It was great to be able to attend this event, particularly by making the passage round from the Orwell to the Deben.
I left the mooring at Pin Mill at 0345 on Friday 22nd, and arrived at Waldringfield on the River Deben at 1015. It was a fabulous passage, involving all sorts of sights that the iPhone camera just won't capture!
But I particularly enjoyed these:
For the rally, Daisy IV was joined by five other Deben Luggers. The video above gives a flavour of the weekend. Much fun enjoyed by all.
Unfortunately, neither tides nor winds were quite right for a safe passage to home waters by sea, so I have arranged to pick up Daisy IV later by road trailer.
41.8nm, including yellow track 23.2nm from Friday, red track 12.2nm from Saturday, and white track 6.4nm
The annual Deben Lugger rally is quite an event, and a real opportunity to see just how beautiful and seaworthy these craft are.
The following video provides a personal viewpoint, since it afforded a first opportunity for Scuppers, our five month old Springer Spaniel, to come sailing. He coped really well!
This video shows more of the sailing action!
The weekend panned out much as last year. We launched at Waldringfield, early afternoon on Friday and then had a free sail, most boats working their way up to Woodbridge and back.
The next day, I was joined by crew and my two dogs, Kizzy and Scuppers - it was Scuppers' first sail on the boat and he did very well!
The fleet made its way downstream against the tide towards Bawdsey. We hung back and used the beach landing in 'The Rocks' part of the river - useful for keeping pooches happy! My crew and dogs went home later in the afternoon and I sailed back downstream to meet the returning fleet.
On the final day, following a free sail in the morning, there was an informal 'race' which followed a course from just upstream of Waldringfield down to The Rocks and then back.
We finally recovered boats later in the afternoon.
It afforded an opportunity to try out a prototype boom tent, fashioned from a piece of tarpaulin. It did its job and kept me dry through a fairly extensive thunderstorm…
Eleven Deben Luggers met up for a weekend of sailing fun.
Friday, 6.0nm - up to Woodbridge and back.
Saturday, 12.8nm. - against the tide, downstream to Felixstowe Ferry and then back with the tide to 'The Rocks' for beaching and a late lunch. Then back to base. Winds fresh and challenging. Double reefed.
Sunday, 10.5nm - a tongue in cheek race which most boats didn’t to complete due to wind failure…
This is a blog of sailing activities aboard Daisy IV, a Deben Lugger built in 2012 and purchased in 2023.
Previous boats were Devon Lugger, Daisy (2005-6), Drascombe Coaster, Daisy II (2006-2019) and BayCruiser 20 Daisy III (2019-2024). During the years of boat ownership, I have covered well over 6000nm around the UK, most of which are documented in my various blogs. Sailing grounds are based around the east coast, mainly the Harwich area. Over the years, making use of a versatile roller coaster trailer, I have also covered the east coast from North Kent to Whitby, and various other locations around the south coast, Severn Estuary, Cumbria, inland reservoirs, and the Norfolk Broads.
Annual logs
2023: 155.9nm
2024: 137.2nm
2025: 315.1nm. (Up to 14th August)
