Snape with a fin keel

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ditchcrawler

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We have club cruise planned for mid may and will be in Snape 17th/18th May(Springs).I can get up and down the river I reckon but do any of you learned gentlemen have any knowledge or experience of staying at Snape at low water with a fin keeler.Although my official draught according to Moody is 1.52m in reality it is nearly 1.7m.
Is it possible to stay rafted out and sit on the bottom(hard or soft?) or more practical to lie up against the barge or just not go at all.
 
I tried it last summer with a wing keel drawing 1.0m. Perhaps 33% of withies were missing. After running aground numerous times I gave up at Iken Church and anchored. I went on in the dinghy to Iken Cliff.

Here is one frustrated ditch crawler.

Better luck to you.
 
My build certificate shows the measured draught at 5'6" which loaded up is a good 1.7m.

My 1998 East Coast Rivers gives a number of 01728 688303 for the office at Maltings Quay and perhaps they can answer the question. If there is space along the quayside you could always stand-up but how far you would sink is a lottery.
 
ditchcrawler said:
We have club cruise planned for mid may and will be in Snape 17th/18th May(Springs).I can get up and down the river I reckon but do any of you learned gentlemen have any knowledge or experience of staying at Snape at low water with a fin keeler.Although my official draught according to Moody is 1.52m in reality it is nearly 1.7m.
Is it possible to stay rafted out and sit on the bottom(hard or soft?) or more practical to lie up against the barge or just not go at all.
Click to expand...

we have been as far as "The Oaks" just above Iken Church in out Co32 & anchored overnight ( 10kg Bruce :cool: )
 
I went up 4 - 5 years ago and, for the first time ever, stayed overnight.
Never having seen the bottom there, all the usual preparations to lean on the wall (anchor & chain in the scuppers, boom out, etc..) and off to the Plough as soon as she's grounded.
Preparations were all in vain, the mud was absolutely flat from bank to bank and she sat bolt upright in soft mud, halfway to her marks.
She's long keel and 4' draft
 
We tried this a couple of years ago in a centreboarder, only intending to go as far as Iken.

The withies were confusing to say the least, and the channel tortuous and we ran aground a few times. Most frustrating as barges still make the trip !

Not sure i'd try it again now with a fixed keel, unless the withies have been improved.
 
Up to Iken church it's fairly easy, except you have to be there earlyish in the tide to make the rest of it. After that it's run aground time. There is a handy solution though, there is a really nice chap who runs a river trip service in season, just wait for him to get to Iken and as he turns round, follow him in. But in a boat with your draft I really wouldn't risk it, you are going to have to time your run for the top of the tide and that far up river tides are unpredictable and you may easily get neeped. We did it in a cat with less than 1m draft and still ran aground a dozen times, some of the switch backs are not at all obvious. Some of the channel banks are very steep and drying out after running aground could be a bit hairy.

Once there you'd have no problems though. Tie up to a big barge and you would go anywhere and the mud is fairly gooey.

The anchorage at Iken is a different bet, utterly peaceful and a nice dinghy motor up to Snape. The holding at Iken is so good it's the only time we haven't dragged; and we're famously bad at anchoring.
 
ditchcrawler said:
or more practical to lie up against the barge QUOTE]

Heard horror stories of laying alongside a barge in Maldon.

Boat touches bottom before barge and sinks in a bit, barge continues to go down until touches bottom and then slides sideways pushing you over the wrong way. :eek: Now all the weight is on your lines no matter how much lean you set up before touching bottom.
Click to expand...
 
In a fin keeler this is quite a risky undertaking. As others have mentioned, many of the withies have either been broken off and/or have missing topmarks which makes it hard to know which side to leave them. To counteract this, you need to go up early on the tide while the marks can still be located. The nearer you get to the top of the tide, the more difficult it becomes as by then even the taller withies may be submerged, particularly at springs. This applies whether you are going up or down the river.
With a fixed keel the chances of getting neaped are quite high so if you must, it would be better to go before the top of springs, definitely not when they're taking off.
Currently the big, old fishing vessel Nadir, the little barge Cygnet and the trip boat have berths at the Maltings quay. Nadir is permanent, Cygnet and the trip boat come and go.
The bottom is mud but is only level near the quay wall, there are some variable holes. Barges, bilge keelers, centreboarders and the occasional shallow long keelers often stay overnight but I have never seen a fin keeler dried out there. Would advise you stop at Iken and go up in the dinghy.
Have a look on www.eastcoastrivers.com for my blog with photos of trip downriver from Snape on the barge Adieu last summer.
BTW what makes you think only gentleman can advise on staying at Snape?
Jan Harber
 
I shall have to say something now the competion has showed up!
In our opinion....
Frankly, unless you have bilge-keeler, a centre-boarder or a multihull you may think it not the hassle. You can lie in a hole off Iken Cliff and stay reasonably upright in about 2 metres. You can then walk up to Snape.
Snape isn't that flat. The mud curves non-too-gently down into the trickle of fresh water that forms the river at low tide. You can lie alongside the wall but it isn't recommended to tie alongside a barge if you're a fin keeler or even a bilge keeler. The withies are a pain - the meanders change as time goes on and not all the withies get replaced when they fall over.
If you're set on an evening at the Maltings for a concert then suggest you find a mooring at Orford and get a taxi!
 
With all the miles and all the awkward tides to consider, it took us 3 days to get from Woodbridge to Snape. I then looked at the map and realised that 10 minutes in the car would have done it! Not the point of sailing I know, but it seemed an awful long way to go to get about 7 miles.
 
To Jan,
Many thanks for your invaluable input.Being old school(grandchildren call me Grandad Seadog) I tend to forget that ladies have both the experience and knowledge as well.Thanks for all contributions.I will probably hitch a ride in a twin keeler.I would not want to be neeped.As an aside this is our 3rd year of trying for Snape.The last two years have been beaten by the weather,except for one intrepid lady who made it both years in her Atalanta(with the twin lifting keels,called Bluster) from her mooring at Ramsholt.The cruise this year is being led by the Essex smack The Quiz moored near Pin Mill.Give us a wave if you see us.
 
Did it last year but would not consider overnighting as mentioned.

It is definitely worth going as far as Iken though.

The expanse of water after Aldborough opens up into a spectacular lake with breathtaking views. A special area of water. An East Coast must.
 
ditchcrawler said:
To Jan,
Many thanks for your invaluable input.Being old school(grandchildren call me Grandad Seadog) I tend to forget that ladies have both the experience and knowledge as well.Thanks for all contributions.I will probably hitch a ride in a twin keeler.I would not want to be neeped.As an aside this is our 3rd year of trying for Snape.The last two years have been beaten by the weather,except for one intrepid lady who made it both years in her Atalanta(with the twin lifting keels,called Bluster) from her mooring at Ramsholt.The cruise this year is being led by the Essex smack The Quiz moored near Pin Mill.Give us a wave if you see us.
Click to expand...

Frank Knights re-built "The Quiz" she was moored off of Ramsholt Quay for many many yrs with the tide running through her
 
LONG_KEELER said:
The expanse of water after Aldborough opens up into a spectacular lake with breathtaking views. A special area of water. An East Coast must.
Click to expand...
I agree, we saw it for the first time last summer. As we entered it we had one of our "why don't we just stay here for the summer" moments.
 
Ditchcrawer
A wise decision, you will probably enjoy it more in a twin keeler. Will look out for you all. Is the Atalanta coming again?
Don't usually reply to posts here (leave it to the learned gentlemen!) but as Snape is in my neck of the woods, I pass to and fro across the bridge several times a week, my knowledge of it is very local and pretty up to date.
As mentioned previously there are some images of the upper reaches in my Sept blog on www.eastcoastrivers.com
Jan
 
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