Navigation obstructions

[beneteau_305_553]

I went out yesterday off the Norfolk coast from Gt Yarmouth to have a look at the wind farm construction which is now well under way.

Two miles off shore there are about 24 columns, 6 metre diameter and about 4 M high covering an area of about 2 square miles. A huge pile driving barge is putting a new column in every two days or so.

Imray C28 has a correction that just mentions "Wind farm under construction" in a general area south of the radio mast.

The columns are totally unlit and there are no marker buoys. (one does have a radar reflector on top!)

I believe there is no exclusion zone in force.

A cable is being layed between the columns and the coast and there are warnings of this on VHF and a no anchoring within 600 m of the line but no mention of these huge posts which I think are a danger to shipping.


<hr width=100% size=1>Richard

 

[AndrewB]

UK Offshore wind farms

Permission for another 15 was sneaked through at the end of December, mainly in the Thames Estuary and North Norfolk coast. They are far larger than the round 1 proposals: two involve up to 300 turbines generating over 1 Gw at full capacity - each enough to power one quarter of London!


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[Gunfleet]

Re: UK not very Offshore wind farms

We'll be able to leave the gps at home!

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[ccscott49]

aren't the sandbanks they are built on a navigational hazard?

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[peterb]

For big ships, yes. But for East Coast small boat sailors (particularly in fog) they can be havens of refuge from big ships.

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[SteveA]

For those of us on the North West coast the round 2 concessions have included 2 large areas, one off Walney Island the other off the Duddon Estuary - these are in addition to the 4 given in round 1. The Crown Estates website shows all the areas to be built upon.

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[beneteau_305_553]

The area covered by the masts is much larger than the sandbanks.

One line of about 10 columns is only 100 meters to the side of the main shipping channel - just where yachts and motorboats go to keep out of the way of the commercial ships. Crashing into one of these in fog or at night is a definite possibility.

Anyone know of any plans to add these columns to the charts?

<hr width=100% size=1>Richard