Mike cooked breakfast, then we had a lazy morning before leaving the marina at 1200. It was pretty windy, so we just unfurled the jib and broad reached across to the Crouch. Mike set the autohelm, which is digitally controlled, and keeps Elfreda well on course.
The sky turned black ahead as we gybed round to run into the Colne just past the no.8 buoy, and the rain was hard in our faces as we approached the Pyefleet. I had to take my glasses off as they were too wet to see through, and I was peering through the spray hood trying to spot the mooring Mike was aiming for when he suddenly gave me the tiller and went forward. The buoy was about 10' ahead and the wind and tide were taking us straight on, so I slowed us down with reverse while Mike grabbed the mooring and got a rope on it. Elfreda just pivoted round to lie to it after we were moored. I really can tell that Mike is used to sailing without a crew!
The waves kept us rocking while we had a lunch, (Pimms, then chicken salad), but things quietened down once the tide turned. This lulled us into a false sense of security, so things did not get stowed as well as they should have.
We cast off at about 1500 to motor over to Brightlingsea, and there were no problems until we were past the Brightlingsea Spit Cardinal; wind over tide kicked up a lot in the entrance, making Elfreda roll enough to dislodge the egg container and send some tomatoes into the bilges. 3 broken eggs and 1 squashed tomato later we were safely tied up on a pontoon in Brightlingsea harbour. Victoria was just moored just across from us, so we wandered over to say "Hi" then had a lazy afternoon. We spent a convivial evening with Sue and Howard in Elfreda, sharing dinner and drinks and confirming plans for the trip over to Holland.
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