How lovely it was to go to bed last night knowing I didnt have to be up in 2 hours time to get back on watch, lovely. We all had a good nights sleep and were up and ready by 9am (a bit of a lye in for us!). We are all relieved today not to be heading to another destination. However, we didnt want to waste any time and needed to make best use of our very knowledgeable skipper and instructor, and just generally sap his brain dry!
Staying in Shotley is lovely. Its a great marina and is the nearest one has come to rivaling Brixham. The facilities are great and there is a lovely pub on sight, we have all had baths with no extra cost – at a price of only £20 a night! I even had 2 baths there just to make best use of it – at the rate I have been showering just lately, it means I wont be due one for a fortnight!
We are so close to a busy commercial shipping area, and it is fascinating to look at the activity around us. I watched a Maersk Container ship being unloaded – and thought about my boxes which are on a ship bound for Brisbane right now.
Here was me 2 days before I joined RBE in July - with my boxes to send to Oz!
Its a mixture of commercial and pleasure boats which is lovely
Anyway, back to what we are here for…….we slipped the lines and Mike brought her off the pontoon and into the lock ready to head out into the river to have a bit of a play
Chris had a mischievous look in his eye, and I could tell he had some tricks up his sleeve.
Buoy oh buoy he did!
In an area of shallows, with no sails up, he cut the engine and asked Mike what he would do if he had engine failure. Of course most yacht owners would instantly think “call the coastguard” but of course, this was not the answer Chris was seeking! We quickly unfurled the head sail and in a jiffy the main sail was raised too – what clever students!
This continued for 3 hours with us chasing buoys with no engine power, just using the wisps of wind available to us.
The day started drizzly and dull, but it didnt take long for me to get completely baking hot in my oilskins as I worked hard over several winches. The clothes soon came off, nicely timed with the sun coming out – another lovely day!
We stopped for lunch and I concocted another leftover cocktail – consisting of bolognaise, sausage casserole, pasta twirls, chilli powder and tabasco!
Lets call this a “Shotley Mess”
As we stopped for lunch, the wind speed had increased and we were ready for a sail. I was given the challenge of raising the anchor and moving us off – again with no engine – our carbon footprint is doing well today!
Anchor raised, we got sailing once more, enjoying the breeze which had built up. We chased around buoys, tacking in very tight spaces and generally raising Chris’s blood pressure! Of course we were not racing……were we? We did have smiles of satisfaction as we managed to outrun several boats
We enjoyed sailing up the Orwell and under the bridge
I have never been to this area, but Suffolk is really pretty, gentle rolling hills and fabulous properties along the river
And came to a stop at Woolverstone marina and had an interestingly tricky berth – thanks to Chris for taking over the helm at this point as RBE can be a bit of a challenge at times.
Exhausted once more, we took to our cabins for a well earned, pre-dinner siesta. I couldn’t sleep, but rested and felt my muscles aching. My upper body strength has increased so much on this trip, and I have muscles on my muscles. I can’t pull the girlie card and not get stuck into the winching and sweating which is required on this boat, nor would I want to of course! I’m just sad Woolverstone marina doesnt have a bath!
Rest time over, it was time to get spruced up and head to the pub.
Chris took us on an interesting walk through the woods…….and we found “The Butt and Oyster” a pub with loads of character, and fabulous food. Chris and I had steak, John Lamb Shank and Mike enjoyed his fish stew – all meals were yummy! We had a great time
A couple of bottles of wine later and the walk back through the woods seemed much more fun!
We all had such a lovely evening, no one wanted to go to bed – not even John who likes his early nights. I feel really lucky to be on a trip with such lovely people. Mike and John have been my companions for nearly 3 months now. We are not in competition, and are all really supportive of one another, and genuinely care – and they both put up with me bossing them around so they must be fabulous blokes! Each skipper we have had on each leg has been great too, each very different, but all likeable, fun and wanting the very best for us.
Chris has his funny little ways, and I have frequently empathised with Mrs Bracewell and think she must be a very tolerant woman for putting up with him for the last 40 years – well done Sheila, you deserve a medal!! Only joking, Chris is a pleasure to have around, and I’ve almost forgiven the fact he puts chilli sauce on everything I cook for him, just as a kid does ketchup!
Eventually, after finishing off my bottle of Glavya we settled down to sleep….goodnight!
