Our schedule for the rest of the week was to visit Bradwell Marina on the River Blackwater, and then Burnham on Crouch before arriving at West Wick on Saturday where we had arranged to meet the former owner of Lady Martina and his marina neighbour, the pilot who had safely steered us into harbour on our previous visit to Burnham (see Boating Highlights 2002!) We new that the weather was set to deteriorate with gales forecast for later in the week and so we opted to head straight to Burnham whilst the weather was favourable. Once safely in the Crouch we predicted we could safely complete the 9 miles up to West Wick later in the week, even if the weather was not ideal. As we cruised past Walton on the Naze we passed the North Sea Klipper Albatros in full sail, looking for all the world like she had just sailed out of the last century. Built in 1899 Albatross is one of the oldest sailing ships still afloat, now based at Wells-next-the-Sea offering cruises, sail training, executive development and corporate entertainment.

We had meticulously planned our entry into the Crouch with waypoints positioned at each buoy. The entrance channel is between two sandbanks and although it is marked with buoys they are quite small and not easily visible until you get close to them. The apparently wide open sea is deceptive and we were determined not to be caught out again - carefully monitoring our depth and position at frequent intervals. The Inner Crouch safewater mark is at the point where you can safely say you are now in the river and can see land on either side of you - the only remaining hazard is to avoid the large unlit buoys which mark power cables crossing the fairway, and the numerous swinging moorings which fill much of the river.

We had called ahead to Burnham Yacht Harbour and as we approached we radioed our arrival and were allocated a berth on Bravo pontoon. Unfortunately we forgot the first rule of motor boating (Fuel on Arrival) and had to remoor the boat after we had topped up with diesel. We learnt from the harbour master that going aground on Foulness Sound is a weekly event, and even the Essex Police boat has done it three times! We also learnt that the marina has recently been taken over by the owners of Shotley Point marina, although the only noticeable difference was the absence of the marina guide which has been handed out in other years.