East Coast Sailing

[Opsguy1979]

Hi folks

I was recommended to have a look at this forum from the main scuttlebutt forum.

I currently own a Princess 32 on the river Great Ouse. I had her for 4 years and it has served as an introduction into boating but im getting a bit bored of river cruising. The mooring fees are getting silly up to 2200k this year and river licence on top aswell. I have done a fair ammount of sailing now and I have to say I prefer it and im seriously thinking about selling my boat and buying a sail boat.

I live in Hertfordshire so the south coast is a bit far away so im looking at Southend direction. Would this area be ok for a beginner? Is there plenty to see? What kind of prices are you looking at for mooring?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Karl /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[tillergirl]

Stand by to be bombarded with info.

When we used to live in North London (Barnet), we reckoned on an hour and a half tops to get to Heybridge Basin at the top of the Blackwater so I guess within two hours or less you can be anywhere from the Deben down to Southend.

If you base yourself in Suffolk, say the Orwell, you have easy cruising grounds of the Deben, Stour and Walton Backwaters to break yourself in. If you base yourself on the Blackwater, you have the Colne, Crouch etc.

Southend is good for the Kent Rivers.

What you get in this area is a choice between marinas and swinging moorings. Generally speaking the tide does affect all of them. There are some all tide marinas and some all tide swinging mooring. You will basically pay according to access. Cheapest mooring would be a half tide mooring where the boat takes the ground around low water and where you ahve to work out how to get to it. The other end of the scale is - for example - Shotley Marina where a lock holds in the water in the basin and where you have 24/7 access to your boat and sailing. On the other hand there are Marinas where you might settle in the mud at low water and where there is a problem on access. For example Bradwell Marina is entered via the creek where at the entrance at low water springs you may ground for a short while.

I would suggest a good way to get to know the area is to invest in East Coast Pilot or East Coast Rivers - better, get the two. When you move down, they will repay themselves.

Me? I'm biased. I started on the Blackwater - well actually I learnt to sail on the Trent at Nottingham as a kid - but we had our first boat on the Blackwater and you couldn't pick a better area to learn to sail. You can actually have a good time without leaving the Blackwater. And when you are ready, the trip to the excellent harbour at Brightlingsea is generally the first foray. Now be warned. There is a serious danger of shock. You will find places like Brightlingsea that they are actually pleased to see you! Finding a mooring there is not so easy because it is popular. But there are plenty around. Where I am here at West Mersea, it is all swinging moorings, some private, some the Yacht Club and some commercial. You have to work out how to get on board which for most of us means belonging to the YC and therefore being able to be ferried by one of two YC launches. It doesn't matter if you are not on a YC mooring. Further up the Blackwater, you have swinging moorings at Stone and Marconi, generally club moorings, up Lawling Creek, there is the Blackwater Marina (very tidal) and at Heybridge you have the Basin or moorings in the River, all though only giving a couple of hours access either side of high water. But they will be cheapest because of this and will get you a foothold.

Costs? Well I guess others will chip in but I pay about £1k for a swinging mooring. Actually its a Club mooring so I've included the Club Membership Fee in that. It wil depend on size but that's for a 32 footer. I suspect that West Mersea Marine will set you back £1200 but I really don't know. Remember though that these are prices for the season and not for the winter!

I will let others talk about their areas. Come back with specific questions if you want.

 

[MoodySabre]

Welcome. Sailing - good move!

I live near Southend and kept my boat there for some years. First point is that just about all the moorings are drying moorings which restricts the type and size of boat. There are no marinas. Because it is so tidal then 3 hours either side of HW, perhaps a bit longer for a lift keel or if you go right down to Thorpe Bay. Main problem is that there is nowhere to come alongside on the North side of the Thames and the only area within easy distance is the Medway, which whilst nice enough gets boring.

This is why we moved to Bradwell - the 45 minutes of parking and dinghy heaving being replaced by a 45 minute drive through the country. Bradwell (on the excellent Blackwater) and Burnham or Fambridge (on the Crouch) are both equally do-able from Hertfordshire - I know people in Bradwell from Hillingdon, Wembley, St Albans. The big advantage of Bradwell (although not accessible all states of tides unless you have a lift keel) is that you can sail both up the river to Maldon or get out up the East Coast easily (Harwich and Orwell 25 miles, Deben 30, Ore 35). Plenty of people from your area on the Orwell too where there are half a dozen all-tide marinas.

I can't recommend the Southend area as a base.

 

[Opsguy1979]

Cheers

I think it might pay to have a drive down and take a look around!

Im looking at about a budget of 10-15k would that get me something suitable for this area? Any recommendations?

Cheers

Karl

 

[MoodySabre]

Southend area you need a bilge keel so a very Snapdragon 26 or bigger or a Westerly Centaur or a Cobra 750 etc etc - lots of solid boats in that price range and a "What boat for £xxx" post on Reader to Reader will get you loads of suggestions.

Elsewhere the boat options get wider as you could have a fin keel provided you don't want to dry out or go up tiny creeks and are good at reading charts and depth sounder! Plenty of us do have fin keels on the East coast with no difficulty.

Driving round is a good idea. If you want a trip on the Blackwater sometime then PM me.

 

[Auntie Helen]

...and you could also consider a catamaran as well, of course, for very shallow draught and comfortable sailing. Marina fees are sometimes (although less often now) more though.

 

[CPD]

Karl, have sent you a pm (click on the flasging flag thingy upper left corner of the screen)
Alan

 

[shmoo]

I will very likely get burned for saying this but we only really sail the East Coast because we live here. The East Coast rivers are fine for days and weekends but when we go on holiday we make the trip round the Forelands, past where there is a W in the longitude, and best of all past about 4W, to where you can see through the water, its that bit warmer and you don't have to live with strong alongshore tides.

Don't be too quick to rule out the South Coast.

 

[Zippysigma]

Suggesting the South coast water motorways on this forum?! Hrummph!

People have been thrown on the bonfire this week for less /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[shmoo]

Ok ok. Temporary lapse. I promise to eat a handful of the Stour mud off the anchor next time we go out.

 

[sailorman]

Yes keep well away
Holland , Belgium & France all a day sail away yep not worth it at all
berthing cheaper E.C
Diesel the most expensive in Europe /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Chris_G]

So the solution seems to be two boats, a little something for the weekend sir on the Orwell plus a foreign holiday boat sitting on the South coast or in northern France ;-)

We live on the Herts/Essex border near Stansted and the one hour to the Orwell is far more pref. to the 3 or 4 hours to the South coast round the M25 especially with 4 children to keep entertained which is what we used to do before we saw the light (or should that be drizzle and fog??).....
Has anyone mentioned the lack of charter boats, roudy yobs and the really great people you seem to meet all the time on the East Coast ?

 

[sailorman]

[Has anyone mentioned the lack of charter boats, roudy yobs and the really great people you seem to meet all the time on the East Coast ? ]

Its all Lies, Lies i tell yer /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif farsands of em, keep you up all night. stay away would be my advise /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[Gin]

You've already had excellent advice from respected sailors, so there is little to add for an East Coast decision.

Here is my slant on your question(s) though.

Like for like the South Coast is much more expensive and busy too- your travelling may be more tiring too after a few trips, as I always found a thrash to Portsmouth although quick, from Kent, required a certain attitude- but I was younger then of course.

Secondly, and much more importantly, in my opinion is to find a club you like which will provide convivial surroundings, become a home from home and also be a resource for local and technical knowledge. In fact I would go so far as to say that without a club the whole activity becomes rather empty and meaningless- I am usually not desperate for company but sometimes nothing substitutes for it. A club environment also, is usually synonymous with cheaper mooring fees

 

[MoodySabre]

Oops /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif no offence meant to Medway sailors Gin

On the Blackwater there is the excellent Marconi YC with good facilities and moorings in the river if marinas are not your thing. There are also swinging moorings in Bradwell creek. On the Crouch there are more yacht clubs than you can shake a stick at.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

I'll add a Suffolk slant to this outrageously Essex/Kent biased thread... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The Orwell is a magnificent place to keep a boat, with plenty of appealing sheltered water for those less than ideal days, and many lovely destinations within a short sail for the fairer days..

It however, would probably be overly optimistic to hope to find a mooring at any short notice. The marinas would be not significantly different in price to what you are already paying, but are very friendly.

Another option is to get your name down on the lists for moorings in the Deben..... again, asking about often helps solicit opportunities!

In terms of distance, depends where you are in Herts, but none of the Suffolk coast is far.....

I'd however, in all seriousness, go with the general flow.... the best options for you are the Blackwater, Orwell, or the Crouch in terms of finding your feet.... less tidally constrained, easy sailing and nice surroundings in all three....

And finally..... despite Shmoo's desperate attempts to lure you away to the Sth coast fleshpots, we love the East coast.... we've only been here 4 seasons, after years and years of sailing elsewhere, and I simply can't imagine going anywhere else now... we've barely scratched the surface of the sailing/destination opportunities, met some really really wonderful people, and have been warmly welcomed from day one.

 

[Koeketiene]

[ QUOTE ]
In fact I would go so far as to say that without a club the whole activity becomes rather empty and meaningless

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Surely thats what this forum greatest benefit is.... we regularly meet up throughout the season.... in fact hardly a weekend goes by between May and Sept where we aren't meeting up with somebody or other from this place.....

 

[CPD]

That is exactly what i was getting at in my post a while ago about sailing clubs. Im not a member of any (apart from Bradwell Cruising Club). The forum is my "club" and I dont feel as though I miss out on anything by not being a member of any physical club as such.

 

[shmoo]

Before I get branded a complete outcast I must say I agree with most of what others have said about the East Coast.

I just get a bit fed up with khaki colored water...
And it would be nice if it was a bit warmer...