Monday 11 June
Tuesday 12 June
Wednesday 13 June
Thursday 14 June
Friday 15 June
Saturday 16 June
Sunday 17 June
Woodbridge
Woodbridge
Woodbridge to Harwich (Shotley Point Marina)
Harwich (Shotley Point Marina) to Chatham
Chatham
Chatham
Chatham to Hampton Court
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In the evening we went to the local cinema and watched "Pirates of the Carribean part 3" - a jolly swash-buckling yarn with a very complicated plot - not helped by the fact that we hadn't seen part 2!
Tide mill (white building on right) with marina behind
A sunny and hot day. We took the dinghy out onto the river and went up to and just under the bridge at Melton. It was very quiet and tranquil. We rowed/drifted quite a lot of the way back. After a cuppa we then donned hiking boots and walked up the riverside path (new territory for us) to Melton where we had fish and chips for lunch, then walked back.
Tomorrow we will be off, as soon as there is enough water over the sill. A group of Dutch sailing boats has arrived today. Their crews are very noisy - lots of loud speaking and shouting and a radio blaring - rather spoiling the peace of the place.
Tide Mill
By the time we reached the bar at the entrance to the Deben it was High Water and we followed another yacht out into the sea. The trip down to Harwich was a little "bouncy" as we had the wind behind and to one side which also makes it hard for the autopilot to steer in a straight line. We were safely inside the Marina at Shotley Point by 13:00 nicely in time for lunch. In the afternoon we went beach combing on the Orewell by our marina directly opposite Felixtowe Container Port.
EA Survey Vessel shadowing us.
Not such a civilised start time today - up at 04:30 and locking out promptly at 05:30 to catch the last of the ebb out of the river Orewell and all of the flood down the coast, and up the Medway. Setting off at the right time makes a huge difference to timing. At one stage we picked up an additional 2.5 knots from the tide, on top of 6.5 of our own, to make over 9 knots over the ground sustained for a couple of hours. If we had been going against the tide it could have been just 4 knots!
The sea was mostly smooth to calm and the weather was a mixture of sunny and cloudy. It was a perfect passage and in such marked contrast to the same bit of sea on the way up. We saw several seals; one in particular was directly ahead of us straining to sit up in the water as high as possible to see what was approaching.
We were at Chatham in time for lunch, being tied up in our berth by 13:00. Afternoon spent in the outlet mall! Our main acquisition was cut price alcoholic chocolate and new boat shoes for Mike. Early to bed.
The final stretch along Upnor Reach to Chatham Marina
After a well earned lie-in, we spent a large part of the day at the Chatham Maritime Museum for a repeat visit. Tickets are valid for a year so entry was "free" this time. Then back to the boat for Mike, to do boat chores, while Maureen indulged in more retail therapy.
Lazed about doing not much, some washing, getting provisions, reading the paper, paying for our berth etc. It's been very windy, with strong gusts, lots of sunshine, torrential rain, but so far no snow. Tomorrow's forecast doesn't look too bad for the run up to Teddington . Keeping our fingers crossed.
The forecast appeared to be holding true when we surfaced at 05:30 with hardly any wind. A quick check by SMS got us a text of the actual and expected conditions off Southend which confirmed a "go" status!
By 07:00 we were in the lock with one other boat, and by 07:10 we were on our way. It was just before low water and there was quite a strong stream running. Our plan was to arrive at the Thames estuary at slack water and run the flood stream all the way to Teddington lock. This worked out pretty much to plan, though we did have to punch the last of the ebb up the Thames for a while.
It was along the Nore sand that we spotted a family of seals - mum, dad and a couple of fat fluffy pups all giving us a very careful look see as we passed them. A short while later we spotted a porpoise which was less than 100m directly ahead of us and was doing the classic surface dive routine.
The sea was beautifully smooth and the temperature quite mild though a fair breeze had picked up since dawn, blowing from the South West. By the time we got to Tilbury the flood was running quite strongly and we were getting a boost of between 2 and 3 knots.
This was fine except on the river bends where the turbulence played havoc with trying to maintain a dignified line.
At last we were passing through the barrier and on past Canary Wharf and into trip boat land. It was now early afternoon and there were masses of trip boats chopping up the water, which gave a very bouncy ride until we reached Chelsea, where it all calmed down again.
By 16:00 we were bobbing around by Richmond Lock. The levels on both sides of the sluice were the same and it was just a matter of waiting for the sluice to complete its opening cycle.
Within a few minutes we were on our way again and battling through the rowing boats, hire boats and sailing boats milling around Richmond. Teddington lock was so busy they were using both the launch lock and the barge lock to handle traffic.
Finally we arrived at Hampton Court at just after 17:00 - a long day with no respite but we were glad to be back in "home" waters.
Thames tideway busy with traffic
Houses of Parliament - no sign of the boss!
Richmond lock sluices opening up.
Copyright © 2006-2009 Mike Hawkridge