Best east coast anchorages

[Malish]

You really wouldn’t know it was there. We happened to be there one night when a coaster came up Hamford and hung about for the tide for a while. A few years later I was on the farm where the factory is and all became clear!

Google Earth is your friend... small buildings, well spaced, with high earth surrounds in remote locations is usually a give away

 

[Leighb]

Loud bangs from time to time accompanied by columns of black smoke are a clue. We anchored once in Hamford Water and took our inflatable up Oakley Creek and explored further round to the East. On the way back we were about to enter Oakley Creek again when we realised that the coaster was coming out, there is absolutely no room to spare so we turned back and waited for it to go past.

 

[Charlie Boy]

Which, for the sake of completeness, is up Oakley Creek on the north side of Hamford Water. Occasionally small coasters go up the creek. Good spot to see seals, I'm told - I haven't ventured up there yet

They make a hell of a racket feeding in the middle of the night, huffing and puffing

 

[pvb]

They make a hell of a racket feeding in the middle of the night, huffing and puffing

That's not feeding....

 

[johnalison]

I am sure that I related earlier how I spent a happy twenty minutes watching seals feeding one evening on Hamford Water. It was getting a bit dark when I saw a seal drift slowly past, and then saw another, and another until there were maybe eight seals forming a semicircle around a point on the north shore. As they drifted with the flood tide the circle got smaller and smaller, until I assume they surrounded a shoal of mullet. By this time it was too dark to see, let alone take a photo, but it was a fine sight, if not for the mullet.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I am sure that I related earlier how I spent a happy twenty minutes watching seals feeding one evening on Hamford Water. It was getting a bit dark when I saw a seal drift slowly past, and then saw another, and another until there were maybe eight seals forming a semicircle around a point on the north shore. As they drifted with the flood tide the circle got smaller and smaller, until I assume they surrounded a shoal of mullet. By this time it was too dark to see, let alone take a photo, but it was a fine sight, if not for the mullet.

Having seals around you is great. Haven't had much experience with the east coast ones, but once anchored at the Crowlin Isles in the Inner Sound (between Skye and the mainland) and had seals playing round the boat.

 

[johnalison]

Having seals around you is great. Haven't had much experience with the east coast ones, but once anchored at the Crowlin Isles in the Inner Sound (between Skye and the mainland) and had seals playing round the boat.

Most of us treat seals with respect but otherwise take no special measures to avoid them when sailing. The Continent often takes a different view and they get very shirty if you pass within half a mile of them in some places and seal sanctuaries tend to appear on their charts.

 

[ex-Gladys]

A few years back anchored in the Yokesfleet had dozens of seals playing around the boat, including a youngster who was playing with a Tesco carrier bag. He'd go into shallow water, stand on his head and clap his flippers... must have done it 10 times

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Most of us treat seals with respect but otherwise take no special measures to avoid them when sailing. The Continent often takes a different view and they get very shirty if you pass within half a mile of them in some places and seal sanctuaries tend to appear on their charts.

Entirely agree they must be treated with respect - they are carnivores, and have an impressive array of teeth in those demure-looking heads! I always remember, too, that the medical briefing before we went to Antarctica emphasized that some of the worst injuries that the doctors had to deal with were seal bites - they don't brush their teeth between meals, so seal bites tend to get infected with a wide range of nasty bugs. The difficulty arose because the doctors could never be sure what to treat! I'd be very wary of trying to interact with them in the water, or even in a dinghy, kayak or suchlike. I am somewhat biased - a colleague was drowned by a leopard seal; the investigation afterwards suggested that the seal mistook her for its prey and let go pretty quickly once it realized its mistake - but she drowned anyway.

 

[nortada]

Just to note that the OP was interested in landing by dinghy, and although landing at Stone Point is OK, there are few (if any) other places where landing is permitted around Hamford Water. Lovely place to anchor.

Agree and apart from Stone Point there are not many sandy beaches in the Backwaters.

 

[johnalison]

Entirely agree they must be treated with respect - they are carnivores, and have an impressive array of teeth in those demure-looking heads! I always remember, too, that the medical briefing before we went to Antarctica emphasized that some of the worst injuries that the doctors had to deal with were seal bites - they don't brush their teeth between meals, so seal bites tend to get infected with a wide range of nasty bugs. The difficulty arose because the doctors could never be sure what to treat! I'd be very wary of trying to interact with them in the water, or even in a dinghy, kayak or suchlike. I am somewhat biased - a colleague was drowned by a leopard seal; the investigation afterwards suggested that the seal mistook her for its prey and let go pretty quickly once it realized its mistake - but she drowned anyway.

I was thinking in terms of treating them respectfully rather than because of the possible danger, but that is a good point. People often think that because some creatures, such as dolphins can be safely played with (though not necessarily legally or morally), other similar creatures can also be approached.

Your leopard seal story is alarming. My only connection with Antarctica is that my namesake fell into a crevasse there and was lost. I had met him a few months before he joined what I think was the British Antarctic Survey. This was around 1964.