Transiting from The Wash to Gt. Yarmouth in a narrowboat.

[rusty69]

13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

We came out of Wells on a lovely day and as we got to the West Cardinal buoy hit the worst 'seas' I think we've ever sailed thru, Wind over tide and it was horrendous as the waves hit the shallower water - we spent about 1 hour under power & literally not moving - it is the only time that the dog has been sea-sick.

I was not confident that we could turn around and being beam-on to that sea could have been disasterous.

And that it in a Cat A (Ocean) rated.

 

As the tide changed we eventually started to make ground and a couple of miles later were back ito smooth water and a lovely Summers day.

 

IT was the time when some kilometre pipes ditined for the Middle East had fallen off a ship and floating (partially submerged) around the North Sea, we passed a couple under tow by recovery tugs.

 

 

 

@rusty69 Remember this picture that you got of us entering the harbour (from the harbour camera)

 

5 Years ago - doesn't time fly.

 

 

 

 

 

Any northerly in the wind direction there can make it a very unpleasant place to be. Even after a strong northerly has gone the day after can still be bumpy. Add in a bit of wind over a strong spring tide and the run out of  Wells and Blakeney can be very unpleasant.

 

Wow, was that really 5 years ago? 

Edited December 1, 2022 by rusty69

[Tam & Di]

It has been done many times with craft not generally taken to sea. Our fisherman friend Gary Haggis bought a small Dutch barge in Nottingham and fetched it to his mooring in the Thames estuary 6 months ago, stopping off at Great Yarmoth en route, and Tim Wood (of Wood Hall & Heward) did a similar trip a few years ago with his L&L shortboat, now on the Grand Union at Springwell. Narrowboats would obviously roll rather more 😃

 

Tam

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by Tam & Di
remove defunct video link and replace with still leaving Gt Yarmouth.

[Pluto]

When Sebastian Maillard, whose book on canal building I recently translated, visited England in 1795, the group he was travelling with arrived at Yarmouth. This is the description made by one of the party:

We stayed in Yarmouth until the 18th, although there is nothing to be seen except shipbuilding and some sailcloth manufactures, even the land around the town bears no trace of the fresh green that is unique to England, and which we found later in other places; yet Yarmouth is a most agreeable place, and especially for us, as the first place that introduced us to English manners, so this place was most interesting. When we landed in the evening at a kind of bridge that runs along the quay and is completely without railing, we ended up amongst a few hundred people who were walking along this bridge, although the weather was no better than pleasant. The clothes of the ladies in particular, all of whom, without exception, wore hats of a special kind, and the wagons, which are nowhere to be found in England except Yarmouth, are actually decorated wheelbarrows with two wheels, reminded us every moment that we in a foreign land, of which I will tell you more in the near future.

[Orwellian]

This shouldn't have been posted on Waterways News.

[ditchcrawler]

9 hours ago, rusty69 said:

 

 

Blakeney Harbour and Wells are accessible, but with an ever shifting entrance. The harbour association do a good job of maintaining the buoys at Blakeney as does the harbour master and commissioners at Wells .

 

 

Not really the place to aim for if the weather is detreating. The OP would only need to tuck in due to the weather changing as he wouldn't set off if he didn't think he would get there.  Have you ever seen how quickly the weather can change on that bit of coast. bright sun to thick fog in less than half an hour.

[rusty69]

21 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Not really the place to aim for if the weather is detreating. The OP would only need to tuck in due to the weather changing as he wouldn't set off if he didn't think he would get there.  Have you ever seen how quickly the weather can change on that bit of coast. bright sun to thick fog in less than half an hour.

Yes I have. I spend a lot of time there. 

 

I would not recommend the trip in a narrowboat, but each to their own. 

 

ETA, Most of the places along the north Norfolk coast are not places you just drop into anyway. They have a pretty short tidal window,and planning is required. You can of course anchor at the harbour entrances, but in poor weather it would not be comfortable. We lost our anchor waiting for the tide at Wells once, and the weather wasn't particularly bad. I'm not even sure they dredge the harbour entrance every tide now the wind farm vessels have vacated, like they once did.
 

 

Edited December 1, 2022 by rusty69

[Momac]

23 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Yes I have. I spend a lot of time there. 

 

I would not recommend the trip in a narrowboat, but each to their own. 

 

ETA, Most of the places along the north Norfolk coast are not places you just drop into anyway. They have a pretty short tidal window,and planning is required. You can of course anchor at the harbour entrances, but in poor weather it would not be comfortable. We lost our anchor waiting for the tide at Wells once, and the weather wasn't particularly bad. I'm not even sure they dredge the harbour entrance every tide now the wind farm vessels have vacated, like they once did.
 

 

That's putting it politely

 

Wells new lifeboat

 

 

[Heartland]

With the proposed tidal barrier being planned to span the Wash, any chance of going around the coast may end if that barrier gets built, But, access to the tidal lagoon may prove to be a useful opportunity for some boaters.

 

[GUMPY]

32 minutes ago, Heartland said:

With the proposed tidal barrier being planned to span the Wash, any chance of going around the coast may end if that barrier gets built, But, access to the tidal lagoon may prove to be a useful opportunity for some boaters.

 

There will have to be some kind of lock in the barrier to allow freighters in and out of Kings Lynn.

Looking forward to having a big lake to play in, not that it will happen in my lifetime.

[Momac]

30 minutes ago, Heartland said:

With the proposed tidal barrier being planned to span the Wash, any chance of going around the coast may end if that barrier gets built, But, access to the tidal lagoon may prove to be a useful opportunity for some boaters.

 

For a coastal trip going out of the Humber is already the easier option.

 I agree remaining within the barrier would be the greater benefit. However the barrier could have a lock in it (Loddon beat  me to it)

 

 

Like this

[Naughty Cal]

35 minutes ago, MartynG said:

For a coastal trip going out of the Humber is already the easier option.

 I agree remaining within the barrier would be the greater benefit. However the barrier could have a lock in it (Loddon beat  me to it)

 

 

Like this

We always thought Boston a much easier route to Norfolk than the Humber.

 

I doubt any of these plans for the Wash will ever materialise. 

[Momac]

Just now, Naughty Cal said:

We always thought Boston a much easier route to Norfolk than the Humber.

 

A friend  went to Boston in the summer .

C&RT were very restrictive about the time they would operate the lock at Grand Sluice . It had to be in ''office hours'' .The tides said ''sod that'' .

He had to get out when the tide reached a level on the way up but C&RT would only operate the lock with the tide on the way down. That was too late to make it to Wells.

Plus the sea  state was crap but that's not C&RT's fault. 

 

I agree it (the barrier) will probably not happen which is  shame really.

Maybe in the next life. 

 

 

[Naughty Cal]

15 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

A friend  went to Boston in the summer .

C&RT were very restrictive about the time they would operate the lock at Grand Sluice . It had to be in ''office hours'' .The tides said ''sod that'' .

He had to get out when the tide reached a level on the way up but C&RT would only operate the lock with the tide on the way down. That was too late to make it to Wells.

Plus the sea  state was crap but that's not C&RT's fault. 

 

I agree it (the barrier) will probably not happen which is  shame really.

Maybe in the next life. 

 

 

They always have had restricted hours. That's nothing new. 

 

I believe they changed their operating rules regarding rising and falling tides after an incident with the flood gates which shut on a boat exiting the lock

 

 

[Momac]

31 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

They always have had restricted hours. That's nothing new. 

 

I believe they changed their operating rules regarding rising and falling tides after an incident with the flood gates which shut on a boat exiting the lock

 

 

Not much use then

We did go out at Boston once  but the lock keeper had the vhf switched off on the return.We did get in but  not impressed.

 

If they did build the barrier there would be no tide to reach grand sluice .

[Naughty Cal]

19 hours ago, MartynG said:

Not much use then

We did go out at Boston once  but the lock keeper had the vhf switched off on the return.We did get in but  not impressed.

 

If they did build the barrier there would be no tide to reach grand sluice .

We rarely got a response on the radio when returning but they did know we were coming. They listened just didn't broadcast very often. 

 

We never had a problem getting in or out again.

 

Often rubbish sea conditions though. But you can't blame CRT for that.

[Tam & Di]

21 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Often rubbish sea conditions though. But you can't blame CRT for that.

 I'm sure some here could  😁

 

Tam

[Momac]

59 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

 

 

Often rubbish sea conditions though. But you can't blame CRT for that.

I didn't 

[ditchcrawler]

On 30/11/2022 at 19:23, booke23 said:

 

I wonder how they got that aboard a standard springer.

 

There is a piano boat in London that has a grand piano on board, but it’s a custom built wide beam with a massive pigeon box that can be opened to crane the piano on and off. 

 

 

Saw on TV last night the poor chap has Pancreatic cancer 

[booke23]

4 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Saw on TV last night the poor chap has Pancreatic cancer 

 

Just watched it on catch-up, awful news. He's only in his 40's I think. 

[booke23]

On 02/09/2023 at 13:38, ditchcrawler said:

Saw on TV last night the poor chap has Pancreatic cancer 

A little late, but I only just heard the sad news that Masayuki Tayama passed away on 22nd September 2023.

Edited December 7, 2023 by booke23