Havengore

[MoodySabre]

You won’t get near the bridge without the tide. From the Crouch side you could anchor in Yokesfleet and wait.

 

[Aquaboy]

Seeing as I can float in 8 inches with everything up I,d walker her over the Broom way and the bar. I need to have a look at half tide and see what it's like. I can get up to Iken around 2 hours after Low water!!

 

[PeterWright]

I want to try the route one day but as its not a destination really in its own right so not sure how to make it work in practice.
Obviously the reliability is an issue but also the tidal restrictions and there opening times. Us shallow sailors could make much more use of the route if there were no barriers underneath. When the firing range is not in use is it acceptable anchor outside in the creek and wait for the next opening?

Even with a significant draft you can bring up in the river Roach at the mouth of the Middleway and be within ~ 2nm of the bridge. You are not on the range there so can wait as long as you need for a conjunction of tide and no red flags, Set off an hour or so before HW and you should be out in the Thames by HW there. Of course, the tide will turn against you before you get to the Mudway or Leigh on sea, but that's E Coast cruising.

For proper details, look at your copy of the East Coast Pilot.

Peter.

 

[galeus]

Bridge has had a major refurb recently and now seems pretty reliable (famous last words.)
We go into quite a lot of detail about the various routes in ECP. A fellow member of the RSA helped us hugely last time round when we were doing the fresh research for ECP5.
Here's a pic of the bridge from a while ago which may give the OP some reassurance about its width.
View attachment 106479

It was down again yesterday

 

[LONG_KEELER]

It was down again yesterday

I think they have finally given up.

If you text HANDLE to 1234, they will send you a 9 ft winch handle where you can open the bridge yourself.

 

[Antony Collis]

This is us going through there last year. The tide was high but it was still scary shallow. I didn't know before the trip but you need to prefer the North side of the channel at the entrance for the deep(er) water. You should look on Google Earth to see. We bumped the bottom a number of times across the sand.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

deleted

 

[Cantata]

............................... I didn't know before the trip but you need to prefer the North side of the channel at the entrance for the deep(er) water. ...........

We do mention this in 'East Coast Pilot'!