Sep. 24, 2007 - Late summer week end sailing around Mersea waters |
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Last w-e I decided to go with a friend and try out the Classic Sailing Club for the planned sail to Mersea Island. I took all the foul weather gear not knowing what to expect of the end of the British summer and the East coast. We arrived there on Saturday morning after an early train from London and the views from the Butt & Oyster Inn in Pill Mill made up already for the early wake-up call. The river received us with warm sun and a complete blue sky, while in front of us we had the river Orwell that has the best landscapes I have seen so far with typical english unspoilt countryside shores. Once we arrived at the boat, Ian showed us around the teak and mahogany wood that makes Caressa such a unique lady. She sails faster that the new plastic boats once she gets under way, handles the sea with much more gentle manners and makes you feel like at home as soon as you step into the quarters. We spent an amazing 2 days discovering the inner shores of Wivenhoe, Brightlingsea and West Mersea. Two english breakfasts later and a late indian take-away on Saturday night (the indian restaurant in Brightlingsea is as good as they say but try to book or risk dissapointment!) left me looking forward to sailing again with the Classic Sailing Club. The rivers of the East Coast have an amazing number of unexplored and mostly unspoilt shores so I'm looking foward to another w-e of exploring and looking for the best anchorages. Some ideas we had for next trips: lunch at the "Company Shed" in West Mersea, seeing how far we can go along the Pyefleet Channel and Geedon Creek, trip to boatyard in Ipswich and a long w-e trip to St Katharine's Docks in London & back...
Francisco Viyuella | |
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Sep. 28, 2007 - Sailing Caressa to Brightlingsea |
| Posted by Derrick D'Souza |
Sep. 28, 2007 - Sailing Caressa to Brightlingsea
Posted by Derrick D\'Souza
I went along with friends (Franciscio, Ian and Ian) to sail Caressa on the Colne last weekend. We ended up sailing from Ipswich to Felixstowe around Walton, Clackton, etc. and made our way to Brightlingsea. We had the southwesterlies generally and made good progress. Towards the end of Saturday evening we decided to sail further upstream towards Vivenhoe.. not a very good idea as the waters were relatively shallow but still it was fun and exciting. And the views were just amazing. The mud-flats, the warblers wading through the flats for some quick pickings, etc...
Very peaceful and chilled out really. So back to the trip, we then made our way back to Brightlingsea and anchored Caressa by the guest pontoon and had the water taxi ferry us to the harbour. Ended up have a few drinks, hitting a few balls in the local, talking about the Nov Led Zepp concert, and then picked up some lovely Indian food and went back to the boat. Had a lovely dinner and bit the bed pretty soon. A nice end to a very nice day. I think another nice plan would be to set anchor near Mersea island and camp there for the night. Now that's a thought. Maybe next time.
Sunday was quite busy too.. we had the southerlies so made rapid progress on our way back to Ispswich. We were doing 7-8 knots at one stage although enetually we stabilised at around 5. An excellent sail though. perfect combination of sun, wind and boat.. which reminds me to say a word or two on Caressa. A really lovelyboat.. rides the waves really well and gently.
Anyway, back at Pinmill at 4 PM. Ian kindly drove us back to the Ipswich station, a journey made even better listening to Jimmy Page's riffs from a live version of Dazed and Confused in the background. Can't wait for Nov
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