End of the Season

Decided we'd sleep on Robinetta on Saturday night, since the OGA AGM was at the West Mersea Yacht Club. Seemed like a good idea since we would not need to drive home, so could drink.

Didn't seem like such a good idea when we came out the yacht club at gone 2200 and saw the frost on the ground, but we were expecting it, so well prepared with extra sleeping bags and plenty of warm clothes. I rowed us out, in bright moon light, with plenty of stars over head, and we were soon tucked up in Robinetta.

Putting our light weight summer quilt sleeping bags outside our normal ones, and wearing lots of layers of clothes plus our warm sailing hats, worked fine as a keeping warm in bed strategy; getting out of bed to go to the heads, not so great!

We woke up to ice inside the port holes, but bright sunshine and a good sailing breeze, so after a fry up we got the sails up, and headed for Tollesbury. The aim was to get fuel to top up the tanks before Robinetta comes out of the water. My 'phone rang as we sailed past the Packing Shed; Mike McCarthy had seen us as he drove off the Island!

We waited until until we were sure we had enough water to get over the sill at the marina (high tide at 1410 West Mersea), and tied onto the fuel dock by 1303. Then we discovered that the chandlers closes at 1300 out of season on a Sunday. They had already cashed up and shut down the computers, so there was nothing they could do to sell us fuel (although they were apologetic).

We went and had a drink at the Cruising Club, being too full of fry up to want a carvery dinner, then headed back to Mersea just after high water. We got the sails up again, but the wind had gone very light, so we put the engine on by Little Cob Marsh Island, and motored back home.

A gentle day's sailing, our last of the season, but very enjoyable despite the cold.