S.O.I.A. Anglia Group newsletter - October 2005

Hi-de-hi,

Yet more sailing to report! The season is going on and on… Brian and I have been considering the possibilities of putting a glassfibre Silhouette on our mooring at Burnham Overy Staithe for the winter, so that we can get some winter sailing without subjecting Sula to the ravages of the weather. The Orroms have a spare one – their SII Isis – and have kindly loaned her to us for the winter so we can see if our idea works. If it does, we can buy her if we wish. What a lovely arrangement!

Which explains why we pootled down to chez Orrom in Surrey two weekends ago, and after a lovely meal and some essential maintenance, we towed Isis back north to Levington, where we slept aboard on the trailer. The next morning, a sunny Sunday, we put her all together like an unfamiliar jigsaw. Some bits seemed too long, others too short; shackles were added, adjustments made until Brian was happy with the rig, and we launched mid-afternoon. It was a lovely day with a lousy forecast. We would have sailed to the Backwaters had not the wind been on the nose and the tide against us. As it was, we sailed up the Stour as the sun set, and picked up a mooring in the dark off Wrab Ness. Southerlies force 6-8 were forecast, and lots of rain. They arrived around 5am, and life got noisy! We just stayed put until the worst of the rain was over, then put a couple of reefs in the sail and went and had a look at the sea. With yet more wind forecast (force 9 was mentioned this time!) a look was enough; we headed back up the Orwell and sailed up to Ipswich before dropping back onto the visitor’s pontoon at the Royal Harwich. The expected gale was westerly, so it was a very sheltered berth. We went for a pitch black walk before turning in and battening down the hatches! It was quite strange getting used to the open-plan layout in Isis, without shelves where we expected them to be for stowing books, specs and torches, and without a dedicated cooking area, but we slowly got ourselves organized – well, as far as you can, living on a Silhouette.

There was certainly a lot of wind in the night but tucked behind the steep shoreline we just copped the odd ferocious gust! We shook out the reef in the morning and sailed back down to Felixstowe – and had to put the reef back in when we emerged from the shelter of the wooded banks. From then on it just got windier and windier, and it soon became clear there was only one place to go – home! The last few boats on the river all scuttled for shelter, and so did we. The problem then was to retrieve Isis with a F8 blowing straight up the slipway, which we achieved without any help from the outboard! Good job the Orroms weren’t watching though….

We enjoyed our breezy sail in Isis. She was stiffer and felt more solid in the water than Sula when hit by gusts, but she was quicker to luff up if the tiller was unattended for a moment. The roller-reefing made life easier when picking up moorings and coming alongside under sail, and the outboard bracket meant that our Seagull was lower in the water – and a lot less NOISY. (‘Thank goodness for that’ I can hear you mutter)

Mike Atkins also went sailing:

“For once, Kim and I had managed to arrange holidays at the same time and so we were free from Thursday until Sunday. The plan was to go sailing in Amare [Mike’s Achilles 24] for most of this time. As usual, I spent ages looking at the charts (Lowestoft? Bradwell? Burnham?) but in the end we just decided to see what the weather was like on the day.

High water Ipswich on the Thursday was at 1430, and since Amare spends only half of the time afloat there was no need to rush. It was about 1100 by the time we reached the Orwell Yacht Club where we proceeded to load a small mountain of essential stuff into the dinghy, fix the Seagull on the back and roar out to the mooring in a cloud of smoke. By the time we were on board, the gear stowed and the first of many cups of tea made and drunk it was about 1200. The wind was SW 2-3, which is an ideal direction for going down the Orwell, so we put up the sails and slipped the mooring. 

Progress was fairly leisurely (if you have been paying attention you will realise that the tide was still against us) however we reached Harwich harbour by high water. The trip down the river was uneventful but as always I found it very enjoyable, with the constantly changing scenery and the chance to look at the moored yachts. Being a midweek day in October there were hardly any other boats moving, which makes it even better in my opinion.  

Of course, at Harwich we had to make a decision which way to go next. I was really keen to try to get to the Blackwater, and since the wind was forecast to back to S we decided to try for this.

It is always a surprisingly long way to the Naze. It looks quite near because you can see as soon as you are in Harwich harbour it but it is a good 6 miles. The wind stayed light and from the SW. It was about 1600 by the time we got there but then progress slowed right down. Once again the tide was against us but now it was around the Naze, and the wind was stubbornly refusing to shift from SW. We could have carried on down the Wallet, but it would have meant a late night. 

In the end the choice was made because of cold feet. Well, I did tell Kim to put on extra thick socks, but it did not seem to do any good. The last thing I wanted to have was a case of frostbite, hypothermia or (worst of all) sense of humour failure. So we turned around and headed into the Walton Backwaters for the night, anchoring on the South side of Hamford Water. We were the only boat in there, which makes a nice change from what it is like during the summer. The stove was soon going to heat up dinner, and also the crew’s feet and hands (which were also cold by now). It was a beautiful clear night, and we saw the full moon rise slowly out of the sea. Of course, in that curious mixture of nature and commerce that typifies the East coast, the moon was competing with the bright lights of Felixstowe docks. 

Once we had slotted ourselves into the forward v-berth (you will understand what this means when you see Amare) together with several sleeping bags and a hot water bottle (!) we actually had quite a comfortable night.

The next morning the wind was still from the SW but was considerably stronger, threatening to rip off the plastic sheet I had used as a makeshift cockpit tent. There were also frequent heavy rain showers. After a late breakfast we listened to the forecast from the coastguard, which was “S 4 or 5, veering SW 6 to 8 then W 5 to 6. Rain then showers.” Saturday and Sunday were expected to be a bit better, but still not very good. After a quick discussion we decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to try to get back to Ipswich before the “6 to 8” and “rain” part of the forecast. So, with a deeply reefed main and just a small part of the genoa unrolled we set off. The wind was SW and only about 4 to 5 but I didn’t want to take any chances if it suddenly got stronger.  

In fact, I needn’t have been so cautious. Amare shot out of the Backwaters and after a few lumpy miles we were in the calmer waters of the Orwell. The wind kept the same direction and strength so we were back at the mooring quickly. There were a couple of rain showers but these passed quickly. Once moored up, we tidied up the boat and went back to the yacht club in the dinghy.

So, overall, we did rather less than I had hoped but it was still a good break. At this time of year any sailing should be looked on as a bonus, and we were glad to have had a couple of day’s fun before the season comes to an end for Amare – she is due to be lifted out on 5^th November. I’m already thinking about what we will do in 2006…” Mike

SAILING DATES:

Windermere laying-up meeting – racing and supper. North-east group, Nov 26/27

Christmas meal – currently 14^th January but still flexible

Essex Boat Jumble – Sunday 20 February, North Weald Airfield.

Spring cruise – We will plan this around May Day bank holiday, roughly 28 April – 1 May.

Rutland Rally – 10/11 June

Holland Cruise – Colin Campbell is coordinating a trip to Holland via North Sea ferry and is using an e-mailing list to keep interested parties in touch; Date being suggested – second half of June, after Rutland. Contact him on cc.larkrise@rya-online.net

THE NEXT MEETING is November 12^th at the Orwell Yacht Club, Wherstead Road, Ipswich, at 8pm

LAST GASP – Brian hasn’t hung up his oilies yet (not that he ever does…). He is planning to join brother Graham for the North-East Group’s final race meeting and laying-up supper on/at Windermere. Work prevents me going, so I will mope about at home and feel jealous! (Unless the weather is appalling)

Best Wishes

Elizabeth Letzer, November ‘05