leigh-on sea sailing?

[silverdawn]

Hi, at present I have a pontoon mooring on the river crouch in a small and friendly marina, access one and half hours either side of low water which is fine and allows me to explore
all areas up or down river.
Due to limited finances I now need an alternative mooring,
I can get a pontoon berth at Leigh -on -sea at half my current costs, access is two hours either side of low water,this sounds
okay but I have not sailed this area and looking at the charts
it seems quite bleek and uninteresting for the type of sailing
that I do on the crouch with fambridge/hullbridge/roach etc a
short sail away.
Perhaps some of you sail this area and can advise on any interesting places within a short sail of Leigh , or a club that I could join in the area, your comments and experiences would be welcomed.

 

[FullCircle]

gibbo,
join the Roach Sailing Association and apply for one of their moorings at Paglesham. Even the yard moorings are only 160 quid a quarter deep water.

 

[AJB43]

Acces 2 hrs either side of low water is a very optimistic view of the tides esp as the pontoons are at the very end of Leigh creek at the very dubiously named Leigh Marina (old Johnson & Jagos) Ok if you draw very little and ok on springs but other times one half hours max.Most cruisers kept there are either lifting keel,bilge keelers or shoal draft boats like Finesses etc,.. Leighs's a nice place in itself ( I'm biased cos I live and sail dinghies there) but you are limited by tides about where to sail to. Across to the Medway and Swale and up to St Kats are nice trips but impossible to do there and back on a tide. The Crouch or Medway might be a better bet if you want pontoon berthing.

 

[MoodySabre]

I live in L-O-S too and can see the pontoons from my house. Two hours either side if you sail a soap dish but you will have to follow the winding creek which gets shallower year by year as no dredging takes place. The worst thing is that you will be against the tide going out and against it coming back and therefore might well need to motor up the creek. So reasonable sailing is a two-tide affair (as it is from Benfleet).

Having kept a bilge-keeler at Westcliff for some years I can confirm that day sailing is limited and besides Bell Wharf in Leigh (top of the tide) there is nowhere North or South in the estuary to come alongside. The Medway and Swale are the local destinations - OK'ish (sorry Kentmen).

Follow Full Circle's idea or £300 for a swinging mooring in Bradwell creek. I don't know about Stone or Marconi but the Blackwater is a delight. Anywhere is better than the Thames estuary and it's renowned 'chop'.

At an evening with RK-J he was asked where the most dangerous place to sail was. He replied that the Thames estuary with wind over tide is as bad as anywhere! Nuff said.

 

[RMA]

As others have said, there is not much water at ‘Leigh Marina’. Some of the pontoon berths might give you an hour or so either side of HW but there are others where I suspect you would only float on springs. The facilities are limited, but on the other hand it is reasonably priced and the owners are fairly laid back (my boat is currently ashore there for the winter).

There are a number of yacht clubs along the Southend foreshore which would provide a cheaper alternative. Most of them can help you with moorings, but as far as I know only Thorpe Bay offers winter storage with lift in and lift out. As a general rule, you get more water at the eastern end of the town but the moorings are more exposed. Thorpe Bay offers at least 3 hours either side of HW.

 

[silverdawn]

Many thanks for all your comments it seems that Leigh-marina
isnt as accessable as there website suggests, I will have a look at Pagelsham on the Roach ,I like the crouch area want to stay if possible.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

Useful info on LoS, about 15 mins from in laws and good scoff but looks non viable for a 1m draft twin shaft boat to overnight unless its really soft mud.

 

[nyx2k]

a mooring in thorpebay can be rented from the council. mine costs me £75 for the year. i don't know whether they charge on size or not. my dejon can be got in and out 3hr either side of high tide.

 

[MoodySabre]

The mud is very soft at Leigh - you would need to know where the channel is to even get there at HW.

 

[Evadne]

I used to keep my boat at Maylandsea, apparently now called Blackwater Marina website. Half tide moorings, basically, plus a pontoon in the mud.

 

[MoodySabre]

From that link

Blackwater Marina

Marine Parade
Olhão
CM3 6AN

Is that near Hawaii? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[chrisbailey]

You could try Leigh-on-Sea Sailing Club or Benfleet Yacht Club both have moorings and can provide winter layup storage. Both of their mooring areas are safe and you would have 2 hours minimum each side of high water.
www.leighsailingclub.wordpress.com
www.benfleetyachtclub.org