Getting Wet

 

Kindred Spirit II sits sleekly as the rising tide gently laps her newly painted bottom, gradually lifting her from the confines of the launching trailer and back into the watery habitat she was designed for. She shrugs impatiently, keen to be off, bobbing on the grey sea water. Three kind friends brave the cold breeze to take photos and wave us off from the sailing club jetty. It is 13th May 2021.

 

After puffing and panting a little and coughing out some oily water the engine rumbled into life, much to Mark’s relief. After a nervous double check below decks, to make sure nothing was leaking, we tentatively set sail on the first leg of our long journey around the UK. Heading east down the Blackwater estuary under engine, after half an hour we raised the sails and turn off the engine to make best use of a modest 12 knot south easterly breeze. There is a steady drizzle and eventually Mark, getting cold, arguably may have expressed the first slight ‘whinge’ of the trip, although he claims merely to have merely made an observation that he was getting rather cold. After another hour or so of gentle sailing at about 3 knots per hour we reached our modest target of the marina at Bradwell, romantically positioned right next to the nuclear power station. Today and tomorrow are the first stages on our journey but are doubling up as our ‘shake-down cruise’. We already have a list of 7 small repair and maintenance jobs to do, some more critical than others. Our journey takes us close to the mooring of the gradually rotting ship that once anchored out in the North Sea and from which the pirate station Radio Caroline was broadcast.

  

   

We allowed ourselves some sense of excitement and satisfaction having at last set off and having arrived safely at our first overnight berth. After a short walk round the village, finding the pub not yet open, we return for some quiet time on the boat and to do some passage planning for tomorrow, we are both familiar with the short trip to Burnham-on-Crouch, and also looking ahead to the crossing of the Thames estuary which is new to us both and requires some care and navigation. The tides mean we will not leave until around midday tomorrow, so perhaps a pub meal and a couple of pints are in order.