Pin Mill wrecked boats in November 2021

Steve Hubbard and I went  to Essex and Suffolk for three days to photograph the coastline. We used Justin Mimm’s book ‘Photographing East Anglia’ as our guide. The last stop of the trip was at Pin Mill to see the wrecked boats.

Orwell Bridge

A brief stop at a layby offerred a view of the impressive Orwell Bridge on our way to Pin Mill.

Pin Mill

To get to the hamlet meant driving down a narrow lane with occasional passing places. We left the car in the pay and display and walked the rest of the way down to the River Orwell.

To our left was a busy boatyard full of yachts and to our right the Tub & Oyster pub. After a second breakfast we walked in front of the pub and followed the path past moored houseboats.

The wrecked boats

After the last of the houseboats we came to the wrecked boats below us on the mud.

We went down the bank, climbed over the wooden fence and onto the mud. It was low tide and we could get close to the boats. No tripods meant we were shooting hand held.

 

 

 

 

We did have time for some close-ups of the boats.

 

After 15 minutes or more of photographing the boats Steve noticed that I was now on a sandbank that had become an island – time to get back to the shore.

As we walked back a group of photographers passed us on their way to the wrecked boats. Justin’s book recommends high tide with a slow shutter speed for the boats.

Back at the pub the road was now flooded and we had no choice but to use the handily positioned ladder to climb into the car park.

Ian Hardacre