Finally we were ready to move and because Wednesday looked like a strong winds no sailing day we chose Brightlingsea as our destination. This was one of our favourite stops when the kids were small as a 10 minute stroll brings you to a lovely little well protected patch of sand surrounded by pretty beach huts with the added bonus of a tidal pool for the kids to paddle in. Although not so exciting now that the kids really prefer swimming in waves, it held a lot of memories not least because of the small cafe selling awesome milkshakes.
As high water was in the middle of the day it made sense to go over the Ray Sands. Once you finally sail past the end of the Dengie peninsular there are sandbanks that stretch out for another 20 miles. There are some gaps, including the Swin Spitway which we often use when heading up to the Orwell, but today, with high water around lunchtime it made more sense to punch the tide out of the Crouch and sail across the sands. (Our route across the sands is shown by the orange arrow on the chart below).
I had calculated that we needed to leave by about 9:30am to get across the sands at the earliest opportunity but by 8am we were all pretty much ready (except Esmé who likes to wake up under way) and it was a beautiful day so we dropped lines and left the marina, picking up a buoy on the river to have breakfast with a different view.
As the wind started to fill in we dropped the buoy and sailed down river. With a steadily building breeze and a realisation that perhaps I'd been a bit too optimistic about what time we could cross the sands we put a reef in the main and eventually reduced the headsail slightly too. Once at the Ray Sands buoy which marks the start of the deepest area to cross we were still a little early so decided to drop the sails and motor tentatively across. With no sails up we have the most manoeverability and speed control, and with a rising tide, even if we did go aground we would soon float off. Electronic navigation makes this so much easier and less stressful than when we would sail just sail a predetermined course from the Ray Sands Buoy and eagerly watch the depth sounder, particularly as we can now download very up to date chartlets of the area from http://www.crossingthethamesestuary.com/
Once over the shallowest part we rolled out the headail and made good (if a bit wallowy)
progress towards Brightlingsea. In the past we had always used the pontoon in the middle of the river, using the water taxi to get ashore, however I had read that the new marina was now dredged to 2m so we decided to try this option (one of my reasons for getting across the Ray Sands as early as possible was to ensure we got to Brightlingsea near the top of the tide to ensure we got over the cill into the marina).
progress towards Brightlingsea. In the past we had always used the pontoon in the middle of the river, using the water taxi to get ashore, however I had read that the new marina was now dredged to 2m so we decided to try this option (one of my reasons for getting across the Ray Sands as early as possible was to ensure we got to Brightlingsea near the top of the tide to ensure we got over the cill into the marina).
We were greated as always by an incredibly friendly harbourmaster who showed us to our berth and took our lines. The marina felt a little exposed and there was a LOT of tide running through which pinned us onto our berth, however the ability to be able to walk ashore was a big plus.
The kids were very eager for some beach action so we had a quick hot dog lunch, booked in and headed out for the afternoon.
We enjoyed a lovely afternoon at the beach watching the kids splash and dig although we were somewhat disappointed at the lack of milkshakes! (The usual shack had been demolished and had been replaced by a trailer selling the basics in front of a new builiding that was being constructed... I hope this will be a new, bigger and better cafe).
Back to the boat via the beautiful new Brightlingsea showers for our sandy kids. 3 enormous cubicles with a big shower area, toilet and sink in each. We love shower facilities like this but can manage without, but when the kids were small, large unisex facilities were awesome for family showering!
By this time it was rather late so we enjoyed a quick beer/wine/J2O and nibbles before a late tea then showers for the adults and bed!
I did take the time however to take photos of the marina cill area and the beautiul sunset for fellow East Coasters who might be interested!
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