Free anchorages around the south east coast

[Gargleblaster]

If you're a visitor have to pay to anchor in the Carrick Roads and the River Fal. Local boats are free. Grr!

But I think St Mawes is free and much prettier. At least I anchored there for a day and a night last August and no one came along and charged me.

 

[sailorman]

I'm planning to base my sailing over the next few seasons around the rivers on the south east coast.

Is it still possible to find sheltered anchorages that are free or should I be budgeting for paid moorings and marina's?

Many thanks for advice.

None charge as far as I know. Some mooring boys are sadly charged for Orford being one that springs to mind as Gm & His new launch to fund

 

[sailorman]

You won't be expected to pay for anchoring anywhere in any of the Essex or Suffolk rivers and nor should anybody even contemplate ever allowing that to become a thing either. The East Coast Pilot is your friend for finding dozens of sheltered places to anchor.

Picking up a mooring buoy overnight - after getting the yes from the HM or boatyard of course - will normally cost a few quid buy if you're staying on board for a lunch stop or afternoon snooze then find a free one and no need to ask but be ready to move. A few locations have visitors buoys so you could go for one of those and just see if anybody turns up with their hand out.

Buoys with somebody's tender on are a nono for me and the best choice is always the one with a strop that's covered in slimy weeds and heaving in crawly things because that's been in the water for some time which means it probably isn't being used.

when I had and maintained my mooring it was free for all to use as not an oversized boat or rafting on it. I expected a reciprocal use when I was avositor elsewhere

 

[sailorman]

when I had and maintained my mooring it was free for all to use as not an oversized boat or rafting on it. I expected a reciprocal use when I was avositor elsewhere

I would hope any oriole mooring holder would support a local collection box as their grasping Nott levy a charge for moorings rented from the fairways committee

 

[Slowboat35]

There are £/day mooring bouys on the Pyefleet which seems fair enough as the shellfish company pays to provide and maintain them - I have no problem with that as anchorages abound around them - you pay for the convenience of a nice clean bouy or you spend half the next day trying to get Pyfleet bubblegum-ooze off your decks. Your choice! It's a choice most make only once.

Plus the nice people from the shellfish company will provide at quite reasonable cost the most stunning array of shellfish to order.
Indulge!
I'm happy with that!

But paying for the 'privilege' of dropping an anchor into mud?
As an E Coaster such rapaciousness seems quite alien to me. I hear places like Dartmouth, Falmouth and Salcombe indulge in this sort of thing but that is the land where parking a car on a farmer's field a mile out of town tends to cost a tenner.
If that's the case the thieving janners'll not see me come and go over a tide and en route somewhere more friendly.

 

[Capt Popeye]

Yep well I grew up (debateable subject to some) on the Essex Suffolk rivers where Anchoring was just considered to be the norm ; having moved to South Devon, near river Teign , i was dismayed to read in the Harbour Masters orders , no anchoring permitted , which I find disconcerting and am puzzled by ; how else does one travel around different Rivers if one is NOT allowed to anchor ; I grew up understanding that it was a Mariners Right to drop anchor , nearly anywhere , as Mariners were usually on a Voyage ,/trip to just about somewhere everyday .
I am taking up the No Anchoring rule with our new Habour Master , will see what Her reactions are !
Unfortunately I understood that the previous Teign Harbour Master also sat as Chairman on the Harbour Masters forum plus the Teign River local authority forum , which has unfortunately allowed his view of Boating to prevail , which has not been good for us who actually go boating

 

[johnalison]

or you spend half the next day trying to get Pyfleet bubblegum-ooze off your decks. Your choice! It's a choice most make only once.

I must be a slow learner because we’ve done it numerous times. Things improved when I invented a habit of motoring astern with the anchor just in the water until the worst of the the goo had dropped off.

 

[michael_w]

Fit a deck wash pump. perfect for dealing with the world's second most stickiest mud. (Top prize goes to the Currituck Sound in North Carolina.)

 

[Motor_Sailor]

(Top prize goes to the Currituck Sound in North Carolina.)

Oh - I'm now sorry we missed that by cutting through the Dismal Swamp Canal.

 

[PeterWright]

Interesting that no one has mentioned the Crouch Harbour Authority who levy a charge for sailing in the Crouch and Roach estuaries. I have never seen accounts published, but it seems to me that their expenditure must be dominated by staff and running their launch to check that every yacht, dinghy, canoe and paddle board is adorned with one of their plaques to indicate dues paid, hence a self justified invention. It's interesting to note that neither the more commercial Orwell nor the less commercial (these days) Blackwater see the need to charge dues for such vessels.

Peter.

 

[Black Sheep]

Interesting that no one has mentioned the Crouch Harbour Authority who levy a charge for sailing in the Crouch and Roach estuaries. I have never seen accounts published, but it seems to me that their expenditure must be dominated by staff and running their launch to check that every yacht, dinghy, canoe and paddle board is adorned with one of their plaques to indicate dues paid, hence a self justified invention. It's interesting to note that neither the more commercial Orwell nor the less commercial (these days) Blackwater see the need to charge dues for such vessels.

Peter.

From their website (Dues & Charges – crouchharbour.uk):

Visiting Vessels (Only applies to vessels coming in from seaward)
All visiting leisure vessels are entitled to one visit in any Dues year of up to 14 consecutive days free of charge before being charged for Harbour Dues. If you are remaining in the river for longer than 14 consecutive days and do not intend to remain permanently, Short Visit Dues will apply. Please see charges below.

 

[DanTribe]

Interesting that no one has mentioned the Crouch Harbour Authority who levy a charge for sailing in the Crouch and Roach estuaries. I have never seen accounts published, but it seems to me that their expenditure must be dominated by staff and running their launch to check that every yacht, dinghy, canoe and paddle board is adorned with one of their plaques to indicate dues paid, hence a self justified invention. It's interesting to note that neither the more commercial Orwell nor the less commercial (these days) Blackwater see the need to charge dues for such vessels.

Peter.

Your view is not new. I was just ambling down memory lane, reading a Yachting Monthly from 1982. There was a long letter about this. A couple of excerpts ;
" At the AGM of the XXX ........ Yacht Club, a unanimous vote called for the Authority to be wound up"
From Crouch Area Yachting Federation,
" There is no doubt that 95% of Crouch yachtsmen want to sink the Authority for the quango that it is"
40 years on, nothing much has changed but this years large increase may cause some discontent.
It is nice to see the Harbour Authority launch occasionally though and I suppose they may be useful in blocking potential exploitation of the Crouch from future developement, maybe.

 

[PeterWright]

Hi Dan,

New or not, I first formed my view of the CHA n 1975, when I learned of its formation of in 1974 - I missed it in the year it happened as I was a little distracted, by getting married and buying my first house. Before 1974, it seemed to me that the two estuaries managed alright without the benefit of a statutory harbour authority but, nonetheless, some folk persuaded our parliament to give the necessary time and attention to pass an act to form the CHA.

The authority has a rather undemocratic constitution which vests in its current members the sole power to appoint new members. Happily they do publish minutes of their meetings but redact financial matters. The members don't get any personal benefit from their appointment, but it must be rare in the governance of any part of the UK that the appointment of those who govern is so self perpetuating. Their website does make their sources of income fairly clear, but gives no data on their disbursements, so my suspicion that they spend most of their income on staff and vessels to administer and check the payment of pleasure craft dues remains just that. It still seems to me that if there were no dues, their would be no need to administer them and check that vessels are in compliance by patrolling the river in one launch and 2 ribs.

Pilltage for the few ships that still make use of Baltic wharf does seem a more legitimate function and the alternative arrangement at Southwold, where the local ajthority operate the harbour seems to generate at least as much criticism as CHA, but I'm a bit mystified as to why the Crouch and Roach couldn't continue as they did before 1974.

Peter.

 

[DanTribe]

Hi Dan,

New or not, I first formed my view of the CHA n 1975, when I learned of its formation of in 1974 - I missed it in the year it happened as I was a little distracted, by getting married and buying my first house. Before 1974, it seemed to me that the two estuaries managed alright without the benefit of a statutory harbour authority but, nonetheless, some folk persuaded our parliament to give the necessary time and attention to pass an act to form the CHA.

The authority has a rather undemocratic constitution which vests in its current members the sole power to appoint new members. Happily they do publish minutes of their meetings but redact financial matters. The members don't get any personal benefit from their appointment, but it must be rare in the governance of any part of the UK that the appointment of those who govern is so self perpetuating. Their website does make their sources of income fairly clear, but gives no data on their disbursements, so my suspicion that they spend most of their income on staff and vessels to administer and check the payment of pleasure craft dues remains just that. It still seems to me that if there were no dues, their would be no need to administer them and check that vessels are in compliance by patrolling the river in one launch and 2 ribs.

Pilltage for the few ships that still make use of Baltic wharf does seem a more legitimate function and the alternative arrangement at Southwold, where the local ajthority operate the harbour seems to generate at least as much criticism as CHA, but I'm a bit mystified as to why the Crouch and Roach couldn't continue as they did before 1974.

Peter.

Bearing in mind that this all started half a century ago and I sometimes can't remember what I did yesterday, but my recollection is this.
1, the Whitstable Oyster Company held the rights to the Crouch river bed. This was ostensibly to breed and grow shellfish, an important industry at the time.
2, An investment company realised that this also gave the right to mineral extraction and bought Whitstable Oyster for a bargain figure.
3, At the time Maplin Airport looked probable, so sand and gravel would have been gold dust.
4, In order to prevent the Crouch becoming an industrial site, a private act of Parliament was rushed through, which gave control to the Crouch Harbour Authority.
Although the original threat may have subsided, at least the CHA still probably puts public interest ahead of industrial profit to a large extent.
In recent years CHA had some control over the Crossrail landfill and received a good income from that.

 

[PeterWright]

Thank you for that explanation, I must say I was not aware of the Whitstable Oyster Co. involvement, but I am not clear how the formation of the CHA prevents the owners of the mineral extraction rights from exploiting those rights. In the modern age, this would seem to be the bread and butter of the MMO so, if the intended function of the CHA has been superceded that would be good grounds for winding it up. Except that the only body with powers to wind up the CHA appears to be ..... the CHA - another self perpetuating feature.

Perhaps the CHA whose formation was "rushed through" parliament is another example of that fine old adage:
"Legislate in haste, repent at leisure"

The Dengie peninsular is peppered with sand and gravel workings, but they do not make it look like an industrial site and I believe extraction from the estuary bed would have an even smaller impact as the working would mostly be under water, with a shoreside washing and screening facility which would be no more intrusive than the conveyor belt spoil distribution system installed to spread Crossrail mud around Wallasea island - a green project.

Peter.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Bearing in mind that this all started half a century ago and I sometimes can't remember what I did yesterday, but my recollection is this.
1, the Whitstable Oyster Company held the rights to the Crouch river bed. This was ostensibly to breed and grow shellfish, an important industry at the time.
2, An investment company realised that this also gave the right to mineral extraction and bought Whitstable Oyster for a bargain figure.
3, At the time Maplin Airport looked probable, so sand and gravel would have been gold dust.
4, In order to prevent the Crouch becoming an industrial site, a private act of Parliament was rushed through, which gave control to the Crouch Harbour Authority.
Although the original threat may have subsided, at least the CHA still probably puts public interest ahead of industrial profit to a large extent.
In recent years CHA had some control over the Crossrail landfill and received a good income from that.

I had a rather interesting exchange with the CHA about 25 years ago.

Happily bowling along on a falling tide I ran aground very close to the Swallow Tail buoy on a falling tide. The buoy being of the size useful to the Baltic ships.

I only drew 2' 6" and had a number of hours bouncing about on the hard Buxey Sands in choppy conditions.

When I got to the office on Monday I thought I would do the decent thing and ring the Harbour Office that the buoy may be off station. I received a rather pompous response along the lines that they had no intention of moving the buoy and that it was used as a racing mark.

Some years later I was chatting to someone about it in Shotley Marina . Apparently he and about five other yachts from his club all ran aground in the same place after attending Burnham Week. It would seem that he probably got the same response as I did after telling me that they had no intention of ever attending again.

In a way it was rather quaint as the response was something like you would read in YM
in the 1930's rather that the 1990's. Where have all the characters gone

 

[ex-Gladys]

I had a rather interesting exchange with the CHA about 25 years ago.

Happily bowling along on a falling tide I ran aground very close to the Swallow Tail buoy on a falling tide. The buoy being of the size useful to the Baltic ships.

I only drew 2' 6" and had a number of hours bouncing about on the hard Buxey Sands in choppy conditions.

When I got to the office on Monday I thought I would do the decent thing and ring the Harbour Office that the buoy may be off station. I received a rather pompous response along the lines that they had no intention of moving the buoy and that it was used as a racing mark.

Some years later I was chatting to someone about it in Shotley Marina . Apparently he and about five other yachts from his club all ran aground in the same place after attending Burnham Week. It would seem that he probably got the same response as I did after telling me that they had no intention of ever attending again.

In a way it was rather quaint as the response was something like you would read in YM
in the 1930's rather that the 1990's. Where have all the characters gone

Back in the day before the Swallowtail bank was marked as it is now, a feature of any trip to Burnham would be the yacht aground on said location when leaving the Crouch...