Felixstowe Pier

Opened in 1905 with a length of 2640′ / 800m: the modern length is 450′ / 140m. During World War Two the Pier was partially demolished to reduce invasion risk. The outer part was later removed. Felixstowe Pier – Wikipedia

Chart View

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HHA Tidal Surges

14AUG24 there was a surge, it built up very quickly as can be seen from the graph. Two stream measurements were made from a yacht taking the difference between STW and SOG. HHA Tide Data for the period here, times are BST. HW 0700 3.3m, LW 1245 1.4m, HW 1930 3.3m Range 1.85 average (neap …

Woolverstone, D-Day at 80 Exhibition

On 6 June 1944, Allied troops landed on the Normandy beaches and the battle to liberate Europe began. 80 years on since D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare, we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our freedom. The small village of Woolverstone had a vital part to play in these tumultuous times.

Charles Baggage and Buoys

The mathematician, Charles Babbage, took note of the problems with shipping and produced ‘Notes Respecting Lighthouses‘ in 1852. This proposed an elegant system for coding lighthouses and anticipated the use of lighted buoys by more than twenty years. He was, of course, ignored by the British authorities, although the Russians1See p220 Good words, ed. by …

Submarine Sound BuoysSubmarine Sound Buoys

Submarine Sound Buoys

At the start of the twentieth century the Submarine Signal Company of Boston developed a system of electric bells that could be installed below water in lightships or, potentially, buoys. These could transmit underwater signals. Using a receiver an operator could determine the range and direction of the signal.

*Local Buoy History

These notes cover from the Blackwater to the Ore in chronological order. A fifteenth-century pilot guide describes the ‘Waynes and Weirs at Orwell (Harwich) Haven’, the entrance was quite different with many fishing weirs such as Andrews and Platters. These most likely necessitated the services of a pilot to be safely navigated. The Spitway may …

the 'Atomic Buoy', powered by the radioactive isotope, Strontium-90. This was an American experiment

The Atomic Buoy

In the mid-twentieth century, there were many experiments to provide long-lasting sources of power for buoy lighting. Replacing batteries or gas at sea was hazardous and costly work Many options were tried such as seawater generators. An interesting one was the ‘Atomic Buoy’, powered by the radioactive isotope, Strontium-901U.S. Naval Institute. ‘The Atomic Buoy Experiment’, …

1847 Sailing directions for the river Thames, from London…Norie

Sailing directions for the river Thames, from London, to the Nore and Sheerness, and thence to Rochester, in the river Medway; also from the Nore, through the Swin and King’s channel, to Harwich, Hollesley bay, Orfordness, & Yarmouth: and through the Queen’s, South and Prince’s channels, to Margate, Ramsgate, the Downs, and Dover. To which …

Deane, Sir Anthony

Anthony Deane, friend of Pepys, built ships at Harwich and help repel the Dutch. He wrote his Doctrine of Shipbuilding and was key to building the Royal Navy. He is commemorated only by the Red Buoy at Harwich.

Haven Collection

Harwich Haven’s history explored through buoys, navigational features and people. Charts, maps of the Felixstowe, Harwich and local sea area.

Bawdsey Seamark until 1934

The Sledway

On the modern (2015) charts the Sledway is the channel between Cutler Sand to the West and Bawdsey Bank to the East. However, historically, the Sledway is the navigable sea bounded by the Cutler, Bawdsey Bank, Shipwash, Threshold, Roughs, Ridge and Cork, which affords access to the Havens. A sense of this is given in …

1952 to 1970 Thames Estuary

Variants of 1934 chart. 1952 Admiralty Chart No 1975 Kentish Knock and the Naze to The Nore, Published 1934.jpg – Wikimedia Commons 1953 :Admiralty Chart No 1610 North Foreland to Orfordness, Published 1953.jpg – Wikimedia Commons 1970 Admiralty_Chart_No_1610_North_Foreland_to_Orfordness%2C_Published_1953.jpg

1675 Thames Estuary

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_draught_of_the_sands,_channels,_buoyes,_beacons_and_sea-marks_upon_the_coast_of_England-_from_the_Southforeland_to_Orfordness._Discovered_by_Capt._Gilbert_Crane,_and_Capt._Tho-_Browne,_Elder_Bretheren_of_ye_Trinity_House._RMG_F8058.tiff John Darby; Lamb, Francis; Seller, John, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Log Calibration

A yacht’s log records the distance travelled through the water and, from that, derives speed (there are other types of log such as Doppler which work differently). Because the log wheel is subject to the marine environment, such as weed, it ought to be tested often and calibrated to be reliable. Many sailors are perhaps …

Felixstowe Ledge

There is a bed of stone between the Deben and the Naze which has been mined as a building material. The northern part extends seawards from Cobbolds Point to Felixstowe Ledge. The point exists because the land north and south is softer and has eroded. The rock armour installed in the 2000s aims to preserve …

The Count of the Saxon Shore

Roman Weather Lore

A fictionalised account of the departure of the legions from Britain is given in the ‘The Count of the Saxon Shore by Alfred John Church’, set in the early fifth century. An interesting snippet from this, the time was mid-October: But I must say, saving your presence, that it is against all rules of a …

The Roman Fort

In the Fourth Century, a Roman fort dominated the Woodbridge and Orwell Havens. It was part of a defensive chain from the Wash to the South Coast mirrored on the coast of Europe. Probably built to deter Scandinavian raiders it was commanded by the ‘Count of the Saxon Shore’, whose base was at the Isle of Wight.

West Knolls FI

West Knolls

The buoys marking the Deben entrance change frequently in both position and name. West Knolls marks one of the moving mounds of shingle and may be retired for a decade or so when the channel shifts to the North. ‘Knoll’ generally refers to a small hill or mound of sand or shingle, sometimes intertidal. They …

Richard Montgomery FI

SS Richard Montgomery

SS Richard Montgomery on youtube. Beware the shallow water to the east at LW. There is a plan to remove the masts. See SS Richard Montgomery – Wikipedia – a United States ship named after an Irish soldier in the Revolutionary War.

BL 36

Abraham’s Bosom

Coasting Bargemaster In Coasting Bargemaster, Bob Roberts tells of taking refuge, whilst in the Martinet, in an offshore anchorage: “It is a desolate spot, many miles offshore, where the Maplin sands are divided from the Whitaker shoals by a semi-circle of water from three to four fathoms in depth at low tide.” Coasting Bargemaster by …

Barges at Waldringfield

The Waldringfield village sign represents the coprolite, cement and muckand straw tades that were carried out by sailing barge in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Waldringfield is best placed on the the Deben for this activity.

Yachting Monthly & Hunt’s Yachting

An incomplete selection of issues from 1933 to 1953 is available here. Lovely to read. 1852 Hunt’s Yachting Magazine – Google Play Books – mainly club-oriented. Others are available until 1867. Yachting Magazine – available on CD

River Deben Association Archive

This archive of earlier copies of the ‘Deben’ magazine is a trove of hidden treasures and readers will find their time in reviewing it rewarded. To read. Tribes of the Deben Anglo Saxons. Gosnold Autumn 2000, also various other history pieces. Wrecks on the Deben – Spring 2000

Muck and Straw Barges at Waldringfield

Towards the end of the nineteenth century, London was the largest city in the world and road transport was powered by horse: fifty-thousand horses were required just to keep Victorian London’s public transport running, another ten thousand horses for hansom cabs, and countless more to substitute for white vans made around 300,000 horses producing, say, …

SB Elsie Bertha

Naming Frank Mason ordered Elsie Bertha in 1878 from Miltons, a Kent builder. This was Masons’ third vessel and was named for his daughter who had died aged five months. Skatty Her final skipper, Arthur Catchpole, was a smartly dressed man and was known as Skatty., he would have nothing to do with the orthodox seaman’s blue …

SB Jumbo

Masons probably had Jumbo from new in 1883. Shipping movement records show Jumbo with Brooks as the master in London in August 1888 and Quantrill in 1900. Whether or not she was sold with the rest of the fleet to Cranfields is uncertain but by 1916 she was registered with the Cotton Powder Co., City, London. War …

SB Orinoco

As Elsie Bertha was lost in 1894 it is probable that Orinoco, bought new in 1895, was her replacement. At some point, she was fitted with a deckhouse and, conceivably converted to wheel steering although she may have had this originally. Masons were rather unsporting on a Friday in 18971For an account of the 1897 …

SB Excelsior

Masons bought Excelsior second-hand in 1888 as their fourth vessel. Along with the remainder of the fleet she was sold to Cranfields in 1912 eventually being used for training as she was, by then, their smallest barge.

SB Petrel

Petrel was built by Orvis in Ipswich in 1892 as Masons fourth vessel. The first three had a family-related name so it is unclear why she was called Petrel. Fred Strange was skipper in 1894, she competed In the Harwich Race in 1897, see Orinoco. Quantrill was skipper in 1905. Arthur Catchpole (see Elsie Bertha) had …

SB Grace

Grace was Masons second barge built at their own yard at Stoke, Ipswich in 1874 and named for George Mason’s daughter Grace Eliza. Along with the rest of the Masons fleet, she would have carried cement and mixed cargoes to and from Waldringfield. Ernest Smith, one-time mate on Augusta, and his brother Isaac continued sailing …

SB Augusta

Augusta was Masons’ first barge built at their own yard at Stoke, Ipswich in 1874 and named for George Mason’s daughter Augusta. Along with the rest of the Masons’ fleet, she would have carried cement and mixed cargoes to and from Waldringfield.

The remains of SB Dover Castle on July 28th 2023 at LW looking towards the Tide Mill Yacht Harbour

SB Dover Castle

Built in 1872, Dover Castle was operated on the Deben by Robert Skinner from 1923, this was the twilight period of barge traffic on the Deben: she was in her dotage, having been bought cheaply and worked with old sails in poor condition. In 1930 she was run onto the left bank opposite the Tide …

1583 Janszoon Waghenaer’s Spieghel der Zeevaerdt

Available here in medieval Dutch. Illustrations are superb. There are instructions for building and using a backstaff as well as how to calculate tides. A knowledge of sixteenth century Dutch is handy. This was translated and adapted for the English market as the Mariner’s Mirrour, known colloquially as a ‘Waggoner’.

1773 French Chart of Thames

1773 French Chart of Thames from David Rumsey Collection. Shows Deben, note the orientation and Meridian. Clone of Sellers chart. Does not show buoys that were there at the time.