Levington Marina (nr Ipswich)

[roywebster]

Having brought my boat back to East Anglia from Cornwall my son wants me to launch at Levington on Sunday so that he can wakeboard in the watersport area just outside the marina.

Has anybody got any knowledge of this area and could advise me if it is safe to use the watersport area at any state of the tide?

I launched at Levington about 3 yrs ago and if I remember correctly the slip is very steep and slippery. I know there is a winch at the top of the slip but I am not sure how you use it. Do you unhook the trailer from the tow vehicle and hook the winch to the trailer,or do you use the winch to assist the tow vehicle. I would welcome any advice.I tow with a Jeep Cherokee 2.5


Roy

[Philip Hodson]

Funny I had never herd of levington until this mornning.
Got to go there to look at a yacht on Sunday midday ( 60ft Gaff cutter)
hope to bring it back to the solent if the price is right.
Phil H.

[Phil Davies]

Roy,

Your best bet would be to pm AND email Wayne Rogers on the forum. Levington's his home slip and he's into watersports, too, so will be well acquainted with the situation. The slip is very steep, but you'll have no problem launching with your jeep. Wayne's got a 7m Solent/ Suzuki Vitara combo and he manages fine.

[Alan]

Levington slip is steep and can be slippery at the bottom at low tide. But you should have no problem with a 4x4 and 6.5m RIB if you are careful. I've recovered 7.5m directly in the past and mate regularly slips his 8.5m Ocean there. There isn't a winch but there is a cable and pulley that allows you to unhitch the trailer, connect one end of the wire to it and the other to the car. That way the car is on flat ground.

I would imagine (having never used it but knowing the river fairly well) that the watersport area is fine at most states of the tide but you should keep away from the extreme edge of the channel that will dry out at LT.

Maybe for ease of launch & recovery you could plan the trip either side of HT?

HTH,
Alan

[Phil]

the watersports area decreases rapidly as low water arrives;best to take a good look first going inshore as far as you can and checking the depth.On high water people launch from the small beach about 200 metres from the marina walll

I was towing the kids on a small banana a couple of weeks ago and churned up some mud.

At this time of the year traffic will be light so you can stray into the main channel-use a line between the two green buoys as the general limit

[Wayne Rogers]

Hi Roy
You have plenty of water for watersport 2 hours before high tide and 2 hours after,you can stray out a bit more this time of year as there's not so much traffic.Regarding the slip no problems with a 4x4, if you haven't got a 4x4 there is a cable that you can use. As Phil said I launch my 7Mtr with a Suzuki Grand Vitara 2.5 without any problems at any state of the tide. The cable works very well allthough I have never used it myself, just hook one end on the trailer and the other over your towhook and have somebody guide the trailer down to start it off, once it starts going down it stays in the centre of the slipway, if you both have a mobile or two way radio it's easier as the slipway is steep and you can't see each other when it's down the bottom. There's not much weed down the centre of the slipway but it can get very slippery on the outside.
Have fun I may be down Sunday myself, If I am I would be happy to help you.

Wayne

[roywebster]

Thanks everybody for your help and advice.




Roy

[geoff]

This ramp and others are listed on www.boatlaunch.co.uk

[Phil]

another pic from the forum Jan this year