Sunday 26th April Ref: 2015/4
A very peaceful and placid cruise in mainly dull but quiet and thendry weather past the Harwich Container terminal, turning up the River Orwell and following the buoyed channel at just over the 5kn speed limit spotting the countless sailing clubs and swinging moorings that line this route. Much of the time training my crew Kathleen to operate the auto-pilot, recognise the buoys and plot our position on paper charts using the Yeoman navigator plotting table. Then passing under the towering Orwell flyover bridge before locking through into Ipswich Dock and mooring at The Ipswich Haven Marina for the evening
The cruise plan was to stay in Shotley Marina for a further day, but the weather was cold and damp making the morning dog walk something of a trial and so further excursions were not a very appealing thought. The quest for some facilities and a more reliable Internet connection therefore took us through the marina lock and off up the Orwell where the Ipswich Haven Marina promised these things. The BOC members cruise was scheduled to join us there tomorrow anyway and we were offered the same discounted terms for arriving a day early.
After a nice farewell light lunch aboard Misty Isle, we gave Max a last walk in the light rain, stowed his dog ramp aboard and, after radioing the lock on ch 80, set off to find it set for us and space to descend alongside the floating pontoons. Setting the fenders low, we tied up and followed a sailing vessel outward bound, with Lady Martina keeping to the channel and, unlike them, not being swept to starboard by the flood tide. The next hour was given over to training for my crew Kathleen, in log-taking, manual chart plotting and generally understanding and using the bridge equipment. Then a chance for her to take the helm for her first time in a buoyed channel until I took over the helm for the lock into Ipswich Dock
By our 1700 LT arrival the Marina staff had gone home and, with there being no answer from either the VHF or marina telephone, we found our own moorings, acquired the gate and facilities code from other boat crews and then settled down to walk the dog and view the town. And, yes, the Wifi was perfect; being fast and reliable to the point that these log entries were uploaded this Sunday evening
20degC steady on the bridge, 15degC outside ; RH 53→46%; 1008→1007mb steady ; smooth seas; good/visibility; light breeze and showers at first.
