Brightlingsea in a fin keel drawing 1.6m

mrming

mrming

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Jul 2012
Messages
1,864
Location
immaculateyachts on Instagram
instagram.com
Weather permitting, we're hoping to visit Brightlingsea on Friday 23rd July, crossing the estuary from the Swale.

We're a Westerly Fulmar (32') with a fin keel drawing 1.6m.

Our home berth is Conyer Creek so we're used to drying out / sitting relatively upright in soft mud.

What are the chances of us getting a suitable visitors mooring or berth in Brightlingsea? Happy to water taxi or dinghy ashore if necessary. Don't mind drying out but it needs to be soft mud.

We would arrive around low tide so my thinking is to anchor outside and then head in on the rising tide around 1 hour after LW. Does that sound realistic?

Any tips greatly appreciated. :)
 
A couple of weeks ago I took my fin keel Fulmar into Brightlingsea. The harbour master will direct you alongside a mid creek pontoon. Stayed afloat over low tide, so no problems. Can get busy at weekends, but a Friday will be no problem. Enjoy your visit.
 
Last edited:
Our W33 draws 1.7m (possibly a bit more with all the crap .. sorry, essential gear and stores ... on board) and we have been known to cut a groove in the slight bar at the harbour entrance at low water springs but it wasn't a big deal

An hour after low water you'd be fine but personally I'd potter in slowly anytime after LW and "touch and go". You probably won't touch and if you do going fairly slowly on a rising tide it's no big deal

And if i got there below LW I'd still give it a go anyway but very carefully ready to back off into deeper water if we touched
 
I came out of there about 90 mins before LW last Friday morning (heading back home to Conyer!) and noted min depth 1.9m just inside the tide gauge post. As for berthing they will always fit you in somewhere, first offer being a mid stream pontoon unless you ask to go into the marina. The latter was pretty full last week and is accessible from about HW-3 to +3.
If entering with little height of tide, make sure you stay on the transits until you pass between the red and green buoys. Then keep to the right of centre as you round the corner.
 
Last edited:
The channel is getting deeper these days thanks to the more frequent port traffic and wind farm boats.
But do NOT stray outside the red cans... See my post in "anyone we know" for an indication of why not.

Anyone we know?

Call on 68 as you approach. The harbour master will come out to greet you and lead you to a berth.
 
For all its inconveniences, Brightlingsea is unlike any other place to visit. Taking the dinghy ashore is part of the ritual which we even managed during the week of the Morning Cloud gale. I don’t think that our 1.5m keel touches bottom at the pontoon but the channels can be a bit marginal at LWS, though one is unlikely to be on the move at that time.
 
The biggest challenge is whether CYC has any beer and is open?
The Yottie is very nice but a bit of a honey pot and always full.
We have lost the world famous Kovalam and now have the Raj Tandouri.. The food good... but
The head waiter suffers from short man syndrome and is permanently wound up in a tizwozz. Instead of concentrating and getting things done he argues with the waitresses, who are both taller than him and argue back. The evening descends into a Faulty Towers farce... except it is not funny.
 
Stork_III said:
My HR 34 draft 1.8m , usually has a solid rudder at low tide on the outer pontoon side, so the keel is in the mud solidly.
Click to expand...
Should'v got the shallow fin option. ? Mine is allegedly 1.5m but possibly more like 1.6 with beer and rum on board. It cost and extra £2,500 but was worth it overall. On the other hand, the BKYC never worried much about their boats hitting rocks.
 
johnalison said:
Should'v got the shallow fin option. ? Mine is allegedly 1.5m but possibly more like 1.6 with beer and rum on board. It cost and extra £2,500 but was worth it overall. On the other hand, the BKYC never worried much about their boats hitting rocks.
Click to expand...

My 31 was BKYC, but not the 34. Surprised your rudder never stuck at B/sea.
 
Stork_III said:
My 31 was BKYC, but not the 34. Surprised your rudder never stuck at B/sea.
Click to expand...
My rudder may be the same as yours. It is only a little shorter than the keel but is OK when drying out onto a hard surface. I have stayed in Brighlingsea many times but don’t remember the rudder being stuck, but I’m not very observant. I would normally tie the helm when on the pontoon because the current can run quite strongly through the moorings.
 
Be careful to keep to port side of the channel. We came out at low water last week and ran aground. There is not much water there at LW if you veer off by even a few yards. We draw 1.7.
fortunately a rising tide. I also noticed the keel touched in the channel between the pontoons. Won’t leave at dead LW again. Otherwise as others have said it’s a great place to visit and the Barbour stall are brilliant.
 
The harbour has provided navigation advice . See link below. The video is well worth watching as it highlights the shallow areas.
a lot of dredging has taken place over the last few years. Target depth in entrance channel is 1m below CD, with 0.75 m below CD the target around pontoons. The bottom is very soft mud, so at the bottom of the tide your keel will just sink into it If there isn’t enough water around low tide

navigation advice - Brightlingsea Harbour
 
Probably 15 years ago now, but I had the rudder of my Westerly Storm (5' 6" / 1.68 m draft) stuck solidly in the mud for about 3 hours around LW springs when moored alongside their pontoon in a berth allocated by the HM who was aware of our draft.

Hopefully there is a bit more water available now.

Peter.
 
On passageweather it looks fairly light this morning and turning SE later in the day. I don’t think it will be anything unsettling but could be a longish haul for a small boat.
 
Tomahawk said:
The biggest challenge is whether CYC has any beer and is open?
The Yottie is very nice but a bit of a honey pot and always full.
We have lost the world famous Kovalam and now have the Raj Tandouri.. The food good... but
The head waiter suffers from short man syndrome and is permanently wound up in a tizwozz. Instead of concentrating and getting things done he argues with the waitresses, who are both taller than him and argue back. The evening descends into a Faulty Towers farce... except it is not funny.
Click to expand...
That is so true! My wife and I visited last Saturday. The food was first class, but within 5 mins we'd nicknamed the head waiter 'Napoleon'.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top