Orford Sailing Club
Cruiser Programme 2011

Erwarton Ness, River Stour

Cruiser News

The season started with some fine weather as members brought their boats round into the River Ore. There were big changes at Orford Haven this year – the channel had moved three quarters of a mile to the north and initially appeared to be much shallower.

This was mainly because the Oxley buoy had been badly positioned. If you look at the 2011 sketch map, you'll see that the marked track makes no sense - it takes you through a tiny gap between two shoals with a least depth of zero. The buoys are a long way apart, and it's easy to be set SW by the tide and go over North Shoal.

Some skippers have been ignoring Oxley, and instead have used a route to the NE of the marked track, keeping Weir and the orange beacon in line. This has a least depth of around 0.9m, so most boats can get out at HW-3.

We had three cruises and a sea race in the programme this year. We started the season with a trip to the River Orwell at the end of May, but after that much our programme was disrupted by bad weather.

River Orwell Cruise, Sunday 29 May

This cruise was arranged to the River Orwell and Ipswich, with dinner at the Loch Fyne restaurant and an overnight berth in Ipswich Haven Marina.

Strong winds were forecast, SW F5–6. Two boats (Alocin and Erin) sailed round from Orford, and Samingo II joined us in the Orwell, having very sensibly sailed to Shotley on the previous day. In the event, we had winds of F6–7 against the tide and conditions at sea did get quite interesting!

We had an enjoyable dinner at Loch Fyne with other club members and a comfortable night in the marina. On the return journey we had our reward with a delightful reach down the Orwell and a leisurely lunch before returning to Orford in the evening.

Summer Cruise, River Deben, Friday 24 June

Our destination for the mid-summer cruise was the Rocks (a mile north of Ramsholt), with a night at anchor in the River Deben. The forecast was mixed, but Alocin had a good sail both ways, didn't have to reef and wasn't rained on, which must count as a success!

Blackwater Cruise, 4-9 September

This cruise was planned for Sunday 4 September, returning to Orford on Friday 9 September. Unfortunately, strong winds and gales were forecast for much of the week, with a forecast of F7 gusting F9 for 6 September, and we reluctantly had to cancel the event.

Barry Cup Race, 17-18 September

Our final event for the year was the Barry Cup Race on Saturday 17 September (postponed from 16 July). After holding this event in the river for some years, we hoped to have a sea race this year, sailing down to Walton Backwaters and returning to Orford on Sunday.

The forecast was SW F5–6, and only two boats set out. We decided to make it a cruise to Levington rather than a race. The wind at sea was SW F6–7, rather worse than forecast. Alocin hit a nasty swell off Haven Buoy and turned back. Martiena had an enjoyable thrash down to Roughs Tower and on to Levington. Bigger boat, younger crew!