Another 0330 wake up☹️. But the sky is light and looks as if it’s going to be a sunny day! It was , in fact cloudless. We radioed the port to ask for permission to leave ( getting more familiar with this) and off we went. The water was flat because the wind has west in it and therefore an offshore wind. And brown! So despite the blue skies the water has gone from grey to brown! Cos it’s so shallow and churns up the sand and mud below I’m presuming. So just to compare…. in the N of Scotland we usually sail in depths of 100 odd metres. Here it’s 10 -20! Had full sails up and what bliss there didn’t seem to be any lobster pots! We flew down the coast doing 8-10 knots. The wind was on our beam ( side) and blowing a nice 10-15 knots. We passed Sizewell nuclear place… very identifiable with its huge white dome and then continued on towards Harwich with its massive cranes. The approach is interesting with lots of shallow bits and loads of navigation marks everywhere to identify. Thank goodness for the plotter.. again! There is a “recommended route” got yachts shown which is helpful so we just followed that after taking our sails down just before the entrance. Once into the entrance we marvelled at the enormous container ships in the dock. You can just imagine all the stuff inside and where it’s all going. Each one on a lorry. Hardly seems to support the name! See picture! The tide is still running quite strongly but we are now into a pretty river. The Orwell. Wide and flanked with fields and woodland. Many boats bobbing about on moorings and a few sailing up and down. We hadn’t been able to get into Shotley marina ( our original intention) as it was full, so made our way up river to Woolverstone where we had arranged to meet our lovely friends John and Christine. A slightly less than perfect landing wounded our pride a bit, a tight corner, tide and wind blowing us off. ☹️What a lovely marina though! So peaceful and pretty and so different from anywhere we’ve been. They arrived early afternoon and we ate cake , watched the swallows swooping to and fro and chatted in the sunshine. After which , we visited Johns beautiful boat Salamander on the same marina and then went for a delightful walk along the shore to the pretty village of Pin Mill. A typically quaint Suffolk village with painted cottages and roses round the doors. We had a beer at the pub and took a walk past the community of boat houses ( many built on top of the old working barges) along the way, through a leafy green wood. What an interesting country we live in, so different, so diverse. John and Christine left us after a lovely afternoon -and we slumped in front of the tv with a simple supper. Lie in tomorrow 😊.
What I learned today……. When we have enough people, two on lines is plenty , one can then be employed as a fender ( not literally! 😂)!
Sue x
Harwich 
Lots of nav markers
River Orwell 
Approaching Woolverstone marina 
😋 
Little swallow 
Pin mill 
John on his way to rehearsal for the mikado ! 
House boats 
Angelique 