Where haven't you been ?

Little Grebe said:
Gt Yarmouth (although I might not be missing much!)
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Great Yarmouth is well worth missing as a place to visit by boat! (Though the town itself has some hidden interesting bits.)

If wanting to go there just to tick it off the list, plan in advance to get the two bridges lifted (has to be organised previous working day at the latest, office hours only) and pass straight through Great Yarmouth into Breydon Water and the River Yare (i.e. avoid having to stop and try to tie up in Great Yarmouth itself - horrid). You can then cruise up the Yare to just outside Norwich (with mast up and with plenty of depth), plus a few other bits - very pleasant. Temporary Broads licence required (see Broads Authority website navigation section). Plenty of free 24 mooring places to stop (watch out for overhanging trees when coming alongside!). Be aware that lots of the motor cruisers are hire boats and the 'drivers' haven't a clue, but not a major problem.
 
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Southwold - On my must do list
Butley River
All points north of Southwold
Swale beyond Queenborough.
Done most of the rest of the east coast.
Not sure where to go in our 2 weeks off this year - we will see which way the wind blows.
 
We keep promising ourselves to visit Wivenhoe, so perhaps this year? Also spend more time in the Swale. Trouble is we have lots of places we like to visit each year and seems there is never enough time for new ones.
 
Leighb said:
We keep promising ourselves to visit Wivenhoe, so perhaps this year? .
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We didn't reckon Wivenhoe worth the trouble. The drying visitor berths on the inside of the pontoon are on a steep slope and the pontoon (in our admittedly limited one night experience) very noisy as the tide goes out. Bit of a case of been there, done that, wouldn't bother going back
 
I live at Rowhedge, and don't fancy the idea of drying out alongside, so for me the "upper" reaches of the tidal Colne are one tide visit only.

As far as the original question is concerned, haven't been to the Ore/Alde, and points north thereof - except have Broads cruised through Gt Yarmouth, and going alongside at the Yacht Station is for the brave or desperate, the tide really rips down there at several knots, and it is the most unattractive place...

Haven't done the East Swale, not sure I fancy it that much. Maybe will get to the Ore/Alde this year?
 
As I seemed to spend most of last year up the Butley Creek, weatherbound, and also as it seems most on here are headed for there, I have never sailed up the Colne so that's a possibility. Am not really interested in going north of Lowestoft, am mostly singlehanded and find Essex/Sth Suffolk more user friendly. But I genuinely have sailed all stops from Lowestoft to Ramsgate, inc up the London River. Maybe time to do it again?
EDIT: (actually 'all stops' is an exaggeration, cant possibly have experienced all anchorages,etc. What I mean is all ports or significant spots. Think I am digging a hole here)?
 
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Seashoreman said:
As I seemed to spend most of last year up the Butley Creek, weatherbound, and also as it seems most on here are headed for there, I have never sailed up the Colne so that's a possibility. Am not really interested in going north of Lowestoft, am mostly singlehanded and find Essex/Sth Suffolk more user friendly. But I genuinely have sailed all stops from Lowestoft to Ramsgate, inc up the London River. Maybe time to do it again?
EDIT: (actually 'all stops' is an exaggeration, cant possibly have experienced all anchorages,etc. What I mean is all ports or significant spots. Think I am digging a hole here)?
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Where is Butley Creek i know tat CW spend some time there too
 
nigelm said:
Looking at chartlets on ECP there doesn't seem much difference in difficulty between the ore entrance and that of the Deben , is this the case ?
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Slight thread drift but was over at Old Felixstowe last weekend (dry land) and the entrance looks for all the world as if it's closing up. At the rate it's going I wouldn't bet on it being navigable in 10 years.
 
Champagne Murphy said:
Slight thread drift but was over at Old Felixstowe last weekend (dry land) and the entrance looks for all the world as if it's closing up. At the rate it's going I wouldn't bet on it being navigable in 10 years.
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I think it tends to go in cycles: it starts to close up, then bursts through again (sometimes in a different place).

However, I did once read a really interesting report on the movement of sediment around the Norfolk/Suffolk/Essex coast, and the historical changes to it, and the long term (decades) prognosis for the Deben was not good. Can't remember now whether it anticipated it closing up, or losing the whole of the banks and beaches. (I'll try to track down the report again.)
 
nigelm said:
Looking at chartlets on ECP there doesn't seem much difference in difficulty between the ore entrance and that of the Deben , is this the case ?
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This could open a separate debate no doubt. I am moored at Slaughden, Aldeburgh and try to do the run from Ore to Deben as often as I can get the opportunity.
Those little charts are invaluable and worth taking very seriously. However there can be shifts in the coarse of the 'summer season'. I would sort of agree that they are similar but there are parts of both approaches that are unique. Coming out of Ore against the flood you can get a lot of shallow and 'boiling' water before you get to the Weir buoy due to the banks off North Weir Point, then you generally get a narrow channel to Oxley and away. I find the Deben a lot more straightforward. I recently visited Shingle Street and it looks a scary mess but generally it sorts its self out come Spring.
Fishing boats are in and out both rivers through the winter but they have local knowledge and different hulls.
I rely on Easter chartlet updates but have been in the Ore before buoys are in place, about 15 mins of inducing more white hairs.
However please don't be put off, just watch the rounding of the Weir bouy and the speed of the tides.
(there is talk that they have increased due to some land floods further up river at Hazlemere, but that's another story)
 
Gladys said:
I live at Rowhedge, and don't fancy the idea of drying out alongside, so for me the "upper" reaches of the tidal Colne are one tide visit only.
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Used to do it all the time on my parents' boat

Rowhedge01.jpg


However the last visit was very much on the tide now I only have half the number of keels!
 
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