MSC Annual ‘Away’ Dinghy Cruise
Marconi Dinghy Cruisers normally undertake a summer dinghy cruise further afield than the Blackwater, in addition to the monthly cruise from the club.
Recent years have seen trips to Falmouth, Plymouth, the Solent, the Crouch, and last year to the Norfolk Broads.
This year it was decided to explore some Suffolk Rivers, cunningly scheduled to take place from Thursday 18th to Monday 22nd June, between England’s first two World Cup football matches.
Colin Wardell organised the trip with characteristic aplomb, booking marina berths at Su olk Yacht Harbour, Levington, as well as liaising with Waldringfield Sailing Club, and booking the nearby ‘Cosy Camping’ site.
Two Wayfarers (Blue Moon and Pelican) were towed from Essex on Thursday morning, and all looked well set for glorious sunny weather and F2-4 winds throughout the period.
Thursday afternoon saw a short sail up the Orwell to Pin Mill, where we moored alongside and visited the famous ‘Butt & Oyster’ pub, before returning to Levington, then setting up our tents and enjoying a dinner at the local pub.
On Friday we had a much longer cruise to the far extent of the Stour. We stopped first for a coffee at Harwich Ha’Penny Pier, then enjoyed warm southerly F3 winds for a reach on the flood past Wrabness and Mistley before anchoring at the small sandy beach at Manningtree, where we ate our sandwiches and visited the charming Stour Sailing Club. The tide turned at about 4pm and we reached back to Levington on the ebb, covering a total of some 24 miles in the day.
On Friday evening we drove across to picturesque Waldringfield, which has lovely views over the Deben, and joined members of the sailing club for their superb monthly barbeque, which happened to be on that evening. This was also our opportunity to finesse arrangements for the following two days.
Saturday required an early start to catch the tide. We sailed past Felixstowe Docks, and round Landguard Point, sailing North out to sea, to be at the mouth of the Deben for low tide at 10am. The entrance to the Deben is notoriously changeable and has strong tides, but we followed the channel marker buoys in, and stopped for a coffee at Felixstowe ferry. We then sailed up to Waldringfield, where the Harbourmaster had very kindly set up two moorings and a rowing tender for us.
Sunday was again an early start to catch the ebb tide back out of the Deben. It was another beautiful summer morning, but with only the lightest of winds from Waldringfield up to the Ramsholt Arms. Then the onshore wind picked up considerably as we tacked across to Bawdsey at the mouth of the Deben, where we stopped to regroup and put in a reef. However, the wind moderated for the journey out of the Deben, round the coast and into the Orwell, and back to the Suffolk Yacht Harbour.
By this time, we all felt somewhat ‘sailed out’, so on Sunday afternoon we had a change of scene, and visited the nearby Bawdsey Radar Museum (which has multiple references and links to Marconi, of course).
On Monday, we broke camp, recovered the boats, loaded them onto the trailers and returned to Essex.
It was an excellent trip – wonderful weather, good winds, great places to visit and sail.
Thanks go to Colin Wardell for organising and being a great leader, to Waldringfield
Sailing Club and Harbourmaster for their hospitality, and also to Jeremy Richardson,
Paul Eade and Robin Bromham, as well as Colin, for their excellent company.
