Ipswich here we come!

 It was with some trepidation that we set out at 6 a.m on Tuesday morning heading towards Ipswich. The forecast was for a force 4 - 6 wind and we don’t normally venture out in a 6 but the prediction for the next day was worse so if we were going to get to Ipswich then we had to go sooner rather than later. 

In the event we had a really good, exciting morning. Rachel was on the helm and we reached just over 8 knots at one point.  Indian Runner goes very well in a strong wind with three reefs in, and the staysail up. We did get covered in spray occasionally and at one point my hearing aid made a complaining fizzle at the soaking! 

All good things come to an end and of course the tide turned against us and a change of course gave us a wind on the nose (our normal experience on this trip).  We slowed to 3 knots but that is sailing.  With the prospect of a strong wind the next day, we phoned the marina at Ipswich to see if we could come in that night and they were very helpful and said that would be fine.  So rather than stop at Shotley Marina, we sailed up the Orwell to the lock, and then onto Ipswich itself - the gathering point for all the cruising gaffers.  

It felt rather strange when we finally tied up the boat - almost an anti-climax. We had been planning for this for nearly a year and sailing for three months and now this part of it was over.  We have had a real adventure together and remained very good friends. We shared a bottle of champagne, had dinner and an early night. 


It was good to have a fairly free day on Wednesday as we pottered around and most importantly, got our flags up.  It is a great sight to see all the boats ‘dressed’ for the celebration. 



Last night we had a wonderful meal at the Salthouse Hotel with Rachel and Alan, to celebrate the experience we have all shared together. 

We’re looking forward now to seeing the Grants and the Greens who are coming up to share in the party, bringing our gaff dinghy, Lollipop, with them.  We have a civic reception tonight with the Mayor of Ipswich, which will open the official 60th anniversary party events. 

Lowestoft to Ipswich         52.9 nms

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