Suggestions for a dingy cruising club on the Blackwater (East coast)

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NickC

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Boat: Burnham on Crouch
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Choice of many so far noted:
  • Stone SC
  • Marconi SC
  • Harlow (Blackwater) SC
  • Maylandsea Bay SC
  • Blackwater SC (Heybridge)
  • Salcote SC
  • Goldhanger SC
  • Tollesbury SC
Looking for a base to explore the Blackwater and up to Brightlingsea, would be nice to find a club where there is an active (dingy) cruising fleet. One other requirement is finding somewhere that lets members camp overnight on Saturday nights during the summer.

Any comments or suggestions would be most welcome.
 
Of those mentioned I only know Tollesbury marina, might be worth contacting them as it would be a handy base, with a chandlery; a bit bleak on a grey windy day but not too far a cab ride to the pubs & b&b's.

I suggest you read some Arthur Ransome if you haven't already, some of the intermediate books like ' The Big Six ' ( from memory ) were based around there, having fun in dinghies.
 
Suggest Blackwater sc. they have a training lake which is also useful for when the tide is out and camping no problem. Also a chalet beach hut with two beds and kitchen you can hire for £20 a night / £100 a week.
 
Marconi has an active dinghy cruising fleet that has organised outings in the Blackwater and further afield. They sail Wanderers and Wayfarers and other similar boats.
Camping is allowed on site for a number of weekends throughout the season and there are two camp sites in the village of Steeple, just up the road from the club.
You can also launch and recover at any state of the tide and there is an electric winch if your boat is heavy to manage.
PM me if you want more info.
 
corinthmistral said:
Suggest Blackwater sc. they have a training lake which is also useful for when the tide is out and camping no problem. Also a chalet beach hut with two beds and kitchen you can hire for £20 a night / £100 a week.
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Corinthmistral, any idea how long they have water for either side of the tide?

I did look at their website but one thing that put me off a bit was "we welcome all monohull sailors", one of mine is a small one man Cat so that kind of put me off a bit. However good to hear that camping is tolerated.
 
Tam Lin said:
Marconi has an active dinghy cruising fleet that has organised outings in the Blackwater and further afield. They sail Wanderers and Wayfarers and other similar boats.
Camping is allowed on site for a number of weekends throughout the season and there are two camp sites in the village of Steeple, just up the road from the club.
You can also launch and recover at any state of the tide and there is an electric winch if your boat is heavy to manage.
PM me if you want more info.
Click to expand...
Marconi has the ideal location with their hard usable at any state of the tide.

Just that I know a couple of different people that have tried it over recent years and both thought it very regimented and rules-oriented rather that the nice laid back place that they were hoping for. Camping is maybe an example of that, seemingly only allowed a certain few weekends of the year.

Would they really object to a small tent in the corner of the field on the occasional Saturday night, what about a camper van in the car park I wonder if that is allowed. Other answer might be to buy a small cruiser, that would be somewhere to kip overnight.
 
The number of camping days are set by the local council not the club and is about 27 days a year I think. Best think to do is go and have a look and see if it is suitable. If you are interested I can pm you the name of the person who runs the dingy cruising side.
 
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