Deben and Ore entrance chartlets 2015

OK, I heard back from Imrays who took another look at the raw data, and they've re-processed that section which shows the 0.4 is indeed an isolated lump. It may well have been there last year and missed on the survey. Anyway, as last year, the deeper water is towards the east side in that area. Chartlet has been reloaded on the website. Thanks all !!
 
dennyjc said:
Thanks very much for those
I hadn't realised just how challenging the Deben has become.

With a forecast negative surge of 0.2m to subtract from tomorrow's 0.6m low water at the bar
it sounds like it's a good time to go have a look and perhaps fulfil my ambition of walking to Bawdsey.
Click to expand...

Well, I did go down to the Deben entrance at LW this morning
I took my depth sounder (read 'stick') and some tall boots
But the surge wasn't as helpful as expected
It looks like LW was 0.6 but I never saw any (0.6m)shingle bar.
My wellies were topped long before I got any distance across the river.

Perhaps the recent big winds and high tides a couple of weeks back has deepened it a little
....but that's a good thing, right.
 
Leighb said:
Thanks for the clarification, at least we will know why when we go aground. :D
Click to expand...

+1

Clearly, it was the reason why I bumped the bottom as I went in last year! (I missed it on the way out, after useful advice from the Orford harbourmaster.)
 
I think for the benefit of anyone reading this thread who may be less experienced or confident, we ought to reiterate that these entrances are places where liberties should not be taken.
Even the chartlets cannot be taken as gospel, the seabed is constantly changing (particularly so during strong winds) and it's highly likely that both places no longer look exactly like those chartlets show even though it's only a month since the survey.
There will always be those of us who push our luck sometimes, but the safe way to enter or leave these places is when there is no strong onshore wind, near HW and preferably before HW. And remember the tide runs along the coast (SW on flood, NE on ebb) so you will get cross-tides as you enter or leave.
Judging by the number of folk that John White pulls off the bank now guarded by the Knoll Spit buoy, there are plenty of people out there who do not notice the cross-tide until it's too late! Pick a transit and stick to it.
 
Last edited:
Cantata said:
I think for the benefit of anyone reading this thread who may be less experienced or confident, we ought to reiterate that these entrances are places where liberties should not be taken.

There will always be those of us who push our luck sometimes, but the safe way to enter or leave these places is when there is no strong onshore wind, near HW and preferably before HW. And remember the tide runs along the coast (SW on flood, NE on ebb) so you will get cross-tides as you enter or leave.
Judging by the number of folk that John White pulls off the bank now guarded by the Knoll Spit buoy, there are plenty of people out there who do not notice the cross-tide until it's too late! Pick a transit and stick to it.
Click to expand...
Thats fine in theory. The problem is when you are leaving on transit and you meet an incoming boat being swept towards Harwich by the tide, What to do? Pass P to P and risk being put aground. Stick dead on transit and if necessary pass S to S and endure the inevitable shouting or turn round and go back to try again later!
 
Just something we have to cope with from time to time, eh? Just wanted to get a basic message across, for some 'who may be less experienced or confident', as quoted.
 
Last edited:
Kurrawong_Kid said:
Thats fine in theory. The problem is when you are leaving on transit and you meet an incoming boat being swept towards Harwich by the tide, What to do? Pass P to P and risk being put aground. Stick dead on transit and if necessary pass S to S and endure the inevitable shouting or turn round and go back to try again later!
Click to expand...

I would look ahead before entering the narrow / shallow section and wait until other boat is through.
 
If the entrance continues to get shallower, does that reduce the amount of water that will enter the Deben? If so it becomes a vicious circle as the scour effect is reduced.
 
Lazy Kipper said:
If the entrance continues to get shallower, does that reduce the amount of water that will enter the Deben? If so it becomes a vicious circle as the scour effect is reduced.
Click to expand...

I doubt it would make a significant difference, it will just move faster or, quite likely, over a shallower but wider area. Where it moves faster it will tend to cut a deeper channel again. If the banks impede the flow too much, then it will tend to break out somewhere else sooner or later.

I read a while ago an analysis of the movement and interactions of material and sea around the East Coast - cliffs and beaches eroding, providing material for other beaches, sanbanks (including the submerged ones way offshore) etc. - and found it very interesting. I seem to recall that the long term outlook for the mouth of the Deben was not at all good, but felt I would only need to worry if I were reincarnated as a East Coast sailor.
 
Cantata said:
And indeed, the Horse buoy marking the horse sand just above Felixstowe Ferry is no longer there, and will not return.
Click to expand...

Given the number of boats I've seen get ashore on the horse over the past 50 years, even with the benefit of the sizeable buoy, that change should be keeping John White busy, although much less dangerous there than grounding on the bar with a sea running.
 
PeterWright said:
Given the number of boats I've seen get ashore on the horse over the past 50 years, even with the benefit of the sizeable buoy, that change should be keeping John White busy, although much less dangerous there than grounding on the bar with a sea running.
Click to expand...
Were you about when The Kings Fleet was anchored above the Horse Sand :)
 
sailorman said:
Were you about when The Kings Fleet was anchored above the Horse Sand :)
Click to expand...

I don't believe we've had a king since 1952 and. although I have been around longer than that, I don't remember much before the Coronation in 1953. My dear departed Mum told me I had been sailing on the Deben before i was born, but I don't remember that either.
 
Arrived a tad earlier than planned today at the Woodbridge Haven buoy just before half tide after a smooth trip up from the Pyefleet. Although quite happy to wait around for a while I called John White and asked him what least depth we could expect at that time. His advice was that we would have minimum 15' all the way in, and to give the two port hand buoys 25 yards clearance. I asked him about the two 'humps' on the chart, and he told me they didn't exist !

Followed this advice and headed in watching the depth all the way, with a least depth of 4.8 metres by the Martello tower. As warned above the cross current is very strong until past the last gap in the banks and needs to be treated with caution. I'm not sure what to conclude from all this.......apart from the fact that we went in at half tide with water to spare.
 
We've been talking to John about those two 'bars', they didn't look quite right somehow and we wonder if it's possible there was an anomaly in Trinity House's survey data - Imrays will be taking a look and I hope we'll get an answer on Monday.
Mind you, in their NtM, Trinity House did call the seabed at the entrance 'highly mobile'!
 
Last edited:
Doesn't fit with our depth reading, we kept right on the transit and had a real shortage of water, and not a blip but a one or two minute stretch. The Seabed may be changing rapidly, though no high winds lately. Perhaps the deep water is even narrower than last year and even more difficult to stay in?
 
Thanks, that bears out what we thought. Seems likely there's a problem with the survey data as suggested below in post #37. News about this on Monday, I hope. Good thing at least is that it seems it's deeper there than shown, not shallower! We've added a precautionary note to the chart download.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top