All well in Wells

Yesterday we took a breather and stayed in wells. We walked along the dyke alongside the river towards the sea and chatted to the volunteers in the National Coastwatch Institute lookout post. We walked into the town and had coffee, and lunch on board the Albatross Dutch barge (savoury Dutch pancake); then we visited the co-op to replenish the ship's supplies and ate dinner out with Pat and Sarah from Stafford CCC. We also did a few jobs on board the boat - swabbed the decks, vacuumed below, checked the engine, planned today's passage...etc. We also noted how different things looked at low water!

We spoke to Ross and his dad, who were on the boat further down the pontoon. We had spotted them taking water out of their boat with a bucket. They had attempted to leave earlier but their engine had cut out just as they approached the bar. They had quickly anchored and a change of fuel filter was needed before they could re-start the engine. Ross's dad later came to chat with Geoff when Geoff was swabbing our decks. Unfortunately Geoff forgot that he was holding a hosepipe as he turned to talk to dad and gave him a further soaking! HHmmm!

Today we are bound for Grimsby 55 miles away, straight into a cold wind from the north west. Great (not)! We have to a) get out of Wells, down the narrow winding channel, b) endure cold winds from ahead c) find Grimsby and our planned marina. We will need to radio Humber VTS to have our passage plan approved as we approach the Humber too.

P.S. The staff at Wells were brilliant! They stayed late to guide and welcome us into the harbour, and took our lines! They gave excellent advice on navigation too. And the charge for our stay? Zero, as a show of support for our charity fund raising! Thank you so much Wells harbour staff!

Standing on top of the flood defence - the river on one side, agriculture on the other

The river at low water - the channel out is to the right