One of the never ceasing amazements that we, as sailors, have the honour to feast upon is our diverse wildlife.

In winter as I sail off the eastern end of Canvey Island a seal will often as not pop up to say, ‘Hello … ‘ and follow lazily in Whimbrel’s wake, until, I believe, I’ve left his patch! Then there are the swooping, dancing, knot and dunlin. Even oyster catchers join in too, until they peel away from their smaller cousins. Amongst the saltings, feeding and ‘barking’ at one another, are those little Russian Arctic Geese, the Brent. Along the mud edges, feeding quickly as the tide rushes over, I see countless waders, visitors and local. Sometimes I am lucky and see Greenshank picking over the mud astern of my boat on its mooring … waiting for the tide or doing a job.

Brent geese … they’ll soon all be away for their breeding grounds…

But when spring starts its headlong rush, as it has done this year after our wet, windy and warm winter, another dimension opens. The Brents begin to reduce in number … the flocks of swooping birds disappear … various small ducks which inhabit the creeks locally go. Then, as if by magic, the first tern is spotted. Joy of joys, summer is just round the corner. For me, however, I don’t wish spring along: it is a season full of such richness – the very foundation of all the animal kingdom, including us…

Enjoy.

We kept chasing this pair from buoy to buoy … until they sailed astern. Poor things had probably just flown half way round the globe!

Whilst on this subject, the Essex Wildlife Trust are in the process of purchasing with the Environment Agency a chunk of land bordering Fingrinhoe Wick, up on the banks of the River Colne. The plan is for the land to be returned to the sea, thus creating a new patch of mud and saltings for wildlife to feed, nest and live.

What they need is your help: they need to pay the landowner (farmer) for his bit of fertile arable land … now I know this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the Essex saltings is a diminishing asset, and we need it!

I have copied the from cover of an EWLT brochure … I’m sure they won’t mind! You can look yourself at: http://www.essexwt.org.uk/reserves/fingringhoe-wick

Copy of brochure I found at the EWLT centre in Belfairs Park…

There is a whole myriad of ways of enjoying boating and with it comes a responsibility of some sort or other.

Seen out recently was a sweet little clinker motor boat based at my own yacht club at the eastern end of Canvey Island. She is a John Leather design and as comely as she is, the eye would delight at a simple gaff cutter rig aboard… I mentioned this to the owner once and he wasn’t completely against it!

The John Leather designed Motor Boat… The boat had a board a young child … suitably clad in a child jacket. The men didn’t though. Are they invincible? I doubt it!

Another form of ‘boating’ which is, it is said, the fastest growing form in the country at present. That is stand-up paddle boarding. It has great advantages for the creeks and river edges around the east coast, especially, and surely in other parts too.

Now when I read a little about this the first thing I spotted was that the paddler was wearing a buoyancy aid. None of the paddlers I’ve seen locally along the Leigh-on-Sea shore and pottering around the edges of Benfleet Creek, and even off Canvey Point heading outwards, has been seen wearing such equipment. During the colder periods most seem to wear a wet/dry suit: getting in the water is probably a consequence or necessity.

Each to their own … but a sad event is all the more likely as numbers grow. Let’s hope common sense prevails.

Now dinghy sailing is a pleasure for many, whether it be day sailing, racing or just pottering. Recently I passed a group of cadets sailing off Leigh-on-Sea … they were hard at it doing capsize practice. Great.

This next boat fits into the above category but, sadly, she is no longer loved. I believe she is a Estuary One Design – an amalgamation of the Essex OD and the Thames Estuary OD. I’m sure I’ll be corrected if wrong – please do! This poor thing lives in the saltings close by Sutton Boat Yard. She looks generally sound … her gear must be somewhere!

Now boating also entails doing maintenance, even on an engine that has little use during the year, well… It has clocked nearly 200 hours since new – two seasons and a winter… But things still need to be done to ensure the beast is ready for when it is needed! So, today, me and my good mate had a pleasant run out to Brightlingsea to obtain new oil and fuel filters, and sufficient coolant fluid for a complete change… Then it was onto Fox’s to buy new oil skins, to keep us dry when the spray begins to fly. Ouch!

At Brightlingsea we fell into a pleasant little cafe for coffee – excellent, being fresh and hot. Good cakes too including huge scones! A good range of lunches are freshly prepared too … all of this is at the Coach House Coffee Shop. It is across the road from the harbour office, behind the old pub which was converted into flats some years ago. It is worth a visit, if in town by boat or car! Go to:

https://www.facebook.com/coachhousecoffee

The Coach House Coffee Shop Brightlingsea… Yummy!

A good friend of mine called me up to asked if I’d read the Telegraph … that was a couple of days ago. Anyway, it was to tell me that Jack Holmes’ obituary had appeared. Sorry to say, I hadn’t known that he had died. He and I were both Leigh – on – Sea Sailing Club members many years ago.

The mate and me bought our first boat, Blue Tail, from Jack in 1980. She was, as some will know, a Yachting World Peoples Boat, which Jack had had for many years. The boat was kept off the Chalkwell shore and we maintained that mooring for our first summer after which we took the boat up to a new mooring up Tewkes Creek, Canvey Island, where we had joined a little boat club.

Jack’s Blue Tail in ‘our’ care after she ws sold to us … seen sailing on the River Medway.

We always remember Jack with a certain level of fondness: he didn’t want to let ‘his’ boat go. He gave us a good hand-over, taking us for a long sail on the tide. It was my mate’s first on such a small vessel, having sailed on our good friend’s Peter Duck ketch the previous summer. She loved it … so that was that, Blue Tail became ours!

I knew Jack had been in the air force, but as to his position, I was blissfully unaware. The club affectionately nic-named him, ‘Flying Officer Kite’ … many of the ‘war time’ members had such names: many of them went through together or met on snatched leave periods. Jack was a new man on the block after WW2 – he’d been brought up in the Norwich area and after leaving the RAF moved to Leigh whilst working at Marconi in Chelmsford.

It turns out that Jack reached the rank of Air Commodore and for daring deeds performed with his, I know, usual quiet aplomb, he rescued ditched air crew flying Catalina flying boats. He was awarded a bar to a DFC for one of these exploits.

Approaching Jack’s old berth off Chalkwell … the barge yacht Heron Lee used to be close by.

Jack, your boat did us proud before we had Whimbrel built and Blue Tail was sailed away to the Crouch… The mate hoped you knew of our ramblings up and down your beloved east coast … I hope so too. Today, I sailed over the spot, more or less, where Blue Tail was moored and murmured a few words in memory of you… Rest in peace Jack, rest in peace…

The Finesse Class which my Whimbrel belongs has enjoyed fifty odd years of sailing. My book, The Jottings of a Thames Estuary Ditch-crawler tells the tale of Finesse Yachts and builder Alan Platt, in chapter 2.

I’ve enjoyed my little sloop for 31 years now and aim to continue along that path for many more yet, God willing and I look after myself! Sadly some of the class have not always enjoyed a continued good life and I have two local to my own home area that need new owners. Another, in better condition, sits awaiting a keen couple with the desire to bring a boat back up to scratch. They are all do-able…

Meet Gladys, she is a cutter rigged Finesse 28. She needs you…

She is for sale and is berthed at Melton Boat Yard. The broker is Howard Ford Marine Sales. Telephone: 01394 385577.

She has a few deck problems, due to sanding away the glass fibre sheathing along the deck edge … overzealous sanding of rubbing strake. If damaged it must be sealed… The varnish on the cabin sides is ‘going’ due to a lack of coat after a strip back – common fault … get plenty back on after doing all that work, please!

The cockpit has suffered too: the cover has long been ripped apart by wind. What she is like inside, I do not know. But it is likely that all will be well. This will be iroko planked.

Now let us meet Selena. She’s a Finesse 24 looking a bit sorry for herself. No bother, you can do it and she’ll give you a superb return for your efforts in estuary sailing.

She sits alongside the bridge approach road on Canvey Island at Benfleet Bridge. Details from the Bridge Boat Yard. She was for sale for around £4500 – I told the proprietor that it was very unlikely to be sold at that price. She needs a new engine. Again she was refurbished some years back and not enough varnish was applied … sadly she hasn’t been covered either, particularly the cockpit. She appears to be a relatively early example and probably dates to around c1975. I couldn’t find a number where mine has been carved…

Her hull is probably iroko planked. She is a worthwhile project for a couple who would like a well built wooden craft. Spars are aboard. What the inside is like I can’t say. Work is likely… Give the yard a call or pop down to Benfleet and take a look.

Ah, let us not forget the little one now…

Here is a Finesse 21 in need of much love and attention. She sits in the yard of the Leigh Motor Boat Club and has sat here for a number of years. She is likely to be a boat from the mid late 1960s. Her hull will be mahogany. Decks need drastic attention. There appears to be quite a lot of work needed, however, these little 21s are a delight and you will be well rewarded…

There must be someone out there that would relish a challenge… Go for it. I love mine and you’ll love yours too, when the work is done.

My ‘man’ in New Zealand sent me this link to a YouTube film he made whilst aboard Whimbrel back in 2012 – I’ve seen it before but not been able to post a link, so here it is.

It was taken during a gentle sail up Benfleet Creek on a sluggish afternoon tide with a sky that began to look threatening after a short time. Lightning danced away to the south of us in a spectacular fashion, yet left us in splendid isolation with a gentle zephyr wafting us along. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ce1zwINrQ8&feature=youtu.be

There are a number of short films from the good chap to look at of little craft around the creeks near his home on the North Island near Auckland…

My friends in New Zealand sent me a few views of the abandoned hulk of a coastal scow. These craft were once a common sight around the coasts of New Zealand – especially the North Island. I was sent a long time ago a picture of, I believe, one of the last scows.

The above vessel is thought to be the Jane Gifford and thought to date to 1924.

It is thought that around 130 – 140 of these vessels built between c1870 to around 1925. The largest were able to sail the Pacific to the American west coast. Most worked the coasts, rivers and shallow creeks – familiar isn’t it! The last of the original vessels were still around, working under power into the 1960s.

A replica scow was built in 1993 and named after a man closely associated with the vessels. The vessel, the Ted Ashby, can be seen at: http://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/voyager-live

The vessels were originally a direct copy of American Great Lakes types, but soon evolved into a New Zealand vessel, especially with the bow shape. Some early vessels were fitted with leeboards, but they hampered cargo work – log carrying being the main. Was an ‘old’ Thames man out there…? Centre plates soon became the means to give the flat bottomed vessels a grip when sailing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scow and http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~tonyf/scows/index.html

The views of the remains of a vessel up on a beach kind of struck a chord with me: its reminiscent of our own Thames barges. The centre plate casing can clearly be seen. The vessel was diaganol planked too and had substantial chine timbers. Interesting…

It is a reminder that all countries will have the remnants of coastal traders lurking in forgotton corners. It is hoped that a historic record has been kept…

Anyway, my thanks to Paul, an old Leigh-on-Sea man, for sending me these…

One of the joys of being part of the ‘great unemployed’ is the ability to use facilities that are there for all of us. The Mate and I have been regular participants at a series of monthly lectures/talks at the Essex Records Office in Chelmsford since the dear girl’s retirement from gainful employment at the beginning of 2013.

Not all of the talks are to my taste, but we support each other’s – they being well aligned on the whole. There have been some great subjects over the past year too. They include subjects such as the prehistoric Blackwater through to Roman and Saxon times – and what is being found now with loss of river silts, especially around the flats between Osea and the mainland; and the Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey.

This past week it was the turn of the Pioneer Sailing Trust to wow us. Now I know a little about the trust and what it does, and its vessel, the Skillinger Smack Pioneer. The talk was given by trust volunteer Brian Tourny – very good it was too…

The Pioneer out by the Gunfleet in July 2009.

What I wasn’t fully aware of was the extent they have continued. I knew about the John Constable, a Stour lighter rebuilt and completed last year. I didn’t know about the way the trust has become a school for marine studies, specifically the care, repair and reconstruction of old wood built vessels.

Pioneer preparing for sea, July 2011, about to drop her mooring…

Some while ago when in Harwich I spoke to the educational person on the Mayflower Project – a new ship is growing up there in the north-east of Essex. I asked why a greater level of sharing wasn’t instituted within the marine environment with respect to the training of shipwrights with the ability to work on old as well as new vessels. The Cambria Trust had a training system while the barge was being rebuilt, but, surely, it has ended now that the project has been completed. I do know hat some of the trainees went out into the industry – great. Over at lower Halstow, the Westmoreland Trust will be doing the same – will they work with the pioneer trust, perhaps, or maybe not. perhaps I should inject the idea…

Back to the Pioneer Trust: what they are doing is to my mind quite exceptional. It has clearly been managed with a lot of dedicated hard work by volunteers … but as Brian said, ‘…all of a sudden we became responsible for the employment of people … their teaching and welfare…’ The trust not only looks at the ‘wood’ side of things, but the mechanicals involved with vessels. They are also now into restoring smacks, yachts, and the building of an all wood skiff. A recent project has been the refurbishment of an old Trinity House Tender.

The Pioneer sailing away down the Colne with a party od Primary school children aboard… I wtched chart explanations going on as we sailed in close company…

The trust can be found here: http://www.pioneersailingtrust.org.uk/ They are based at Harkers Yard, Brightlingsea … I for one am looking to visit sometime.

There is a welcome piece of news on the web site of the Medway & Swale Boating Association:

See: http://msba.org.uk/?p=1423#comment-8032

Work is being carried out to put it back into operation. A new pontoon has arrived and the link span is being reinstated. Berthing of spritsail barges and other pleasure craft to embark/disembark passengers will be taking place.

As I understand at present the facility will be open for pleasure yachts (that’s me and you) to stop over for a short period to enable stores to be obtained or partake of a luncheon ashore. What the limits are I am not aware (I have written to Medway Council – at present there has been nil response). Check it out if you love pottering…

What is now needed is the reinstatement of the possibility to get ashore at Ship Pier, right in Chatham Bight. And too the old facility up at Strood…

One of my favourite ‘Medway Views’  just off the position of Sun Pier… Lovely!

The future of the Queenborough All Tide Landing appears to have been secured. While in Queenborough last week doing a talk at the yacht club the commodore told me that there were still a few issues to iron out, but that broadly an agreement had been entered into with the Queenborough Harbour Trust.

It is expected that the facility will be back in use by the end of April…

See this link on the web site of the Medway & Swale Boating Association: http://msba.org.uk/?p=1426

The ATL in use last year when the Clipper Yachts were in the night before the start off Southend Pier… The ATL can be see (just) to lhs – the British entry was alongside…

Further to the above, the harbour trust has purchased a concrete pontoon (ex Gosport Ferry…) which is to moored to the south of the All Tide Landing linked by a bridge. My understanding is that this facility may only be for the harbour trust and the yacht club. Te info says that it is to be anchored … I rather think piles would be more suitable!

Interesting developments are taking place … as most people who know me; I am a long term fan of the historic town and have known it since around 1960 … when the glue factory was still operating on the south side of the town’s creek!

See: http://msba.org.uk/?p=1417

Last year Hoo Marina was bought out by the Port Werberg (Swann Marine) Group and the marina was made out of bounds to visiting yachts. For me this was a blow: the mate and I have been going into the basin most summers for several decades.

I knew the area as a boy too and many happy memories can be found swirling within my mind of being moored off the marina concrete barge wall on the May Flower…

Anyway, after corresponding with the marina’s owners I have been told that the status quo remains … visitors are not welcome. I was offered no further information and it must be assumed that this facility is no longer open to cruising yachts … nor will the friendly club be ‘open’ to us either, unless one nips in, in the dinghy from several waiting buoys out in the river along the mud edge (when tide recedes – note these can put you on the mud!). Not a likely scenario…

Hoo Marina – seen from the west in Cockham Reach – looking towards the houseboats ringinging the outer concrete barge wall…

Hoo Marina had a nice feel. It was friendly. You could wander around … get the washing done and good stores could be had from the village too. Regular bus services into Rochester and Chatham were often used by Whimbrel’s crew. Chatham marina is ‘alright’ but is sterile in comparison…

I’m sad. The mate is sad!