And back again..

After a few days dfoing the touristy bit, including trips on the London eye, and even a boat ride up the river to Greenwich, it was time to leave...

The weather had changed beyond all recognition.... gone was the cold wet windy weather and in its place a large high presure system.... which meant not a lot of wind... but lovely warm sun as compensation!

So out of the lock we motored...

Alan need fuel on Mr Tinkles, and we needed a gas bottle, so we'd contacted one of the fuel barges to arrange a fill up...

The barge is only 400m from the entrance to St Kats.... but there didn't appear to be anyone onboard.... even worse, the constant stream of ferries plying their trade meant that the river was as rough as Black Deep in a Force 6!

This eventually resulted in Alan losing half a cleat before we even got alongside... and so arrangements were made to visit the fuel barge up by the dome instead where it would be far more quiet.... and it was....

We then slipped back through the flood barrier.... much nicer as the sunshine glinted off it... and carried on motoring... not a chance of a sail... less than 3kts of wind...

And thus it continued.... as we passed under the Dartford crossing we avoided floating ladders, and instead hit a floating length of rope (which the rope cutter dealt with more than adequately)... and then as we passed Gravesend we did get excited as the wind picked up to 8kts... its didn't last..... just long enough for us to hoist our sails unneccessarily...

In what seemed a much shorter trip than the inbound one we grabbed the same bouy at Queenborough.. its funny how sun makes the journey seem nicer.... and were treated to a glorious sunset..... lots of photos later we retired to bed exhausted, and even a tad sunburnt.... who'd have thought it in April!

The next morning, the weather promised much of the same, so we motored out of the Medway again, and this time turned right.... its was a long, and potentially boring trip all the way up Barrow Deep into the Kings channel, and eventually to NE Gunfleet... made completely tolerable by the ability to sunbathe!!!!

Eventually we entered Harwich harbout after a completely uneventfull trip at about 15:30, and were tied up in our berth at 16:30...

What a great trip.... a real experience... sailing into the heart of one of the world's great cities... and made all the better by a mix of excellent weather, and great company...

The season has begun with a bang!

Miles logged 83nm
Miles this season 183nm
Miles since this blog started 4,763nm