Notices to Mariners Week 16

[tillergirl]

Only one very very unexciting Permanant notice this week:

1. Replacement block issued by UKHO for a portion of the Schouwenbank Anchorage which is about 13nm west of Holland. I cannot spot the change and I doubt it will affect leisure craft!

Temporary

1. Trinity House are moving the Oaze starboard hand buoy SSW a little (394m).
2. Trinity House are placing (by the end of this month) three temporary new cardinal marks to mark the extremities of the planned extension on the south and western sides of the Kentish Flats Wind Farm. Apart from keeping clear of the Alert while she does this, the buoys will not affect navigation for now. However, once works start on the extension we can expect the ability of leisure craft to pass up the western side of the Wind Farm to cease during construction.
3. Dredging operations on berth 9 at Felixstowe announced from 7th April for about 4 days.
4. And then there is the Fambridge notice from the Crouch Harbour Master regarding the sunken barge. No update yet on the position.

That is it.

 

[Gargleblaster]

I am concerned about no 2 in the Temporaries. Passing up the western side of the wind farm to cease during construction, does this mean that we can not get from the Copperas Channel to the Thames or even out of the Swale to the Thames? Or does it mean that we can't just sail up the western edge of the current wind farm? I have often had chats with the guard boat in the early hours of the morning [I wonder if they get bored and lonely] when I was passing through when they were building the original wind farm so I suppose I could always call them up before I make a decision on using the Copperarse to get to or return from North Foreland.

 

[tillergirl]

First I need to be clear. There is no notice restricting passage at the present but I was referring to the likelihood of restrictions once they start work. They will be inevitable and in my view they will shut off the available space between the existing wind farm and the shallow bits of the East Middle. I guess a lot depends on how they do the construction. It could be argued that you could sail through the middle of the existing turbines provided they haven't restricted the southern side but I personally have no knowledge of depths through the middle. Given the experience at the London Array with scouring, it would be prudent not to be too cavalier about going through the middle.

Nothing is going to affect the Copperas in this so it would be possible to do the Copperas to the Four Fathoms Channel as at present. If you are leaving the Swale bound for the Swin, there is guidance in ECP4 on pages 151/2 about going over the Red Sand - in fact I am about to ring Dick (Cantata) to discuss options. But we don't know when they are going to start work so at present the situation is as it was. But I can't see (when they start work) any need to speak to a guard boat if using the Copperas.