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
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
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