mrming
Well-Known Member
We’re on the penultimate day of our 18 day East Coast cruise. I thought I would post a quick review of the various marinas / places we visited in case it’s useful to anyone else. We’re a family of four with 2 boys (3 & 7) in a 32 footer drawing 1.6m.
Obviously this is all old hat to the regulars on here, but with evidence of lots of new people getting on the water it might be handy for someone.
Comes with the usual disclaimer that the East coast is shallow, dangerous, mosquito infested and not at all suitable for visitors.
Our itinerary ended up being: Conyer > Brightlingsea > Bradwell > Tollesbury > Levington > Walton > Brightlingsea > Queenborough > Chatham > Conyer
I haven’t covered Conyer as it’s our home port, but do come and visit, it’s very nice and the mud is soft so even larger boats can sink in no problem.
Brightlingsea
Plenty of water for our 1.6m draft in the channel, even at low tide. Best water on the way in / out is by the shingle bank.
Berthed on the mid river pontoon and always remained afloat.
Very helpful HM and good water taxi.
Clean and modern showers and toilets with lockers, and laundry.
Decent food and beer in The Yachtsman pub.
The promenade and beach was perhaps an acquired taste.
Nice high street a short walk away with a great bakery, butcher and a small Tesco.
Bradwell Marina
Great shelter with high banks all around the marina basin.
Interesting 1960s vibe with the control tower.
On site restaurant / bar with terrace and a view of the river outside. My pint was not the best kept. Didn’t eat.
Showers and toilets dated but clean. Showers have the infuriating push button which in this case has to be pressed every 3 seconds.
Good, friendly pub (The Green Man) a 5 minute walk away with excellent uncomplicated pub grub and well kept ale.
Tollesbury Marina
Went in just before high water and found plenty of depth in the well marked channel. Remained afloat in our berth.
Scenic location and great shelter in the marina basin. Slightly run down pontoons but nice vibe with lots of interesting traditional craft.
New shower block but a bit basic, and the mens was always flooded by what looked like a drainage problem with one of the showers.
Nice restaurant / club house with good food, however it is also a building site as they’re creating an extension.
Noisy and smelly dredging from early morning on weekdays. This was presumably related to the tide times and was over by lunch.
Under-cover, heated pool which is bookable by visitors. It’s a bit old but it’s clean and brilliant for those of us with kids.
Laundry on site.
Also a strange tidal pool with a sandy beach.
Suffolk Yacht Harbour (Levington)
Plenty of water in the approach channel / accessible any state of the tide for us with no lock.
Well maintained pontoons and very fancy toilets and showers. Laundry on site.
Amazing yacht club (HPYC) in a light ship. Very welcoming to visitors, excellent food and beer, and tolerant of our excited young kids.
Also a nice cafe on site near the entrance.
Huge marina and boatyard but nothing else around for miles, apart from a very scenic walk along the Orwell to the tiny village of Levington - this has a pub which we didn’t try.
Titchmarsh Marina
Entered near high water and had plenty of depth.
Walton Backwaters beautiful including a sandy beach you can land on at Stone Point. We dinghied there from the marina.
Marina is well maintained and quite large. Showers and toilets are old fashioned but clean. The dreaded push button shower was in evidence again, and the water temperature was not adjustable, and way too hot for our kids to shower.
Good laundry facilities on site.
The on-site restaurant (Harbour Lights) was closed due to a lack of kitchen staff.
The marina itself is in the middle of nowhere but it was a 5 minute cab to Walton-on-the-Naze.
Walton-on-the-Naze was run down and didn’t have much to offer, but the kids loved the amusements on the pier.
Queenborough
Managed to get a berth on the ATL (All Tide Landing) behind the Thames Barge Edith May (which the kids loved).
Harbour staff very friendly, helpful and well organised.
Queenborough is best described as very down to earth. We had a nice couple of drinks in the garden of the Flying Dutchman.
Chatham Maritime Marina
Very well maintained marina with very helpful staff and 24 hour lock in / out. Watch the tide / wind coming in the narrow lock entrance. It’s sheltered as soon as you’re through the first bit.
By far the most expensive marina of the trip at £39 per night for our 9.7m boat.
Excellent showers and laundry.
A short walk from the marvellous Historic Dockyard which provided 2 full days of entertainment for us and the kids.
Good restaurants in the slightly awful but modern shopping and eating development beside the marina.
That’s it - phew! Hope someone finds it useful.
Obviously this is all old hat to the regulars on here, but with evidence of lots of new people getting on the water it might be handy for someone.
Comes with the usual disclaimer that the East coast is shallow, dangerous, mosquito infested and not at all suitable for visitors.
Our itinerary ended up being: Conyer > Brightlingsea > Bradwell > Tollesbury > Levington > Walton > Brightlingsea > Queenborough > Chatham > Conyer
I haven’t covered Conyer as it’s our home port, but do come and visit, it’s very nice and the mud is soft so even larger boats can sink in no problem.
Brightlingsea
Plenty of water for our 1.6m draft in the channel, even at low tide. Best water on the way in / out is by the shingle bank.
Berthed on the mid river pontoon and always remained afloat.
Very helpful HM and good water taxi.
Clean and modern showers and toilets with lockers, and laundry.
Decent food and beer in The Yachtsman pub.
The promenade and beach was perhaps an acquired taste.
Nice high street a short walk away with a great bakery, butcher and a small Tesco.
Bradwell Marina
Great shelter with high banks all around the marina basin.
Interesting 1960s vibe with the control tower.
On site restaurant / bar with terrace and a view of the river outside. My pint was not the best kept. Didn’t eat.
Showers and toilets dated but clean. Showers have the infuriating push button which in this case has to be pressed every 3 seconds.
Good, friendly pub (The Green Man) a 5 minute walk away with excellent uncomplicated pub grub and well kept ale.
Tollesbury Marina
Went in just before high water and found plenty of depth in the well marked channel. Remained afloat in our berth.
Scenic location and great shelter in the marina basin. Slightly run down pontoons but nice vibe with lots of interesting traditional craft.
New shower block but a bit basic, and the mens was always flooded by what looked like a drainage problem with one of the showers.
Nice restaurant / club house with good food, however it is also a building site as they’re creating an extension.
Noisy and smelly dredging from early morning on weekdays. This was presumably related to the tide times and was over by lunch.
Under-cover, heated pool which is bookable by visitors. It’s a bit old but it’s clean and brilliant for those of us with kids.
Laundry on site.
Also a strange tidal pool with a sandy beach.
Suffolk Yacht Harbour (Levington)
Plenty of water in the approach channel / accessible any state of the tide for us with no lock.
Well maintained pontoons and very fancy toilets and showers. Laundry on site.
Amazing yacht club (HPYC) in a light ship. Very welcoming to visitors, excellent food and beer, and tolerant of our excited young kids.
Also a nice cafe on site near the entrance.
Huge marina and boatyard but nothing else around for miles, apart from a very scenic walk along the Orwell to the tiny village of Levington - this has a pub which we didn’t try.
Titchmarsh Marina
Entered near high water and had plenty of depth.
Walton Backwaters beautiful including a sandy beach you can land on at Stone Point. We dinghied there from the marina.
Marina is well maintained and quite large. Showers and toilets are old fashioned but clean. The dreaded push button shower was in evidence again, and the water temperature was not adjustable, and way too hot for our kids to shower.
Good laundry facilities on site.
The on-site restaurant (Harbour Lights) was closed due to a lack of kitchen staff.
The marina itself is in the middle of nowhere but it was a 5 minute cab to Walton-on-the-Naze.
Walton-on-the-Naze was run down and didn’t have much to offer, but the kids loved the amusements on the pier.
Queenborough
Managed to get a berth on the ATL (All Tide Landing) behind the Thames Barge Edith May (which the kids loved).
Harbour staff very friendly, helpful and well organised.
Queenborough is best described as very down to earth. We had a nice couple of drinks in the garden of the Flying Dutchman.
Chatham Maritime Marina
Very well maintained marina with very helpful staff and 24 hour lock in / out. Watch the tide / wind coming in the narrow lock entrance. It’s sheltered as soon as you’re through the first bit.
By far the most expensive marina of the trip at £39 per night for our 9.7m boat.
Excellent showers and laundry.
A short walk from the marvellous Historic Dockyard which provided 2 full days of entertainment for us and the kids.
Good restaurants in the slightly awful but modern shopping and eating development beside the marina.
That’s it - phew! Hope someone finds it useful.
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