Advice for a first timer...

Our first overnight trip was Burnham- Brightlingsea - Home via Raysand in an 18 ft camping boat. So Brightlingsea - Burnham would be a good trip with right tides and weather.
I can still remember the sense of achievement in reaching a new river. We thought we were proper voyagers!
 
DanTribe said:
Our first overnight trip was Burnham- Brightlingsea - Home via Raysand in an 18 ft camping boat. So Brightlingsea - Burnham would be a good trip with right tides and weather.
I can still remember the sense of achievement in reaching a new river. We thought we were proper voyagers!
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I am aiming to do this journey during the season, i would like a pontoon mooring so we can hop off an grab something to eat easily - the inflatable is oaky but with a child and dog it can get a bit crowded!

Cant wait to get out and going!
 
It is part of a child's upbringing to be made insecure and uncomfortable in a rubber dinghy. This may be true of dogs too but I don't want the jihadis on my tail. We never stopped at marinas when our children were small in the '70s, so if we can get away with making them miserable, so can you.
 
We tend to go where we can tie up, as we take our dog with us. She requires walking at least 4 times a day, and rowing/motoring each time is a pain, especially as there are not that many places where you can get a dog ashore WITHOUT having to trudge through mud. On a warm sunny day it can be fun, but at the end of the day, when it is pitch black, and the dog wants to go ashore.......

Either way, for a first trip, go to a marina or somewhere you can walk ashore, especially if overnight. Once everyone is a hardened and experienced you can face the joys of dinghies :D

Just enjoy, and take small steps until you are totally comfortable.

Ian & Jo
 
Looks like fitting up supper could be a good first trip. How old is your child..... We've got a 4 and 6 year old we'll be bringing along.
 
We took our first born on the Broads at eighteen months. I had to quadruple the recommended dose of Welldorm before he would drop off to sleep. I hope pmagowan doesn't see this.
 
paul-essex said:
I would go for Bradwell for short run or Marconi mid (swing mooring ) or get down to Heybridge Basin sleep the night return next day for a first run
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Deep water moorings not in the river at this time of year. The visitors' mooring has a huge industrial-strength buoy on it which is intended to withstand winter storms and which, I suspect, would be too large for you to moor to. Some drying moorings may still be in the water and, of course, the area is clear to anchor in. Personally - I'd tuck up in the Osea Island anchorage if you don't need to be able to step ashore.

Deep water moorings go in c. beginning of April
 
tigglestiger said:
He is only 2 so very young!

Will see how he goes on the day trips before taking him on a night away. Might fly solo on the first overnighter to get in the swing of things.
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I would echo all the advice on here of starting small and easy, then building on that. I just wish someone had said that to me...!

I would also make your first night sail either solo, or with someone else that knows what is going on rather than another first timer. It's not that you want their help, in fact you really need them to leave you to make the decisions, but the last thing you will want is a nervous passenger questioning everything and adding to your responsibility.

I had quite a break from sailing and although I had sailed at night I had never done it in waters with buoys, sand banks, shipping or anything else to get in the way..... I did my Day Skippers course out of the Medway in February, so we had plenty of night passages including entries to both the Crouch and Blackwater. I took this new found confidence and a week later tried to sail from the Medway to Burnham at night. This would have been fine if it hadn't been into a 30 knot headwind so the resulting conditions up the Swin were quite exciting. I was so grateful I didn't have the added responsibility of getting someone else out of that mess......
 
I agree completely, my first overnight trip will be with some experience sailors. I have a friend who will be perfect for the trip and is extremely experienced.

I just cant wait to finish the renovation and get back on the water.
 
" I agree completely, my first overnight trip will be with some experience sailors. I have a friend who will be perfect for the trip and is extremely experienced. "

Yeah, we did that for our first overnighter - from Harwich to Den Helder. Our experienced friend threw up just as we left the Orwell, retired to his bunk, and emerged again on the final approach to Den Helder. It was about the best that could have happened to us - we had to take all the decisions ourselves, and it gave us huge confidence that we had managed fine! We continued to Denmark and back, with boosted, and probably misplaced, confidence.
(Our experienced friend was then very helpful in sailing up to the Kiel canal in the next few days, so we did not resent his absence for the crossing, in the end!)
 
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