Brighton entrance

lustyd

lustyd

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Is anyone local to Beighton? They have a NTM saying not to use entrance 2 hours either side of low water but the stated depth is 1.7m below CD dredged. Tonight we have a 2.2m low water and somehow the marina staff are unable to tell me why I shouldn’t leave at low water.
Is there an actual problem that would cause issues? I can’t imagine there being 2m of silting otherwise the chart ought to be changed to reflect that risk.
 
If you get no answer shortly, nip over in the dinghy while it's still light and survey it with a lead line (improvised if need be), or just cautiously 'suck it and see' in your yacht. It will only be soft mud.

I haven't been there for years, but like you doubt there would be so much silting as to be drying.
 
If there has been any rough weather/Gales with an East or North easterly slant recently, (Months) then there well may be some changes to the Fairway depth. Once inside the entrance where the Fairway turns to starboard used to be the worst spot for uncertain depth changes. Newhaven was my home port and I knew Brighton Marina pretty well having wintered there a few times between voyages. BUT I haven't sailed into there for 8 years plus, so I don't know what dredging has been done, or if the massive building and concrete pier developments close to the entrance have had any effects on the Fairway depths.
 
If the weather improves I may take the tender over. Currently still horrid in the entrance and smashing over the wall so reluctant to go right now 😂
 
Wandered over (on foot) at low water and it was a boiling brown mess so I have to assume the worst and will leave later than we wanted.
Shocking that the marina couldn’t tell us the depth in the entrance you’d think they would check regularly!
 
LittleSister said:
If you get no answer shortly, nip over in the dinghy while it's still light and survey it with a lead line (improvised if need be), or just cautiously 'suck it and see' in your yacht. It will only be soft mud.

I haven't been there for years, but like you doubt there would be so much silting as to be drying.
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A club member grounded in the entrance and decided to have it lifted there for inspection so presumably it wasn’t just coming to a gentle halt in soft mud

I think there was a thread here about last year’s dredging, it did seem to take a while
 
With Brighton, do assume the worst. Even when they are dredging it, you can't rely on the winding channel with its shifting sands. I've bumped the bottom a few times there in spots where there should have been a metre or two under the keel.
 
Lucky Duck said:
A club member grounded in the entrance and decided to have it lifted there for inspection so presumably it wasn’t just coming to a gentle halt in soft mud

I think there was a thread here about last year’s dredging, it did seem to take a while
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Dockhead said:
With Brighton, do assume the worst. Even when they are dredging it, you can't rely on the winding channel with its shifting sands. I've bumped the bottom a few times there in spots where there should have been a metre or two under the keel.
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I've been too long on the muddy East Coast. I'd forgotten about the existence of sand!

It does of course also depend on how fast you are going when you hit the bottom - harder to control coming inward at Brighton when it's windy.
 
If you're going upchannel, the best tactic is to pass Brighton by, and go on up to Dover. A much nicer place, and much more approachable harbour. Sadly you can't anchor there any more. Cinque Ports Yacht Club -- not much longer for their present quarters.
 
For anyone curious, the answer was 0.9m below CD in the entrance. Appalling that they didn’t know this and worse that they use NTMs rather than change the chart and guidance.
 
lustyd said:
For anyone curious, the answer was 0.9m below CD in the entrance.
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How do you know this? Did you do a full survey, and measure the depth across the entire width of the marked channel? Or did you just look at the least depth on the specific track you happened to take? With all due respect, if the latter, then you really don't know the least depth in the approach channel.

lustyd said:
Appalling that they didn’t know this and worse that they use NTMs rather than change the chart and guidance.
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I beg to differ. Have a chat with Tillergirl on the ECF - there's quite a lot more to surveying and updating charts than a quick trip out and a glance at the echosounder. I think their approach sounds quite reasonable, especially for what they hope will be a temporary depth reduction until they get the dredging done.
 
What are you babbling about? We went through the entrance which is “dredged to 1.7m below datum” this morning. We were in the channel the whole time and the depth was 0.9m below datum.
Why make it more complicated than that?
The reason the chart ought to be changed is that many/most won’t check all NTMs from all authorities for everywhere they go. Since this seems a regular issue, updating the chart with safe values seems prudent, especially given people have been aground and required lift out as a result. The current situation is dangerous and irresponsible
 
Black Sheep said:
How do you know this? Did you do a full survey, and measure the depth across the entire width of the marked channel? Or did you just look at the least depth on the specific track you happened to take? With all due respect, if the latter, then you really don't know the least depth in the approach channel.
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I don't think anyone thought lustyd had completely surveyed the entrance. It's fairly obvious from the context that this was an ad hoc watch of the sounder or perhaps a 'leadline and dinghy' expedition. He was just sharing on the spot information of the kind that has been shouted between incoming/outgoing boats and between friends for centuries, probably millennia.
 
I am glad that the OP left without drama.

As a former berth holder at Bn I’m not surprised the management didn’t guarantee depth numbers.
I was 1.8m draft
Whilst there is a lot of ( mostly plowable) mud on the inside, you have to remember that Brighton marina was man made on top of fairly unyielding, hard bottom that runs out at a shallow incline from the chalk..
And between the pier heads at the entrance , it’s a mast rattler if you bump.

The trick was to hug the W side both coming in ( eyeing it 🤞to make sure no one was steaming out in a hurry) and when leaving , avoid inshore swell at half tide or below and to be wary of a south easter storm that can push stuff in and change the numbers too.
Never mind the silt.

Regular dredging does it’s bit but that bottom is hard right by the green fairway buoy on the entrance . Or was 😂
 
Blueboatman said:
I’m not surprised the management didn’t guarantee depth numbers
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I wasn’t asking for a guarantee I was asking what the depth was when they measured it.
Charted depths should not be aspirational. If theres a bar at the entrance even occasionally then chart it that way so people are first and foremost safe. It’s pointless and dangerous to say we wish it was 1.7m and this is the only dredged place I’ve experienced this, everywhere else dredged deeper and redo when it comes up to the charted depth.
 
lustyd said:
I wasn’t asking for a guarantee I was asking what the depth was when they measured it.
Charted depths should not be aspirational. If theres a bar at the entrance even occasionally then chart it that way so people are first and foremost safe. It’s pointless and dangerous to say we wish it was 1.7m and this is the only dredged place I’ve experienced this, everywhere else dredged deeper and redo when it comes up to the charted depth.
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I know
It’s all so imprecise isn’t it?
Hope France is good 👍
 
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