We had a good time in London, enjoying St Katherine Dock and being in the centre of Town. At £230 a night (including a rally discount!) it was not cheap and not something to be done regularly, but we had great fun. The marina team can afford to be welcoming and they threw a party for us on the first night, and gave us breakfast the first morning. In addition to Marc I was also joined by Amanda, so we were 3. Sons Tom and Jonty invited friends aboard for drinks, and Amanda her son Paddy and his girlfriend. It was all quite social.

We spent one of the days away in Hampshire celebrating the 60th birthdays of a couple of friend’s 60th and the next day, after provisioning, had dinner in the Officers’ Mess of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, in the Tower of London. We also attended the Ceremony of the Keys.

We locked out the following morning quite early, lining up with Skybird and Serena for a few photos in front of Tower Bridge.

Once through the Thames Barrier we made use of the following wind, hoisting foresails and sailing downstream in company.

Our destination was Chatham, which we reached in a few hours after a good sail. Sue joined us there.

Having locked into the marina, we visited the Historic Dockyard. It was an excellent visit, well guided and of great interest. Highlights for us were the visit to the Ropery – a huge long building where ropes were made – and a visit to HMS Ocelot, a Cold War era submarine. The latter was guided by a former captain and an engineer – Richard, the skipper of Skybird.

We had a formal cruise opening dinner in the Commissioner’s House – newly opened after a long refurbishment. We were the first big party to be held there since the works finished. It is one of the oldest buildings in the Naval estate. The food was excellent, and all local.

Our destination the next day was West Mersea, almost 50 nautical miles away. We had strong, but downwind conditions in rain, negotiating numerous sandbanks. It was all a bit fast and furious and a little shallow in places for our liking. On arrival we found ourselves gently aground 5 metres from our buoy – a not unusual occurrence for East Anglia! We were soon afloat again as the tide rose.

At West Mersea we were very well hosted by the local yacht club, who laid on an excellent explanation of the local oyster industry, followed by a demonstration and tasting, and a very good seafood lunch.

After an enjoyable stay in West Mersea it was time to bid farewell to Essex and head to what I consider to be my home county, Suffolk. We have an informal race as part of our cruise and this time it was to Harwich, cutting across the shallows. We did well, finishing 2nd, despite carrying water, fuel and wine weighing a ton.

In the Orwell we anchored just short of Pin Mill, pumped up the dinghy and headed to the bank, finding a path to the Butt and Oyster, a famous waterside pub. Pin Mill really hadn’t changed much since the days of Arthur Ransome.

We were kindly taken the next day to a nearby food hall by Judith, a CA contact. Sue and Marc walked back, and that evening we had a BBQ at the Royal Harwich at Woolverstone.

Leaving the Orwell required careful timing as we needed to cross over the Deben bar at the right state of tide. We did so without difficulty and anchored in the Rocks, a delightful spot in the bend of the river. There we held drinks and tea for fellow crews and went ashore to have supper at the Ramsholt Arms, another famous riverside pub.

The next day we took a buoy at Waldringfield and just to complete the riverside pub trio, had a pint at the Maybush.

In the afternoon we all went to Mandy and her husband Simon’s house, overlooking the river, for a bit of a party. My brother Chris, sister-in-law Roz and niece joined us. With croquet, tennis, swimming, boules and dancing on the menu it was a great fun party – thank you Simon and Amanda!

Phoebe stayed on board and enjoyed her sail out of the river and up to the Ore. As we were leaving the Deben we were waved farewell by two Bills – relatives who live locally. Thank you for coming and seeing us off, both!

We had a lovely sail under genoa up the river and picked up a buoy at Orford and wandered into town, visiting the Castle.

A visit to Cobra Mist, a Cold War listening station had been arranged for the next day. It was a fascinating look into what was ultimately a failed attempt by the Americans to listen into the Soviets. The place was then used by the BBC to transmit the World Service into the Soviet Union. Now in private hands, it makes an intriguing visit.

A short motor up to Aldeburgh completed the cruise, with a final dinner at Aldeburgh Yacht Club. We had been lucky with the weather in the final few days and the East Anglian rivers were at their best. Thank you to my crew Mandy, Marc and Phoebe (and of course Sue) and to Rob and Zoe who were the organisers of the cruise.

I am writing this courtesy of Starlink in the middle of the North Sea, heading up to Lerwick, with the aim of getting Spellbinder north of the Arctic circle, with a little help from eldest son Tom. More to follow…