Brighton Marina: How shallow is it?

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MountainGoat

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Hi all,

Looking to spend a month in Brighton during September. Talked to the marina office and they inform me that their berths may only be 0.5m BCD, with silt under that. We draw 1.75m. Looking at the tides for the month we plan to be there, the lowest one is predicted at 0.5m ACD, leaving us 25cm to stick in the mud.

Can anyone tell me how realistic the 0.5m BCD figure is? Is there going to be a danger of waves in the marina during the hours the boat is grounded?

Appreciate any local knowledge here. I guess I can always go round the marina with a lead line when picking my berth and try to get the deepest one on offer.
 
errrr.... I think your arithmetic is wrong. 0.5mBCD+0.5mACD = 1.0m depth of water and means you will have 0.75m of your keel in the mud.

In our trip west end July, we only got as far as Sovereign so no direct experience, but we met a lot of boats coming back from Brighton with horror stories of building noise, and needing to be locked into the inner basin for a decent nights sleep. Also, the depth problem meant only accessible HW+/- 4hrs
 
Gladys said:
errrr.... I think your arithmetic is wrong. 0.5mBCD+0.5mACD = 1.0m depth of water and means you will have 0.75m of your keel in the mud.
Click to expand...

Quite right. Not especially bothered about limited access: just don't want to stick my entire keel (and rudder!) in the mud.
 
I wonder whether the marina were telling you 'worst case'. I believe that they have already started a comprehensive dredging operation in which case some berths should have much more than 0.5m. Might be worth calling them and asking whether you could be allocated a deeper berth.
 
Aeolus said:
I wonder whether the marina were telling you 'worst case'. I believe that they have already started a comprehensive dredging operation in which case some berths should have much more than 0.5m. Might be worth calling them and asking whether you could be allocated a deeper berth.
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Thanks. They told me they've dredged the channel, but not the pontoons yet. We'll be passing a week before we want to stay; maybe I can do some recce.
 
AFAIK they don't even have the dredger they intend doing the berths with and won't have until next year.*

The entrance channel was 0.5m below datum. I *think* it's now been dredged to deeper than that: my calculations for our entering/leaving last weekend were "enough" (we weren't leaving or coming back near low water) though it seemed more than I was expecting. How far they've got elsewhere I don't know. The fairways between east and west jetties used to be pretty silty and I don't know how far they've got there.

Depths under the berths vary with location. We've got 0.5-1m below CD. I think Yngmar has less

*For clarity, the entrance and fairways are being dredged by a contracted backhoe dredger. They intend using a specially commissioned cutter suction dredger for the berths which was supposed to be in action last autumn but delayed until (currently) next year
 
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A colleague passed through Brighton a few weeks ago and pretty much confirmed what the marina have told you. He spotted a number of skippers who discovered the hard way (I suppose soft putty way would be more appropriate) that a low tide exit was not an option..... which can be a little irritating if you are east bound.
 
The noise from the pile drivers in Brighton marina is incredibly loud from my house in Kemptown; you may want to go somewhere else for a month. The building work in the marina here makes the place less than ideal for visiting I would have thought, mainly because of the damn noise. I cannot imagine what it's like to be in a boat virtually underneath the pile drivers, with the sound reverberating through the boat hull.

However.

Dredging was supposedly completed last month here, but they seem to be using the word "completed" in its loosest possible sense. From their news section: "We have achieved a navigable channel from the entrance into the fairway and as far as the East Jetty. In addition to this the southern end of the fairway between the east and west jetties has also been dredged."

I've just sold my GH31 and am helping the new owner to sail her back here to Brighton to her new home berth next Wednesday. After speaking to the marina he was told the following pontoons have been dredged and to try these:

West:
13 - (03 or 51) D
14 - (32 or 50) D

East:
20 (14 or 36) D
21 - (15) D
24 (03) D

Make of that what you will.

I'll be calling nearer the time to get a navigable berth. It's all, frankly, a bit of a mess.

And the noise, man. The noise.
 
I was in Brighton for a few days last week, and can't understand all the comments about building noise. The new apartments are finished. There's some maintenance work going on with the caissons which form the outer wall. If there's other stuff happening, I didn't hear it.

My boat draws 1.95m and I had no problem with access. As I was staying for 5 days, the marina asked me to move from the visitors area to a berth on pontoon 8. No apparent problem with depth there.

Last year, I visited for a week and was allocated a berth on pontoon 18. I intended leaving about 5 hours before HW Dover, to head for Ramsgate, but found that the boat was stuck in the mud. Half an hour later, it floated free and I was able to leave.

The marina is essentially fairly good, and Premier do seem to be trying to improve it. The staff are very helpful. The wifi seems to work. There are stacks of places to eat and drink on the doorstep - including about 8 new restaurants in the ground floor area of the new apartments. Plus an Asda superstore for provisions. And a brilliant bus service into town. Now, if the queues for the new i360 hadn't been so long....
 
If you are planning to be there for a month why not lock into the inner harbour? The marina office suggested we use the inner harbour when we were there for a few days in July. We draw 2.1m and there is no depth problem once through the lock. It's also flat calm inside and pretty quiet (unless you're berthed close to the Master Mariner). The only problem - not all the inside berths have running water. Electric is OK but some of the taps are not connected. It might be worth talking to the marina office about reserving an inside berth with running water.
 
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Quick update: the duty manager emailed me this yesterday:

"I would suggest that you arrive at Brighton avoiding the period 90 minutes either side of low water and find a berth on the visitors pontoon which are south side of 10, 11, 12 and west of 13. The areas on 10, 11 and between 11 and 12 have been dredged but elsewhere is subject to some depth restrictions. Call the office on VHF channel 80 on your approach and you will be allocated a visitor berth. You can then attend the office to discuss your further requirements."

In other news, the pile drivers started at 08:45 this morning!

Hope all goes well.
 
Any change in Brighton, I was intrigued this afternoon flying over to see a plume of something coming out of the marina on the ebb
WP_20170626_16_45_21_Pro (2).jpg

Not the best photo, but taken from 30,000 feet. Does this mean dredging is ongoing, or something else?
 
Mandarin331 said:
Any change in Brighton, I was intrigued this afternoon flying over to see a plume of something coming out of the marina on the ebb

Not the best photo, but taken from 30,000 feet. Does this mean dredging is ongoing, or something else?
Click to expand...

Taken from a bit closer, four weeks ago. Ours is the Sadler 32 on the left.

20170531_155536.jpeg
 
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MountainGoat said:
Hi all,

Looking to spend a month in Brighton during September. Talked to the marina office and they inform me that their berths may only be 0.5m BCD, with silt under that. We draw 1.75m. Looking at the tides for the month we plan to be there, the lowest one is predicted at 0.5m ACD, leaving us 25cm to stick in the mud.

Can anyone tell me how realistic the 0.5m BCD figure is? Is there going to be a danger of waves in the marina during the hours the boat is grounded?

Appreciate any local knowledge here. I guess I can always go round the marina with a lead line when picking my berth and try to get the deepest one on offer.
Click to expand...

Struggling to get in anything anytime off HW.

We only draw 1,2 and drew a line in the mud.

Eastbourne or Littlehampton are much better bets.
 
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