Pin Mill

We got up at first light and left Walton Backwaters as soon as we felt the tide was high enough. We had hoped to get to the Deben, but our progress against wind and tide was too slow: you have to get through the narrow entrance to the river Deben before high water, and it became clear we weren't going to make it. Sometimes the best answer to a frustrating sail is to redefine your objectives. 

We decided to have a look at the rivers Stour and Orwell instead, so we eased off the sheets and had a fine sail with a moderate NE breeze. We anchored in the Stour for lunch then sailed up the very pretty Orwell as far as Pin Mill. 

We had booked in for supper at the renowned Butt and Oyster pub and took a visitors mooring buoy off Pin Mill. However we found it was too close to the next buoy, and with a wind over tide situation only constant attention with the boathook prevented the boats colliding and causing damage. The man on the next boat sounded apprehensive. It would have been a long row to the pub. So we dropped our (free) visitors mooring and instead took a berth at the nearby Woolverstone marina. We were still able to get to the pub on time - packed out on a Wednesday evening.

Coming into the marina Bonita was ably helmed by Allan - more challenging than usual as the new propeller doesn't seem to have the same power the old one had. While this is an annoying problem that needs to be fixed, it is good to have discovered it early when it can, I hope, be fixed relatively easily.