Day 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18,
Walton on the Naze, to River Stour, River Orwell, River Deben and River Ore
On arrival at the River Stour, we picked up a mooring buoy, and waited for high water when we then motored up the river all the way to Manningtree where we eventually ran out of water and had to turn around.
We spent the remainder of the day chilling. Next morning we headed round to the River Orwell - our destination being Neptune Marina where we were to meet up with Andy's sister Angie and her partner Terry. They keep their boat - a lifting keel 27ft Beneteau - at Neptune and they were going to join us for a fish and chip supper on board Stiletto.
Next morning we sailed down the Orwell, Angie took the helm all the way down, and we picked up a buoy at the bottom of the Stour and had a pretty awesome lunch. From there we motored back up the Orwell to Wolverstone Marina and enjoyed a walk in the dark to the Butt and Oyster for a very yummy supper. We motored back in the dark to Neptune. Access to Neptune is via a lock so we had plenty of practice getting in and out whilst there. A lot of boaters I know are very daunted by the thought of going through lock gates but I have to admit at finding them not only fascinating - just the very nature of how they work fascinates me - but also very exciting and frankly very easy. We left Neptune at 3pm the next day after some provision shopping and sailed back down the Orwell and picked up what had become our favourite buoy at the mouth of the Stour for an overnight stay before heading off for the River Deben the next morning.
We left for the Deben needing to get over the bar at high tide. Navigating the entrance was one helluva challenge and we did kiss the putty as the channel marker buoys were not as shown on my chart or the chart plotter so took a bit of working out. They move regularly due to the shifting sands. We worked our way up to Tide Mill which has to be one of the most beautiful places I have visited. Just loved it. The next day we decided we needed to get off the boat and do some serious walking. The one downfall of this kind of cruising is the lack of exercise (if you let it). Days can go by and suddenly we will realise that we haven't either got off the boat or indeed done any serious walking. This we now realise is vital and we are determined that once we start our big adventure this is something that must be done every day, even if it means just swimming 100 times around the boat when at anchor. So we walked along the Deben all the way to Sutton Hoo. Along the way, we saw what every boat owner dreams of. The lucky family who owned a stunning riverside house also had the foresight to dredge a small channel into part of their garden to park their sail boat. Admittedly it dried out at low tide, but hey, they had their boat at the bottom of their garden - just how cool is THAT???!! So, getting back to the story, we walked to Suton Hoo. Woweeee. Sutton Hoo is the burial mound of Kind Raewald who was laid to rest in AD625. In 1939 an archaeological excavation revealed the most amazing collection of treasures, within an impressive Anglo-Saxon burial ship that had lain undisturbed for over 1300 years. Andy and I spent a lot of time trying to fatham out how the long ship got to its final destination - so far from the river. Yes, the water level may have been higher 1300 years ago but even so ............. The gold and treasures were breath taking.
On our return walk back to the boat we came across two people trying to get back aboard their dutch barge by means of a gang plank that, due to the low tide, was at a very precarious angle and they were struggling. We exchanged a few jokes but then I realised that I recognised the chap that we had been bantering with. It was Chris - we played in a Samba Band - "FatSamba" - together, some 10 years previously in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight. They had just returned from 10 years in France and were settling on the Deben. WHAT a small world!!! Oh yes indeedy - it is a small world.
The next day we caught up with chores - namely laundry and victualing. We walked around Woodbridge, in awe of the beautiful old buildings and the fact that the local Council had not allowed the high street to become a thing of the past. Namely - NO bloomin supermarkets!. We admired the old buildings, and ooohed and ahhhhed at the local butcher, fishmonger and green grocery. We made purchases from all 3 who were all very much alive and kicking. Long may it stay that way.
Previously, on our way up the Deben we passed a lovely pub called the Ramsholt Arms and I commented to Andy that it would be very nice to pick up a mooring on our way back down and go ashore for a meal. Which is exactly what we did. I had called up the Harbour Master just before departing Tide Mill and asked if he had a mooring available close enough to the pub that we could dinghy ashore. He said he had and that he would reserve it for us and that he would see us in about 30 minutes. Sure enough, 30 minutes later we picked up the mooring and dinghyed ashore to meet George, the harbour master, who is in his 80's and was wearing a white hand knitted jumper with the words Harbour Master stitched in Navy. A truly lovely gentleman who, upon us asking to pay our mooring dues, presented an RNLI collection box from behind his back and said "that will be £5 please" Visitors are welcome to use available buoys, on the understanding from the regular users of said buoy, they pay £5 to the lifeboat. We put in £10. George collects about £3K a year and to date has donated £30k to the RNLI. What a man! We had a lovely supper in the pub and got talking to a very nice American couple - John and Nancy Knight - who had anchored their 42 ft Island Packet "Adventuress" further up river. They were doing a circumnavigation of the UK. Next morning was a lovely start to the day - hot, sunny with still water so we dinghyed ashore and on Harbour Master George's recommendation, we walked to the 10th Century church which was a beautiful building and indeed stretched our legs.
Late afternoon we left the Deben and headed for the River Ore. Oh my goodness. The approach was a real challenge. We were soooo close to the beach that we could have shaken hands with the guy fishing from the shore!!! We found it hard to accept that the deep water was shoreline but we stuck with it and got through . We contacted the harbour master - Mr Richard Attwood - and he allocated us a visitors buoy. We experienced a truly beautiful clear starry night.