A cold winters morning with bright sunshine and a bit of ice on the water to keep things really fresh.

Add to that a bit of a breeze and Barry was well away sailing northwest from Heybridge Basin

Originally there were going to be more of us on the water but as the weekend drew near people got cold feet/other plans, so Kevin, Barry, Paul and I had the river to ourselves.

Paul, a newcomer to the sport, had just bought himself a new canoe and this was his maiden voyage, and what a lovely day to be introduced to canoeing.

One of the locks just below Beeleigh was being refurbished so it gave us time for a bit of a leg stretch and then we continued onto Beeliegh Link. On the way the ice had all but melted and the wind made us put in a bit more effort, but otherwise a really pleasant way to start the weekend followed by a pint of beer in sunny Heybridge basin.

Submitted by John H 250218