Sailing Blogs 2012/13
Heybridge Basin 2009
At last we were on the way to Heybridge. Weather forecast was for a good gentle wind and warm sunshine (Not often in the same sentence). We left Ipswich mid Friday morning. Our plan was to pick up a mooring on the Blackwater as the lock at Heybridge could only be accessed 1 hour before high water. The wind was a F3/4 SSE and took us down the Wallet making 7.5 Knots. Carole was on the helm most of the time sailing down the Wallet with a big grin beaming out. At the N Eagle we turned to starboard towards the Colne Bar and Benchhead buoys. Soon the two buildings at Bradwell Power Station were in sight and before we knew we were going past. I checked my passage plan and we were ahead of schedule. This would mean that we could get into Heybridge tonight. We decided to pick up a mooring buoy at stone point sailing club. We had dinner on board as we could not get into the lock for about another 2 hours. I tried to call the Lock on VHF but no reply, and then I found a mobile telephone number and tried that. The lock keeper answered and said we should be ok to lock in a HW.
The tide was sloshing in very fast so I thought that I should check the passage plan
again. This was fine and off we went. There was another boat ahead of us so I thought
it was a good idea to follow his course. However, we were catching up fast so we
put away the main sail then reefed the Genoa in by 50%, we were still making on him.
So in good seamanship I let out the Genoa and whizzed past (Another race won). We
arrived outside the lock and called the lock on VHF but no answer again, although
I could see a bit of activity in the lock. Soon the lock opened and some boats pop
out like a cork out of a bottle. The green light then appeared by the lock and in
we went. On the approach to the lock there are withies marking the channel and you
need to be very close to them. Depth Alarm bleating -
We had a good night sleep and then went to meet up with Colin and Lynn who have a boat at Maldon. We walked along the canal towards Maldon then onto Colin and Lynn’s boat for lunch and a walk down the prom. Then we were driven back to Heybridge where we had tea and afternoon cakes. Later that evening, I called Peter to see if he wanted to sail back with us to Ipswich as it was beautiful weather. Peter duly arrived on Sunday morning as we were getting ready to lock out. Off we went out of Heybridge down the Blackwater homeward bound. It was a good idea getting Peter down as we could catch up on what everyone was doing. We were making about 6.5 – 7 knots, sun shining and blue sky and relaxing, drinking tea/coffee having a few nibbles sailing down the Wallet and making fun of Peter’s hat with ears!
As we approached Harwich and into the Orwell, everyone was out due to the good weather and therefore we had to dodge all the yachts and the dredgers. I made the crew work the winches beating up the river towards the Orwell Bridge.
A very enjoyable weekend.
