Crossing the Thames

[cueball]

Hi, Great to be a member of this forum, for information I picked up a new yacht (new to me) on Saturday from Ramsgate and sailed her back to the Crouch. She draws 2m so I was cautious of the route to take, as I intended to crossing Fishermans Gat at LW +1 hr to take some advantage of tidal flow, then up black deep (040) to cross to barrow no3 (when at 315) and then pretty much E to the whittker which for me is the mouth of the crouch! lowest depth I had was 4.4 meters, my question, Is there a quicker route bearing in mind i dont like to see below 3m on the instruments?

thanks

 

[MoodySabre]

See crossingthethamesestuary website and then buy the book!

 

[tillergirl]

See crossingthethamesestuary website and then buy the book!

:encouragement::encouragement::encouragement::encouragement::encouragement::encouragement::encouragement:

Like to see more than 3m on the instruments? Suggest a bit of masking tape with 3.1 written on it suitably placed

Seriously though there was a lot of sense in that route. You could have saved a little distance using Foulger's Gat and then not going as far up as the Barrow No 3 (see the Little Sunk chartlet on the downloads) or saved yourself the best distance - quite a lot - by using the swatchway at the SW Sunk (see the SW Sunk chartlet on the downloads) which is lovely and deep at the moment.

 

[cueball]

Thanks for the info Tillergirl, the next time i cross i will use this route :encouragement:

 

[johnalison]

Don't rely on any swatchway staying the same for ever. Many years ago, a passage across the Sunk appeared on Admiralty charts, and with the arrival of Decca, we had the confidence to try it, finding 5m at LWS. I spread the word around our club and others also used it, with mixed success, though only one had to be attended by a lifeboat. As a result, the club tended to refer to it impolitely as "Wilson's back passage". After a couple of years it was gone.

 

[cueball]

Thanks Johnalison, that's put me off, I went aground out there a few years back on my previous yacht not a nice experience, managed to heel her enough to sail off luckily but it certainly upset the crew

 

[tillergirl]

Without wishing to introduce a non-East Coast Forum hint of criticism but John is being excessively negative in my view. I trundle over the Sunk collecting data a few times each season and have got to understand a little about the movement of the sands - not as an expert of course. Two year back we were using a different swatchway at the SW Sunk and we were seeing it close up very gradually each year over a 4/5 year period. At the same time, the current swatchway was opening up and it is (in Sunk terms) very deep. As a result of sending my data to the UKHO last year, they asked the PLA to survey the area which they did in February. They were very kind and sent me their data which I over laid on my data to find almost 100% correlation. In other words, between May 2014 and February 2015, there had been no change. I do not believe that it is a coincide that the current swatchway has reappeared, nor do I think it has reappeared suddenly. Where we are now is almost exactly back to how things were in the 1970's - in fact if you are in Bradwell Cruising Club there is a 1970's chart on the wall which really (in respect of this swatchway at least) pretty accurate.

I have had two reports this year from yachtsmen who have used the swatchway and have reported depths as I would expect them. I will continue to monitor reports and let people know what is happening if indeed anything happens.

You are right to be cautious of course. I have touched once on the SW Sunk during one of my surveys and even on perfect conditions it is an unpleasant experience. My advice would be always to monitor the echo sounder while going through that swatchway, expect depths to be less on the south side, keep to the track between the two recommended waypoints noting that it is steep to on the SW side, less so the other side. Should you find yourself in less than 2m water while on the track, then things will have changed significantly. Turn about and retreat! But I really don't expect that. Reassured by the PLA survey, I had not put a high priority on re-surveying that swatchway soon intending to look in fine detail at the Spitway but I could change my mind if people think its necessary.

I hope this reassures you.

 

[cueball]

From Friday 8th May, I am delivering my old bilge keeled yacht, I will be sailing from the Crouch to Guernsey, as this yacht draws just 1.4m I will plot a course through this swatchway and update you on the current depths. I must say the info that is available on this forum is priceless, please keep up the good work!

 

[Otter]

Can someone post a chart photo or screen grab of the swatchway?

 

[tillergirl]

Can someone post a chart photo or screen grab of the swatchway?

http://www.crossingthethamesestuary.com/page29.html Second pdf down: been there since last May but with a slight update this year. As far as I am aware no chart plotter software is up to date yet unless you have the UKHO digital stuff! It takes a while for modern charts to become accurate. Paper, paper, that's the stuff.:encouragement: Throw aware your iPhone/iPad. Useless, useless.

In the swatchway, heading north - look at that dark coloured deep water!



Over 7m of water under the keel here:

[URL=http://s217.photobucket.com/user/rgaspar_album/media/P1030894.jpg.html]

 

[tillergirl]

From Friday 8th May, I am delivering my old bilge keeled yacht, I will be sailing from the Crouch to Guernsey, as this yacht draws just 1.4m I will plot a course through this swatchway and update you on the current depths. I must say the info that is available on this forum is priceless, please keep up the good work!

Thanks.