This is an extract from 'A Fair Wind For London' by John Kemp. It describes a passage made by John Kemp c.1954 from Mill Beach near Maldon, Essex, to Pin Mill, River Orwell, Suffolk, and back, in Torment, his open, gaff cutter-rigged 14 ft clinker dinghy. It was sent in by Doug MacEwen as his 'contender for 'In Our Wake', but its treatment makes it better suited to be included as a short cruising article. And very welcome it is as such, by virtue of its vivid style, bracing content and the fact that the exploit described was contemporaneous with the birth of the DCA! Doug tells us that John, sadly, has now passed on.

For our Easter cruise Colin suggested we should sail the Torment to Aldburgh which had been his home in school days; but I was without enthusiasm never having been myself below Harwich. We set off early on Good Friday morning, agreeing on Pin Mill as a compromise. There was a fair wind and not too much of it, and two hours of ebb saw us to the Colne Bar. It was beautifully warm. As the sun rose to its height the wind died right away leaving us, for the best part of an hour, to drift down to Clacton Pier. There was still sufficient of the ebb left, when the wind did return, to enable us to achieve the Wallet-sailor's universal ambition, which is to be at the Stone Banks at low water, when we found the benefit of a strong flood tide into Harwich Harbour and up the river to Pin Mill. In all, the passage had taken us eight hours, one of which was largely wasted in the calm. We thought it quite a creditable performance.

As the tide rose we hauled the Torment up the gutway and at closing time of the Butt and Oyster we settled down to sleep on a couple of air beds, with the mains'l rigged as a tent. Foolishly we had brought no blankets. Colin had an old duffle coat and I had my old army greatcoat; I think that was all. It was early in April and the night was murderously cold. It proved a far greater ordeal than the worst I had suffered in infantry training eight years earlier. I slept not a wink. Colin Brown was evidently a hardier character, for when morning came, after what seemed an eternity, he was refreshed and in good spirits. With three days of the holiday still ahead of us, he was all for adventuring further down the coast. I wanted nothing of the kind, however, and had only thoughts of home. I'm afraid I must have been a great disappointment to poor Colin who, after our reception at Pin Mill would have given anything in the world to be allowed to continue down to Aldeburgh where he was even better known. I said a very firm "No" and of course he made no further attempt to persuade me; instead he threw himself enthusiastically into the voyage back up the Wallet.

By some extraordinary fluke we found ourselves back in Maldon that same evening, Saturday, where, at the Little Ship Club, Colin attempted to console himself by casually letting drop the fact that we had sailed a small open boat to Pin Mill and back in two days. Beer was bought for us by the Commodore in celebration of that notable feat, which was consolation enough for Colin Brown. JK