Ray Sand 'Channel'

Good timing that Tillergirl 'cos I was just chatting with t'lad not an hour ago about how we ought to give the Ray'sn a go next time out!

From memory it looks like there's been some significant changes since the last version?

The deepest water now seems to be well to the East of the Ray Sand Buoy on the edge of the area surveyed with the next best option being to head North from the Outer Crouch - heading North from the Ray Sand now putting you over shallower water than either of the other two?

Also, I don't remember the bottom end of the channel projecting so far to the South, is it my imagination or is it possible that the Ray'sn might be opening up again gradually?
 
Yes, I think strike up the 000.59.500E meridian is the 'deepest' :rolleyes: but you can get to the old channel quicker by striking north from the Outer Crouch (which won't be there in about 5 weeks when the new buoyage is due to by laid) until you reach the old channel and then turn NE. Striking north from the Ray Sand has not been the thing to do for a number of years. That lump that just projects in the way of a line due north from the buoy was there in 2008 but seems to have reduced in height slightly.

What is noticeable is that the edge down by the Outer Crouch is pretty steep-to. :eek:

Despite two and a half hours trundling back and forth, I still want to do some more. It would be interesting to fill in the area between 0059.500E and 001E, plus also to take the NE to SW line right the way through. Perhaps I'll get down there and anchor in what remains of the old channel and walk it at LW springs. Time, time, time....:cool:

How about this from 1903 (Them be fathoms!) (No chaps this is not at 7.03pm tonight)
 
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Cor! Fathoms eh? Amamzing the difference a century makes innit.

I was thinking myself that it would be of interest to see what lies further to the East as it seems to be deeper over that way than in t'middle

I'm curious as to whice way things are developing - is the channel reaching further south now as it seems to be or are things much the same as they have been for some while?

is the Outer Crouch disappearing then? It's not mentioned on the CHA web site info. Looks to me like the biggest problem navigating in and out of the Crouch is soon going to be avoiding running into a buoy rather than going aground!
 
Sorry for the delay; just watching the great win at Cricket!

There are going to be 30 odd buoys marking the Crouch from Whitaker to the Fairway. Specifically the plan is to put a lateral Starboard approx half way between where the Outer Crouch and the Ray Sand is.

I am going to have a look this evening at drawing up a sketch plan. It will be very well marked!

Is the channel reaching further south? Well possibly. If I compare soundings with the latest Admiralty Chart (Chart 1975), I found drying heights slightly down but it isn't very significant. Against the latest Imray leisure folio page there are similar very slight grounds for optimism. However, we are talking a matter of inches. But be careful for wishing for 12ft of water there again as when that happened the Spitway was on a line east of Clacton Pier (ie it would now be in the midldle of the Wind Farm) and where the Spitway is now dried!
 
Yeah, guess it would be a bit of an issue if the Spitway moved West again and ended up back where it started :)

Pity our depth sounder doesn't have an NMEA output or I could quite fancy running some lines of soundings myself. Bit of a PITA to log depth and position manually - I suspect my crew would raise some objections if I asked them to do it!
 
Drifting the thread a little, but does this mean we are going to lose all the great names of the Crouch buoys? The Sunken Buxey should be a national treasure for example. Crouch No. 14, or somesuch, doesn't really cut the mustard by comparison.
 
'Fraid so in some cases - Whitakers 1 to 8, Swallowtails 1 to 4. But the Sunken Buxey name stays but there are 4 Outer Crouches. 30 lit buoys, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... Ron Pipe will become two - Buxey Edge, a green can and Swallowtail No 4, a yellow X marked thingy. Foulness, Ridge and Swallowtail become Whitaker 6, 4 and 3

I'm trying to draw up a diagramatic representation but its going to be pretty intuitive. No more excuses for going aground on Swallowtail with 4 marker buoys (Tonijon to warn someone who shalt be nameless - "aren't you supposed to keep green buoys to starboard going up rivers?" "What green buoy?" "That one over there" - "Is that Green?" "Umm yes" - "I'm colour blind you know" - "Umm you never said that before, but it is pointie, that's supposed to be a clue" - "Oh yes. Good point."
 
Strewth!

With all those lit buoys, am I going to need my sunglasses for night navigation into the river? :)

The extra Swallowtail buoys I'm all in favour of having nearly come a cropper there myself the other week :eek:
 
tillergirl said:
Told tonight that it's so the commercial vessels working on the wildlife thingy don't need to get a pilot.
Click to expand...

And to think my ancestors navigated sailing ships up and down that coast with a lump of lead on a bit of string and a compass!

Now the professional mariner needs a bleedin' runway of nav lights :)
 
In fairness (which I know is not so much fun), it is apparently cheaper (I'm told) to pay for the buoyage rather than pay for what would otherwise be a mandatory obligation to use the pilots - which also get picked up at the Sunk which I guess might be a massive detour since a lot of the material is coming from the Crossrail project.

This is quite interesting

http://crouchharbour.org.uk/wild-coast/materials/
 
tillergirl said:
In fairness (which I know is not so much fun), it is apparently cheaper (I'm told) to pay for the buoyage rather than pay for what would otherwise be a mandatory obligation to use the pilots - which also get picked up at the Sunk which I guess might be a massive detour since a lot of the material is coming from the Crossrail project.

This is quite interesting

http://crouchharbour.org.uk/wild-coast/materials/
Click to expand...

and teh MCA have refused a licence for the only available suitable barges......

...even though the PLA thought they were OK to use.
 
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