It was a daring voyage made by Norfolk's seafaring son Admiral Lord Nelson, which resulted in the charting of a new channel off the East Anglian coast.

And now modern-day sailors from the county have retraced the journey of their famous forebearer.

Members of the Norfolk-based Northern Rivers Sailing Club (NRSC) have just completed a two-week sail around the region's coast following the Medusa Channel.

Eastern Daily Press: Admiral Lord NelsonAdmiral Lord Nelson (Image: Norfolk Museums Service)

Legend has it that Nelson's flagship, the frigate Medusa, which served in the Napoleonic Wars, was in Harwich harbour in 1801 when unfavourable conditions prevented her from getting out to sea.

Burnham Thorpe-born Nelson wanted to leave but couldn't find a pilot prepared to take the warship out against an easterly wind.

Eastern Daily Press: The Northern Rivers Sailing Club flotilla leaves Harwich for the Medusa ChannelThe Northern Rivers Sailing Club flotilla leaves Harwich for the Medusa Channel (Image: Northern Rivers Sailing Club)

Determined to depart, he apparently forced a local maritime surveyor to pilot the Medusa along a previously uncharted course to the south of the harbour entrance.

Eastern Daily Press: The yacht Strega departing the River OrwellThe yacht Strega departing the River Orwell (Image: Northern Rivers Sailing Club)

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The route became known as the Medusa Channel. And that was the destination for a flotilla of seven NRSC yachts, ranging from 23ft to 26ft, after leaving the group's clubhouse at Acle and heading out to sea through Lowestoft.

NRSC commodore Dr Mark Collins said: "We regularly sail on Barton Broad, where a young Horatio Nelson learnt his early seamanship skills, so to know that we were sailing along a channel he was instrumental in charting was a rather special moment for club members."

Eastern Daily Press: Northern Rivers Sailing Club commodore Dr Mark CollinsNorthern Rivers Sailing Club commodore Dr Mark Collins (Image: Northern Rivers Sailing Club)

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The route along the coast took the yachts to the rivers Orwell, Stour, Colne and Blackwater, stopping at marinas and sailing clubs along the way.

Dr Collins said: "We're the only sailing club on the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads to venture out to sea on a cruise like this.

Eastern Daily Press: The yacht St Helen sailing on the River ColneThe yacht St Helen sailing on the River Colne (Image: Northern Rivers Sailing Club)

"It's a trip that offers skippers and crew useful experience of sea sailing with the added security of sailing in company with other yachts.

"Some skippers have been coming on the cruise for more than 20 years. For others, this was the first time they had taken their boats out of familiar waters."