Where is it?

It looks wrong, but that is definitely All Saints Church, which would suggest you were actually in Alresford Creek at a very high spring tide probably on the Thorrington Mill side of the old gravel jetty?

PS. Please send Fortnum and Mason hamper to 'Millbeach' for all the stick he has taken of late!!
 
Cobra said:
It looks wrong, but that is definitely All Saints Church, which would suggest you were actually in Alresford Creek at a very high spring tide probably on the Thorrington Mill side of the old gravel jetty?

PS. Please send Fortnum and Mason hamper to 'Millbeach' for all the stick he has taken of late!!
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Sorry, wrong. Keep going chaps. I will say this, it is Brightlingsea Church. Now all you need is a chart!
 
A long shot...the Roman River?

Only other possibility and this is even more of a long shot the Blackwater just the Mersea side of the Cocum Hills looking across Mersea but it just doesn't seem quite the right perspective!
 
No. Actually it's so obvious to a Brittlesea man! Right in front of you one might say. The trouble is you don't expect to see what you are seeing there - water and dinghies, and you don't expect not to see the things that you can't see there (if any of you are still following me).

When you have eliminated the impossible, what remains, however, improbable must be correct!
 
OK...looking at the foreground, it means that the photo MUST have been taken to the South West of All Saints. That by elimination should put you near the Strood eiher Pyefleet side or maybe but I think less likely Mersea side. It just doesn't look right though.

It's got me thinking...I thought I knew the Colne pretty well, just goes to show that perhaps for the past 50 years I have been sailing with my eyes shut!! Now that really IS scary!!
 
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Got it. The sea wall is a little higher than usual because of the firing range on the other side and you cannot see the Colne - but it's there. Camera location is defined - for Jan this - as in ECR Edition 1, Page 10, second column "Craft drawing up to 6ft can remain afloat (not today they can't) as far up as Mayday Marsh where the channel divides, the south branch leading to the Strood which joins Mersea Island to the mainland". It is of course well zoomed, this is the previous image; would have been harder I think:
 
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Now the REALLY embarrassing bit...It wasn't me that worked it out...it was SWMBO who looked at the piccy listened to my thinking and then said "Well, I reckon that is taken somewhere at the top end of Pyefleet, last time we were up there I noticed All Saints and thought how odd it was as you couldn't see the Colne but could see a barge heading up river!" I wouldn't mind, but she has only been sailing for the past 15 years!
 
That was indeed a tantalising one, the zooming made it even harder.
Roger, you have just illustrated one of the biggest pitfalls of taking over the editing of a book originally written and published in the 1950s.
Even after 18 further editions some words, such as "remaining afloat as far up as Maydays Marsh...", are still unchanged since Jack originally wrote them over 55 years ago.
If you are allowed to divulge such critical information to a rival publication, how much water is there up there these days?
 
Jan Harber said:
That was indeed a tantalising one, the zooming made it even harder.
Roger, you have just illustrated one of the biggest pitfalls of taking over the editing of a book originally written and published in the 1950s.
Even after 18 further editions some words, such as "remaining afloat as far up as Maydays Marsh...", are still unchanged since Jack originally wrote them over 55 years ago.
If you are allowed to divulge such critical information to a rival publication, how much water is there up there these days?
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Jan.

I may get things thrown at me by chums but I assume most sensible people have ECR, ECP and CTTE! On that basis :D

I did not take the data logger - not sure why - but from recollection the max water we had under us was 11.4ft or 3.474m + keel offset of 1.143m=4.617m less height of tide 4.88m= drying 0.263m at CD (approximately:D). There are one or two deeper 'holes', one indeed just up from where the channel splits. It is a magical spot if the yacht can take the soft mud - no traffic sounds, seals playing, bar tailed Godwits (who seem to like it there) working the shore line - provided the firing ranges are not in use! Tis reasonably well marked in places by withies but in one space on the way round it is a tad difficult to work out which side you are supposed to be. Perhaps I'll survey it one day - although why anyone would want to....

Forumites might be interested to know how out of date 'official' data is. Some of the base data available to chart 'drawers' round here dates back to 1974!
 
We haven't anchored in Pyefleet for a couple of years - looking at the latest chart I have (Navionics) there's no water to anchor in past the mouth of the creek - there were always a few pools from memory. Have they all gone? Is anchoring in the creek only for boats that can take the ground now?
 
There is plenty of water to anchor beyond the moorings and well inside the creek; in fact two yachts were doing that last Wednesday. Where Jan and I are talking about is right up round the top almost in sight of the Strood. There are still lots of pools but I didn't make any attempt to plot anything as I was making my way up the top to act as a radio boat for the RTIR. Maybe I should have a poke about one day so that there is some definitive data.
 
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