cost hopping clockwise from Humber estuary to Solent?

Robin

Robin

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 May 2001
Messages
18,088
Location
high and dry on north island
Visit site
we are seriously considering buying a boat currently based in the NE and doing a leisurely delivery to the Solent ourselves from there. How feasible is that please, the East Coast is a blank page in my memory banks so not sure if we are just wishful thinking. Boat is a 38ft planing hull mobo so will need to plan to refuel from time to time and so lets see if 100 nm +/- daily hops are possible? stated cruise is 20kts, we might prefer working on say 15kts and max 6 hr cruise days. boat is very well equipped with all modern electronics and well maintained 2 x 306HP Volvos with low hours.


Just trying to a) enjoy a delivery trip and b) avoid a long truck delivery.

If it happens, anyone interested in lending a hand perhaps? We are 70 and 72 year olds, experienced sail boaters and had a year in the USA living an cruising on board a 47 ft SD mobo, so offshore mobo experience is limited compared t averaging 2000nm/year under sail for our last 25 years in UK.
 
Last edited:
Your problem is the leg from the Humber to either Wells (with a tricky entrance) or Lowestoft. Wells really is the first tenable port south of the Humber, and I decided against it on the grounds that it is a difficult entrance, and that (for my fin keel yacht) there is a limited tidal window for entering. After that you can take short hops quite easily. A planing hull will not be comfortable in typical North Sea conditions, I would imagine.
 
Longest day stint would be the Humber to Great Yarmouth - ball park distance from just inside Spurn Head to Great Yarmouth is about 112nm. No all tide weather options on route.
Next stint options - short hop of about 45nm Great Yarmouth to Shotley Marina in Harwich Harbour or doing Great Yarmouth to Ramsgate about 96nm. Lowestoft is an en-route haven but very close or Sourhwold depending. Shotley to Ramsgate will not have an option en-route.
If you did stint 2 to Shotley, Shotley to Ramsgate is 53nm or a further 15nm to Dover.

Fuel available on all the places mentioned.

West of Dover! At that point my charts fall off the edge of the world!

Tempting, tempting but I am deeply seriously overdrawn in the SWMBO credit voucher bank!

Of course as a cruise and fun passage plan there are some nice diversions on the way.
 
Agreed. From Lowestoft onwards, there are lots of short hops... Southwold, River Ore / Alde, River Deben, Harwich, Walton back waters, Brightlingsea, Mersea, Burnham, Queenborough, Ramsgate, Dover, etc.
But you need to plan your first hop very carefully. Maybe Kings Lynn?
 
tillergirl said:
Longest day stint would be the Humber to Great Yarmouth - ball park distance from just inside Spurn Head to Great Yarmouth is about 112nm. No all tide weather options on route.
Next stint options - short hop of about 45nm Great Yarmouth to Shotley Marina in Harwich Harbour or doing Great Yarmouth to Ramsgate about 96nm. Lowestoft is an en-route haven but very close or Sourhwold depending. Shotley to Ramsgate will not have an option en-route.
If you did stint 2 to Shotley, Shotley to Ramsgate is 53nm or a further 15nm to Dover.

Fuel available on all the places mentioned.

West of Dover! At that point my charts fall off the edge of the world!

Tempting, tempting but I am deeply seriously overdrawn in the SWMBO credit voucher bank!

Of course as a cruise and fun passage plan there are some nice diversions on the way.
Click to expand...

My charts are off the opposite edge of the world. I did Dover once after the 1962 Tall ships and once more in YM Offshore classwork, otherwise I like lumps of non -moving rock and deep waters 100ft off a cliff. got to see too many skinny waters this side of the pond also, but each to their own. I just thought it would be a chance to glimpse how the other folks boat but with a well known home destination at the end of the tunnel.:D

Glad to see it is possible with careful planning even if we might have to stretch one leg run a bit to nearer 100nm, no real problem as we did many 150nm non-stops often enough before under sail, just need to put the ear defenders on or turn the sound system volume up.
 
Just a note that for the next month at least most likely longer Hull marina is closed due to lock pin damaged, Grimsby very busy and access limited, so fuel stop may be an issue
 
Daverw said:
Just a note that for the next month at least most likely longer Hull marina is closed due to lock pin damaged, Grimsby very busy and access limited, so fuel stop may be an issue
Click to expand...

Timing is a real unknown, even if we decide to buy at all, once we do a full view and survey We are still in the brainstorming mode with this boat well on top of a list of 5, some even all of which may get sold before we can proceed anyway. At the other end the provisional berth we have is not available to us until after the IOW Festival is over, say mid June. Lots of Ifs ands and who knowswhats. The other option boats are all easier delivery but come with with different downsides to overcome even if not necessarily immediately

Thanks as always for the helpful and informative replies, I will update in due course..
 
Last edited:
tillergirl said:
Kings Lynn would be very interesting but leisure berths are 1.5m max. The local Kings Lynn chartlet must be used.
Click to expand...

Wisbech would be a viable stop in terms of draft, but at 25nm from the sea it's pointless, Kings Lynn is about 20nm so again, pointless, IMO.

It is worth remembering that a 38ft mobo will only draw about 3ft.
 
The definitive video on this would be 'All At Sea' with Timothy and Shane Spall in The Princess Matilda a flat bottom Dutch Motor Barge. The easiest part of their trip, The Medway was where they got lost. It was recently shown on BBC4 so should be available on BBC Iplayer. However if you are located in Florida the BBC may not allow you access.

Of course 'All At Sea' does not go beyond the Thames Estuary, but everything after that is really quite easy.
 
Should be an easy enough run in a boat of that size and specification. Just be aware that the availability of unscheduled stopping points down that east coast is very limited, so you do need to have confidence in your boat. Make sure it is fully serviced before setting out and do some local runs to test that everything is ok... Once you get south of Harwich, there are plenty of places to stop and you can take it as easy as you want.
 
Humber to Lowestoft is around 100nm and Humber to Wells is about 45nm. Wells is perfectly doable in a 38ft mobo, access should be about 3hrs either side of HW. Whilst the bar is best avoided on a spring ebb, it isn't a difficult entrance with a powerful mobo. Bob, the harbour master, will usually escort you with the harbour launch in if asked. I've been into Wells several times in a mobo and i would suggest that if you were making this trip it would be a worthwhile stop, Wells is a very nice place.

Wells to Lowestoft is straightforward, although Cromer should be passed at least 5 miles offshore to avoid the maze of pot buoys.

Lowestoft to Shotley is a very easy journey. If your proposed new berth was not yet available, i'm sure Shotley could accommodate you for a short stay.

South of the Thames estuary is outside my experience, but looking at the charts, i would be inclined to go from Shotley to Dover, rather than Ramsgate. Whichever you decide on, you won't find better advice than you will get on this forum for crossing the Thames Estuary.

If your trip goes ahead i'd be happy to accompany you for some of it, if i can fit my work around your dates.
 
Alchemist V274 said:
Never been by water but I am sure others have said Great Yarmouth is not friendly to smaller craft, Lowestoft is only a few miles further on and would offer a friendlier reception.
Click to expand...
+1 Best to avoid Great Yarmouth. Poor berthing. Grimsby ( Humber Cruising Assoc.) has fuel. If you have your stated sail cruising experience then it should be a very enjoyable trip. Even if you miss out Wells crossing the Wash shouldn't be too traumatic for your projected motor boat. Last year, in a slight headwind (force 1), we left Spurn at 0500 and motored in a yacht at approx 5.75 knots and reached Lowestoft at 0030 next day. If wind direction and tides serve Wells would be an attractive diversion but, although it is lit, I would hesitate to attempt at night without local knowledge. Agree that Kings Lynn or Wisbech do not help to facilitate passage-off direct course and very tidal.
 
From Lowestoft or Harwich, I would head for Ramsgate or Dover. That is if you are planning a quick journey. If not the stop at some of the well known east coast haunts including the Medway. Next port of call would be Eastbourne or Brighton, then on into the Solent.

I have sailed singlehanded as day sails from Medway to Dover, then to Brighton and to the Solent. My return was Solent to Eastbourne, then Ramsgate and back to the Medway. So in a power boat, each leg would be 6 hours or less. All of these stops have fuel pontoons.
 
I wondered if that was a Freudian slip in the post title :)

When picking up fuel on the East Coast, make sure you check for water. Their was an incident in the Humber area when two MoBos travelling incompany had refueled somewhere North of the Humber and had to be towed into Grimsby with engine failure due to water in the fuel.....
 
Boz said:
I wondered if that was a Freudian slip in the post title :)

When picking up fuel on the East Coast, make sure you check for water. Their was an incident in the Humber area when two MoBos travelling incompany had refueled somewhere North of the Humber and had to be towed into Grimsby with engine failure due to water in the fuel.....
Click to expand...

With my stupid spellchecker it could have come up as 'cot' just as easily or even 'add to dictionary?' Thanks for the heads up re fuel too.
 
Grimsby has an easily accessible refuelling berth. Wells it tricky for refuelling in that it needs to be done at high tide.
15 knots is uneconomical in a planing motorboat.
 
I would recommend Dover over Ramsgate for fuel.
Dover supply the commercial fleet as well as leisure boats. Ramsgate have a fuel club for the pilots and fishermen but leisure craft have to buy from the council run fuel pontoon. More expensive and lower fuel turnover with greater chance of waxy or dirty fuel.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top