a hot day on the water

the most wonderful hot sunny day and a tide which allowed us to have a picnic lunch on the point. we all went in Elsie as MM’s mooring doesn’t give her much time out unless the tide is a big one.

we embarked before the tide was completely in, and found that the shallow banks of the creek got rather close.

setting up the outboard

following the Mary Frances, cockle number 89, out, but she found the wind just in the right quarter and sailed.

the tide coming in with a little chop and some scum

out by the pit sails up and engine stowed and we bore out rather inland of the channel. a boat called Soppi Annabel here getting her sails up; she looks a bit like a cockle, but I can’t be sure from this photo. some boats have very dodgy names.

the Wiveton Bell sailing single-handed. there was a nice breeze and I found myself in the shade of the sail and a bit chilly.

we were ahead of the crowd but by the time we got to the point we were rapidly caught up by several powerful motorboats and jetskis making a horrible row and rushing around like lunatics, so we headed back to the beach for lunch.

running up through the muddy shallows and anchoring

unfortunately we found there was a very very dead seal right in front of the boat. it smelt like very old mackerel barbecued. but the other side of the bushes above the little beach there was a nice breeze from the sea and the smell and sight was no longer apparent. there have been a few carcasses (fifty odd in fact over the summer) around this season, the rumour is that they are getting caught up in the ducted propellors of the boats which are carrying out work on Shoal windfarm, just out to sea, causing horrific corkscrew mutilation. or the other rumour is that greenland sharks, driven south by overfishing, are taking them, though these are usually scavengers. the jury is out on this.

a wayfarer beached and anchored just after us. it’s a popular stopping off point and the seal ferries drop people off to have an hour on the point from close by.

a much more pleasant view and the motorboat noise was a bit quieter.

lunch prepared by Eslie’s and MM’s skippers – crostinis

and tuna salad Рmost delicious, with pat̩, cheese and bread, elderflower to drink, fresh pineapple slice, grapes and a bar of 81% cocoa chocolate.

the cockle club were racing, a lovely sight.

plenty of paddlers; I have to say the seal would have had too gruesome an effect on the water for my taste.

as the tide started to ebb we pushed off and sailed back in an extremely leisurely way, as the wind was coming round to the north east instead of the north west and almost backing off to nothing as the tide slowly changed.

we passed almost under Juno’s bows

the conditions were practically millpond

very relaxing. I managed to change my camera setting to macro, so the following photos are very grainy –

MM’s skipper with his dashing cowboy hat looking particularly piratical

MM’s mate

Harvester, almost my favourite boat, the old Sheringham crab boat.

a boat load of those yahoos who make so much noise illegally speeding around the lagoon passed us and then their engine cut out, much to our amusement. we were being continually tossed by the wakes of these boats coming past us in the creek.

Elsie’s skipper waiting for the breeze

Elsie’s mate directing landing operations

cockles coming back from their race – Shabash towing Water Rat – a lovely sight.

and Elsie is sorted out before being pulled out to her position on the side of this wide shallow sloping bank of the creek.

we found it very hot walking back to the oven-like car after being out on the water.

a beautiful day – let’s hope we get a few more like this in 2010.