As one of the few deep water ports on England’s shallow east coast, the town of Harwich has a long maritime history. Located on the confluence of the rivers Stour and Orwell, the harbor off the town is the only real refuge for large vessels between the Thames estuary to the south and the river Humber to the north.
First settled in the 1200s or earlier, Harwich (pronounced “hair-ich”, more or less) has long been home to fishing fleets and coast-wise shipping. But it has also had a naval presence, serving as a Royal Navy base in the 1600s, and been home to shipbuilding, including of the HMS Conqueror, famous for accepting the French surrender at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Harwich has also played a minor role in the founding of the US. The captain of the expedition that founded Jamestown, Virginia, in the early 1600s was born in Harwich, and the Mayflower’s famous voyage across the Atlantic originally departed from the town pier with a Harwich-born captain.
For Oso, the town harbor proved to be a perfect place to wait for the right weather and state of tide for a passage south into the English Channel, just as it has to countless other sailing craft over more than a thousand years. And the first sign of summer weather made Harwich a picturesque place to explore while waiting.
