Cruising Programme 2006

For all the latest CRUISING NEWS
or if you would like to read a report of a particular
cruise click on the link highlighted & underlined
above & off you go!

LEGAL OBLIGATIONS BEFORE PUTTING TO SEA
a new PDF file you should download & study:
Legal Obligations

The end of last season 2007 a new Yellow Pillar buoy
was placed by the Shotley Peninsular, position: 50°57'·32N x 001°17'·46E (WGS 84)
and was given the name:

'SHOTLEY HORSE'  Fl (4) Y 10s

It will be deployed again this coming year 2008. The reason for its deployment was to encourage
the local sailing fraternity to pass around this buoy when sailing from the Stour to the Orwell or visa versa,
and not the 'Shotley Spit' Cardinal thus keeping the sailing boats away from the main channel.
If you would like to see the original 'Notice to Mariners' click on the link.

Dutch Barges, or more properly Skūtsjé's,
weighing in at between 30 and 50 Tons some built as early as 1900, all competing like dinghies.

Will you be cruising to the Netherlands this year? There's plenty of fine 'Skūtsjé Silen' to see on the Fries lakes & on the Ijsselmeer, at Stavoren & Lemmer, provided you get there in time, usually end of July to early August. The boats are racing for their respective towns, indicated by the emblem on the main-sail, you'll find there is a large following of 'Brit's' for this sport!

The direct route is from Harwich to Ijmuiden, along the North Sea Canal to Amsterdam. After locking through the Orange Sluise, cross the Markermeer to either Enkhuizen or Lelystad, then across the Ijsselmeer to Stavoren or Lemmer, from here to the lakes or meers is a short sail with plenty of other enthusiasts, scenery and boats to see.

If your cruising plans include a trip to the Netherlands or Belgium you will need 'Schengen' forms, these can be downloaded from the RYA website or you can now obtain a copy from the club office. Please be aware you need three of either the Belgium or Dutch forms depending on your destination, one of these is faxed to the authorities by the harbour-master at your port of arrival-entry the other two stay with you onboard. (to ignore these instructions is a punishable offence) You are also required under Dutch law to carry a copy of the "Reglementen en Vaartips" these can be found in the Dutch publication "Wateralmanak" Deel 1, available from the ANWB offices (there is one of these in Middelburg) or a good UK chandlers.

If you are planning a Continental holiday this coming season, do you have all the necessary paperwork to ensure your vacation/cruise does not end up with tears. Some harbour masters can have bad days too, and you don't want one taking it out on you. Download the PDF file ( You'll need 'Adobe Acrobat 6' ) here to find out whether you need to bring your paperwork up-to-date! Right click on either the link above or below and choose the 'Save Target As' option.

  icc-certs.pdf

Now we have a LAW requiring us to carry a passage plan whenever we make a voyage, (This came into force in July 2002) thanks to IMO's SOLAS V regulations. For those who would like a 'crib' there is an outline plan for a voyage to Ostende here that can be downloaded as per the ICC information above. We also need a copy of the International life saving signals aboard so we have provided a PDF file for that. However, they can also be found in Reeds Nautical Almanac, chapter 7.

  nav-plan.pdf

   signals.pdf
 

CHARTS

The club now has a collection of nearly 200 charts housed in the Committee Room, a few of the charts covering some very far flung areas.  This collection is available for the use of all members at any time, (provided the committee room is not in use for any other purpose.) The charts are not corrected and therefore should not, themselves, be used for navigation.  However, they could be invaluable for planning trips, to look at before deciding what charts to buy, or just for interest.  They can be viewed at the club but if you would like to borrow them there is a “sign out/sign in” sheet in each drawer for you to complete. All these charts have been donated to the club by members from time to time.  We would love to have more so if you would like to donate your old charts they are always welcome.  Your contact is Ann Shepperdson who can be contacted through the entry in the Club Year Book. or by email through the link below:

office@wfyc.co.uk
 

A new PDF document is available for downloading. This one is about the changes that will come into effect at midnight on the 1st of February 2007, outlining the way in which the Maritime Coastguard agency will be broadcasting Marine Safety Information (MSI) in future. This includes all the various forecasts, Gale Warnings, Shipping, Inshore Waters, Strong Wind Warnings, plus Navigational Warnings etc. When you download the file you can either view it on screen, or print a copy to keep onboard     Coastguard Met.PDF

 

If you would like to download the latest chart of the Deben or Orford river entrances you must first make sure you have a copy of 'Adobe Acrobat' reader ver6 on your computer. You can obtain a copy from the link above but be warned, if you are connecting by 'Dial UP' then it will take quite awhile to download. Once you have downloaded and installed the programme you then click on the link below to download the chart or charts.

 

IMPORTANT CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE
AROUND THE HARWICH OFFSHORE SAILING AREA
that will affect leisure sailing

Changes to the "SUNK PRECAUTIONARY" area

download the attached 'PDF' file sunk precautionary area and read what
happened on the 1^st July 2007. We also have the RYA's Sunk_Traffic
PDF document which lists the buoy movements & is a little more colourful.

For information on
 'SEA SAFETY' & 'SEA CHECKS'.
Contact one of the following three club members
they are registered volunteers with the RNLI.

John Lange. David Masters. Charles Wilding Their numbers are in the club book

The 2006 HARWICH HAVEN update has now been saved to an RTF document
(This document type will open in MS WORD) and it can be downloaded by clicking
on the link in this text above, if you are interested.

Every so often the club organizes a cruise to St Katherine's Dock in the centre of London, right next to the Tower Bridge, and the Thistle hotel. This affords members the opportunity to walk abroad in the City of London at a very reasonable overnight cost, while taking in the sights and perhaps enjoying a show at one of the many west end theatres plus a meal in a restaurant of their choosing. Report by Roly on the 2005 event, in "cruising news".

Picture by kind permission of the Port of London Authority.

Then of course there are the many local East Coast cruises, with associated barbecues on some of our attractive nearby rivers:  the Deben, the Stour, the Orwell, the Blackwater, the Colne  and of course the Orford river, where some may choose to go on to Aldeburgh or even Snape, perhaps to a concert. Occasionally there is a cruise to the Norfolk Broads, locking through at Lowestoft passing through the Oulton Broad and on up to Beccles. The club enjoys an active cruising programme and its organizers are always keen to listen to suggestions from members.

In addition to the internal links shown below we also have ten external links the first to a very good publication called "EAST COAST PILOT" it has three local authors contributing to the information it contains and its website is dedicated to keeping the publication up to date so it is always worth a visit. The others link to the Hydrographers (Weekly Notices to Mariners) web site in case you would also like to keep your charts bang up to date, then of course the 'HOME' site of the RYA, & the Eastern region for more local events, our local Harwich harbour, the Coastguard, Metcheck for a local forecast, Harwich area Sailing Association, the local lifeboat station here at Walton & Frinton and the HAVEN SERIES web-site just click on any illustration to transfer.

webmaster BT 31/03/08