Essex Marina – Excessive Wash

Having left the Crouch for the Blackwater the problem of wash is nowhere near as bad. And yes, in the Crouch we always put it down to the Romford Navy driving their boats as opposed to us sailing them. Outside the 8 knot limit it was sometimes extremely worrying as their wake simply stopped us dead and sent the boom all over the place. Hailing them on 16 even politely got no response. The sooner Watchful catches them and they get fined the better as far as I'm concerned. Mind you I always thought Watchful should have a cannon for jet skis........
 
Not that long ago, Rompford was in Essex, before Lunnun stole it, so I'm afraid it's a natural hazard of the Essex rivers. Mobos always seem worse on the Crouch than the Blackwater because the Crouch (my home river) is such a narrow ditch. But I’ve had more jetski hassle on the Blackwater. I've nothing against mobos in general, I just don't like inconsiderate behaviour in any format, including deaf people driving around with their sound system on full power and windows open -it's the same "look at me" mentality.

Peter.
 
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Supine Being said:
I wonder if they'll police it though? I often see ribs and speedboat careening along at full chat in the 8 knot limit in the northern part of the Colne. Maybe the recent survey results will be acted upon.
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Well, I was there at the weekend and can confirm that so far it is nit working. Boats going full chat in the blue bit just outside brightlingsea creek. Having said that, I didn't see any 8 knot speed limit signs, only the 4knot ones entering the creek, so maybe they need to address this.
 
Burnham Bob said:
Having left the Crouch for the Blackwater the problem of wash is nowhere near as bad. And yes, in the Crouch we always put it down to the Romford Navy driving their boats as opposed to us sailing them. Outside the 8 knot limit it was sometimes extremely worrying as their wake simply stopped us dead and sent the boom all over the place. Hailing them on 16 even politely got no response. The sooner Watchful catches them and they get fined the better as far as I'm concerned. Mind you I always thought Watchful should have a cannon for jet skis........
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Your post confuses me. Are you saying that people should be fined for speeding outside if the 8 knot area? I agree that past the marina and other moored boats the wash is a problem, but this is really because 8 knots as a limit is too fast. They either need to reduce the limit, or change it to a zero wash bylaw. 8 knots in some mobos creates a bigger wash than at 25 knots, but the less thoughtful will be thinking that they are obeying the limit, and therefore are not in the wrong. Outside the limit it is a free for all, and unless a limit is put in place, sailors, and other mobos, should be aware and be prepared for wash. Sailors often forget that big wash is a big problem for mobos going slowly too.
 
Last summer we were onboard on several occasions when boats passed by at way in excess of the 8 knot speed limit and/or created excessive wake. It's bad enough during daylight hours when you can see what is happening, but the worst incident happened one night at approximately 10.30pm shortly after we had gone to bed. We heard the distinctive sound of a motor boat heading up river at speed. We were waiting for a change in engine note to indicate the vessel was reducing speed but this did not happen and it got to a point where we thought something large and fast was heading towards us so we both leapt out of bed and went into the cockpit. I shone a bright light at the boat, which at this point was approximately 20 meters off our starboard quarter and travelling at, I would estimate, at least 15 knots and creating a significant wake. The skipper immediately reduced speed but the wake hit our boat hard. It was quite a frightening experience. The motor boat continued up river at a reduced speed and turned into Stow Creek and we now know the boat is berthed at North Fambridge marina. We have never been hit on our mooring but I hear stories of boats that have been. I do wonder if it's just a matter of time.
 
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