Saturday 24th June
Our expedition to the River Alde was somewhat curtailed by the inability to get ashore by dinghy. Rowing was not an option, even to the shore, the tidal currents run fast and the winds were fairly strong. Besides, we needed to return the outboard to the service shop, so we decided to leave the river today and head back to Harwich and then take the tide down to Brightlingsea on Sunday, ready for the 9am opening time! It is always a challenge to leave this river and head south because you cannot cross the bar at the entrance until 2hrs before high. This is far worse than coming in, because of the battle against the incoming flood, all pretty scary! Once out in the open sea there is little flood tide left to help sail south before it starts to ebb and then the battle begins, as the wind is more likely to be from the south! Today was no exception, we prepared for a wet passage, fowlies and life jackets on and the plans of a reef in the headsail making it easier to tack with a working size jib. The forecast was south west f4/5 increasing to f7 later., no problem we thought we will be inside the harbour before the strong winds arrive. With main up we motored sailed down the river and arrived at the entrance in perfect time. It was a little scary getting out the entrance but with the help of the mainsail and the engine working hard we were soon through the eddies and passing alongside the shingle beach hearing the stones shifting below. The closeness of the steep bank gives you the impression that you could reach out and touch it.
Now safely out of the channel and in deeper water we pulled out the headsail to working jib size and killed the engine. The wind strength was as predicted and on the nose, so it was going to be a long tack out to the deep shipping channel before tacking back in, hopefully close to the harbour entrance. The shallow waters around this coast make for a horrible lumpy sea, so it was not long before the crew member was feeling unwell! We were making good progress and reaching the deep shipping channel we tacked. All was going well, but the wind strength was slowly increasing. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the reefed headsail deployed itself! The furling line pulley had snapped! The skipper went to the foredeck to untangle the reefing line and had to wind in the sail by hand to make it a reasonable size again. The gear is twisted and will need to be fixed! All the while we were being tossed about at the mercy of the sea, it felt like a pea inside a rattle.
Once underway again, the wind was picking up and a dark squall approaching. Time to reef the main! Noel hove to and I was able to get the reef in before the squall arrived. Whisper settled down and we were on our way again, beating into the tide and wind. After what seemed like an hour, I glanced at the chart plotter. I could not believe my eyes....we were back in exactly the same spot as when we had tacked, the tide had swept us back down the coast whilst we were sorting out first jib and then the main. Still not feeling well and clutching a bucket, knowing the distance we had to cover in these horrid conditions was a tad demoralising and my feelings towards sailing were not of a positive nature. Neither were they improved when we saw the inshore lifeboat towing in a small yacht with her skipper at the helm, the yacht had lost its boom!
Some five hours later we approached Harwich harbour, fortunately there was no traffic in the channel, so rather than make yet another tack across the channel we stayed our course until we were eventually able to free off the main and head past the dock out of the shipping channel and on into the river. What a trip, both of us were exhausted, we picked up a buoy in the river had a light supper and went to bed, one of us adamant that they didn't want to sail south down to Brightlingsea in the same predicted forecast the next day!
Sunday 25th June 51:51.48N 001:15.17E
We decided to move back to Titchmarsh marina, catch the train home and fetch the car. This would enable us to take the outboard to Brightlingsea, collect replacement parts for the furling gear and speak to the marine engineer about Whisper's engine. Since the engineer discovered the incorrectly fitted valve and put it back in the right way, the engine has been working impeccably and starts like a motor car. Perhaps we don't need a new engine after all?
With the furling gear broken, the skipper spoke of rigging the inner forestay with the working jib. The crew, still reeling from yesterday's shake up, proposed just using the main and the iron topsail for the not too distant shallow, but relatively sheltered passage out of the Orwell and into the Backwaters and the tranquillity of Titchmarsh Marina. The skipper agreed, aware of the crew's unspoken thoughts that home would be a far better place to be right now!
The passage to the marina was uneventful, Whisper raced up the channel with the flood beneath her and we were soon securely berthed on a hammerhead. The day improved with a brisk walk up the country lane to the town; a train journey to our village and another country walk home. The car started and I drove back to Whisper and her dedicated skipper. Life is good!
