The Fambridge Rally

We picked up a buoy at Burnham overnight, then used Worm to get ashore for some shopping on Saturday morning. Ben was due to join us for the weekend, so we waited until he joined us for a late lunch before running up to Fambridge.

The wind had picked up again, and it only took us an hour to get there, even against the tide. Given the high winds over the past week there were a lot of boats on the yacht club pontoon. Aussie II, Baldrick, Gwenilli, Mole, Robinetta, Quiet Days, and William. Janner was only just back in the water, but stayed in the marina while her crew joined us at dinner at the Ferry Boat Inn.

Robinetta draws too much to make it to Battlesbridge, so next day Mick King gave us a lift up river in Baldrick, his Memory. We had a nice run up there on jib alone, with the centre plate up, and Mick desperately hoping he could remember how to find the deepest water. There was only just enough space with sufficient depth to turn Baldrick, and too little water to get to the pontoon to tie up, so we rafted up on a friendly barge, as did Mole, Quiet days, and William. Aussie II did make it to the pontoon, but only just!

Coming back down river after lunch was a graphic demonstration of the difference wind over tide can make to a situation. We were motoring for a start, since the wind was on the nose, and Baldrick has a small outboard, mounted beside the rudder, which it can foul unless both are steered at the same time. The prop is shallow, and with waves over 2' high and closely spaced the prop was out of the water more often than was healthy for it. Then there were the moored boats...

Heading up river with the wind and tide the boats on their moorings had all lain the same way, without moving noticeably. Coming back they formed a moving maze that had to be navigated with extreme caution; not all the moorings were properly spaced and we saw at least two boats colliding with each other on their moorings. Thanks to Mick's skill we made it through without touching a thing, but it was very hard work for him!

The rally plan was to pick up the larger boats (Gwenilli and Robinetta) from Fambridge, and continue down to Burnham for dinner, but the trip back from Battlesbridge had been such hard work that only William continued on. Quiet Days went straight into the marina to join Janner, while the others just tied up on the pontoon, and had dinner at the Ferry Boat Inn again. We had hoped that the forecast for tomorrow would show a decrease in the wind, but it still predicted NE f5-7, so we decided not to go. Ben caught the train back home, while Julian and I stayed on Robinetta.

We regretted staying on the pontoon after the tide turned again after midnight. Robinetta was plunging up and down, constantly snatching at her mooring lines. When we listened to the 0600UTC forecast there was a gale warning, so we ended our rally by motoring Robinetta into the marina, and tying up next to Janner, while we headed home by train.