Access around LW to the Walton Backwaters

[chrisswift18]

Hi all,

Planning the bank holiday weekend and we are keen to explore the Walton Backwaters but wanted some local advice on access.

We will be travelling up from the Blackwater probably from an over night stop at Pyefleet or Brightlingsea, and wanted advice on best time to leave to catch the tide up to the backwaters.

The charts suggest access is ok at all states of the tide but is that truly the case for the Walton Backwaters with its moving sands? Roca II has a draft of 1.05m

We are hoping to anchor up for the night, other than Stone Point which seems to be well publicised can anyone recommend any other quiet anchorages to savour the backwaters?

Is the holding safe enough that a middle of the night sortee to check the anchor at the turn of the tide is unnecessary?

Looking forward to your local knowledge.

Cheers

Chris

 

[FullCircle]

Chris, Brightlingsea is a good place to start, leave about 40 mins before HW and head out,then take the ebb up the coast. I am guessing that you are in an 18 footer, so about 4 knots will see you round the corner and onto Pye End just before LW.
It does get quite shallow, but the channel buoys are easily followed into the backwaters, and then turn into the channel behind Stone Point and anchor in the fairway there. Its beautiful.
Peovided you test your holding well when you put the hook down, and its not blowing a hoolie at tide change, if you have good scope of chain and a decent anchor, you should have no worries (hahahaha).
If you are that worried, there are lots of swinging moorings, we picked one up for the weekend last year.

Have a great time of it!

You may well spot a gaggle of forumites up there, who are too lazy to go anywhere else. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[MoodySabre]

Hello - Roca II used to be in Bradwell didn't it?

Brightlingsea to Pye End buoy - 4 hours on on outgoing tide and a bit of helpful wind. So get to Pye End an hour after low water and follow the tide in. I draw 1.7m and would have no problem chasing up Walton Channel (prob find a buoy there if anchoring not fancied). Plenty of anchorages about which my anchoring friends will provide guidance shortly.

 

[chrisswift18]

Hi yes we used to have a Swift 18, but bought Roca II (Sadler 26) from Bradwell towards the end of last season. We keep her at the Blackwater Sailing club, and are keen to venture beyond the Blackwater although we often still pop into Bradwell regularly.

Thanks for the advice

Chris

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Chris,

As others have said, you'll have no problems.... i've been in a LW in 1.9m and touched a couple of times, but at just over a metre you'll be fine at any state of the tide...

There are two shallow areas, the first between Pye End and the 2nd Green channel marker, where you'll find no less than 2m of water at the lowest of low tides, and the second after you turn to starboard between one of the red channel markers and the cardinal that marks the entrance to Hamford Water through to the last red before you enter the Twizzle... you'll find no less than 1.5m of water here at the lowest of low tides....

Next thing to be aware of.... a bit of local knowledge for you.... when you enter the Twizzle and reach the anchorage, firstly always go for the east side (the beach side) of the channel to anchor. You can anchor the other side, but it shelves more gradually and is subject to stronger tides... secondly the holding is good all along this shore, but the beach is split into two, seperated by an area of low mud that fills at HW Springs... the immediate shore line in this central area is somewhat stonier than elsewhere, and besides being less appealling to land at, has slightly less preferable holding than the areas either side of it.... we tend to anchor at the far end, as its a bit away from the beach, and allows for a quieter night if anyone decides to have a large fire and sing song!!!

One final thing.... if the anchorage is full to the point of being akward to find a spot, an alternative to grabbing a buoy is to work back round to Hamford Water, and anchor there, where there is loads and loads of room..... superb holding, and absolute peace... and its only a few mins in a tender back round to the beach.... its a great anchorage in anything other than a North Easterly/Easterly, where the swell can run in a bit...

As FC has alluded above, we are very regular visitors reckoning on at least 7 or 8 visits a season... been twice this year already!

Hope that all helps!... and enjoy what IMHO is the nicest anchorage on the whole of the East Coast.

 

[johnalison]

I hope you have a good time, but reckon on about 0.9 metres at chart datum in the area between Pye End and No 2 buoy. This normally means that it's best to be somewhere between Clacton & Walton at low water, though with your draft it's hardly going to matter except at springs. Just be aware that the bottom inside Pye End is very hard sand and well worth avoiding. At most tides we cut across from the Naze to the No 2 red, missing Pye end, with 1.5 m draft.

 

[mormargh]

I sail out of the backwaters a fair bit (and will be that weekend as it happens). High pressure can have quite some effect on the height of tide. The Harwich Haven site shows the difference between projected and actual heights and has some other useful info.

PS. I'm sure FC didn't really mean anchor in the fairway at Stone Point. Please don't - follow Morgana's advice.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

yup... don't anchor in the fairway..... the tide can go through there at 3 kts+ and it makes for a sleepless night..... as well as the obvious navigation obstruction....

It can be challenging in a strong Easterly anchoring close enough to the shore to avoid ending up in the channel.... you can get very close in as the shore is quite steep too, so be bold!.... i've been close enough when the tide has turned (although admittedly just touching) that you could leap off the bow ashore and keep your feet dry, but you'd have been a bit of a muddy mess when you landed /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

One final thought.....

If the weather is dead calm, and you are still concerned about depth into the Backwaters, then you can anchor off in the large area between Pye End and Walton Headland and wait for the tide to flood a bit.... its hard sand, good enough holding for a lunch break, and quite relaxing being so far from land.... don't forget your anchor ball though as there will be other yachting traffic about......