Wednesday 3rd July:

Jean says: We realised that we couldn't visit West Mersea today because the timing was all wrong to get over the shallow bar. We had to leave Orford at 9.00 to have enough tide to cross the entrance without bashing the bottom. The River Stour was a good alternative, but first we tied up on the town pontoon at Harwich in search of fresh bread. The backstreets of Harwich are made up of wonkey old seafaring houses and historical pubs, all reminiscent of the days of press gangs. It's very idiosyncratic with several Chinese restaurants housed in Tudor buildings, and antiquarian bookshops wedged between tattoo parlours. We didn't find any bread, but decided that it didn't matter.
It was a lovely breezy English summer day today. We were able to amble slowly down the coast and bask in the sunshine at the same time with our goal for the day being to moor on a buoy down the river. The Stour and the Orwell are wide, very easy to navigate and incredibly peaceful considering that they're so close to the busy ports of Felixstowe and Harwich. Despite the fact that it's July, and the weather is good, there are very few other yachts about. It's surprising that you can escape the crowds so easily when you're this close to the South coast and London.


We were in awe of the Ore......




Harwich




Ambling Down The Stour