We arose to grey, heavy skies, with a slight breeze rippling the water. The spot of rain was the first we had encountered on the trip, so we couldn't grumble.
After a farewell from Paul, we slipped our lines and headed back onto the River Crouch, to discover we were the only craft venturing out. We glided down river with the ebbing tide for company, apart from a cormorant perched on a buoy stretching out his wings as if the say, "I caught a fish this big." Suddenly, more life appeared in the form of a seal popping his head out of the water to see who was making all the noise. To bring us back into the real world, a barge slowly crept up behind us, and eventually steered a course south past Foulness Island. By this time the wind had got up and the sea was becoming noticeably bouncy.
We took a long swing from the Inner Whitaker buoy to the Swin Spit buoy to make certain we avoided the treacherous Swallow Tail sand bar, fighting the tide all the way; it was determined to push us sideways.
Once through the Spitway, the clouds began to break up offering us tantalising glimpses of blue sky. The black body of a porpoise broke the surface and its fin carved a graceful arc through the air a few times before it dived into the depths for more food. Seals, on the other hand, just popped their heads above the surface for a short while.
Our plan was to aim for Bradwell, one last night of freedom for Rex before returning to domestic bliss. Low tide prevented us entering the marina, so while Rex took another of his mammoth naps, I took Duonita for a spin down the Blackwater to Osea Island. The wind had dropped considerably, and the sun was kind to us.
When El Capitan awoke, and ridiculed me for sailing past Bradwell, we headed back to the marina. A breeze did its best to push us off the berth, a fisherman off another boat kindly helped us with our lines to insert ourselves. While Rex called Meryl for the daily update, I busied myself with a minor repair on a windscreen wiper. Major concerns such as the excessive vibrations when the engine goes into neutral or reverse would have to be put before Barry, a Tollesbury marine engineer.
The sun was now blazing down on us. Crowds cheered as Rex went to have a shower. Good to be back in Bradwell we thought.
 Bradwell Marina at Peace with Itself |