Hey Marcus

... been thinking of you. I'm camped next door to Sizewell B nuclear power station, what a beauty, and humming along like a good 'un! And in such a fantastic setting too; if you wanted to pick a really nice place to build your nuclear power plant then this would be the spot - well actually it is the spot. Think of all those little ipads you can power with this beast; Nuclear - it's the future Marcus, the future!
This morning I found myself at the top of the dunes before I'd even opened my eyes. High teens wind from the E/NE and 2-3ft chop, enough to make a physical day but not enough to keep me in the tent.
Back at the tent a gent and his dog turned up for a chat - 'saw your boat when I passed earlier and thought I'd come for a closer look' - Earlier? Earlier? The dawn chorus was only just fading into the background, what time did these people get up around here? No wonder the dog looked pissed off.
Boat over the dunes (no wonder my back hurts) and down onto the beach. Another visit by a dog and his owners; he wanted to know all about the boat too, while his owners just sniffed around a bit.
A splashy launch and turn right - again. By now though the wind had dropped off nicely and the chop was down to 2ft at most with blue skies.
Down the sandy coast, watching plenty of people making most of the early sunshine, walking along the beach. Got shouted at by a fisherman, first of the trip - yeehaa! Couldn't hear what he shouted so went in a bit closer to understand better and return gesticulations.
The tide was running well so Great Yarmouth and it's garish fun fair soon came alongside, with the wind and chop easing down nicely too. A diy wind turbine kit was perched on a barge in the new harbour, awaiting off-shore assembly I figured.
Then down to Lowestoft, with a large turbine on the harbour wall. Things started to get a bit lumpier here for a while but later settled again.
Straight across to Southwold lurking in the haze, to stop for some water. The coastline along the way was impressive sand cliffs interspersed with low lying coverts(?) - unusual.
The surf was dumping onto the beach when I arrived, not much of a beach either - just 6ft of sand before you hit the wall. I had to turn the boat sideways once I got out to get it clear of the water.
The sun had brought the crowds out, it was too busy for a country boy like me. Tried to get water from the toilets but no taps, just those crappy all in one washing/drying things. Figured that could take a while to get a few litres as the machine cycled through it's program and I'd have warm water too - though my water bladders would be nice and dry I suppose.
But I spied a sink in the disabled loo, so I put on a bit of a limp and filled up there.
It didn't take much nav to find the sleepy hamlet of Sizewell, you might be able to guess why. The tide changed just as I arrived, to another dumping surf landing on the steep shingle beach, sneaking between fishing lines. Lazy or pig ignorant I couldn't work out but they weren't going to make life easy for me either way.
And then in the warm sunshine I trolleyed up to the campsite to finish the day with a toastie and a cloudy beer - cheers!
If only there could be more days like this, just paddling - without all those stressful decisions.
Sent from my phone