Short trip up the Deben.

Steve Rowley

We set off 2 to 3 hours before HW on the flooding tide. The wind was blowing directly up the river and quite gusty on occasion. We passed Woodbridge quite quickly and decided to carry on. When we got to Melton (Larkman’s Boatyard, now the Deben Boatyard) it was obvious we would need to turn round soon as I spotted Wilford Bridge carrying the A1152. At which point we ran aground! As all the sails were still up the anchor went over the side sharpish. It still wasn’t HW so I wasn’t too worried. Once the sails were down we managed to get off the mud with a bit of a struggle. Rather than tack down the river we motored all the way back to Waldringfield. I nearly fell in while trying to retrieve a welly from the dinghy, got soaked from the waist down. A very pleasant day, the Deben is a beautiful river!