An historic day for Cley Harbour...

Saturday morning saw me getting up at 6am to go out in a small boat.  With 40mph NW winds and hail slamming against the windows I have to admit I did wonder what the heck I was heading out into!The event I was photographing and filming was the Coastal Exploration Company's 30 foot wooden whelker sailing up the River Glaven from Blakeney Pit to Cley Harbour (next to the wonderful Cley Mill).  Salford was to be the largest commercial vessel to enter Cley Harbour in 60 years.  The Cley Harbour Committee have been working hard since 2014 to clear the harbour after it had become silted up & overgrown to the point of being more of a stream over the last few decades.A few hardy souls met in the watery dawn light to brave the elements and head out in Simon Read's boat - Hesperus to meet Laura & Dom who had spent overnight on Salford anchored in Blakeney Pit ready for the final leg up the river into Cley Harbour.  Luckily the rain held off for the journey and we met Dom & Laura and jumped on board.  Below are few of my shots from the morning plus a short video I made from some footage I grabbed between stills.  The light was pretty awful so apologies for the video but I think it captures the atmosphere and it was a pleasure to be able to record this historic event for Cley.(The images are watermarked 'Aquavisuals' which is the marine-based/nautical side of my imaging business, for more on Aquavisuals click here.) Below, the cherry on the top was seeing the Cley Harbour Committee receiving the NNDC Environment Award 2018, here they are with the Coastal Exploration Co. Team and their plaque...Below is the short film I made of the event...The story & photos have been really well received even making the front cover of today's Eastern Daily Press and a full page on page 3.  Plus a national news agency has been in touch this morning and will be pushing the story out to the national press so watch this space!• Norfolk photographer • Photographers in Cley • North Norfolk Photography • Marine photographers Norfolk • Aquavisuals •