Antares

Reproduced with Permission from Yachting Monthly - Published in January 1993

Five years after the Great Storm that devastated southern Britain, PAUL SAVAGE recalls an end-of-season cruise with a dramatic epilogue.

By mid-October, the days have shortened and the nights seem very long, making cruising much less attractive. So this was to be the last mini cruise of the season, probably up to the Walton Backwaters, the Orwell and the Deben or to Aldeburgh.

I joined Antares, my Stella sloop, at Burnham on Crouch the afternoon before, so that I could make the most of the ebb tide. Next morning I was up for breakfast at 0440, and left the mooring at 0730. The wind was Force 3-4, and we had an uneventful passage to Ipswich, via Harwich Harbour, followed by a short beat back to Woolverstone. I picked up a mooring buoy and rowed ashore to the Royal Harwich Yacht Club. Later in the afternoon, I walked down to Pin Mill along the tree-lined riverbank, before returning on board for supper and early bed.

The 0555 forecast next morning was southerly Force 7-9, moderating to Force 6 for a time, with gale warnings for many other areas. This was not, I decided, weather to be sailing in and out of the Deben or the Ore, and I elected instead to return to Burnham with reefs rolled into the mainsail as far as the bottom batten pocket and the No 1 jib set.

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