Day 8, 9, 10 & 11
Burnham on Crouch
Our first day on the River Crouch was spent doing a couple of small maintenance jobs around the boat, making the most of the laundry at the marina, re-stocking the fridge and generally chilling after what has seemed a pretty full on few days so far. Andy's twin daughters and their partners met us for Sunday lunch at a local restaurant called the Oyster Smack - fab food and excellent service. We did a two hour walk along the river to stretch our legs and later motored up river which was navigable for 5-6 miles and caught the most amazing sunset. We also passed a boat called 'Manic' on a mooring buoy. Manic left Haslar some months ago to do a UK circumnavigation and we aren't sure if they have been all the way round and are on their way home of if they are still on their way. Sadly they weren't on board for us to ask!! We were concerned at the amount of slime on Stiletto's bottom as she seemed very sluggish! Although we had her coppercoated 2 years ago, slime does still build up. It can affect passage times greatly and we decided to make use of the boat yard at the marina and get the old girl out for a power wash off. They were very accommodating and the whole process was done and dusted inside an hour and we left the yacht harbour at 9am, arriving at the River Blackwater at 5pm after a cracking sail - light winds so slow but measured and we picked up a mooring bouy at the Marconi Sailing Club and watched yet another stunning sunset.
Incident of the day: We saw a mum and baby porpoise very close to Stiletto.