Thursday. I still had a few things I needed to do onboard before the overnight trips so I went down to the mooring to get those done. I didn't go at stupid o'clock today but left after getting up at the normal time. This was a mistake. A trip that normally takes 100 minutes took 150 due to the traffic conditions in Colchester. Still, I carried out the tasks on Naiad that I had set myself, mainly sorting out the cabin and checking to see that all the rigging was tight and then set off home again. The trip home was better.

Friday. Today I set out at stupid o'clock and had an easy drive down to the mooring. In fact I was there early enough to get my provisions and things aboard, move Naiad to a deep water mooring and then go back to bed for 2 hours. Tim was due to arrive sometime around 11 am and I went ashore at 10:30 to be ready for him. The wind was strong and against the tide so the conditions were just a bit choppy. I couldn't use the club launch for two reasons. The first was that the tide was too low for the launch to be able to get down the Besom Fleet and secondly, I needed the dinghy in order to get Tim's boat launched.

Tim arrived later than expected due to traffic and a couple of relief stops along the way. We got the boat rigged, well Tim did and I assisted where necessary and the boat, Rabbit, was moved down to the water's edge on the trailer.

Rabbit is a Voyager 14 build around 1970 and is much. smaller and lighter than Naiad.

As such it was easy to get Rabbit off the trailer and onto the shingle without having to wait for the tide to rise. We tied Rabbit to one of the scrubbing posts and sorted out the trailer and cars and had a cup of tea at the café while we waited for the tide to rise. We realised at this time that we hadn't taken any photos so we took care of that right away.

The tide came in relentlessly but not really fast enough for people waiting.

Rabbit was soon afloat and we took her out to the mooring that was hers for the night.

As you can see, it's a bit rough as you can see.

We treated ourselves to a meal in the club. This was mine and I couldn't eat it all.

We set sail about mid-ebb and I took a few videos of Tim sailing around the River Blackwater. I've joined them altogether and edited the result a bit and posted it.

We had an amazing sail, we had put in a reef in the mains before setting off but I outpaced Rabbit considerably and I took the main down and sailed with just the headsails up. Even so we arrived at the Osea Island anchorage before low water and since we had six hours to wait for High Water. We had intended not to leave until just before Low Water but the wind was so good we decided to leave early. We both had a nap in our respective boats before Tim went off sailing again. As you can see from the following photos, the wind had reduced considerably as had the sea.

This is the beach by the anchorage at Osea Island on the South side.

There were a few other boats there but otherwise it was not at all crowded.

Rabbit close by.

About an hour before High Water we set off for Mundon Stone Point.

This visit, however, Naiad was moored on the inside of the point about 50m from the point itself. Tim went off for another sail since this is the first time he has sailed on the sea, his normal sailing area is Barton Broad on the Norfolk Broads. I stayed up until the boats grounded in the mud and then went to bed.

The next day dawned bright and calm. Virtually no wind at all. High Water was early and we set off at slack water. We tried to sail but had to paddle until the tide turned and we were taken along by the tide.

We gained a little wind about an hour before we got back to the moorings and were able to sail through the Besom Fleet and pick up the moorings. This time I picked up my own mooring and while Tim waited I closed up the ship and then rowed back to the shore with Tim sailing along behind. We tied Rabbit to a vacant mooring for the moment, then went ashore via the Hammerhead pontoon. The cars and trailer were retrieved from the club car park and the trailer taken down to the water's edge and put into position with the hitch pointing away from the incoming tide so that Rabbit would be pushed onto the trailer when we got to that point.

We had another cup of tea at the café and waited for the tide to cover the trailer wheels.

Rabbit was retrieved from the mooring, Tim rowed while I held the painter. When we were in shallow enough water I got out of the dinghy, I was wearing my waders for this part of the exercise, and Tim rowed ashore and beached the dinghy. My task was to position the boat such that the tide would push Rabbit onto the trailer and then hold her in position and wait for the tide to rise far enough.

It worked like a charm. Rabbit slid onto the trailer and we immediately pulled boat and trailer out of the water and onto the shingle. Tim pulling on a long rope from the shore and I pulled the trailer directly. Then it was just a case of use Tim's car to pull on the rope and then the trailer and move Rabbit up to the top of the shingle.

Tim then derigged Rabbit and once that was done we parted company and returned to our respective homes.

A very good outing.

Time for a cup of tea.