Tollesbury - our winter home
Trip Start
May 06, 2008
1
114
130
Trip End
Sep 30, 2008
Maldon,
England,
United Kingdom
Thursday, August 28, 2008
At times like this I really am grateful for the chart plotter. There are a plethora of channel markers and sundry buoys in and around the entrance to West Mersea and Tollesbury Fleet and from a distance it is difficult to differentiate them and the chart plotter comes into its own in these instances. Following the buoyage and the withies up the South Channel of Tollesbury Fleet was quite challenging as there is precious little water and width to manoeuvre but then it seems like sheer luxury when you turn to port and wend your way up Woodrolfe Creek to the marina itself
Retired Lightship in Woodrolfe Creek
. I swear that if it wasn't for the fact that I know that other boats have been there and use this marina, I would have been quite nervous, with only 30 cms under the keel at times. There was all of 90cms spare water over the sill that retains water in the marina and once over, I breathed a sigh of relief and negotiated ourselves into the far corner where the fuel berth was. Once the tank was filled, it was then a relatively simple matter to turn around and place the boat into her temporary berth, where she will be left until next Monday.The afternoon, with the sun now shining, was pleasantly spent introducing ourselves to the yard and marina staff and enjoying a walk up into the village proper. The village is quite old and attractive and its church dates back over a millennium, which is quite a thought. One nice architectural feature was the town lock-up, dating from the 17 hundreds (see photo). On the way back, I called into the Volvo Penta dealers (my engine and gearbox) and was delighted at their enthusiasm and knowledge and again, I was sure that we'd made the right decision to over-winter the boat here. The final confirmation of this came over dinner in the sailing club that night - it was very good!
