to move in but it remained pleasant all day

Just upstream of Bradwell we encountered the moored Ross Revenge, the last of the three Radio Caroline ships



I then recalled that I'd omitted to check the diesel tank gauge before setting out and asked Glen, who'd gone below to make some lunch, to bend an eye to it.

Well down the red came back the report which was a worry - I knew we were low on fuel but that was lower than expected.

With time in hand I decided to anchor of Osea Island and top up the fuel from the reserve cans. Running out on the approach to the lock, potentially with a cross tide running and moored craft all about, was not to be contemplated.

The engine had other ideas though and coughed to a stop a mile short of the anchorage. Well at least we now know how low we can go!

There was just enough breeze from astern to give us steerage way so Glen dived back on deck while I dug the fuel and funnel out of the locker.

It was just a few minutes work to dump 15 litres of diesel into the tank which makes it all the more annoying that I hadn't done it before setting out

I like to think I wouldn't have been so cavalier in more challenging circumstances but it has to be said that I've put up a black mark several times this year.

It took some faffing about and a tickle of the fuel lift pump to get the engine running sweetly again by which time we didn't really need it for a while! So we turned it off again and ghosted upriver

Passing by Heybridge about an hour too early to lock in, we ghosted on up round the bends of the rapidly narrowing river until the Hythe at Maldon came into view



Having seen it, it was on with the engine, swing around and potter back downriver whilst putting away sails, putting out fenders and lines and avoiding other craft...



A Thames Barge under full sail, albeit with a scandalised mainsail, is a magnificent sight. Revolution is unusual in having a white hull too which makes her stand out.

Our timing was virtually perfect as, dodging the dinghies, trip boats and other river traffic we headed into the lock approach just as the single outbound boat left the lock and the green light went on

We locked up with a mirror dinghy and a motor boat and were directed to moor outside the first yacht past the barge on the left. With a lot of boats having already come into the basin for the winter there was no hope of an alongside mooring

That we did, grateful that the owner of Cadenza came on deck as we weren't sure where best to tie to them. In theory we should take lines ashore but it's not practical as we're much shorter and lower



A tidy up and then it was off to the pub for a pint or two. Glen, who knows Heybridge well as he's a regular on the canal working parties, reckons the Jolly Sailor is much the better of the two pubs so we went to the Old Ship!

My logic was that we'd go to the other pub later. Several pints of excellent Adnams Broadside went down nicely and then we repaired back on board for a read and a doze. It was getting decidedly chilly so the heater went on for a while

The rain had arrived by the time it was time to eat however the Catering Manager declared that he couldn't be bothered to cook so we donned raincoats and tried our luck at the Jolly Sailor.

A decent pint of Adnams Southwold was not unwelcome, the news that they don't do food on a Sunday evening was. We downed the pint and glanced through the door of the Old Ship but that didn't look encouraging either

So it was back on board and stick a couple of tins of beans and bits in the pan. With a slice or two of bread and Glen's home made cakes for pudding we were replete

More reading and dozing ensued until we hit the sack shortly after nine.

Blackwater Booze Cruise Day 2

There was nothing to be gained from an early start today so we didn't start early!

A bit of sorting out and bacon butties fur breakfast was all the preparation we needed and we got under way at the very civilised hour of twenty past ten

With a foul tide and precious little in the way of a breeze, and such as it was it was from the East anyway, it was a case of slogging it downriver under motor

The advantage of flogging the foul tide would come later but it was rather tedious going. Matters eventually improved downstream of Burnham with a bit more breeze and enough angle on the wind to make setting sail worthwhile

That gave us an extra knot or so of progress but it wasn't enough to make sailing alone viable so we motor sailed down to Holliwell Point

The catering department served up rather good ham salad sarnies which fortified us for the wild North Sea that awaited us beyond the river mouth...

Now it was time to reap the benefits of flogging the foul tide as we cut across the Ray Sand close inshore and laid a course direct for the River Colne confident of still having plenty of water over Bachelor Spit

That saved us a good few miles which given that the breeze was now fairly Southerly and barely flapping a flag was all to the good.

The mainsail was still doing some good, even if it was just steadying the ship in the slightly awkward cross swell, but the genoa was just flapping around so that was rolled away

Up until now we'd enjoyed a rather nice sunny, if slightly chilly, day. However, looking to the West one could see a band of rain coming our way so it was on with the foulies for the skipper whilst the crew retired below

In the end we watched the worst of it pass us by to the North and we were just lightly showered upon. The front didn't bring much in the way of extra breeze either, which I'd have happily endured some rain to get.

There must have been some wind around somewhere because the outer Blackwater was being it's usual beastly self. Actually, I've seen it a lot worse but never the less the usual random chop doesn't make life easy on board

We'd enjoyed the benefits of a fair tide up the Rays'n but now it was back to punching the ebb as we motored into the Colne. We encountered quite a bit of traffic, having seen hardly anybody all day.

There was the big Thames Sailing Barge "Thistle", one of Priors small coasters, various motorboats and yachts and a couple of jetskis all milling about

To add to the fun, the Southerly breeze, such as it was, over the ebbing tide was kicking up quite a chop of Brightlingsea.

As we passed Mersea Stone, the point at the Eastern end of Mersea Island, the chop vanished and the calm waters of the Pyefleet opened up before us

Motoring past the permanent moorings, I dropped and loose stowed the mainsail and then we anchored just upstream of the moorings

Bang on six and a half hours and a perfectly executed passage plan. Shame we had to motor the whole way but some days that's the way it goes



We settled down in glorious sunshine with just the gentlest of swells rocking the boat.

Glen cooked up a delicious meal of fried potato, onion and fillet steak which was followed by a major raid on the No1 Beer Hold. We resurrected the family version of Rummy with the cards Jane and I bought at Walton earlier this summer and I proceeded to prove that you can be lucky at both love and cards

Coffee and rum finished off the evening and, after setting the anchor watch alarm app on my phone, we retired for the night

Blackwater Booze Cruise Day 1

We had a decent non stop run down for a Friday, just about bang on two and a half hours. Could have been worse.

We were both gaping for a pint and clemmed with hunger so no time was wasted getting the RIB in the water. Then, of course, the normally reliable outboard refused point blank to start.

No amount of having on the cord, cursing and swearing would extract more than a reluctant hint of activity. Eventually I have up and deployed the alternative means of propulsion, the oars

That was no great hardship given the short distance and with not to much tide running. On board Erbas I quickly sorted mooring lines and fenders, opened the sea cocks and fired up the engine.

It's a faff to do but I decided to remove the buoy tails. They get horribly weedy and dirty if left trailing in the water for a week and make a right old mess of the foredeck when mooring back up

That done, it took no time at all to spin around and come alongside the pontoon. With space tight on the inside and little in the way of breeze, either actual or forecast, I decided to plonk her on the outside.

Secured alongside, I quickly plugged in the shore power then we loaded the gear on board that Glen had barrowed down from the car while I was sorting the boat out.

Then it was a quick row back along the pontoon to the dinghy dock, the outboard still refusing to come out and play, before dragging the dinghy out and putting it away

Then, at last, it was beer-o-clock!

Pub grub tonight too, it's allowed on the first night. Early in, early out, back aboard by half ten we had a final coffee before hitting the berths