Cromer : a lot of pots

[Bristolfashion]

Lowestoft to Wells next the sea yesterday. A fine run, but there are a lot of pots in the Cromer area and quite a few around Blakeney. A night passage would only be for the brave.

The Wells Bar is pretty good & well marked.

 

[ashtead]

You don’t need to venture that far to find pots surely - StVaast is much closer or indeed any French port.

 

[Charlie Boy]

Lowestoft to Wells next the sea yesterday. A fine run, but there are a lot of pots in the Cromer area and quite a few around Blakeney. A night passage would only be for the brave.

The Wells Bar is pretty good & well marked.

How was the entry into Wells?

 

[Bristolfashion]

How was the entry into Wells?

Really good. We had a very light swell NE and really light winds. The instructions from the harbour master and the video on the Port of Wells website are excellent. We started our run at HW Wells -2 and had no problems at all - although a min depth under keel (1.1m draft) of 0.4. Deeper boats may wish to go a little later!

In summary (but check for accurate / up to date info);
West Cardinal (call HM)
Course of 165/170 to yellow special mark, leaving it to port
Follow red & green (it goes very close to beach)
At RNLI station call HM again
Follow small reds (not big) to town .
Turn & moor port side to on pontoon

The HM met us at the pontoon and really could not have been more helpful.

The current does run very fast - we came in on tick over at over 5 knots COG. When we turned, we were going strongly backwards - great for a ferry glide.

It is a really brilliant location - 6 out of 5!

 

[Charlie Boy]

Hmmm, a depth of 1.5 wouldn’t be helpful to us at 1.7. I’m guessing that’s neaps though? What was the predicted height?

 

[capnsensible]

Really good. We had a very light swell NE and really light winds. The instructions from the harbour master and the video on the Port of Wells website are excellent. We started our run at HW Wells -2 and had no problems at all - although a min depth under keel (1.1m draft) of 0.4. Deeper boats may wish to go a little later!

In summary (but check for accurate / up to date info);
West Cardinal (call HM)
Course of 165/170 to yellow special mark, leaving it to port
Follow red & green (it goes very close to beach)
At RNLI station call HM again
Follow small reds (not big) to town .
Turn & moor port side to on pontoon

The HM met us at the pontoon and really could not have been more helpful.

The current does run very fast - we came in on tick over at over 5 knots COG. When we turned, we were going strongly backwards - great for a ferry glide.

It is a really brilliant location - 6 out of 5!

Hiya. Just to say I'm enjoying your dits from your tour. Especially the places I'm unlikely to ever sail to.
Thanks! ?

 

[LittleSister]

Glad you got there in the end.

 

[Bristolfashion]

Hmmm, a depth of 1.5 wouldn’t be helpful to us at 1.7. I’m guessing that’s neaps though? What was the predicted height?

A chap with a 2m keel just came through 1hr before HW. Predicted height from the almanac (whatever that means on a bar like this) was 5.7m at the bar at HW. LW is drying.

The tides at Wells itself were different - today shows L 0.32, H 3.69.

Oh, it's near springs at the moment.

We only saw 0.4 momentarily. It was inside the bar, so a few minutes stuck wouldn't have mattered - in calm fine conditions! Advice from the HM is key.

It's a weird tidal curve here - low to high is only just over 4 hours, so a rapid rise.

With advice from the HM & tide info on that day , you'd be fine to enter. It's really worth it. Talking to others here, it's the conditions that really make the difference - low swell & light/offshore winds seem ideal.

 

[Sandy]

I am beginning to get paranoid about pots!

 

[Bristolfashion]

I wouldn't try Wells at low tide!

 

[Greg2]

Lowestoft to Wells next the sea yesterday. A fine run, but there are a lot of pots in the Cromer area and quite a few around Blakeney. A night passage would only be for the brave.

The Wells Bar is pretty good & well marked.

A very active crab and lobster fishery off N. Norfolk, particularly Cromer - Sheringham. Close in is a very productive area for fishermen but go a little further off and you can find a fairly clear route through.
.

 

[Habebty]

I was up there the other day (by car) and saw the channel into town had been straightened out. The channel used to wind back and forth across the moorings! Glad you got there in such lovely weather. Might be up there again Saturday.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

I am beginning to get paranoid about pots!

So am I. I have been sailing in Bristol Channel for the last 3 years; and I am glad to say that the Bristol channel is relatively lobster pot free. However, I was sailing in the Solent and the South for many years and the pots there were everywhere, and very poorly marked to the point of causing danger to navigation. Indeed, a lot of calls to the coastguard were directly related to yachts getting tangled in pots and drifting. Regulation is needed to prevent irresponsible behaviour and the removal of illegal and non-compliant pots.
Wells-next-the-sea is a good and convenient place to get to; the sandy channel changes regularly but it was well buoyed when I was sailing there coming down from the Yorkshire coast. I did not have any issues with pots there nor at Cromer; perhaps I was lucky.

 

[Daverw]

A chap with a 2m keel just came through 1hr before HW. Predicted height from the almanac (whatever that means on a bar like this) was 5.7m at the bar at HW. LW is drying.

The tides at Wells itself were different - today shows L 0.32, H 3.69.

Oh, it's near springs at the moment.

We only saw 0.4 momentarily. It was inside the bar, so a few minutes stuck wouldn't have mattered - in calm fine conditions! Advice from the HM is key.

It's a weird tidal curve here - low to high is only just over 4 hours, so a rapid rise.

With advice from the HM & tide info on that day , you'd be fine to enter. It's really worth it. Talking to others here, it's the conditions that really make the difference - low swell & light/offshore winds seem ideal.

We came out of wells week last Sunday, strong N gusting 21 knts bar rough but do able, past cardinal 2m short swell, did not fancy that for 9 hours to Humber so turned back and surfed back in. left boat for week, Back out again this Sunday, E 10 knts bumpy bar crossing but fine, left HW -30minutes, min 1 m below 1.8 keel no issues. We always arrive just before HW with tide still flooding as it makes it easy to get onto pontoon when busy, just ferry glide into gap.

 

[Daverw]

I was up there the other day (by car) and saw the channel into town had been straightened out. The channel used to wind back and forth across the moorings! Glad you got there in such lovely weather. Might be up there again Saturday.

The old channel has sanded up so not possible, the straight run down now makes the old challenge of working out channel from mooring markers easier.