Does the Wash wash

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PeterGibbs

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Can I tap you corinthian types for a view on the delights of lingering in the Wash? Plan to make Wells this summer from the south, but is it worth the detour to go for KL and Boston, or is it better to make extra sandwiches and plug on for Grimsby?

Insights, gratefully received - the pilots, as usual, do not help much.

Peter Gibbs
 
Well if any two places need washing, then you've named 'em....

FWIW, i'd not bother. Both are unremarkable towns. To avoid a fiery response from KL or Boston afficionados, i've not got anything against either of them, just wouldn't go out of my way to visit.

If you do decide that a visit is on the cards, then maybe KL is the slightly more appealing, but there really isn't a great deal to do or see there..... its just a muddy creek at its heart, in what is a average Fen town.
 
Wells is well worth the visit but theres sod all at Kings Lynn other than a 'tick the box' opportunity, only realy any use if you are heading up the Great Ouse (without a mast).
Boston is ok if you can get under the bridge and moor on the freshwater side of grand sluice.
 
As a regular visitor to both towns, recently, I tend to agree with the others in some respects, but not all

Boston, known locally as Bostonia, mooring on the tidal side is probably not a good idea unless you can keep a close eye on the boat as the area does suffer from a vandal problem. Good mate of mine has his boat on these moorings and as far as I know his boat has never been touched, but others have, with serious consequences.
Non tidal would mean more security but the mast would most likely have to come down to get under the bridge. Once through to the marina you're not far from the town centre, but personally I prefer the marina. Not a lot to encourage me into the town centre at all

Kings Lynne, has had megga ££££££ spent in recent years from the EU, but they haven't yet started work on Boal Quay marina, which tends to limit access by boat. Once they sort that out, KL is well worth a visit. The money poured into the town has transformed it from only a few years ago, and is now better than our former shopping venue of Peterborough. With loads more places worth a visit, we tend to go there every few weeks and think it's great. But as said, boat access is something in the pipeline and I don't know what the current position is with that, though there are some moorings on the river and it is also possible to tie off at the fishermans quay, not the ideal situation for a visit by boat

Wisbech is also part of the Wash, but although they have a marina which makes it better for a visit by sea, I wouldn't leave the marina without a stab proof vest on. I jest not.

Fosdyke Yacht Haven is where I am, and although they have all the facilities you could need to do anything to the boat, there is little more. It's on the edge of Fosdyke village but not a lot there. One pub right next to the marina where they do food sometimes, and a little tea shop which serves an excellent tea and breakfast is within easy walking distance, but on the whole I would suggest that it's more a place to visit if there was a group of people all meeting up and going for a meal down the pub. It takes about an hour to get up the river to the marina, and this should be timed to arrive at near enough slack, because if the tidal flow pushes you past the mooring you're aiming for, there's a bridge just after which will help drop the mast for you with little room for mistakes.
Worth a visit if it's for a meeting, but otherwise nothing to see

Gibraltar Point is worth a visit if you fancy an overnight anchorage with peace and tranquility, and loads of wildlife, it's very nice

The Wash in general is a lovely area to sail in, probably because it's so peaceful, probably because few people have a good word to say about it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Suits me, and the others that sail here, and play cricket on the sandbanks at low tide /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Never yet met a Wash sailor that was unpleasant, and if you fancy some nice fresh sea bass you can't beat it. Went out a few weeks back with a bucket full of massive sea bass that would cost a fortune in a restaurant, lovely /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Grimsby, well, as the harbour master at Wells would say, the first few letters of the name describe it nicely, grim /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif went there just before Xmas last year and couldn't wait to leave, so miss it out and keep going North and I think you'll be better off

So to sum up, Wells is worth a visit any time, and the others are worth a visit if you're meeting a few people, but other than that, The Wash is a lovely sailing area and loads of wildlife, and not a lot more. There be dragons out there /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Right lads and lasses of The Wash, I think he's been put off enough so we can just carry on enjoying the hidden jewel of the East coast in peace /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I suppose a visit to the wash is worthwhile as you can then impress south coasters with tales of water they would probably crap themselves in, I tend to think of it as a soggy sandpit, once you've been in it a few times it's actually very easy as long as you don't expect to find any all tide refuges.
If you head for K/L check their website as the channel does change.
 
Must admit I haven't done the South coast other than with Jim crossing to Ramsgate, but if what I hear of the Solent is anything like reality I think I'll stick to the soggy sand pit, which is actually quite a good description of Wash sailing
 
As a fellow Wash sailor, I think Dave gives a very balanced summary of the area, although in some respects a little too rosy. Don't want to encourage any visitors. If we were to see another boat when out sailing for the day it could get to feel a little crowded. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

We did have one season based at Wisbech a few years back. Things might have changed, but we never felt the need of a stab-proof vest. There was a nightclub close by the pontoons that was noisy at weekends but we never fely uneasy and our car was always left in an unsecured parking area close by the pontoons without ever being damaged. Wisbech is probably the most interesting of the Wash ports to visit, but that doesn't say a lot. What really put us off Wisbech was the distance from the sea and the necessity to plan a day ahead to ensure opening of the road bridge.

Dave, I would be very interested to hear where you anchor overnight at Gibralter Point. We have tried several overnight anchorages out in the Wash and have yet to find one where we don't roll mercilessly at some stage of the tide. Have you found somewhere really sheltered, or do you have the knack of predicting flat calm evenings. Knowledge of either would be helpful!

Thanks,

Keith
 
peter

what does your boat draw? can it sit on the sand?The wash acb be quite tranquil with beautifull sunsets but id rather dry out on a sand bank than go through another night at anchor and that includes outside of wells.

other things to enjoy are cockle collecting followed by gorging yourself on them.

If you have a shallow draught,that opens up the places to visit,such as Brancaster,Gibraltar point (moorings),there are two other venues whos names escape me at the moment.

There is one other venue that may interest you,at the mouth of the humber there is a very friendly sailing club,again acess is down to draught,although you could drop the hook and dinghy in.

After flamborough point,it gets better from a scenery point of view.

if you are into wildlife especially birds,the wash has a great diversity of species,the seals are very fiendly two.

One word of caution!! beware of welshmen in that area,its true what they say about them and sheep /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
tourbo

whats the access like at the wash/nene area?,i dont have to worry about bridges as i can lower my mast.Ive been offered a free mooring on the Nene and in todays credit crunch enviroment,thats got its appeal.
 
Hi BastonJack,

From memory it was about half tide for 1m draft. There were waiting buoys in the Wash near the entrance bar that gave shelter below half tide, so not too bad at all really. There was also a waiting pontoon for marina users just to seaward of the road bridge so, if you need a stable platform for raising/lowering the mast, this could be useful. We also used to overnight on it, but technically I think we were breaking the rules. The pontoon had no shore access, by the way.

My information is from 2002, so things might well have changed.
 
Hi Keith, think maybe it's time for someone to organise a Wash meet, there seem to be more of us around here than I thought /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Couldn't say exactly where we were as it was with a local mate who was brought up in the area, sailed his entire life in the Wash and never even bought a chart, let alone a plotter, and he's well past retirement so must be doing something right /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I think we struck lucky with the weather though, it was flat calm, like this pic, also taken by a Wash mate on his way back in, almost millpond conditions

BostonByNightKen.jpg
 
I'll be down end of May,as I'm running out of Fish /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I've nicked the nephews fishing rod in readiness /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Let me know when you're heading out and maybe sweaty sock might be ready by then too /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
I'll give Ken a shout when we decide a date, he's on the tidal side at Bostonia, saw his boat last week so he might be able to make it too. Not sure what CliveG has planned but it might work out in favour, we shall see, and if George is back from Lowestoft we could have a mini meet. Don't forget the BBQ
 
Excellent, now we just need to catch some fish to cook on it /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif any good at fishing ?, cos I'm crap /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
100 last time out /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gifbetween two of us,and they are great on the braai or fried in a beer batter
 
You catch them when you get there, then gut while waiting for us hankie boats to arrive and we'll settle on the sandbank just in time to devour your hard work of the day /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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