Shotley to the Deben - Advice please

[Cantata]

Orange dinghy's with visitor on the side, If its on a mooring think its pretty much up for grabs (don't know if the yard takes bookings for them) and if its on the beach some ones using it so leave alone!

There's a pic of one on P32 of East Coast Pilot latest (4th) edition.

 

[PeterWright]

As an ex Deben resident, with a spring tide you will carry about forty minutes of tide with you up the river. I therefore agree that you should start at the top by going into the Tide Mill Yacht Harbour first, and break your journey overnight on the way down the river, when you will be punching the flood tide.

You may as well plan to anchor at the Rocks and walk along the sea wall to the pub at Ramsholt. At this time of year this will involve less time in the dinghy than picking up a mooring at Ramsholt. Do look in to the church there if you have time; the village was removed in the 1920s to make way for partridges but the church remains ... with box pews and no electricity... the pub is also OK.

Plan to leave so as to cross the bar two hours before HW and you will get a helping hand back down to Harwich.

's reign at the Maybush was the old cast iron pump in place of a taEdited to add - there are three places where you may want to take a moment to sort yourself out, so to speak, on the outward journey - before passing the fairway buoy, at Loder’s Cut, and at the entrance to the Tide Mill.

In all three cases, don’t cut the corner!

If there is water through the Loder’s Cut there is water over the sill, so no need to take chances going the long way round Troublesome Reach.

Trivia: Loder’s cut was dug in 1879. John Loder was a local printer who was sued for libel. There was a strong feeling in the town that justice had not been done, and a fund was started to pay the damages awarded against him. Being a man of strong religious views he insisted on paying the fine himself, which left the question of what to do with the money. Since the river was shoaling and there was a lot of unemployment he chose to give men work to dig the cut that is named after him.

Hi,

Quite a range of advice on this one. For my money, Minn has got it right, aim for the Tide Mill for the first night (Woodbridge is not to be missed if you've not been there before) and cross the bar 2 hours before HW to ensure flood all the way up. If this gets you there early for the cill into the old millpond, you can either pick up a mooring off the entrance or just nudge your keel into the mud while you wait - it won't be long. On the way up, if you don't fancy Loder's Cut, keep a sharp lookout for the channel buoys in Troublesome Reach - it's named that way for a reason and calls for some major alterations of course.

Sadly, these days the 35 foot rule prevents us stopping at Waldringfield, but I remember when the best mooring was occupied by a Nich 38 belonging to cartoonist Giles, who had a caravan up on the cliff with a fold out studio where he drew many of his famous nautical cartoons. When I first used the Gents with the wonderful views, I wasn't tall enough to enjoy them, but I grew enough before modernisation took them away. Another example of Albert's reign at the Maybush was the green cast iron pump, rather than a tap, to fill your water can. Perhaps I should return by road some time, many hours of my youth were spent sailing there.

Peter