Sight seeing

Cycled five miles today. Visited Oulton Broad, Lowestoft museum and a chandlers. Came back via B&Q and the sailing club. It's good exercise, this being on holiday.

Several fellow boaters are setting off tonight or tomorrow morning but we still prefer to wait until the conditions are actually enjoyable.

Spent the evening threading flags together so that we can dress overall tomorrow.   

repairs

Bob is fixing the autohelm. Its a Robertson AP100 which doesn't seem to be getting the information it needs from the compass. Its a good bit of kit when it works, but might end up in the dustbin if it doesn't start to behave. Frustration and disheartenedness are setting in as I write.
Anyone with any suggestions please get in touch.

Lowestoft

It had been our intention to leave Southwold for Lowestoft at high tide, to catch the ebb that goes northwards along the coast. Unfortunately we were tempted out earlier, about two o'clock in fact by a promising westerly in the river.
As soon as we had cleared the harbour mouth the westerly changed to a northerly and we ended up tacking against strong wind and strong tide, making no progress at all, for the three hours until the tide changed. Then the force six that had been forecast for later arrived, still right on the nose. Quite a shock to the system after the very light winds we have enjoyed until now. We did sail all the way, not putting the engine on until we were entering the harbour.
Reached Lowestoft at about seven thirty, an awfully long sail for such a short distance. But we were met by the couple who had rafted up to us in Southwold, they had very kindly got a drink waiting for us on the bar in the Yacht Club!!! It made it all worthwhile.
Our next trip will be the 150 mile slog north to Whitby. Where have all the south westerlies gone? We dont want to set off in a Northerly, especially a strong one, so are waiting in Lowestoft for the wind to change. It'll give us time to get a few small updates, modifications and repairs done before we set out again.
Lowestoft is not hugely attractive, just a typical seaside town a little past its best.
It does have great sandy beaches though and a wide prom to cycle down.
Pictures tomorrow maybe...
  

Walberswick

Got the bikes out again.
On this river they held the Crabbing world championships a few years back. Many families were out there practicing when we passed, or rather when we stopped for yet another rest!
Cycled to Walberswick a small village the otherside on the river Blythe to Southwold. Locally it is known as NE3 due to the huge number of posh folk from Hampstead that have holiday homes there. Fifty percent of the houses are second homes. The tea shop was certainly not cheap.

Setting off later for Lowestoft.

Southwold

Got out the bikes and cycled down to Southwold town and pier, very nice spot and a mercifully flat first cycle. Intend to do more cycling tomorrow before setting off for Lowestoft.

Chap called David from Queenborough, a RNLI safety officer and the Cruising Association local rep, came aboard after seeing the boats name and said that he had sailed on her years ago when she was the property of the first owner, Jim Webber of Temple Yacht Club (Ramsgate). We haven't got the original logs on board so he promised to send any information he could find out.
Later got talking to a lovely couple from Lowestoft who are also heading back that way tomorrow.
  

Friday/Saturday

Angela is missing all six of her Grandchildren loads. We sailed down the Deben on Friday and passed several families enjoying this wide safe stretch of water and having a whale of a time. We spent the night on a buoy close to the river's entrance and then sailed to Southwold where there were more kiddies and families playing on the splendid sandy beaches. Wishing you were all here!!!

The trip from the Deben to Southwold was about twenty-five miles, more very light winds and a little sea mist from time to time but still managed to sail for all but two hours. The tides here run faster than we are used to and are a lot of help at the moment. In southwold we are tied to a wooden jetty with boats rafted out on the side of us, it's a very friendly place but getting off the boats at low water is a bit challenging.

The boat wants to sit three feet out and is in the mud when the tide is out so we can't pull it in. Last night we had to climb on the roof and swing the boom out to the jetty so that we could edge along it to get off. All for half a pint of shandy.

River Deben

It was well worth coming here. The river is delightful and the rather challenging entrance added to the excitement and to the charm once you could relax and enjoy it.

View from the boat about half way up.

Suffolk seems to be a place the world's forgotton about and thank God it did. We past empty sandy beaches and promenades. Piers with no-one on them and country roads without any cars on them.
Why don't those thousands of people who cram themselves into Brighton every sunny day come here?  Also the sailing is every bit as good as in the Solent, why does everyone go there?

Woodbridge is a lovely town. Again the entrance kept Bob on his toes for a moment or two but once in, it is a calm and beautiful place, though a little pricier than most we've been in.

   

Next few days

In Ipswich we met a another couple from Sussex Yacht Club, Jaquie and John, who are bringing their boat, Misty back from Lowestoft where it has had some work done. They came onto Tehari II for a drink in the evening and we spent several enjoyable hours catching up on all our mutual friends.
Spent yesterday looking round the town, doing a few jobs and generally relaxing in the sunshine. Today left Ipswich to go back down to Harwich so that we can catch the tide right in the morning to get to the river Deben. We're tied up this evening in a most un-pretty spot, on the edge of the working Port, looking at many cranes, a radar mast and a few derelict buildings.

This is where they bring the light ships for refurbishment. See Bob's Facebook for picture.
The sunset was nice.

Ipswich

We left the Stour and sailed up the Orwell with the tide this morning, and have now left Essex and entered Suffolk.
Ipswich is a lovely place with loads of quaint old buildings and plenty of modern shops. We will be able to restock properly tomorrow. The last decent supermarket we saw was in Chatham so supplies now getting a bit thin.
Bought more trousers for Bob, who is also getting a bit thinner.
We are tied up in the Dock in the centre of the town opposite the old quay which has undergone a transformation in recent years. Unfortunately some of the buildings seem to have been started but not finished and just left. Victims of funding cuts or the recession I suppose.

Below is the view from the boat where we are sitting eating supper out in the cockpit.

river stour

The view from our beautiful anchorage in the River Stour

We motored up the river to charge the batteries up but tacked back down, in more light airs.
This is the loveliest river yet, very wide and unspoilt with villiages and farmland sloping down to the banks. There were a few quays at the top which might have been accessable at high water but as we were at the bottom of a low spring tide we decided against trying.
We have anchored for the night beside this landmark, the Royal Hospital School.

Harwich

On the way out of Titchmarsh another sailing boat came alongside to ask about Salars. They have their heart set on buying one and had actually been to see the other one we looked at down in Plymouth. We of course gave Salars a very good recommendation and assured him we weren't parting with ours any time soon.We tied up yesterday on Halfpenny pier, right in the middle of the old port of Harwich, after another slow sail in light winds and a little mist. We moored next to an Elizabethan with two lads on board, both sporting impressive hangovers from the night before. They bought the boat in Plymouth last September and are gradually doing it up.
They filled us in on the local pubs and nightspots but we didn't manage so much as one drink out. We headed for the local yacht club but found it shut. We'll try again before we leave today.

Harwich is a mixture of old and new. The very active Historical Society maintain many unique ancient features.

Below is a Teadmill Crane for dragging boats up the beach. It was powered by men climbing the steps on the two wheels in shed.  

This is the Tall Light House. It forms a leading line with the lower light house on the shore to guide boats in to port.

This is still a busy port with a large container port over the river in Felixstow and ferries arriving regularly.

This is also the home of Trinity House, there is a huge buoy store and the ships tie up on the next jetty to ours. The Galatea was loading up, welding and hammering chain with sledgehammers when we arrived, they have now set off presumably to deploy the bouys they were putting together yesterday. 

Titchmarsh Marina

Our slow drift northwards continued today with a beautiful sail up the the coast past Clacton on sea and Walton on the Naze. There was enough wind to sail nicely but no waves. We are now moored in the Marina in the Walton Backwaters.
The biggest challenge today was avoiding the sand banks. It seems that either our depth sounder is faulty or the sand has moved since our chart was published, there wasn't quite as much water in some places as we expected.
Arriving earlier than usual ie at low water we crept along the channel keeping a constant eye on the depth and wishing we had more faith in our instruments. Bob says he will be recalibrating things tomorrow.

Yokefleet Creek

We shared our secluded anchorage last night with a group of twenty seals. They were very quiet neighbours and just as camera shy as the last lot. We still couldn't get any good pictures but I'm sure we'll have better luck soon. (I want one for Tom) A picture I mean, not a whole Seals, his mum wouldn't like it.

Later we tied up on the Royal Corinthian Yacht club's jetty in Burnham on Crouch so that we could have a look around the town. The RCYC was shut but further down the river front was the Crouch Yacht club which we did find open. We had a drink and a chat with the locals who bought us up to date with the sailing scene hereabouts. There are four sailing clubs in Burnham on Crouch and they all race regularly in the river, which means very competitive racing with short legs around shallow areas in fast tides. They described themselves proudly as ditch sailors!

The current concern is that the island opposite the club is about to be used for the dispersment of tons of earth from a tunnel being built at Becton. Two ships will be scheduled to come down the river each day to drop their loads which is bound to have a big affect on the local sailing.

Burnham on Crouch itself is a pretty, quiet town. Note the lack of traffic,where are the jams, queues and angry motorists?

North Fambridge

This is the Yacht station at North Famborough. It boasts an impressive collection of Dutch Barges, the only marina showers I know with underfloor heating and a very interesting yacht club.   

If like me you think that flat pack was invented by Ikea, think again. The above yacht club building was actually designed by our own Isambard Kingdom Brunel as a hospital building to be shipped complete to the Crimea, at the request of Florence Nightingale no less. The hospital was built but this particular unit ended up in the river Crouch, initially being used as storage and then acquired by the North Fambridge Yacht Club when they outgrew their previous accomodation before the first world war. It still looks in surprisingly good shape for a building constucted in the1850s   

This quaint Inn lies conveniently between the (visitors) yacht station and the yacht haven itself. We spent today out and about exploring the local area (and wondering what salt marshes are for, if anything). We caught a train to South Woodham Ferris to do some shopping and then sailed back down the Crouch and up the River Roach, where we are now anchored for the night.

51.38.157N 0.40.669E

Left Queenborough at six in the morning in a slight haze and sailed to the River Crouch in very light winds, mostly just one long drift, and then motored right up the river to a place called Fambridge. Tied to a jetty next to the picturesque village.

We passed a lot of Seals sunning themselves on sand banks. We couldn't get close enough to them for a very good picture, and it was a little misty so you might just have to take our word for it.


Grand house on the river bank.

We will go for a little explore later on tonight, or tomorrow. It might be the first outing for the bicycles!!!
Also just met a guy whose father in law made Salars down at the local boatyard.

Chatham

We sailed up the Medway in very light winds on another gloriously hot day. I'm sure this weather won't last but at the moment we are being totally spoilt. Moored up at Victory Marina, a very long jetty that opened straight into the historic dockyard.

Some very interesting exhibits about ship building here. An absolutely huge number of wooden ships were made here including the Victory. One of the slips was covered with a domed wooden roof. It was made using the old shipwrights skills, and was a bit like being in the up turned hull of a boat with huge stringers and planks fitted together perfectly. It was an awesome piece of carpentry.  There were also many steel ships and submarines built here, the last in 1962.

A very nice man from the Historical Society gave me the record of the Firedrake, and information about my uncle who went down with it when it was sunk in 1942 whilst on the Atlantic convoys.

We sat on the boat all afternoon being serenaded by military music, compliments of a lone bagpipe player walking up and down the harbour wall above us. We set off at five for the trip back to Queenborough and
short tacked Tehari II down the Medway, between the moored boats. It was a bit like tacking in the Hamble but without so much leisure traffic about, good fun though.
We've only used the engine for three hours so far, since leaving Brighton. Most of that was in the Thames Estuary when the wind died away completely and we had to avoid big shipping.

 

Thames Estuary

51.19.67N 1.25.18E

Some queer things in the Thames Estuary

Sorry wrong photo, these,

Second world war watch towers, maybe not as well preserved as the Napoleonic Forts in the solent but there still standing seventy years on which can't be bad. One lot were ominously called Shivering Sands Towers. Not a place I would want to spend too many hours in.

We also Passed the wreck of the Richard Montgomery that went down loaded with enough explosive to take out London. Fortunately it never went off and after all this time it must be a bit of a damp squib.We went past at high tide so there wasn't much to see.

Now tied up to a mooring bouy off Queenborough. I think its a cunning plan of Bob's to avoid a walk this evening. He says we can't even row ashore.

Ramsgate

51.19.67N 1.25.18E

Ramsgate is as familiar and comfortable as an old sock but even though we’re trying to do new things we couldn’t just go past it.

We have spent many happy hours here in the past, racing Alcyone during Ramsgate week. So one of the main reasons for coming in was nostalgia, the another being that Alcyone is still here and we wanted to check her out, see how the new owner is treating her. The third was to have a drink in the lovely Temple Yacht Club where there is always a friendly atmosphere and a warm welcome for visitors.

                This is to my mind a much under-rated town, with an interesting maritime history, sandy beaches and many splendid buildings reflecting its past. It also claims the only “Royal” harbour in the country an honour granted because of involvement with I can’t remember which King. Possibly one of the Henrys.

 

The writing on this one, which hasn’t come out as clearly as I had hoped says “The Ramsgate Home For Smack Boys Founded 1881”

We sat outside a cafe in the sunshine wondering why I stocked up with fleeces but forget to pack the suntan lotion. Also need to buy a hat.

This shows the seamans church And next to it you can see the steep steps that ead up to the top road where the Yacht Club is.

Dover

Spent the day in Dover as it is still too windy to continue.

Surprised to find that Dover Castle is more than just a navigational mark and a point of interest when heading up the coast to Ramsgate. It kept us entertained for most of the day. It was a very long walk up the hill, capped by a flight of eighty four stairs, a further seventy six stairs up from the second world war tunnels and just as many from the ancient tunnels under the castle proper. Then there was the four flights to the castle roof. We didn't quite manage the battlement walk.

There were some intriguing instruments in the WW2 watch tower, or so Bob said. He was less enthusiastic about the saxon church. Both exhausted and need to be fitter.
Moving on tomorrow.

pictures

Some pics of our approach to Dover last night.

Doesn't seem too bad now

I dont know why we didn't stay out there.

Obviously sailing light weights!

51.07.12N 01,18.7E

First days sail.Left Brighton in the early hours of this morning in little wind but a 7 in the forecast, intended to make Ramsgate but in increasing wind and fairly big seas, Dover, not usually our favourite Marina, beckoned brightly in the sunshine. Therefore now tied up and cooking tea.

Of all the boats we've been on, Tahari II was the only one we would have been in such conditions and still actually enjoying ourselves. We kept warm comfortable and dry, without even needing oilskins!!
 Will put pics on when I've worked out how.

Missing everyone already but very exited about travelling and really looking forward to the suffolk and norfolk coasts and the western isles.

 

Club night

Many thanks to everyone who joined us for a drink to celebrate our departure, it was a wonderful send off, and very much appreciated.
Also thanks to many donated raffle tickets we one a bottle of whisky, a chocolate egg and an all day breakfast! Eating has been good on board today with the breakfast supplimented by duck eggs, compliments of John and Rosie Pryke, absolutely delicious.
We must also thank the many people who have helped us get the boat ready for the trip, especially Gerald Rex Andrea,, Peter and Peter(Charts),
We leave on the early morning flood tide on Monday, and at the moment intend to make Ramsgate or Sheerness. Next post will be from where ever we end up.