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Yacht Club Low Water Scene Outside the Club The Pilotage was very 'interesting' Tom Cunliffe would have been proud of us View across the Backwaters with Felixstowe in the distance Low water outside the entrance gate Again from inside the Yacht Club Lazy Lines in Action

This weekend saw us making a trip around the Walton Backwaters to Walton & Frinton Yacht Club in the company of our Yacht Club Shotley point. It looked to be touch and go on Wednesday and Thursday with the gales and Felixstowe Port being shut too. By Saturday the wind had eased back to F4 gusting 5 but being SW it was largely off the land although as it was blowing down the Stour this and the Walton channel was pretty sloppy. W&FYC is accessed by a gate in the sea wall which opens an hour each side of high tide and although around 16-18 ft through the entrance it has two concrete buttresses which reduce the width to 12ft fine at HW but in our ship a bit bottom clenching as you go over it. The entrance was made a little more tricky by a cross wind and yotties up to their usual close quarter manoeuvring faffing in the entrance after the lock master had called us in I had to back out of our approach pronto to avoid being blown onto the gate.... Had a pleasant wander into Walton in the afternoon followed by 'Drinks & Nibbles scheduled for 18.30 but which was brought forward to 17.30 ...... pretty typical of Shotley Point and booze By the time the call for dinner was made one or two participants had already reached a 'full tank' but did not let that stop them I very cordial dinner with the usual banter but a few thick heads the next morning. I kid you not that the bar staff took 12 cases of empty Wine bottles to the recycling point and remember that was AFTER all the booze that had been sunk with nibbles. I am afraid in comparison to these legendary types I am a mere light weight A few photo's - as ever Point & Squirt advisory in force Classic Seaside Scene Entrance to Walton & Frinton Yacht Club 'Mind the Gap' Kingfisher & Kiki in Huckleberry Finn Land Interesting Mooring Style W&FYC have - Lazy Lines al la Med style

One for sale here: http://www.sussexboats.co.uk/offshore-1 ... heelhouse/

That looks a substantial craft Clive. Thanks for posting them - a Mark 111 Cortina now I do have fond memories of those

No those are more than acceptable Mark I just don't have a penchant for Drain Cleaner and Disinfectant

Ouzo I could not really take to but could see the attraction but Retsina

Try being Anchored in the bay From memory (10 years ago) they did stop about 23.00 but I did not miss the 'early morning call'. You are right though Mark it it pretty amazing, I would want my Brakes checked if I landed there regularly

Frankly I can't imagine how it managed it on those expanded Metal Pontoons http://www.motorboatsmonthly.co.uk/auto ... mnews.html

Thanks Rod, That clears that mystery then As David said earlier time is money to you guys and the meter is always ticking I guess so I have never had an issue with the speed, if a bit of wash bothered us we ought not to be out there. Besides a pilot boat running at displacement speed just does not look right they are always impressive under way.

Excellent fault finding and diagnosis Dave

Forum Discount ... that would be a coup Andy What prompted me to post was an e-mail Stuart Mellor sent out announcing their new website, I presume sent to all previous customers.

I think I ought to give you the credit for this post as I think from memory it was your good self who gave me the contact last year I've been to sleep since then

It is sadly getting towards the time of year when we will all be thinking about using our Webasto/Eberspacher etc blown heaters. A company I have used for spares and have offered great service is: http://www.mellorautoelectrical.co.uk/s ... tion=index As it is a business that specialises in supplying Auto Electric Components not to the Marine environment I have found them to be competitive. I have no connection just a satisfied customer.

It certainly gave more confidence in our boat Ian but knowing we only had an hour or so from the Deben entrance back to the marina was another reason for 'going' and putting up with the conditions. As David has outlined although SD Kiki does not have a keel unlike Kingfisher, which has Keel and Skeg (invaluable IMHO around the East Coast where there is never a great amount of water) she does not have the directional stability of Kingfisher particularly at low speeds and with huge prop walk astern. What she does have going for her apart from her SD hull is fairly significant weight for her size around 7.5 tonnes fully loaded and is pretty beamy at 3.42 metres. She is no Ocean Greyhound with a single 240hp but the weight tells when things cut up as she tends not to get kicked about as other boats in the same class but lighter. I even tried the autopilot for a bit on the way back and it coped pretty well with the conditions, with the sensitivity turned up it would have been even better. It is the chop typically found along the East Coast and Thames which is as much of an issue as the wave heights. Sites such as Windfinder and Magic Seaweed (for Lowestoft) give wind speed, wave height, direction and interval; all very useful for passage planning. The channel I was referring to Ian was the Shipping Channel which with its deeper water was slightly less bumpy than the shallower water each side. Would normally run just outside the channel but with no shipping and the conditions opted to do so on the way back in. It really does depend on the state of the tide as to what you can 'get away with'. Many of the local boats take short cuts which as yet I do not have the background knowledge of the area to take and prefer the 'safe' option, although they reckon you are not a proper East Coast boater unless you have been aground I certainly would not have wanted to be aground on the bar on Sunday and we were a bit spooked by a call to Thames Coastguard as we were coming up to Felixstowe Ferry saying there was a yacht in distress on the Bar Fortunately he obviously managed to extricate himself. It does flow in and out of the Deben at a fair rate and rises and falls quite quickly but given the length of river it needs to fill I suppose it is not surprising. The video's were a bit of a test Ian lots of camera errors and too long so the next ones will be edited 'highlights'

Thanks Rod learn something every day. Feline member of Kingfishers crew got wet due to an open window and was also unimpressed

The best complement I can pay is that I assumed when we got into the lock that you had brought Kingfisher back around, as you say very well done Rachel. Soon be able to sit back and put your feet up

Boring narration but captures the flavour of Woodbridge - all very Huckleberry Finn

Sunday dawned a beautifully Sunny hot day the wind though was SE rather than the SSW forecast and increased as the day went on. By 13.00hrs there was enough water over the sill and we were able to exit and head back down river, the wind was continuing to be a background 20 knots. As we came past Ramsholt and I again checked the wind direction I could see it was SE with a fair bit of East - oh dear. The Deben is a beautiful river but with the exception of Tide Mill there really is not a lot of choice of location to leave your ship if the weather prevents you from exiting. I suppose a buoy at Ramsholt would be a last resort if you could get George the Harbour Master to run you ashore and get a taxi back to Shotley. It was going to be an interesting exit and run back to Shotley but not dangerous. As we got to Felixstowe Ferry we could see the breakers on the bar I told Tina to close all windows and doors and hang on. It was indeed an interesting exit with the waves building as they neared shallow water, going out can best be described as a combination of the Big Dipper and Bucking Bronco it needed plenty of helm and throttle adjustments to keep being washed up the beach in front of Felixstowe Ferry Yacht club and then ride over the fairly heavy waves which extended out to Woodbridge Haven Buoy we turned to Quarter them and ran out into deeper water which was slightly better but we were really down to 9.5 -10 knots and headed on a quartering course past Wadgate Ledge and into the Shipping Lane (nothing around) to avoid the beam sea before turning to starboard for the run back into Shotley. The sea inshore at Languard Point was White as waves built up on this shallow area. With the wave action now a following sea it was the first time I have had Kiki surfing with an increase of 3-4 knots on the crest of the following sea, Out at Wadgate I had a constant reading of 21-24 knots with an odd higher gust. Once back around to Shotley things calmed considerably but it was a first hand lesson on how quickly seas can build in N to SE wind directions. Both crews partook of 'refreshment' once moored up I think we had earned it.

Some very big tides this weekend and although outside of Tidemill Marina largely dries Saturday evening's low tide saw virtually the whole Woodbridge vista a sea of mud Sunday was still low but as usual night tides being higher/lower than day tides No Water

This weekend saw a trip to Woodbridge as the tides were very kind. Saturday saw very benign conditions with SW 2 ish and forecast coming back was F4-5 SSW. Crossed the Deben Bar just about half flood without incident, had a gentle run up and arrived at Tide Mill around 1.5 hrs before high water. Harbour Master advised us to pick up a waiting buoy outside the Marina as he needed to clear some vessels with not enough water before we could enter. Picking up a buoy in the strong flood should have been a doddle but after giving David & Rachel some laughs we picked one up at the second attempt. Normal form for visiting Moor Boats seemed to be in order here as we were asked to raft to a Grand Banks with Kingfisher alongside us. Had a wander around Woodbridge while the crew of Kingfisher had an explore in their tender up river and then searching for Sutton Hoo. The evening saw us making use of the excellent BBQ area at Tide Mill which has BBQ's and Picnic Tables all very enjoyable as the breeze dropped and the amount of Charcoal David had put into the BBQ mean the heat kept us warm as the sun went down and so did the temperature. King Head - Scene of Ian (Senator's) Furnace like Lasagne Rear of Woodbridge Town Hall Amazingly Green Tree BBQ Time

A poor photograph as it was taken into the Sun All present and correct

Hi Ian, They are old Thames Lighters that were put their as an measure to stop erosion http://www.saltmarshmanagementmanual.co ... harge1.htm

Exactly so Martin When the tide starts to drop the secrets start to be revealed, a tender and outboard is a must on the Backwaters. Ian I'm not sure who gave you your information regarding Harwich HSS but is has not run since January 2007 but the 'scare stories' would have no doubt be based on a number of fatalities, see link. http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cf ... /purdy.pdf The area can be very benign and it was good to know that you had good weather but in the wrong wind direction things can soon change (as we found yesterday) there is very little depth across the Pye End area which if the wind is NE through E soon builds. It just a case of being sensible and living to fight another day. Thankfully your prayers to the weather gods were rewarded Fox's would have been your best bet to call in for a night as the Petrol Station is virtually next door. Look forward to hearing about the rest of your holiday Edit to say: I admire your fortitude with the wheelchair on your Petrol run. In these days of high security who knows who might have stopped you

Have a good time Martin

Good to hear you had an enjoyable trip around 'our manor' Ian sorry we were not around. Yes the Lobster Pots.... don't you just love em With reference to locking it is one of the real fags when exiting the Broads via Lowestoft it is a breath of fresh air to have 24/7 lock access on demand as we also have at Shotley. Shame you did not make Shotley there were a couple of free berths Your point on Neptune is right in my view Ipswich Haven is slightly better situated and if you don't want to sit with the Champagne and Salmon brigade in the restaurant there is always the Yacht club behind Burton Waters which does decent 'pub grub' and very cheap drinks. The answer to "is anyone interested" is yes there are quite a number of 'salties' on this forum Got a run up to Woodbridge ourselves planned tomorrow.