Surlingham Lucky Escape

[smellyloo]

Is it just me? But I think there are areas such as this that should be left undisturbed by motor cruisers.

It is a truly magical world when explored via dinghy by oar or  electric outboard.

But leave the motor cruiser in the deeper waters of Bargate and let the peace & quiet remain undisturbed ..... there really arn't many places left where you really can get away from the hubbub of modern life.

[ChrisB]

I agree, should be left to the song of the paddle.

[Hylander]

51 minutes ago, TeamElla said:

It's just as well that 44 footer wasn't in there when we did this then.............

(All we had pass us was canadian style canoes)

So you have actually taken your boat up to the Staithe?

[vanessan]

1 hour ago, TeamElla said:

Yes there is.

It's meant for fisherman and the transducer is hand held (looking something like a torch).

Racking brains to remember manufacturer.

Might be a Lowrance, I came across them when searching for something similar. Or Hawkeye.

[ScrumpyCheddar]

8 hours ago, Baitrunner said:

Maybe the BA have dredged it to provide more navigable cruising and additional moorings? Nah, I reckon the sign fell down. 

Only been a short way up there in my dinghy (12" draft if that) and it seemed shallow. Was a few years ago though. 

So that was you in your Speedo’s on a lilo last summer..... ha ha ha ??????

[Paul]

2 hours ago, kadensa said:

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.

where do you think I got it from .......

[TeamElla]

1 hour ago, Hylander said:

So you have actually taken your boat up to the Staithe?

Oh no, not at all.

That board to the left of the picture is the old (apparently now missing) "shallow water" sign at the entrance to the dyke that ultimately leads to Kings Fleet etc. It's only yards off the main dyke into Bargate.

Should something as large as a 44 footer emerged from within those confined and potentially shallow backwaters, apart from the shock of seeing it come out of there, I  doubt that we had left enough deep water alongside us for it to pass by without running aground (although tenders, canoes etc would pass with ease).

We ventured in on the inflatable tender from which the picture was taken and had no idea how to reach the staithe at the time.

It's pretty clear that the staithe is meant just for locals, so we wouldn't land there now anyway.

 

[Paul]

Is this where we revisit the debate about access to public staithes?

 

[marshman]

Particularly those which have been "nicked" to form part of gardens!!!

Trouble is you then enter the realms of  those with deep pockets to be able to "prove" that what you think, is lawful!!! 

I doubt if anyone would object to you mooring at Surlingham, especially if you have made the effort to get up there, unless and if it ever became the norm rather than the odd one or two that now find it. Doubt too many would risk  going all the way up there in anything other than a fairly small and shallow draught boat.

[BroadAmbition]

Hmmmm, Have I got a spare few hours over the next 12 days or so?

Griff

[Maxwellian]

5 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Hmmmm, Have I got a spare few hours over the next 12 days or so?

Griff

Going in backwards?

[Paul]

14 hours ago, marshman said:

I doubt if anyone would object to you mooring at Surlingham, especially if you have made the effort to get up there,

Agreed, although in all honesty we went up to say we had done it, cross it off the Broads Bucket List so to speak. I can't see the need to go up there with a view to mooring anyway. You can moor at The Ferry House which is a five minute walk away without the need to get all "David Bellamy" with the "undergwoth". 

The only part of the broads we haven't got a boat into now is above Brograve Mill. We tried it a couple of times but it was very weedy and when the boat you're using doesn't belong to you then you have to draw the line well on the side of safety.

[oldgregg]

9 minutes ago, Paul said:

The only part of the broads we haven't got a boat into now is above Brograve Mill. We tried it a couple of times but it was very weedy and when the boat you're using doesn't belong to you then you have to draw the line well on the side of safety.

Probably wise. I saw a Bounty 27 moored down there about 10 years ago and I thought "rather him than me". Haven't ever seen anything else down there though.

[Paul]

There's always a good selection of boats moored at the limit, by Bridge House. Last time I was up that way walking there were perhaps twenty boats, right up to Bounty 35's, a Dawn Craft and the regulation Hampton. I don't think size is an issue, I just didn't want to give the boat back with an overheating problem. 

[JennyMorgan]

Have been up to Surlingham & sometimes noticed a certain, privately owned ex Topcraft Topliner tucked away up there, clearly enjoying the solitude which is now likely to be a thing of the past!

[ExSurveyor]

57 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Have been up to Surlingham & sometimes noticed a certain, privately owned ex Topcraft Topliner tucked away up there, clearly enjoying the solitude which is now likely to be a thing of the past!

Not me,  or Whitey,  but I know the man who does. I had trouble in a inflatable a few years ago

[Paul]

42 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Have been up to Surlingham & sometimes noticed a certain, privately owned ex Topcraft Topliner tucked away up there, clearly enjoying the solitude which is now likely to be a thing of the past!

Perhaps an NBN CiC?

[Hylander]

6 hours ago, Paul said:

There's always a good selection of boats moored at the limit, by Bridge House. Last time I was up that way walking there were perhaps twenty boats, right up to Bounty 35's, a Dawn Craft and the regulation Hampton. I don't think size is an issue, I just didn't want to give the boat back with an overheating problem. 



Paul where was the photo taken - are we still talking Surlingham?

[TeamElla]

Hylander,

I think you'll find it's Waxham Cut out of Horsey Mere and it's weedy with a capital W above the bridge at the north end (well it was in 2002!)

See picture taken halfway up the cut which gives you a feel for what it's like up there:-

[Paul]

2 hours ago, Hylander said:

Paul where was the photo taken - are we still talking Surlingham?

As TeamElla has already said, this is the mooring at the Bridge, theoretically the limit of navigation at Waxham. There is a small boat dyke just under the bridge IIRC. When I was last there the water around the moorings didn't look too bad, but place along the cut was very weedy, especially around Brograve. 

[webntweb]

Paul said:

"The only part of the broads we haven't got a boat into now is above Brograve Mill. We tried it a couple of times but it was very weedy and when the boat you're using doesn't belong to you then you have to draw the line well on the side of safety."

We took Little Gem 4 (Hampton Safari Mk 2) up to the end in May 1986 (very slowly) and turned just under the bridge. 

[Paul]

Some kind of small launch or day boat is on our shopping list, something we can trail to different waterways, so when (if ever) that happens maybe we'll have another go.

[RealWindmill]

11 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

Have been up to Surlingham & sometimes noticed a certain, privately owned ex Topcraft Topliner tucked away up there, clearly enjoying the solitude which is now likely to be a thing of the past!

Guilty as charged. Although I only go a small way in. The problem is not depth but of weeds. I have twice had to don my diving kit to free the prop of snagging weeds. Be warned!

To go all the way up to the staithe at Surlingham is really only possible by canoe or kayak due to depth, channel width, weeds and overhanging trees. and then only advisable on a rising tide - unless you want to sit on the mud for a tide cycle! 

Smellyloo has it about right when he says it should be the domain of paddlers only.

But don't be deterred, in a suitable craft its a magical other world.

Bob

 

[ExSurveyor]

2 minutes ago, RealWindmill said:

Guilty as charged. Although I only go a small way in. The problem is not depth but of weeds. I have twice had to don my diving kit to free the prop of snagging weeds. Be warned!

To go all the way up to the staithe at Surlingham is really only possible by canoe or kayak due to depth, channel width, weeds and overhanging trees. and then only advisable on a rising tide - unless you want to sit on the mud for a tide cycle! 

Smellyloo has it about right when he says it should be the domain of paddlers only.

But don't be deterred, in a suitable craft its a magical other world.

Bob

 

Were your ears burning Bob

[RealWindmill]

Somewhat Mark.