Getting to Maritime Woodbridge

Well I had not used Roach in a while, so I was quite excited about being invited up to the maritime Festival in Woodbridge. The plan, as with most of my boating plans, means leaving London late, and then doing the whole palaver of inflating a dinghy and loading in the dead of dark. Stowe everything, then eat something, and then go to bed.

On this occasion I am grateful to a friend who was giving me a lift to Pin Mill. He who owns a Frederick Shepherd yawl “Crystal” and we were both going to cruise to Woodbridge in company.

So off we went and by the time we had collected gear, inflated and loaded the dinghies it was well past midnight. It was not helped by the fact that my outboard seemed to be very unreliable on this occasion (usually it is not), but thankfully it started and I managed to get to Roach.

It’s amazing how long it takes to load a yacht from a dinghy. I knew I was doing a week’s cruise after the festival in Roach, so there was much stuff victual.

Atlast I was ready, and moved Roach alongside Crystal where we had dinner together. It was now 4am and almost time to depart for in order to catch the tide on the Deben bar. Everything went well and by Lunchtime we were at the Ramsholt Arms having a snooze before catching the next tide up to Woodbridge in fading light. This would be interesting!