Broads access

[Portland Billy]

Could a boat with 12ft air draught access the northern Broads ( ie transit Yarmouth) at normal low water.?
Bridge clearance is stated as 6ft 9ins , which I believe is MHWS, and the range of tide seems to be around the 6ft mark.
I guess keel draught at low water may be a problem. But looking at the chart 1.7 metres should be OK unless LWS.
I wish we could get away from using metric and imperial - it just confused things further !

 

[Bigplumbs]

Could a boat with 12ft air draught access the northern Broads ( ie transit Yarmouth) at normal low water.?
Bridge clearance is stated as 6ft 9ins , which I believe is MHWS, and the range of tide seems to be around the 6ft mark.
I guess keel draught at low water may be a problem. But looking at the chart 1.7 metres should be OK unless LWS.
I wish we could get away from using metric and imperial - it just confused things further !

I think it will be incredibly tight.

Looking at the heights on line today I get 11 ft 8 Inches of space. Looking at the tide chart for Feb there is quite a range of low water heights. Chart below. If you went say on the 20th Feb on the first low tide you could gain 2 ft. So you possibly could make it. You would have to get it all very right. How much water do you draw

Tide Times and Tide Chart for Great Yarmouth

 

[Plum]

Could a boat with 12ft air draught access the northern Broads ( ie transit Yarmouth) at normal low water.?
Bridge clearance is stated as 6ft 9ins , which I believe is MHWS, and the range of tide seems to be around the 6ft mark.
I guess keel draught at low water may be a problem. But looking at the chart 1.7 metres should be OK unless LWS.
I wish we could get away from using metric and imperial - it just confused things further !

That 6ft 9ins is at " average summer high water" not MHWS. For access to the northern broads the Gt Yarmouth Vauxhall bridge is 3.96m above CD which is 13ft and even on the lowest tides of the year you are unlikely to get less than 0.3m above CD .

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[Bigplumbs]

That 6ft 9ins is at " average summer high water" not MHWS. For access to the northern broads the Gt Yarmouth Vauxhall bridge is 3.96m above CD which is 13ft and even on the lowest tides of the year you are unlikely to get less than 0.3m above CD .

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

So would you attempt it with a 12 ft air draft boat

 

[Plum]

So would you attempt it with a 12 ft air draft boat

No, too risky for me. I have done it with 2.5m air draft boat. If you cut it too fine to go in you may be limited as to when you get out again. An added risk is that the visible tide/clearance gauges at the bridge do not work at low water.

 

[Greg2]

We wouldn't try it with a 12’ air draught and whilst we think our Hardy might make it at 3.44m (about 11’3.5”) we would careful. As has been mentioned, once on the northern rivers you might have to stay for a while waiting for a suitable tide to get back.

 

[Plum]

No, too risky for me. I have done it with 2.5m air draft boat. If you cut it too fine to go in you may be limited as to when you get out again. An added risk is that the visible tide/clearance gauges at the bridge do not work at low water.

This picture shows the gauges at low water. Not useful at all.


www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk