Maiden voyage

The time had finally come to bite the bullet, leave the security of Fox’s Marina, take Escapade out on her maiden voyage and hope we like it!

Before we set off, we had researched places to go, taking advice from people who knew the area. Mike, Jean and Nigel were invaluable, with a wealth of advice about routes, anchorages and pubs! We also considered the weather forecast, especially the wind and the tides. So many things to consider…

We set off on Sunday afternoon. The plan being to head for Levington, just down the River Orwell and pick up a mooring buoy for the night. We had a dinner date with our friends Janice and Andy aboard Destiny which would make an excellent start to the week.

As is the case with sailing, things changed slightly in that we actually anchored. Andy rowed across in the dinghy to collect us and we had a brilliant first night afloat.

Monday morning and we were ready to head off out of the river and onto the sea. Unfortunately, when carrying out our pre-sailing checks, we discovered that there was no oil in the gear box. Not a good idea to head out to sea, so Monday night was spent back at Fox’s Marina – better to be safe than sorry.

Tuesday, oil sorted and back down the river. This time we managed to negotiate the container port at Harwich and head down the River Stour.

Wednesday was the day we finally made it out to sea! Well, we could still see land and windfarms, but we weren’t on the river anymore!

During the next few days, we sailed up,  down and across. We practised using the sails, manoeuvring the boat and learning how to use the electronic navigation equipment.

The weather was kind to us, with sunny days and light winds: just right for learning. We did have some excitement with gusts of 20 knots and a record speed of 8.5 knots.

The week was over all too soon, but it had been very successful. We had plotted courses, sailed, anchored and made our first cup of tea with the boat healed over. We had learnt so much and no one had been sick…all in all a brilliant maiden voyage.

PS Andy and Janice have an amazing boat (Van de Stadt 47) which they built themselves. They are generally in the Arctic/Norway running Sail/Ski tours. Check out their website – www.yachtdestiny.uk