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Surlingham Lucky Escape


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Leaving Bargate Broad today, we were rather surprised to see a widebeam cruiser heading towards us from the creek that leads up to the old Surlingham staithe, I called over over and asked them how far up they had been, "to the end" was the reply! I did tell them that normally its way to shallow for the boat they were on and lucky it was high tide or they would have got stuck. Even so they must have been scraping the mud in places though. I dread to think how difficult it would be to extract a cruiser from up there, but in the end no harm done on this occasion.

There used to be a sign saying shallow water, no boats or words to that effect but its not there now, just an arrow saying to the river, maybe I should contact the BA about it?

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I wouldn't even give a second thought - despite them saying that they got to the end, I really doubt that was the case! The last time I went up in a dinghy, the first bit is quite wide and easily navigable - beyond that there are some quite narrow bits and some fallen trees and that would inhibit them!!

In fact its quite deep in places - it has to be to move the amount of water up there! Given the various dykes and open water it does rush in and out quite quickly but if they don't follow the sign to the river thats up to them. Even if you did put a notice, some punters would just ignore it and still go up!

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If you know the best route in and out you can get quite a sizeable boat up to Surlingham Staithe. Last time I went up there in a sailing Dinghy there was a Sealine 290 and a Bayliner moored on the staithe, as well as a number of dinghys.

 

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1 hour ago, BuffaloBill said:

There you go M. I doubt I'de risk going there!

Surlingham Staithe.jpg

Good God no.  You are right.   Who in their right mind goes up there in a large boat?     I thought at one time there were wooden stakes in the water preventing anyone going up there, there again may be dreaming again.

 

 

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Hello Robin,

The staithe is a pleasant stroll away from the Ferry House Pub (and the approach between the houses does not appear to cross any private land, merely passing between adjacent properties).

As far as visiting by tender goes, there is a sign at the staithe which deters waterborne visitors. I can't remember the exact wording but it's something like one of these below:-

"For the use of local residents only"

or

"Mooring limited to local residents tenders only"

So anyone visiting by boat might get some grief from residents. Other than that it's a peaceful spot to visit on foot.

Steve

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We took the rowing boat in to King's Fleet many years ago on a lads week. We moored Princess in the Bargate and rowed up and was surprised to see a Fair Lowliner, one of the 44 footers moored in there. I guess local knowledge is key.

 

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Is there such thing as a portable depth sounder that could be used on an inflatable? It would be a great little project to survey the area for depth and work out where it was safe to take a cruiser.

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Hello Paul,

Cole Parmers is £300+ but at lease it floats if dropped.

The thing to look out for is minimum depth measurement (as some cheap ones don't read less than 0.8 metres).

Spec of the one on Cole Parmer's site unknown.

Suggest cheaper option (your sacrificial crew member !)

 

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Paul, your post, together with the Swallows and Amazons thread has a weird relevance, as I am at the moment reading 'Peter Duck', where the children along with Captain Flint sail to the Caribbean and they use the exact method you describe when mooring.

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