When do you put a new (to you) Cornish Shrimper in the water on Wednesday and take off cruising on Friday? When it’s the EC OGA summer cruise.
To be fair, I knew the engine and wiring were both good. I met ‘Reverie’ on the Halfpenny Pier, managed a sail in company to Orford Haven and my first time entry to the river Alde. All the buoys were visible and, following instructions to find the deep part, I was able to talk from the boat to people on the beach. Rafted with ‘Reverie’ in the Butley River, the kind crew dropped my mast to sort out issues occurring aloft. The next day we repaired to Slaughden, just south of Aldeburgh. A monsoon, involving a white-out of rain, struck just on arrival. Anchored boats were rearranging themselves and I was most grateful to raft alongside ‘Hussar’, securely attached to a buoy. Later, OGA members provided a tasty chilli in the welcoming Slaughden Sailing Club.
The next day, in better weather, a posse of boats floated up on the tide to Snape. All the smaller ones went aground and came off again. Larger vessels anchored near the church at Iken. The glorious Suffolk countryside echoes Benjamin Britten, the voices of barge skippers across the ages and Maltings staff hurriedly searching out cake since we arrived on a day different than expected. Tuesday was the day for a river race; up and down between Slaughden and Orford. Orford Sailing Club hosted a delightful evening barbecue. Wednesday saw a tour of the dramatic Orford Ness, the site of 20th century weapons tests, spectacularly rare grasses, a huge colony of brown hares and a cloud of ladybirds.
There followed serious discussion of tactics for the next day’s Seaway Bells race from the river mouth to Harwich Harbour. At least one boat did actually leave at 0300 in the morning. Others motored down river to wait for depth. ‘Louisa’ the Shrimper tacked down river, motored whilst caught in an eddy, thought of going out, wasn’t sure, then tagged along behind the bigger and deeper drafted ‘Gilda’ into a whirlwind and heavy shower. After that, we still weren’t sure but eventually rounded all the marks and sailed the whole course. We spent the night in the civilisation of a marina at Suffolk Yacht Harbour and then sailed to Wrabness for a great beach barbecue. If ‘Louisa’ did go aground overnight, it wasn’t for very long.
I made the last two nights of the 2024 cruise after an epic single-handed trip from Niewpoort in Belgium, via Ramsgate in my old boat, ‘East Breeze’. I won a seamanship trophy. In 2025, I enjoyed the whole cruise in ‘Louisa’ and won a trophy for coming alongside at the RHYC despite a shortage of fenders. The organisers did a fantastic job and I thoroughly recommend the Summer Cruise.
Words: Marion Shirley
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