Scandanavian Seaways Race

The rally resumed with a race from Harwich to the Deben. It started at the Dovercourt Breakwater at 1030, but we took longer than expected to get to the start so we were ten minutes late over the line. We had our ensign flying, and it turns out that you should not fly the ensign while racing, so we got yelled at! (Not in a bad way, just to let us know it was wrong!)

We managed to almost catch up with one boat, Carima, before reaching the finish line at the Woodbridge Haven Safe Water Mark at 1228. The safe water mark shows where to start the passage to enter the River Deben, which has a complicated entrance with shifting sand banks. It felt good to have Carima to follow but the entrance is well marked and the instructions in the pilot are very clear.

We sailed up the river past Felixstow Ferry, but soon after ran aground by not taking enough notice of the curve of the river. Luckily we were on a rising tide and floated off within 20 minutes. Luckily Julia in Carima noticed we had problems and came back to stand by and then lead us on the safe course up the river. This time it felt absolutely necessary to have a boat that knows the waters in front of us! She led us on a short cut that avoided the busy moorings at Waldringfield. It felt very shallow!

We picked up a mooring buoy at the entrance to the Tide Mill Marina in Woodbridge. Access to the marina is narrow, and over a sill so we had to wait until we were called in. The boats that had reached there ahead of us (20+ Old Gaffers) had had to wait longer until there was enough water over the sill. We had to wait an hour before we got in, and we were then rafted up on a modern boat just by the entrance.