Orford to Landguard: The Whiting Bank?

[Ohlin Karcher]

We're going from LT to Shotley on Monday and I can't decide whether to go inside or outside the Whiting and Cutler Banks.
The tide works out nicely for a change, in that the whole trip will be in daylight, hopefully.
My initial instinct says outside the banks, plenty of sea room.
However, the wind will be F4 NNW, and I want to be in smoother water, the boat goes quicker, and it's easier in general.. so is it worth going inside the banks, as the wind will have a smaller fetch off the marshes, whereas being downwind of the banks might raise some standing waves?
On the chart it says 'overfalls on the ebb' SW of Orford Ness, these can only be caused by the Whiting Bank.
Does that suggest overfalls to the SW of the Whiting Bank, in the strongest part of the flood?
The Hollesley Bay Channel has a name and a white sector on the Orford Ness Lighthouse, which I think I can take as a positive indicator for going inside the banks..although aimed at northbound vessels of course.

If any locals have done the same, what do you recommend, TIA

 

[PaulRainbow]

Getting inside the Whiting bank will mean some coast hugging around Orford Ness. I would keep 2 or 3 miles off of Aldeburgh, head for the gap between the Bawdsey bank and the Shipwash. It barely adds any distance, the inner route is likely to be pot city.

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

Thanks yes I see what you mean, it's well worth keeping further iffshore than I had initially thought. Nice one :encouragement:

 

[Kukri]

Getting inside the Whiting bank will mean some coast hugging around Orford Ness. I would keep 2 or 3 miles off of Aldeburgh, head for the gap between the Bawdsey bank and the Shipwash. It barely adds any distance, the inner route is likely to be pot city.

+1.

 

[nigelm]

8 hrs of tide with you , easily doable in that time

 

[Daydream believer]

However, the wind will be F4 NNW, and I want to be in smoother water, the boat goes quicker, and it's easier in general.. so is it worth going inside the banks, as the wind will have a smaller fetch off the marshes, whereas being downwind of the banks might raise some standing waves?

Standing waves? F4 wind over tide? You will able to take your billiard table & play a few rounds on the way:encouragement:

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

Standing waves? F4 wind over tide? You will able to take your billiard table & play a few rounds on the way:encouragement:

Perhaps our slightly nervewracking experiences of the Wells Bar have made me hypersensitive to squiggly lines on the chart..

 

[Old Bumbulum]

Might be an idea to update your charts though, Orford Light was decommissioned 6 years ago so any sectors shown are ancient history!

I've done that trip scores of times and never seen overfalls worhy of the name.

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

Might be an idea to update your charts though, Orford Light was decommissioned 6 years ago so any sectors shown are ancient history!

I've done that trip scores of times and never seen overfalls worhy of the name.

New charts on the way
Thanks for the reassurance about the overfalls

 

[Leighb]

Might be an idea to update your charts though, Orford Light was decommissioned 6 years ago so any sectors shown are ancient history!

I've done that trip scores of times and never seen overfalls worhy of the name.

Going North with the ebb can be interesting where the overfalls are shown on the chart, I have only done it in lightish winds but even so it was distinctly bumpy until past Orfordness. I agree that outside you are less likely to find pots.

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

A very pleasant run down to Shotley today, the above suggestions worked out perfectly!

 

[PaulRainbow]

A very pleasant run down to Shotley today, the above suggestions worked out perfectly!

That's good to hear, glad you had a good trip. How long are you in Shotley for ?

 

[Ohlin Karcher]

That's good to hear, glad you had a good trip. How long are you in Shotley for ?

Well the wx is not great and I shoukd take the chance to clean the d-bug from my other tank, since my car and a workshop are in walking distance, so several days in Shotley. .
(saw a van near the boat with 'Rainbow' signwriting, is that you I wonder I am on the old double-ender on the fingerless pontoon so say hi if you wander past)

 

[PaulRainbow]

Well the wx is not great and I shoukd take the chance to clean the d-bug from my other tank, since my car and a workshop are in walking distance, so several days in Shotley. .
(saw a van near the boat with 'Rainbow' signwriting, is that you I wonder I am on the old double-ender on the fingerless pontoon so say hi if you wander past)

Yes, that's my van. I'm not there again until the weekend, will try and get round to say hello.