And home...

 This morning at low water Toby had his first sail in sole charge of Eel, although never far from helpful advice from his Dad.

Then as the tide rose we motored from Queenborough, through the Swale, under the lifting rail bridge at Kingsferry and back to our moorings at Harty Ferry. So ends a short East Coast cruise, and as always it is much more fun with two boats and two dinghies

Queenborough

We got up at 5am to catch the tide from Brightlingsea ( though Toby arranged to stay in bed). We managed to keep a fair tide all day which was just as well as there wasnt very much wind. At just about low water we were crossing the sands of the Wallet Spitway - no problem: Bonita had around 1m under the keel, and Pretty Penny had around 40cm. Luckily there wasnt much swell.The pictures show Pretty Penny and Bonita under way in light airs.

We are now on the Isle of Sheppy at Queenbough, named after Edward III s wife, Queen Philippa. I havnt been here for a few years and find they are building a fine new causeway over the mud to improve access to the water. Years ago Queenborough was blighted by the smell from a glue factory, and you had to pay a small boy a few pence to look after your dinghy or risk some kind of unpredictable mishap. The glue factory is long gone and Queenborough is now greatly improved and a pleasant little town. We thought the best bit was probably the fine 14th century church.

Tired after a long day ( except Toby) we had supper cooked by D on Bonita.

Despite much of the river being crowded with yacht moorings, there is some - relatively- large shipping emerging from the Swale.

Brightlingsea

On Tuesday we motored up to Titchmarsh marina in the depth of the Backwaters and walked the couple of miles into Walton. I hadnt been there for a few years. The town centre now seems almost entirely given over to tourism with rows of small cafes etc. With so many catering for what is presumably a seasonable trade its surprising that so many can stay in business. On the edge of town there are a couple of large supermarkets which I dont remember from our last visit, but which must drain some money from the High Street. Alistair was looking for some new Wellington boots as one of his is leaking. Not of the shops we saw in Walton stocked anything as practical as boots.

So today we left at half tide and light northerly winds bought us to Brightlingsea. Despite neglecting to radio ahead, we were welcomed by the harbourmaster and had an excellent supper in The Yachtsman pub close to the waterfront.

The picture shows Toby, aged 8, rowing Eel without any (direct) supervision. His seamanship skills have definitely developed a lot in the last few days.

Walton Backwaters

A day spent exploring parts of the Backwaters. Toby went sailing in Eel with Allan as crew, and as the picture shows he is definitely doing well. There is no doubt that the best way to learn to sail is in small boats, and Eel with her little lug rig is about as simple as a sailing boat can be.

We moved both boats from Hamford Water to Stone point where there was a party of teenagers on the shingle, very possibly celebrating the end of A levels. Unfortunately while making a wide turn - the only type we  can do-  in a narrow channel Bonita ran aground. We had to wait an hour or two before we could kedge her off, a process which resulted in a lot of gelatinous mud coming aboard. We cleaned all this off and eventually all had supper in Bonitas cabin with a thunderstorm in progress outside. So a day which resulted in the boats only moving a mile or two, but nevertheless a fair bit going on.

Hamford Water

No need for expensive foreign holidays - we have come to Essex for a few days well deserved break!  Bonita (D and me) are sailing in company with Pretty Penny (Allan, Toby and Alastair). We left the Swale at 7am today with a southerly wind that was brisk at times and enlivened by showers that sometimes blotted out the visibility. We were off the entrance to the Backwaters when one of these rain squalls arrived so we hove to for half an hour  rather than trying to enter in difficult conditions. We are now anchored in the lovely Walton Backwaters, immortalised by Arthur Ransome as 'Secret Water'. This is a fine dinghy sailing area and we were towing Eel, our lug rigged GRP dinghy. Its always a worry towing a dinghy in boistrous weather in case it fills with water and gets lost, but Eel only accumulated about a bucketful of rain and spray. We sailed Eel around a bit and then all had supper on Bonita. Bonita has been here often, but its a first visit for Toby and Alistair. We hope to do a bit more exploring tomorrow.

Old Bolts

 Apart from a couple of short day sails Bonita has been peacefully on her mooring for the last few weeks while D and I have been busy ashore. Bonita hasnt been completely neglected though. I put her on the scrubbing posts for a new coat of antifouling. The previous stuff, applied in May hadnt worked well and weed and small barnacles were already growing on it. I presume this is due to an unusually hot early summer. Perhaps unwise economy in buying cheap antifouling paint may also be a factor -it looked like an attractive deal when buying online but perhaps less so in the real world once it was out of the tin.  Bonita now has a coating of a rather more expensive variety which I hope will see her through the summer.

In sorting through a box of old bits and pieces I came across some of Bonitas original keel bolts, which Dad had stored away. This is original Victorian wrought iron. These bolts were removed in 1968 when they had by then been in place for 80 years.  None of the old bolts could be extracted intact: every one broke around the middle where it had corroded at the point where the lead keel joins with the wood. Their strength had been reduced probably to less than a quarter of the original at this point, so it does seem like it was time the job was done.

I replaced the bolts that were inserted in 1968 with yet more wrought iron a few years ago as it didnt seem wise to wait quite so long this time. Though they showed some corrosion, none of the 1968 bolts broke while they were being extracted. I was interested to see that the original Victorian bolts were 3/4 in diameter (19mm). The new ones I put in were 7/8 in (22mm) so they should be good for a few years. 

So whats next for the old lady? We plan to be going on a few days Thames estuary cruise next week so we are hoping for gentle breezes and calm seas.