Felixstowe exclusion zone to be between yacht channel and main channel

shmoo

shmoo

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Looks like there is going to be an exclusion zone over the shelf between the yacht track and the main channle.

Check out full NM here http://online.hhait.net/library/files/e70f5189-9b43-4097-a622-2e254052ff21.PDF

Here is the chartlet from the NM - its low res but you will get the drift.

75413785.jpg


Link to high res image (but NM should be consulted also).
Its going to be a bit of a squeeze!

Forgive me is this is old hat and well known...
 
Going to be very interesting to see how many boats try to take the inside route cutting inside Guard rather than use the main channel..... which will be fine at most states of the tide, but potentially a little risky in places at LW springs..... also will be interesting to see what effect the changed channel shape has on the large shoal off Shotley, called Shotley flats, which has been shallowing anyway for the last 2 or 3 years..... I also noticed last weekend that they've moved the light vessels up the Stour.... I guess in prep... and that will no doubt encourage the odd boat or two to try and cross the flat.... which can have no more than 0.5m in places at LW now.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Thanks for this - on he face of it I'm wondering, against the instruction to stay 100m away from working dredgers etc, whether safe passage can be made on the west of the shipping channel at low tide; shall we in fact have to punch right down the middle of the shipping lane?

Certainly on bright summer's days this year with lots of vessels about it's going to be interesting! Even more so in low vis at night for strangers...

I'll ask the HM for clarification and post any reply I get.

The view from the waving base is already interesting - the east side workings are already intruding far out into the river, seemingly taking more space than is being recovered by dreding the west flats - going to be tight on that corner for the big boys!

PWG.
 
If you go down the main channel you are sandwiched between 2 exclusion zones. There is nowhere to run if you meet a big boy. What is more, you have to make an early decision because once past the Guard buoy in the N or Cliff Foot at the S end you are committed to your chosen side. I think you can still follow the recommended yacht track for most of the route past the Harwich Shelf exclusion zone. You will just have to come landward a bit between the South Shelf and North Shelf buoys.

Oh yes, don't forget this is an inland waterway now so you need your boat inspected and have your ICC with CEVNI.
 
Looks to me as if we are expected to keep out of the shipping channel and to the West of the Guard to Cliff Foot exclusion zone.

This should be relatively straightforward if everyone proceeds in an orderly queue at the same speed along the best available bit of water. It should be no more difficult than the entrance to Bradwell, say.

Keeping 100 m away from everything might be a bit challenging as the best water is going to be had by hugging the line of yellow buoys.

Or maybe it will all look a lot different 'in the flesh'.

Or maybe I will be forced to spend my supper in the upper reaches of the Orwell and the Stour. And maybe SYH will give me a discount on my marina fees because my cruising ground has been unfairly restricted. Or maybe I will get flying pig poop in my eye.

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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Or maybe I will be forced to spend my supper in the upper reaches of the Orwell and the Stour.

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Supper /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
There does not look to be a lot of room especially at the North end by the Harwich Shelf buoy. OK with a fair wind, but beating may be difficult/impossible. I guess a lot more folk will have to use their engines?

What will be very difficult will be yachts racing through the harbour. The RHYC One Design and Ajax fleets often set courses through the harbour, out to sea and back, this could be tricky on a busy Sunday. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I expect our Chairman of Sailing is aware of this, but I will draw his attention to the problem just in case.
 
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I guess a lot more folk will have to use their engines?

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/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif


Thank goodness for that I was getting quite worried for a moment...


/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
What's the betting that passage in to Parkstone for big boys will require removing a slice off the flats on the N side of the Shotley turn. Or the tug chappies are going to have a lot of increased business from here on in helping on that corner.

Looking at it all from the Landguard waving base last weekend and observing how tight all the channels are going to be for heavy freight and liners (more coming in every year!) I could not envisage how safe passing movements could be accommodated in future.

Comparing the rhetoric about UK's biggest container port with the scale of normal facilites on the continent (Zeebrugge, Elbe, Hoek van Holland) I just thought it all looked so British - done to minimum costs and standards and, like Heathrow, requiring topmost navigation and handling to prevent a pileup! I can see the harbour master whizzing about a lot more in future and sailors getting the buzzoff if they push sailing rules over safe ship movements!

PWG
 
[ QUOTE ]
Going to be very interesting to see how many boats try to take the inside route cutting inside Guard rather than use the main channel..... which will be fine at most states of the tide, but potentially a little risky in places at LW springs..... also will be interesting to see what effect the changed channel shape has on the large shoal off Shotley, called Shotley flats, which has been shallowing anyway for the last 2 or 3 years..... I also noticed last weekend that they've moved the light vessels up the Stour.... I guess in prep... and that will no doubt encourage the odd boat or two to try and cross the flat.... which can have no more than 0.5m in places at LW now.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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There were fairly regular depth miscalculations last year, should be even more fun this /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.......for those with boats that is /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]

Certainly on bright summer's days this year with lots of vessels about it's going to be interesting! Even more so in low vis at night for strangers...


[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
The works on the East side are the construction of a new quay wall in water about 12m to 15m deep to form the new container berths. I have done some work on the temporary guide structures to support the new piles during driving. They will be using some very heavy plant on this work and I suggest that you keep well clear. The wall will be formed of linked steel tube piles. Each pile is 37m long, 2.5m diameter and weighs about 40 tonnes. The last thing the crane driver is going to want to see when handling one of those monsters is a yacht getting too close!
I don't have any details of the works on the West side I'm afraid.
 
Me, I am a project Manager!!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I suspect they may be using the dredging spoil to fill in behind the new quay wall and make the new ground, so can't start dredging until its built.
 
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