Tim arrived back in the morning as his son Joe had kindly driven him . We had croissants and coffee before he headed off. Tim , Sue and I, walked into The little town of Burham on Crouch. It was beautiful weather and the immediate surroundings area to the marina, looked lovely. Swathes of mown grass and pebble paths flanking the river. It was only a stroll into the little town past house boats sitting in the mud, with weedy lines attaching them to the ground. The path took us along the waterfront until ducking off into the Main Street. We had hoped to find Julian some Oysters but not an oyster to be found….. so we bought ice creams instead 😋. They were proper Italian gelato and delicious. Once back on the boat we got ready to go. We had decided to move to a secluded anchorage up the Roach, which is a river tributary separating Wallasea island and only a few miles away. The weather had somewhat deteriorated and it was now cold and gone back to grey skies with brown water. We arrived at our designated place which to anchor… round the bend at somewhere named “Devils reach” 😳 it was probably in my top 5 most inhospitable anchorages. Windy, grey and desolate with some alarming looking sticks poking out of the water with yellow crosses on. Anyway once anchored in the nice thick mud, we at least felt secure and surprisingly we were not alone. Another little red yacht had chosen a spot nearby…. strangely comforting. There were seals on the mud edge and in the water, and on a lovely calm day I can imagine spending happy hours birdwatching here. We shut ourselves downstairs out of the noise of the wind and had a meal of salmon, broccoli and potatoes. We went to bed early as we had a 0330 wake up. Only to be woken by torrential rain, thunder and lightning a few hours later. Always a bit worrying when you’re on a boat with essentially a lightening conductor built in!
Sue x
What I learned today…… that not all black headed gulls look like black headed gulls……
There is a black headed gull here……
Burnham on crouch 
Referred to the tower / school 
Typical clapperboard house 
Front at Burnham 
House boats 
Company 
Desolate anchorage 
Angelique 