Has Brightlingsea Marina been dredged yet?

I met up with Danny the now ex-harbourmaster the weekend before last, who said the company kept telling him yes it would get done......

Danny was headhunted by another company, and someone else is now Harbourmaster. Shame, he really tried, hopefully the new guy will be as good.....

Ian & Jo
 
pvb said:
I went by road a couple of months ago. Soulless place. Full of mud. Best avoided.
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Brightlingsea sailing club, RYA club of the year, CYC does good food, most places on the East coast are full of mud!! Some of the friendliest people on the East coast! Lived in Brightlingsea all my life, I would not want to live anywhere else.
The Marina is not a great advert for the town, the builders only half finished it and promised so much more however you do not need to go in the Marina for a berth.
 
We sail with the dog, who demands a walk 4 times a day. This means a marina berth is preferable.
We can use the dinghy, but its SO much easier to just walk off and on :D

However, it would be a LOT better if they did the dredging as promised.


Ian & Jo
 
It would never occur to me to use the marina, but I can see that for some crews, the marina might even be cheaper than several people using a water taxi for a Saturday night dinner. I'm more a rowing type myself; I once had to row a Redcrest from the Pyefleet, just to phone my MIL to tell her that her dear daughter was OK.
 
I've used the marina for overnight stops a couple of times where the 2 of us needed to get ashore more than once - that worked out cheaper for a start. And on one occasion we were going to be out late, so we avoided having to rush to catch the last ferry trip. Although the whole thing is an eyesore, it does have its uses and it's disappointing to hear that the promised dredge has not yet been done. Danny was a good bloke too, his heart was in the right place, but it's understandable that he'd want to move on.
 
At 22:30 - 00:00 after a good meal, it is much better to go back to the boat and recover dog for her last walk of the night on foot rather than faffing with the dinghy.
It is a shame that Danny has left, but hopefully the new chap will be as helpful.

Ian & Jo
 
Rik and I both felt the run ashore in company with the Apogees was slightly less relaxing than it could have been due to the tendency to watch the clock for fear of missing the boat
 
How often would the Brightlingsea Marina need to be dredged in order to maintain a usable depth?

I am no expert but would assume that the dredger would need to be permanently on station before any sort of depth could to be relied upon. It seems to have been built in one of the most silt prone locations in the universe.
 
Toutvabien said:
How often would the Brightlingsea Marina need to be dredged in order to maintain a usable depth?

I am no expert but would assume that the dredger would need to be permanently on station before any sort of depth could to be relied upon. It seems to have been built in one of the most sunless & silt prone locations in the universe.
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fixed that :encouragement:
 
Toutvabien said:
How often would the Brightlingsea Marina need to be dredged in order to maintain a usable depth?

I am no expert but would assume that the dredger would need to be permanently on station before any sort of depth could to be relied upon. It seems to have been built in one of the most silt prone locations in the universe.
Click to expand...
The marina will always silt up...that is a sad fact and something that locals who actually KNOW the way the river runs did warn the developers about! But no...don't listen to the locals, change the entire character of the flow and ebb of the tides in the river and everything will still be ok won't it?

For those who remember it, Brightlingsea had the 'benefit' of a fixed jetty that would mostly be submerged as the tide made. The water flow around the jetty actually helped to flush the silt away from the hard making a relatively mud free surface right down to low water. The extent of the old James and Stone shipyard again allowed the tides to work allowing an effective scouring action helping prevent build ups of silt. The pushing of the marina development out into the river has changed the entire character of the tidal flow as can be seen by looking at the course of the river at low water. Whilst it would be nice to blame all the issues of lack of water in the river on the eyesore...sorry, Marina Development, to do so would be unfair as the demise of the barge traffic to Martins Farm sand workings has also assisted in the build up of silt in the river.

On the horizon, there will hopefully soon be another option for those wishing to walk ashore! Just read Morgan Marines Newsletter and they are looking to create a 90 berth deep water marina off the back of their West Yard...
 
Cobra said:
The water flow around the jetty actually helped to flush the silt away from the hard making a relatively mud free surface right down to low water. The extent of the old James and Stone shipyard again allowed the tides to work allowing an effective scouring action helping prevent build ups of silt. ...
Click to expand...

I wonder if some piles could restore the flow of water in the creek and encourage scouring - It would cost money, but it might be cheaper than constant dredging
 
Frankly, I cannot see why the marina needs dredging. Access is over the sill so the mud in the marina is only a cosmetic problem. Also, the boats are lovely and stable when the tide goes out for working in the rigging and the silt keeps the bottoms fairly fouling free. Leave our mud alone !!!
 
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