New to sailing!

L

lee1620

Member
Joined
8 May 2008
Messages
36
Location
River Blackwater - Essex
Visit site
Hi,

New to sailing. Own a Catalina 22 - Catch 22 based in the Marina at Fambridge. (We bought our house in Fambridge approx 5years ago and thought it would be a crime not to get a boat)

Just getting to grips with her at the moment, furthest I have been singlehanded is Burnham at the moment.

This years Goal is to make Brightlingsea !!

Have spent the last ten years looking at sunken wrecks up to 100m mark as a keen technical diver and Instructor, now the time is being spent preventing an extra one joining them!!!!

Only sailing experience before buying our current boat was three weeks on Sir Winston Churchill sailing from Weymouth - Plymouth - La Corunna - Bordeaux. Glad i got my Comptent crew signed up then and didn't loose my log book /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif had a look last week and logged 1200miles and a force 9. That was in 1989 when I was sent by work as an outward bounds experience during my Apprenticeship. I still work in the the same Printing Works in Loughton after twenty years!

Have finished my Dayskipper and trying to put as many hours as possible in at the moment.

If anybody needs any crew for some of the longer weekend trips, I would be happy to help.

Always look at the forum most days when at work, and thought it was about time I posted something instead of lurking in the background.

Regards

Lee
 
Welcome to the Forums Lee, always nice to have a newcomer. If you find the Sunken Buxey and look back and can still see the Crouch entrance, thats quite a feat. Practice your bearings on prominent features, its so flat out there, but the clues are all there if you know where to look.
My first attempted crossing of the Ray Sand Channel ended when I got lost and sailed around (yep) a Thames barge sat on the mud at the entrance. He pointed me back in the right direction and showed me the features to look for. Of course, no Decca or GPS then!

Find Artemis in Fambridge, and go say hello to Nev and Janey, fab people.


Fair winds.
 
Hi Lee, as others have said, welcome, join in and meet a few of the friendliest sailors in the UK /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Pity you're a bit further South from me but I do get down to your neck of the woods quite often
 
Hi Lee

Just got back from 4 days aboard.

We are moored in north fambridge on the pontoon in front of the office in berth# 31 at the weekends if the boat is there we are normally on it. pop by say hello

Neville & Janey
 
Hi Lee
I'm also new to sailing, I'm at Fambridge as well, up on the hammerhead, 'Vaitea' Beneteau Oceanis 411 just completed my day skipper and have been up the crouch a couple of times. I'm working away at the moment but when I get back i'll look you up and we can compare new skipper horror stories!
All the best
Mark
 
Hi Lee,

You have a lovely location to keep your boat. Fambridge is a regular destination of mine. I went to Brightlingsea this weekend and as I draw 1.5M I chickened out of the raysand channel and went the long way round. Setting off from Paglesham on Saturday morning about 2 hours after high water following the ebb out of the river through the buxey no1 and no2 and staying on the south side of the channel until abeam of the swin spitway then up to the Eagle and follow the buoys in on the beginning of the flood.

Managed to touch the bottom in Brightlinsea, which was embarassing, and decided to walk round the town, which was a bit depressing. Should have stayed in the Colne YC. Got the friendly water taxi back to the boat and moored in Pyefleet for the night with lots of other Roach boats.

Got it all wrong coming back on Sunday as I had to get back early to See Jools Holland and his band at Priory Park. So hit the Crouch on full ebb beating against a f5 - 6 bang on the nose. It took twice as long to get back with an annoyed SWMBO waiting for me.

Anyway Lee, if you time it right and in good conditions Brightlingsea is an easy and fun passage - and I recommend anchoring in Pyefleet.

With your lifting keel, if you set off from Fambridge bashing against the flood you want to get to the yellow Raysand Channel bouy around an hour before high water. I think (others here will probably know better) that the deeper water and shorter route into the channel is about 500m East of the bouy. You shouldn't really need to lift the keel on a decent tide. It will save at least 2 hours on the passage.

If I see you at Fambridge I will say hello.
 
Brightlingsea has some hidden and not so hidden secrets!

Firstly call B'sea HM on chanel 68 and he (or one of his staff) will come out and meet you and show you to your berth and help take your lines if necessary.

Secondly if you like curry - you MUST visit Kovolam just off the hard to the left. Eat in or take away.

Colne YC is friendly for a beer - not eaten in there for a few years so cannot comment on food.

The fourth hidden secret is the other fish & chip shop (not the one on the hard) that I haven't found yet!!

As for the Raysand - I do it in my 1.4m fin keel up to 2 hours before HW Springs. Not worked it out for a neaps HW as unlikely to want to go in / out at 6am / 6pm ish!
 
Yes, everyone is very friendly and helpfull at Brightlingsea. I haven't tried Kovolam - will do so next time. My son insisted on the fish and chips from the shop on the hard - bit greasy for my taste. The Landlord of the pub nextdoor let us eat them in hios beer garden.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top