With lock downs & Haven Bridge refurbishment seriously curtailing our Cruising Club outings in 2020 & 2021 we were very pleased to get out to sea once again with a dozen boats for a visit to a few East Coast Marinas.
The fleet met in Lowestoft at the RNSYC on Thursday 9th September & departed at 1000hrs on Friday morning for Tidemill Marina, Woodbridge on the River Deben with a South Westerly wind force 3 to 4 & wind over tide whipping up a short chop the fleet made their way down to Orfordness at around 18 knots. We then slowed down to displacement speed to time our arrival for the ideal tide to cross the Deben bar into the River. It’s then a very pleasant hour & a half up river to Woodbridge & the Tidemill Yacht Harbour. We stayed for a couple of nights & all the crews gathered on ‘Diva’ for drinks & then went on to the A-Listers restaurant for dinner where we were well looked after.
There is a sill on the entrance to the Tidemill Marina to retain the water & keep boats afloat after the river has emptied at low water. Access for our fleet is possible roughly 2 hours either side of high water. We left on Sunday at around 1430 & made our way down river & across the bar before opening up across the estuary & into Felixstowe & the River Orwell. The light was just starting to fade as the fleet locked into Ipswich Haven Marina. We stayed for a relaxing 3 nights in Ipswich & planned for an early start on Wednesday morning back to Lowestoft in time for the 1115 bascule bridge lift at Lowestoft.
The weather forecast on Wednesday morning had worsened & we took the decision to delay our north bound passage for 24 hours. For a change of scenery we made plans for a visit to Titchmarsh, Walton-on-the-Naze & locked out of Ipswich at 1330hrs.
We woke on Thursday to a beautiful sunrise over the Walton back waters & made our way back to Lowestoft in very pleasant conditions.
Probably our last outing for 2021 but we are looking forward to a full Cruising Club program for 2022 once the repairs to the Haven Bridge have been completed.
Thank you to all the team at NYA for another great well organised cruise. We are looking forward to next year and hope to see you all again soon
Simon Wendy Graham and Caroline