Watchet Marina

[graham]

Just had a gentle couple of days in Watchet Marina. Im allways impressed with the friendly staff. Their biggest problem has been keeping the mud level down.It got quite bad a couple of years back but now they have a commercial dredger in when needed to clear the fairways and their own hopper barge to get in to the berths. Aptly named"Perseverance" /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Most of the berths are now continually afloat they are working everyday to clear the rest.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Watchet's a lovely place (?) but it does remind me of why we called the water in the Severn Estuary 'Liquid Grinding Paste'. We always reckoned the prop was clean after a trip up that way!

An unkind crew member suggested that you don't swim in the upper Severn - you just go through the motions...!

 

[DRANNIE]

My Dad designed a several sewage works in the upper severn and was a dirty water engineer for many years and I know jobbies didn't go straight in. Main problem was farmers dropping large quantities of liquid cow jobbies into the river.

 

[Pye_End]

I went there when I was small and can never forget the sign -

'Watchet - Please drive slowly'

Also, do you know if they found a child's hat whilst they were dredging - my sister had her's blown off from the quayside and down it went. Might be a bit muddy though 30 years on.

 

[graham]

The water quality these days is very high in the Bristol Channel /Severn Estuary Thanks to millions of pounds invested by the various water companies to clean up the outfalls.The brown colour is caused by suspended silt stirred up by the strong currents.

Watchet is in fact on the Bristol Channel the Severn Estuary starts at the Holms.

PS Pye end ,your in luck they still have the hat in the office /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[john_morris_uk]

OK so I couldn't resist the cheap joke.

Actually, its a bit of pot and kettle, as the Water Authority at one of our favourite anchorages only started treating the sewage before discharging into the sea a very few years ago. (Cawsand just outside Plymouth Sound, if you are wondering.)

I was brought up within a few yards of the Severn a few miles upstream by the way. I used to come out in spots and a rash when I fell in. The water quality 40 years ago was disgusting...

 

[graham]

I know the dredger crews at Avonmouth used to get hepatitus injections before they could work.not sure if they still do.



We have noticed the absence of what we call "Passion Fish" Which at one time were everywhere including hanging disgustingly on the harbour wall ladders /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gifbut rarely spotted these days since the water authorities got their act together.