Friday 22 July
It was lovely to have the Second Mate with us again, as it gave us an excuse to sail off and explore the Blackwater on another warm and sunny day. I caught the glow of Bradwell Nuclear Power Station and had a lovely sail in the company of a huge Essex barge – I won’t dignify it by calling it a ‘race’ as there wasn’t enough wind for either of us to do the word justice. Second Mate was happy to spot my friendly dolphins, and we cruised past the Radio Caroline
broadcasting vessel, not obviously transmitting but you never know. The water looked wide from my viewpoint, but what do I know? The crew seemed determined to keep me in the middle of the channel, and I heard the Mate offering information over the radio to the Dover Coastguard in response to their message about a sailboard abandoned in the area we were sailing through. It was good to feel myself in the competent hands of the Second Mate, allowing the Mate to go forward to learn some anchoring technique when we came back into the Pyefleet Channel once again.