In this mid-year ECP newsletter we bring you bits and pieces of news and book updates that we have gathered since we last got in touch, back in May.
As I write, an unseasonal gale is pummeling the house and I'm inevitably wondering if our boat is OK. I trust that none of you were at sea today, but then for once we did have plenty of warning of what was to come, the forecast being rather more accurate than usual.
In May we announced the availability of the new chartlets for the Deben and Ore entrances and many hundreds of free copies have been downloaded since then. I do wonder if this gale will change anything at the entrances, but being mainly south-westerly I guess it probably won't. It's always worth checking the website though, if you are returning for a second visit this year, in case we have tweaked the advice note based on new experience or local advice.
News Items and Book Updates
There have been few book updates since May - closure of the garage at Orford, the only source of fuel there; some detail changes to the information on Medway YC, and the latest Thames Barrier test closure programme. These can be accessed as usual via our 'Summary by Date' page.
News items come and go from the website but I will
mention several. The hard-working members at Benfleet YC have added some extra buoys in the Ray Gut, near the Leigh buoy off Southend, to help guide us around the shallows; a risk of fouled anchors in the Roach, together with a request not to disturb the many baby seals around there; new pilotage sketches on our 'Downloads page' for those rounding Stone Point and/or visiting Walton & Frinton YC; and more news regarding the Havengore Bridge.
Frustratingly the Havengore route is again closed right now by a bridge failure, but our notes describe ongoing efforts to improve the overall situation, and encourage you to use the route if you can.
New Local Surveys
Our friend and colleague Roger Gaspar, author of 'Crossing the Thames Estuary', has been busy refreshing some surveys this year, and has produced superb new chartlets for the Raysand Channel, the Swin Spitway, and the SW Sunk swatchway. These are on his website, and can also be accessed directly through our own 'Downloads page'. Roger works hard to produce this very useful pilotage material and it is hugely appreciated.
Out and About
Garth has been spending quite a bit of time this summer enjoying cruising in the Netherlands, while I have not fared so well, with only a trip up to St. Kats and a week on the Blackwater so far. I'm hoping to get away shortly and visit some familiar haunts in Essex and Suffolk.
If you have visited a chandlery recently in search of a copy of ECP, you may have found none in stock. This will be because the new 5th Edition is imminent! We will tell you more when Imrays publish it. We are lucky that there were many new aerial photos to use in the book, and our header picture above is a sample.
And on that note, may we wish you a very pleasant remainder of the boating season.
Kind regards,
Dick Holness
Co-author and webmaster
East Coast Pilot.
Follow us on Twitter....at @eastcoastpilot
Header photo: Brightlingsea from the air.
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