Any advice

[CX54WEK]

A group of us are heading from Lincoln to Wells at the end of next month.

A couple of the crews have been on their boats to Holland a few times, however they have never navigated the wash. They have recently had their boats modified to go under the bridges in Lincoln so can now get out onto the wash through Boston.

So, we have thus far, four boats, none of which have been into the wash, two of which are definate sea farers, one of which has made a trip to Bridlington and the other has never seen the lumpy stuff (unless you count the Humber!!)

Are we mad even considering this?

And if not what hints and tips have you got for us?

 

[Sixpence]

Not mad at all, it's an excellent place to go sailing, main problem I have with it is the time it takes to get there. With luck Ken will pop in and tell about sailing most of the way but I've never quite managed to do that. Motor out as far as Boston Roads then haul up the flappy thing and away you go
Main thing to watch out for is where the two rivers meet at Tabs Head, there aren't many rocks out there because they've piled them all up along the line of The Welland, and the current flow does what it can to push you onto them. Keep left and stay in the main flow, avoid the turbulent stuff and you'll be fine
Have a good, and safe trip

 

[CX54WEK]

Not mad at all, it's an excellent place to go sailing, main problem I have with it is the time it takes to get there. With luck Ken will pop in and tell about sailing most of the way but I've never quite managed to do that. Motor out as far as Boston Roads then haul up the flappy thing and away you go
Main thing to watch out for is where the two rivers meet at Tabs Head, there aren't many rocks out there because they've piled them all up along the line of The Welland, and the current flow does what it can to push you onto them. Keep left and stay in the main flow, avoid the turbulent stuff and you'll be fine
Have a good, and safe trip

What flappy thing?

 

[Sixpence]

What flappy thing?

Ah, just noticed the picture, your stick is missing too it seems
Great fish and chips in Wells, straight over the road from the floating pub. Don't think there's any fuel there yet either, and the nearest garage is a fair way to walk

 

[CX54WEK]

Ah, just noticed the picture, your stick is missing too it seems
Great fish and chips in Wells, straight over the road from the floating pub. Don't think there's any fuel there yet either, and the nearest garage is a fair way to walk

According to the website there is a fueling pontoon. Is this not correct? That could put a spanner in the works!!!

 

[Jomo]

According to the website there is a fueling pontoon. Is this not correct? That could put a spanner in the works!!!

Fuel pontoon was upriver of the Albatross last year. Big cat with big engines drank a lot of juice from there. Should be no probs, just check with HM. Mind your tides, water goes away very fast! Great place tho'

 

[PaulGooch]

I have no knowledge of the inland part of your trip, until you hit The Wash. I'll assume you have suitable charts for the area, if not, don't go.

The mouth of the river/entrance to The Wash is not navigable at all states of the tide, but once you pass the Number 9 and Foxtrot channel marker buoys you'll have enough water all the way to Wells. Wells Harbour is only accessible for about 2 hours either side of HW, depending on the tide. The tidal flow through The Wash is pretty fast, so for all these reasons you need to plan the timing carefully. You'll need to ensure that you arrive at Wells within the tidal window (obviously) but try to have the tide behind you at least some of the way. Access to a tidal stream atlas might be handy.

Keep an eye on the weather too, North or NE winds are to be avoided. Sea conditions can vary quite a bit between different areas of The Wash and along the coast. Conditions can also change very quickly. If it's too lumpy to sea you could always come back through The Wash to Wisbech, taking note of tidal limitations from Wisbech number 1 to the mouth of the river, basically, you can't get through a couple of hours either side of HW, depending on tides and draft. Once in the river, you should be OK with your boat at anything other than LW springs (assuming you draw circa 1m). There is a swing bridge at Sutton Bridge, with a waiting pontoon. They like some notice here, so i'd suggest that you might want to plan the trip to Wisbech as a contingency, just in case it's rough at sea and you'd rather go somewhere than abort. Check the tide times and have a word with the harbour master to see what your window will be. Have the phone number for the bridge, so you can call them as soon as you know you're going to need the bridge to swing. That said, if no-one has a particularly large airdraft, you might not need it swinging, again, the bridge will advise.

Follow the marked channel from number 9/Foxtrot to Boston #1. From Boston #1 follow a course of 66° for 10nm, which will take you just South of the Woolpack Buoy. From there, i'd run 90° for a further 10 miles (you'll be about 3 miles offshore) before finally turning towards the Wells fairway buoy.

Keep a very sharp lookout as you go through the deep water in the middle of The Wash, Roaring Middle, Lynn Deeps and The Well are all areas where you need to look out for pot marker buoys. There may be a few near Wells too. If you'd rather, you can keep to the Western edge of the deep water and cross over near the beacon at the North Well. This will add a couple of miles to the trip.

The Wells channel is rather twisty and it's easy to get confused by all the buoys. Speak to the harbour master well before you leave and he'll advise you of the tidal windows. Call him up as you approach on the day, he'll come out and guide you through the channel. We set a track on the plotter first visit and used this on subsequent trips. If the tide is still running into the harbour, go past the moorings and towards the end of the quay where the fishing boats moor (this is where the diesel berth is located), turn around and come alongside the moorings with the tide on the bow.

There is water and power on the pontoons and a toilet/shower block. Plenty of places for a drink or a meal. The Arc Royal (walk out of the harbour and turn right, walk for a couple of hundred yards, it' on the left) is a decent pub that does a nice meal at a sensible price.

 

[Tommyrot]

Been stuck oop norf for a few days longer than planned, just got back home....
Paul has got it pretty much spot on, not a lot I can add.

It's an easy day's sail from Boston, so with a bit of power you'll have loads of time to spare.

Water is thinnest north of a line between No11 and black buoy, stay in the channel and head for Black buoy (it's red. ) until within 50m of it then head for No9, shallows should last 100m or so. Once it starts getting deeper you can head anywhere up the channel. Give Foxtrot a fair amount of clearance, it stands on a big sand bar, not a place to go!
If you leave Boston Marina at high water there will still be plenty when you get there.

I cut the corner near Hunstanton through "The Bays", if I'd got expensive props I wouldn't.

If you have to anchor outside Wells to wait for the tide, go into Holkham bay as outside the Wells channel entrance is not a nice place to be anchored if it's a bit bouncy. ,

Going into Wells too early will make it more difficult due to the strong current (got the T-shirt ), leave it until close to high water.

Take your time and enjoy it, Wells is a great spot, and you'll have time to explore The Wash a bit, you might be fed up of seals before you get back!

 

[leomagill]

I'm guessing you have plenty of power to play with so wells entrance is fairly easy for the full window but keep close to the starboard side by the beach on the way in as the tide likes to put you on bob halls sand the other side,once past the lifeboat shed don't try to cut any corners, I've gone into wells 2 1/4 hrs before HW just after a good squall before with a low powered cruiser and although it was a bit entertaining it was nothing to worry about(and I'm a coward!), if it's rough you should now be able to go in at most states of tide and wait just after the new outer harbour but only if you are happy to touch the bottom (by touch I mean plant yourself firmly on it).
A planning boat leaving boston 2 1/2 hrs before HW should be able to make wells on the same tide.

 

[PaulGooch]

Apparently, there are several sand bars in The Wash. We didn't find all of them, but we did manage to find this one

 

[Sixpence]

Apparently, there are several sand bars in The Wash. We didn't find all of them, but we did manage to find this one

Just one or two

We had a day on this one

 

[Freedom]

Notice to Mariners
Tue 6 Apr 2010
Back

The channel from buoy number 6 now turns quite dramatically out to the NE and also the west side seems to be a lot lower than it has been in previous years and it looks as if there is a channel trying to form NW of number 5.
The channel movement has caused a rough patch of water from number 6 outwards, which will need to be watched closely during the busy season by the Watch Officers at Coast Watch as the wave action is running in from the NW across the west side and dropping into the channel, causing a big swell. As the channel is running out to the NE this swell is being taken beam on by vessels if they are not careful. This is not a major problem for big vessels but needs to be watched closely with small vessels in this area.

At this time all we can do is monitor the channel and move the buoys accordingly and hope a new channel breaks through to the NW as soon as possible.

Robert Smith
Harbour Master

 

[Freedom]

Notice to Mariners
Tue 6 Apr 2010
Back

The channel from buoy number 6 now turns quite dramatically out to the NE and also the west side seems to be a lot lower than it has been in previous years and it looks as if there is a channel trying to form NW of number 5.
The channel movement has caused a rough patch of water from number 6 outwards, which will need to be watched closely during the busy season by the Watch Officers at Coast Watch as the wave action is running in from the NW across the west side and dropping into the channel, causing a big swell. As the channel is running out to the NE this swell is being taken beam on by vessels if they are not careful. This is not a major problem for big vessels but needs to be watched closely with small vessels in this area.

At this time all we can do is monitor the channel and move the buoys accordingly and hope a new channel breaks through to the NW as soon as possible.

Robert Smith
Harbour Master

http://www.wellsharbour.co.uk/news1.htm

 

[CX54WEK]

Thanks all for the fast replies.

We all have all of the charts (paper and electronic copies) and are sitting down in a couple of weeks to plan the journey properly.

This will be our first time on the lumpy stuff but we have confidence in the other crews to get us there safely (famous last words).

None of us are shy on power so cant see that being an issue.

Im sure it will be a nice trip, i think we are just getting our knickers in a twist over nothing after hearing a couple of horror stories on our pontoon from berth holders who have gotten it wrong.

Thanks again for all of the advice and we will try to absorb as much of it as possible!!

 

[PaulGooch]

The two posts by Freedom remind have reminded me of the ongoing works at Wells for the new wind farm. This makes it important to speak to the harbour master by phone before you set off and call him on the radio when you are approach, he'll come out and escort you in. Don't fell embarrassed about calling him up, almost everyone does.

Have a great trip and be sure to post back on here with the results and pics

 

[CX54WEK]

The two posts by Freedom remind have reminded me of the ongoing works at Wells for the new wind farm. This makes it important to speak to the harbour master by phone before you set off and call him on the radio when you are approach, he'll come out and escort you in. Don't fell embarrassed about calling him up, almost everyone does.

Have a great trip and be sure to post back on here with the results and pics

We have already rung him to ensure he can accomodate us when we want to go (Bank holiday at the end of May) He has given us some hints and tips and offered to escort us into the moorings.

There is no embarressment on our boats. If help is needed we will ask.

At this moment in time we are looking forward to it, but that swings from dread to excitement in equal amounts. Im sure we will be fine. We know the boat will, its what she is built for after all.

Still there has to be a first time for everything. Next time there will be no woriies im sure.

 

[Tommyrot]

One thing to consider if your boat has been used exclusively on rivers. Is the diesel tank clean? Any crud settled at the bottom will be shaken loose and could spoil a day out.

 

[CX54WEK]

One thing to consider if your boat has been used exclusively on rivers. Is the diesel tank clean? Any crud settled at the bottom will be shaken loose and could spoil a day out.

She had a good shake up a couple of weeks ago when we went to Hull. Ran at cruising speed (27 knots) for a good few hours on the way there and a good few on the way back with no problems even though we hit a few "potholes" and "speed humps". We are not worried on that score.

 

[Tommyrot]

The Humber can test it, no worries there.

 

[CX54WEK]

The Humber can test it, no worries there.

Was that tongue firmly in cheek or an honest reply?