Lets hear it for Watchet

[oldmanofthehills]

Just passed through on the way back to the Axe. Fuel, showers, friendly service at the Marina. Half the marina is declining to soft mud but that's a legacy of the original council controlled rebuild in about 2000 when the river was diverted outside both inner and outer harbour and probably not cost effective for current owners to dredge. However soft mud provides a nice berth for all craft its just that the gate times 2.5 hours either side of HW are now only practical from the end few pontoons. Pilot notes state +-2hr for Watchet anyway and I have come unstuck or rather touched a keel trying to get into early and at +-2hrs is no worse than my mooring. Excellent pubs ashore, shops and a pleasant ambience.

 

[Sneds]

Absolutely love the place, but they need to get rid of the mud so we can stay afloat

 

[Rob Rover]

Settled in mud last year happily enough. Would I still be OK with 1.85 draft or has it got worse?

 

[oldmanofthehills]

No problem with your draft of 1.85m in settling in the goop. If you get in as far as you can say 1hr before then you will get out again 1hr after. We draw 1m and managed over 2 hours before. An LM32 which draws 1.5m came and went while we were there. The marina is very helpful and puts you on outer berths or the hammerhead if there is an issue and I'm never seen rafting needed to accommodate more than one on the hammer head.

 

[pondfish]

Iain said that the council are now on board so they were looking at prices for a full dredge because that's what is needed, Their dredger is not good enough it keeps breaking down, Would love to get back there but the mud and lock times are no good.

 

[vodzurk]

Would also very much love to go, and only draw ~1m draft, but after all the cooling issues i had with my mobo last year, i don't want to add mud into the raw water cooling system.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Would also very much love to go, and only draw ~1m draft, but after all the cooling issues i had with my mobo last year, i don't want to add mud into the raw water cooling system.

The soft mud should cause no issues with impellers and gives us no trouble, and some of us dont even turn off our engine cooling stopcocks when leaving the boat between trips. Does your mobo have engine stopcock or is it a saildrive?

 

[vodzurk]

The soft mud should cause no issues with impellers and gives us no trouble, and some of us dont even turn off our engine cooling stopcocks when leaving the boat between trips. Does your mobo have engine stopcock or is it a saildrive?

It's a stern-drive/leg, which gobbles up water /mud from the front for engine cooling.

I spent a month last year stressing over the engine overheating and rydelyme / Coca-Cola flushing... Last thing I want is lumps of mud in there when everything is 100% fixed. Add in the past 5 months of further maintenance getting everything to near perfection... as much as I'd like to visit, I don't wanna undo so much effort.

Plus there's no petrol!

Edit: Also, no stopcock.

 

[bulwark bandit]

Went there May 5th this year and moored on the nearest berth to the gate. There were only 3 boats afloat including us, all the others were sitting in mud.
First time there and what a lovely place to visit for an overnight stay -22 ft boat cost £17.40 for 1 night.

 

[steveej]

It's a stern-drive/leg, which gobbles up water /mud from the front for engine cooling.

I spent a month last year stressing over the engine overheating and rydelyme / Coca-Cola flushing... Last thing I want is lumps of mud in there when everything is 100% fixed. Add in the past 5 months of further maintenance getting everything to near perfection... as much as I'd like to visit, I don't wanna undo so much effort.

Plus there's no petrol!

Edit: Also, no stopcock.

should have bought a sail boat. It is not too late.

 

[PCUK]

It's a stern-drive/leg, which gobbles up water /mud from the front for engine cooling.

I spent a month last year stressing over the engine overheating and rydelyme / Coca-Cola flushing... Last thing I want is lumps of mud in there when everything is 100% fixed. Add in the past 5 months of further maintenance getting everything to near perfection... as much as I'd like to visit, I don't wanna undo so much effort.

Plus there's no petrol!

Edit: Also, no stopcock.

I've been thinking about this problem as I've got a brand spanking new Bravo 3x waiting to get afloat. I was thinking about some sort of bag that is pulled up around the leg when stopped so that the mud can't enter. Just remember to remove it before starting! Is that feasible?

 

[Snoopy463]

Was there last week, albeit with a 6’ fin keel. Saw a few mobos with stern drives “drying out” with their legs tilted. They seemed happy with the arrangement and were residents. Don’t recognise the brown stuff as mud, more like an insubstantial ooze. Rock solid when trying to sleep though - there’s always a silver lining to every cloud!