orwell or stour

[Phoenix of Hamble]

Folks,

I might be moving towards the East coast, and wondered what people's advice would be on good marinas to talk to in either the Stour or Orwell?

I would prefer a Marina to a mooring, but having never sailed on the east coast, wondered what people's advice would be... especially, what are the fees like?

Only Marina that I have previous knowlege of is Shotley....



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[Phoenix of Hamble]

Sorry, should have added... 31', fin keel drawing 6' 5"

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[suse]

Stour is shallower, no marinas - some moorings, but I gather they are snapped up if and when they become available. Probably not suitable for your draft. Orwell has several marinas, and in general they get (relatively) cheaper the further up the river you go. Until recently I had a boat in Ipswich Dock (2 marinas) 35 ft, cost about £2000 pa - Neptune Marina. Not quite as smart as the other one - Ipswich Marina, but excellent for the centre of town; has some parking. Not usually much of a waiting list, unlike others down the river, which are oversubscribed due to nearness of the sea. Lock people v friendly and open 24 hrs - meet interesting people in the lock! Sorry not to be there any more. Alternatively, try Titchmarsh Marina, nr Walton on the Naze - I think you can get in/out at all states of the tide, except possibly v low springs, when the entrance to the Backwaters is pretty shallow. Titchmarsh prices cheaper than lower Orwell, and close to sea, but can be a trek by land, depending where you're coming from. Backwaters are extremely pretty, v Secret Water, but as ever quite crowded.

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[Phoenix of Hamble]

Thanks Suse,

Taking a quick peek at various maps and charts, i'm guessing about 1.5hrs to open water... is that about right? (I'm not ignoring the probably splendid sailing opportunities in the estuaries!)


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[AlexL]

Howdy

We are in <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.shotley-marina.co.uk> Shotley Marina </A>, which we are very happy with. Lock access is fairly easy - 24hr access we have 1.7m draft and we can get in and out at all states of the tide. Sailing options are up the Orwell, up the stour or out to sea, so 3 options right out of the lock. Others up the Orwell are Fox's / Neptune / Ipswich Haven up at Ipswich, Woolverstone (MDL) about 1/2 way down and Levington on the other side from Shotley.
I'm not sure on the availability but when we looked around over Christmas / new year 2003/2004 Levington was full, Shotley (obviously!) and Woolverstone had spaces
There is also a fairly active cruising club at shotley - "Shotley Point Yacht Club" although many members are in Levington, or other marinas on the river.
PM me if you want any further info.

Alex

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[Phoenix of Hamble]

Thanks Alex,

Have contacted Shotley directly, and may well take a drive down soon to have a look around...

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[pandroid]

Shotley - Pretty good, Andy & Co are friendly and security concious, but lock access can get tedious at peak times (5pm Sat, 3pm Sun) expecially if coupled with low water (You can easily wait an hour or more). Max free flow 1 hour. Shortest to sea, but longest to drive. Used to be the most expensive, but things have evened out now.

Levington - Most popular choice, no lock, and hence waiting lists. Easiest to get to and hence best compromise between driving and sailing. Good supporting services, but security not so good. (not 24hr). Recent expansion. Tends to silt.

Woolverstone - MDL (say no more). Tide through the marina, and northern most berths exposed in a blow.

Fox's - Can get heaving. Unlikely to get a permanent berth. All services instantly available (as long as you want to pay Fox's rates)

Ipswich - Recently become popular with new Marina, but continuing to expand. Lock access reasonable (often free flow for 2hours or more). Good road access, reasonable services. Long way to the sea.

Other options are RHYC, or bouys at Woolverstone or Pin Mill.

All these are on the Orwell. There's nothing on the Stour except a few bouys at Harwich and Mistley

[Stands back....]

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[AlexL]

Yeah, that about sums it up.
However the driving aint so bad, It takes me about 20mins to drive from the turn off of the A14 at Ipswich to shotley, probably would take a bit less from A14 to Levington, but measured in minutes. If I was bearthed in ipswich I would save 20minutes in the car and add 2 hours sailing.
Agree the lock can get tedious, however I tend to plan to avoid at the bad times. The only time we have had to wait is when a spring low was about 4pm on Sunday, as each lock cycle takes a lot longer on low water.


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[Mudhook]

Not quite sure what Pandroid means by "Woolverstone - MDL (say no more)." Certainly not a very helpful comment. In 18 months at Woolverstone I've always been somewhat at a loss to understand the near-universal hatred there is for MDL. Maybe MDL's south coast marinas are different, but the Woolverstone team are unfailing helpful. polite, friendly, will always go the extra mile, etc.

Some Woolverstone berths may be exposed in a blow but I've never seen any boat damaged or even look uncomfortable. Big advantages (apart from brilliant staff) are the fact that access is 100% all-tide - you just come and go when you like - and that Woolverstone is only ten minutes drive from the A12 and A14. A small but very good and well-stocked chandlery helps (as does near proximity of Fox's, five minutes away).

Excellent deep-water moorings in river are served by a free water taxi (not the case at Levington).

If I were you I'd visit all the possibles and evaluate on cost, service, distance to drive and time you have to wait to get in or out.

Regards, Mudhook.

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[Phoenix of Hamble]

Mudhook,

Rest assured I won't be jumping into anything without looking at all the possibilities given the prices of marinas...

One other consideration, upon which I would be interested in people's opinions, is the draft at 1.9m.... Having (as previously admitted) not sailed on the east coast, can only go by the hearsay reputation of shifting sandbanks..... is this actually a problem that us rock bound sailors have not every had to worry about, or is it just an east versus west thing!... seriously, at 1.9m, should I be starting to negotiate with the missus about the percentage of income distributed to housekeeping, or perhaps more acturately, the percentage distributed to better causes such as a shoal draft!

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[Mudhook]

"the hearsay reputation of shifting sandbanks..... is this actually a problem that us rock bound sailors have not every had to worry about"

Overstated. Sure, it's relatively shallow in some parts of the area, but nothing that 1.9m is going to compromise you for. I think the difference is that if the water is pretty deep you can usually get away without doing much homework. When it is shallow you have to do your sums or you will come unstuck sooner or later. I never leave my mooring without a home-made table of tidal heights for every hour of the coming tide or tides. But it does make it all a lot more fun!

The shifting sands of note are chiefly the entrances to Deben and Ore/Alde which change every year. Help is aways at hand on this list and from local clubs and harbourmasters, etc.

By all means tell your old friends how treacherous it is on the east coast; that way we can continue to sail in relatively uncongested waters.

Regards, Mudhook

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[Phoenix of Hamble]

Terrific answer Mudhook.... it made me chuckle....

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[tillergirl]

East Coast sailing with that draft should be fine - sure there will be some short cuts that you will have to think about but by and large there's a lot of space. With my shoal draft I can cut round some of the sand banks closer than you will want to do but your better pointing ability will make up for that. I think you will only be restricted when wanting to cut a corner or when using one of the swatchways but that's part of the fun. The sands do move and swatchways increase and decrease but with the exception of the entrances to the Deben and Ore, the movement is gradual enough not to be a bother - we all think about what the winter has done to the former (hence the annual wot's the water at the SW Sunk post on this forum) and the latter has at least one brilliant website. Unless you are unhappy with what you've got give it a go - on the other hand if you've bought a copy of East Coast Rivers and fancy some serious creek sniffling then that's a diffferent matter. Not being an Orwell resident I would suggest you enquire about freedom to move at low water - a chum with a Moody 29 fin keel was deeply in the mud at an inside berth at Woolverstone last year at low water. Boat was fine but it couldn't go anywhere.

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[davidwf]

Been in Shotley for 5 years, very happy with service. Lock is only really a problem on Bank Holidays when an entire sailing club rally tries to leave at once. You quickly learn to interrogate them and discover when they are likely to leave and get out before them. The Yard services in Shotley are superb their GRP work is fantastic. There is a bar / restaurant called the Shipwreck which does OK bar type meals and a Pub about a 5 min walk away, the Bristol Arms, which does slightly more upmarket meals.

Lock is easy with floating fenders, with cleats attached to them, either side of the lock. I draw 1.92m, apart from springs can get in and out no problem, even on the springs we are only talking about 30 mins either side of low before I can creep back in.

Poontons are superb, way better than either Woolverstone or Suffolk Yacht Harbour (They get very sniffy at being called Levington). SYH has a waiting list but having been on it 6 years now, I believe its mythical and its all down to who you know. Only reason I would move is that SYH is only 10 mins from my house.

Only real gripe about Shotley is the appaling state the road surfaces are in, so much so that the shower block floors tend to get covered in dust which quickly turns to mud almost as soon as they are cleaned. I belive an extension is planned to the main toilet block this year not sure if the roads are due to be resurfaced or not.

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[AlexL]

The best thing to do, is do what we did, Spend 1/2 a day driving to all the marinas in the area, Ipswich, Woolverstone and Shotley on one side of the river, Levington on the other and have a chat with the staff.

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[sailorman]

we r based in Foxs Marina we have a permanent allocated berth & get very good service being reqular berth holders
staff very helpfull, it gets a bit hecktic around launch / lay-up time, , its much warmer than down river & tends to be a bit quieter than the larger marinas down stream. we have a "Club" Marina run food inexpensive & adaquate beer £2 a pint.
we dont find being up-river a real problem .
as AlexL said do a tour

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[Mel]

I keep my boat at Ipswich Haven Marina - all very smart and friendly.
It is a good run to the sea but the trip up the river is very scenic.
I do know of one incident at Wolverstone where a yacht broke away from its pontoon over the winter period. It looks far more exposed than the other Marinas on the Orwell and there is passing commercial traffic. I would be unhappy to leave my boat there afloat over the winter period !


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[squidge]

Quite right Mel , Most yachts are on the hard in winter .I had a scrummy meal at Wolverstone a couple of weeks ago so i can recomend the restaurant.Cos im a cheepskate we picked up a mooring at PinMill and used the tender .Well it paid for the meal!
Any where you can get in will do as none are very bad.Have you sailed the river before ? if not you are in for a treat, the stretch between Suffolk yacht harbour and the bridge is breath taking in its beauty.Always bring a smile after the mess of the docks.

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[pyrojames]

I was in the RHYC marina over the winter, which was a mistake. Very exposed to the NW and I ended up with 3 grands worth of damage. If I was to be based in Woolverstone, I'd move ashore, or into Ipswich Haven. I normally go to Ipswich Haven for the winter but was trying to save money. That obviously was abad call.

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[Mirelle]

Agree with that

I'm pretty "anti-marina" altogether but I must say that over the past 30 years I have always been very happy with Woolverstone. Very friendly and helpful, even to owners of gaff cutters with lengthy bowsprits!

Good chandlery, stores, excellent cover makers.

And the location is superb.

(As a footnote I fancy they are one of the not many fuel sellers that sell Soltron).

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