An early start and some punching of tide to get us up to the Walton Backwaters ready for pirates the following day. I love the early starts, quiet time without kids and beautiful sunrises, this time over the packing shed whilst watching the fishermen coming in from their night at sea.
Stone Point was pretty busy by the time we arrived but we found some space to anchor not too far away from the beach where we spent most of the remainder of the day. We met new friends and AJ and Esmé invited them to Pirates the following evening. Ever cautious about anchoring we ensured we were on board at tide change and by morning felt reasonably confident.
Saturday
I woke early and encouraged AJ to pump the paddlebaord up whilst it was still reasonably cool, and I enjoyed a quiet paddle during the slack tide of low water. By this point Esmé was extremely excited and insisted on going ashore in her pirate costume ASAP despite the fact that everyone else wasn't expected until at least 1pm. We spotted her new friends and went for a walk.
A little later AJ joined us and there was time for a quick swim before heading back to the boat to prepare for the pirate BBQ.
Eventually other pirates arrived but we delayed proceedings slightly to wait for the tide to turn as we were by now anchored quite close. We spent time making pizza dough and generally getting ready before finally heading off for some pirate fun. Treasure hunt, BBQ's, swimming and an awesome Stone Point Sunset completed the day with tired little pirates being ferried back to the big boats as darkness fell, with the promise of another meet up on the beach in the morning.
Once back on Laurin the wind had picked up a little and I decided to stay up until the tide changed as we were now anchored quite close to other boats. What then followed was a somewhat broken night's sleep as we woke to see boats much closer than we liked, and as the tide turned boats dragged their anchors. Eventually at about 5am I decided enough was enough and we lifted our anchor and motored to find a mooring to pick up in the hope that this would allow some more sleep!.
Sunday
We decided to head to the beach to catch up with the crew of Free Wheel, a family we had met at pirates. Sand boat digging and bacon butties on the beach followed, with a vague plan to head to Shotley for the evening. Patrick headed back to Laurin and I stayed on the beach with the kids, periodically looking at the sea state out beyond the Walton Backwaters. On returning to Laurin I disucssed the sea state with Patrick and we decided that we could handle the lumpy seas for the hour or so to get to Shotley but were concerned about berthing Laurin in high winds. I called Shotley and they told me they could allocate us a double berth which would make things significanlty easier and so we decided to move.
It was a bit of a lumpy trip but it was lovely to arrive at Shotley and moor up in a calm berth where we could rest up for a couple of nights. (And even better, as Burnham berth holders we get 30 days free mooring at Shotley). We enjoyed a lovely drink at the Shipwreck and fed the kids chips before finally heading back to the boat for Gnocci and bed!
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