The Naze - Foul Tide Tactics

[Little Rascal]

We were coming back up the Wallet from Maldon yesterday morning and because we left an hour later than ideal, found ourselves plugging a foul tide from Walton Pier onwards, and rounding the Naze an hour or two after slack LW.

We headed inshore into about 3m depth to see if we could get out of the tide but found quite a lot of tide running around the Naze, almost in a tide racy sort of a way. The was no swell and a bit of wind so we were happy enough but it did take a while to get round. We were hoping to pick up an eddy in Pennyhole bay but it didn't feel like it was helping until up near the shipping channel.

Could we have done it better? What tactics should we have used? (Apart from getting up earlier!)

 

[jerrytug]

I would have tried what you did, interested to hear from the experts.

 

[MoodySabre]

Looking at Harwich Harbour Tidal Streams Atlas
http://www.hha.co.uk/proxy.asp?proxy_url=library/files/BB131C69-6D70-457D-BEF4-BC73BC9BC1EE.PDF

The rising tide sweeps down passed Pennyhole and then presumably round the Naze as experienced. By continuing to track more easterly you may have stayed cross-tide and then you could have tacked to NNW and stayed cross-tide. You could then get the tide up into Harwich.

 

[Leighb]

It might have paid to have stayed further out until well past the Naze, as the tide tends to turn inshore first while still ebbing in the deeper water. It would depend where you were in the tide cycle.

Once it had turned fully then generally what you did is better.

 

[Little Rascal]

Thanks, not much of an eddy there then. We were running under spinnaker on 000deg for the Landguard N Cardinal, across Pennyhole Bay but definitely getting set to the west. I originally came inshore towards Walton to see if we could get some wind as it had gone pretty light out in the wallet and we were losing the fair tide anyway.

 

[johnalison]

I don't think there is much you can do. There is also the danger of more pot markers close inshore. There is about 2 1/2 knots of tide off the Naze, but only for a short distance.