Our plan was good, the tide was right, so we set off down river on our way to Ramsgate. As we departed Harwich harbour Mr Stena decided to come out too. Not the vision you would normally like to see coming for you, but then as we were sailing in 4m of water we were not in any danger of being run down.
Leaving the harbour behind the wind was not quite as had been forecasted. We wanted to sail out on a course of around 150 degrees in order to skirt around the top of Gunfleet Sand unfortunately for us our best course would have had us going straight through the windfarm on Gunfleet! Rather than attempting that we just sailed out past The Naze and decided to pop down to Brightlingsea instead. Normally if we were intending to visit anywhere around The Blackwater we would have set off some three hours previously. Still we had a good breeze and still a couple of hours of good tide taking us down the coast. Running in from Knoll we still had plenty of water over Colne Bar and set our course up the river against the ebbing tide. By our calculations we were arriving with around 20 – 30 minutes to spare that would allow us to enter the marina over the cill. Having called up the Harbourmaster we sat stemming the tide for a few minutes before he escorted us in and found us a berth in the “posh” side of the marina. Paying our dues they were rather surprised when we said we would leave on the next high water ie 01:40! rather than midday on the Friday.
With lines prepared to slip later we had a beer on board before wandering up to The Yachtsman pub for a meal. Returning to Melissa it was clear that even if we wanted to leave we were now completely trapped inside the marina. Clear too that we would not want to cross the cill without being certain of adequate clearance.
Having a last beer on board we got our heads down for a few hours before our 01:40 departure. No moon to assist us but the stars were out and even spotted a satellite passing overhead. The leading lights were obvious as we left and the channel is well marked as we made our way seawards.
Whilst we had a nice breeze it wasn’t going to allow us to head straight up the coast but we were able to make a course out towards the top of the windfarm. From there it became more torturous getting back and so once we turned in towards Harwich with the wind now pretty much on-the-nose it was time to have some assistance from the engine and take the headsail away. Brian put a cooked breakfast on whilst we were making our way in which was plated up by the time we were secured alongside. Not the outing that we planned for but still managed to have a good sail down and a few night hours on the way back.