17th July Heybridge Basin
Jackalope set off from Burnham Yacht Harbour at 8:30 and had a
great run on the ebb tide to the Spitway. and made good time beating against the last of
the ebb to the mouth of the Blackwater They didn't have the wind over tide conditions that
Dry Fly and Parana experienced having set off from Burnham an hour
later.
All three arrived at Heybridge at high water, Jackalope having had time to moor
at the Hythe in Maldon for a pint or so. Having locked in we were joined by more Members
who had come by road. Later we all met up for a convivial evening in the 'Old Ship' .As
the evening drew on for some there was rather more than one 'last one for the
road' !
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We were moored in the lock itself ready for an easy departure the
following morning, conveniently close to the pub from which the pounding beat of the music
gently lulled us to sleep. Sunday dawned cloudy but clear and the wind filled in soon after we locked out for a very fast reach to the Spitway. It was however a slow beat against main ebb to the Ron Pipe at which point the engine was fired up to avoid tacking through the narrowing gap between the Swallowtail Bank and the Buxey sand. An enjoyable rally showing you don't always have to come by boat to have a good time. |
24th April Fambridge Rally
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| With a light Easterly breeze and a glorious sunny day it
was no surprise that seven yachts made the exceedingly pleasant passage up-river to
Fambrdge. The first to arrive were Picaroon and Harmony, although Fambridge resident Windhover had moved from mooring to the pontoon, making the short and satisfyingly uneventful trip event -free, despite the help from children and the dog. |
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Later in the afternoon, arrivals were Dry Fly, Dunkit, Sandpiper and Barbary Heron. The latter, having just returned from an early-season trip to Calais, enquired about extra rally points in consequence of starting from Calais. Sadly the crew-change and 24-hour stopover at his berth in Burnham Yacht Harbour rather negated this piece of opportunism.
Last on station was Jackalope who with an early start had taken a jaunt to the mouth of the Colne before dropping off his chums and joining us at Fambridge. His arrival in a flurry of foam with all 18 horses of his engine pulling flat-out (7.8 knots) set the yachts arockin' as he did a stylish 'Top Gear' handbrake turn and gently nosed in alongside Dunkit.
In the evening, we were joined in 'The Ferryboat' by other members (headcount, over 30 in number) who had come by car.
All in all a good start to the rally season with eight yachts, especially as there are members who have not yet launched.
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Top of Page Jan 16th Bradwell via the Ray Sand
It was a David versus Goliath trip, the fully-crewed, booze and cornish pasty-laden 34' Moody versus the single-handed cheese-sandwich laden Etap 28. Except this time Goliath won hands down.
A very windy Southerley 20 knot wind on departure caused the incoming tide to create a
very confused sea state. Both boats found that their autopilots were unable to deal with
the combination of gusts, waves and over-canvassed boats (especially the Etap).
The Moody kindly waited at the yellow Rays'n buoy to share the navigation across the
sands, at 2 hours before high water.
However, crossing 100 m East of the buoy soon had both boats bumping on the sandy bottom, now known as Ernie's pimple. The Moody led the way back in a Westerly direction and found deeper water in a North heading channel 400 meters West of the buoy. With seas picking up, both boats motor-sailed the shallows into deeper water. Once through, the Moody headed East in search of even deeper water, but Etap stayed on a Northerly course. We found the depth to be the same. The Etap continued motor sailing on the shorter course, whereas the Moody turned off the engine and was able to sail the longer course. Both boats arrived at Bradwell simultaneously and Ernie emerged from his bunk after a sleepy crossing and feeling a little hungry and thirsty.
We were all (the sailors that is) quite cold and wet after the journey which took 4
hours. Warmed by the fire at the Green Man and after a few pints of IPA, Ernie came to
life and we all swopped stories until late.
Sunday dawned glorious, totally different to the previous day.The Moody crew kindly
invited Etap for breakfast and lent Roy as crew on the return leg in case Neil felt a
little green again due to the confused sea or if he needed company.
The wind was kind with both boats able to broad reach in excess of 6 knots. Later, tacking
against the tide and wind we knew we had to be in the Crouch and motored the final mile or
so in from just East of the Roach.
A great weekend.
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New
Year's Day 2010 trip to Brandy Hole
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Friday 1st January 2010 dawned with a heavy frost and a smattering of
snow, but very graciously the sun came out to welcome those intrepid sailors,
Norman Hummerstone, Roger Greenway, Donald Neale and guests Alan Tozer, Stuart Burke and
Mick Wells These members of the Narrow Seas Club braved the extreme elements of weather and made the annual trip up river to Brandy Hole. The joys of a protected cockpit, which is to be found on Barbary Heron were fully appreciated and perhaps explains how it was that the open and exposed cockpit of Papa Romeo did not appear to be so desirable for the conditions. On arrival at Brandy Hole, we were warmly welcomed, first by the relocating of the Club launch to enable us to tie alongside the jetty and secondly by convivial and festive downing of the appropriate liquid offerings that the Club offered, which included some very enjoyable malts. |