Day 68-Monday 25th July- Woodbridge to Brightlingsea

I left Woodbridge at 7.30 at high water this morning and drifted and sailed down the river. It was very peaceful, with the calls of the curlews helping create the atmosphere. I took a few photos of boats that interested me. The first was what looked like a miniature tug. Cute isn't it?

The second was of a Fairey Atalanta 26. These were built in the late sixties and used the aircraft structure technology of the company.Their twin lifting keels, curved lines and design by Uffa Fox make them very distinctive and I should imagine damn good boats.They've always looked very purposeful craft to me.

Lastly, I saw a Seal 22 ( Spindrift),where the sloping washboards had been dispensed with, to create more room inside. My washboards are rotting and I will need to replace them this winter. I have been wondering how to improve the current arrangement. The idea of removable boards was so as to create an open day boat. This is a nice idea, but there are very few days when the most can be made of this arrangement. Of more value would be extra space inside. furthermore, it seems daft to me that modern boats have to rely on a spray hood. These things are a lot flimsier than the rest of the boat and go green in winter and rot after a while. We put up with them for the versatility, but there must be a more durable alternative. Most owners never fold them down, so why not have something that's more rigid and permanent?

A chap motored past me, who seems to have a weakness for buying fenders. When you've got'em, where do you put'em?

Another one was moored with a boat for every occasion.

Overall, this river had been a good recommendation. My mooring next to the quay had been the most convenient one I had found anywhere. The river was peaceful and beautiful, and unlike many you could do some serious sailing in it when the tide was in.Its loaded with history and has agreat town at its head.

As I sailed past Felixtowe and Harwich, I was moving out of Suffolk into Essex. I'm happy to be proved wrong, but that's not a change for the better in my opinion..

The schools are broken up now, but as I sailed passed Walton on the Naze and Clacton they did not look busy, despite it being pretty sunny.

However, there are noticeably more boats on the water here in the Thames estuary and  quite a few old barges. These can carry a lot of sail in these low winds and look pretty impressive coming towards you.

This evening I am in Brightlingsea. It is on the river Coln, just south of Colchester.Coming it there were a couple of lads out on these cats. They look really good fun and he was perched up there in only a force 3/4.

The visitor's pontoons lie in mid stream and you need to call up the water taxi to get ashore. Its a bit like the arrangements in Dartmouth, but there the comparisons end. There is a chippy and a couple of pubs and an ugly new block of apartments as part of a redevelopment. woodbridge has spoilt me I shall be comparing everywhere else to that place..

One good thing about Brightlingsea is that they seem to do lot of boat restorations here and there are three good examples moored up.

There are also the inevitable less successful long term projects.

My son, Joe, lives in London and he gets back from a trip to Barcelona on 1st August. We talked about me sailing up to London to see him. The pilot book says it can be done in a small boat on one flood tide. I'm now trying to time things so this would work out. I've taken in Belfast, Dublin and Edinburgh, so it only seems right I should get to London.This means spending the next couple of days exploring the Rivers Blackwater and Crouch. The recent legs on the trip currently looks like this:-