Whilst Harwich to the Medway is possible the time of the tides would have meant an extremely early start and the forecast was for strong Southwesterly winds Saturday afternoon. We decided to break the journey on the Blackwater and set off for Pyefleet Creek. No sooner had we up anchored and hoisted the sails rain arrived with a fresh breeze. Very different from the previous evening. The rain didn’t last long, but long enough to make everything wet. We motor sailed out past Harwich and out alongside the main ship channel. Out went a reefed Genoa and off with the engine. It was a good sail out past Walton on the Naze but the wind shifted a bit pushing us further out. The wallet is well known for its short choppy swell. It was there today. Approaching the Gunfleet sands the wind had eased a bit and the speed was dropping off, so on with the engine again so we didnt have an extended battle against the tide. I did manage to motor sail the next tack almost to Clacton. At the end of the tack the Genoa was rolled up and we motored the rest of the way to Pyefleet, where we picked up mooring buoys.
An early start in the morning should see us back in Lower Halstow by High Tide, and back to reality.
