Top left: Marcita on the Deben. Top right: Ellen up the mast
Bottom: Adrian, Ellen and Sarah on Myfanwy
I arrived with my dad at Pin Mill at about 9:30 and met up with everyone in the Butt and Oyster pub, where they were having a drink, and left around an hour later to load the launch with our bags and to go out to the boats. We got to bed at about midnight after sorting out our bags and a quick cup of tea. We woke up at 6:30 the following morning to catch the tide, but still managed to be late starting. The weather was beautiful, sunny with a reasonable amount of wind. We sailed out of the River Orwell, past the container ships and out into the sea, then up to the mouth of the Deben. We were about an hour behind schedule and decided that we wouldn’t be able to get all the way up to Woodbridge and stopped trying. We then tacked for about half an hour but only managed to move forwards about 200m, so we gave in and turned the motor on. We moored at Waldringfield and spent the afternoon relaxing and learning to splice, before going ashore in the rubber dingy, stopping at the pub then taking a taxi to the Captain’s Table for dinner. I had never sailed before, but by the end of that day I could name the 5 points of sail, had been on the tiller, pulled lots of ropes, and had drunk numerous cups of tea! The next morning after a late Full English Breakfast, we sailed back to Pin Mill. That evening I had some extra excitement in being hauled up the mast on Night Wind, to get a rope that was out of reach. There was some debate about whether they would let me down but after a bit of pleading I managed to persuade them and gladly came back down. I had a brilliant trip and can’t wait to re-live the fun.
By Ellen Luckins (aged 12)
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