High Tide, Low Tide

Today there was a fairly high spring tide and I thought you might like to see how much water comes in. Here is a picture of my neighbour's barge, taken from our aft deck.  This is not a really, really high tide, as the water is often much higher.

And here is a picture at low tide.

The mudflats at Tollesbury are quite well known.  A few years ago the sea wall was broken and the land flooded as an experiment to create natural flood plains.  It has worked quite well, but is still constantly monitored by DEFRA to see if this method of flood defence can be rolled out elsewhere.  They had thought that a lot of the natural habitat and subsequently the seabirds would return once the land was flooded, however the ragworms had other ideas and they have thrived in the marshes.  So if you need bait as a fisherman, Tollesbury is the place to be.  That said, we do have a good amount of different birds around that entertain us for hours.  We also have samphire all around us, which people pay an absolute fortune for.  Can't see why though, personally I think it's horrible!

Windows and Weather

Poor Pete, he is trying to finish the windows for the wheelhouse as the glass is arriving during the week.  He has made the actual frames and is now sanding them down and filling.  Unfortunately the weather isn't playing the game and he is having to sand them down indoors.  Lovely, sawdust everywhere!  I have closed the door to below decks, but every time it is opened there is a whoosh of sawdust, it gets in EVERYWHERE!!!  But, I am not really complaining as I cannot wait to be able to use the wheelhouse.  It will house a couple of large bunks for seating/sleeping and my big table for entertaining.  There will be a large chart table (over the water tank) and eventually the ship's wheel which will control the hydraulic steering.  It has windows all round so will have the most amazing panoramic view of the marshes, Mersea Island, sea wall, other boats and barges.  I am sure that we will use this area more than any other.  So carry on Pete, I don't mind a bit of dust and I will keep the cups of tea coming x

Wedding Preparations

Phil and Lucie (Scarlett's mum and dad) are getting married in four weeks, so we are busy at the moment with all the preparations.  Hen party last Saturday , which was fun but made me feel seriously old!  On Monday we went to France on a booze cruise to get all the wine for the wedding.  We started at Carrefour and did a bit of wine tasting in the car park  (thankfully my Dad remembered a corkscrew and glasses)

And then we went to a wine merchants just outside Calais that my dad has been frequenting for years (that is who I get my bad habits from!), where we actually bought most of the wine from.  We had a lovely meal in a fish restaurant down by the harbour in Calais. And no, I didn't eat mussels, I had a beautiful salad :)

I must show you this picture of Lucie doing a bit of wine tasting (she is going to kill me!). Classy bird, that's why she fits in to our family so well!

All in all, a smashing day out.  All I've got to do now is try and find a hat that I like and I'm ready for the big day.