Where to go with my new 9.9 outboard - start point Nottingham

[Croolis]

Ello.

Boat is 3.2m air deck with inflatable keel. New 9.9 four stroke Mercury. I'll do the first hour or two running in on the Trent. But the next few hours I'll be needing to go a bit quicker than the speed limit.

The joys of living in Nottingham - you can't get much further from the coast than here .

So - in my head, I was going to go to the Humber and do some nice estuary stuff there to get my running in out of the way, also familiarise myself with the area as I'm looking at learning to fish. Just inshore, not going out miles with an engine that big.

But, after finding some threads on here I'm learning that the Humber isn't suitable because of the tides. I've seen Cleethorpes is a possibility or Huttoft on the Lincs coast but we're totally at sea now which is not what I wanted to do during the running in ten hours.

I'm actually from Dartford way so there's probably stacks of places on the Medway and the like for this sort of thing, so push comes to shove I can combine it with a trip to see the folks.

But what about other ideas? I ain't going to Kent every time I want to take the boat to the coast.

I lived a couple of years at Norwich so I've visited places like Blakeney and Wells. Bit far, but doable. Dunno about tides.

Maybe the other way, Merseyside or something? And not just running in - what about after for the fishing etc.? I shall be taught sea fishing by a lad at my work who's originally from South Wales and who knows the stuff (and probably more about boat handling at sea than I do right now), but he's none the wiser for coasts around East Midlands.

Any thoughts?

[Nasher]

Do you have a water skiing club nearby that still runs on a lake using a boat rather than an overhead wire?

This time of year especially they used to be quite happy to let people drop a small boat in the water and tear around for a while if you paid them.

Back in the 80's we used the Marlow club lake to test a Flatacraft Force 4 before purchase, as like you it was a long way to the sea and the F4 couldn't really be tested on the Thames.

It's also a safe place to test and get used to a new boat/engine with no tides to worry about.

[Croolis]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Do you have a water skiing club nearby that still runs on a lake using a boat rather than an overhead wire?

This time of year especially they used to be quite happy to let people drop a small boat in the water and tear around for a while if you paid them.

Back in the 80's we used the Marlow club lake to test a Flatacraft Force 4 before purchase, as like you it was a long way to the sea and the F4 couldn't really be tested on the Thames.

It's also a safe place to test and get used to a new boat/engine with no tides to worry about.

As far as I know, the nearest lakes to me where you can use a powerboat (that isn't a sailing club's safety boat or some other utility) is Cumbria. Can't even do it on Rutland Water.

[chipko]

Midlands based out of season so to get our boating fix over winter we regularly launch from Farndon on the Trent or head south to the Poole/Southampton area for sea trips. Usually launch at Baiter in Poole Harbour or Warsash on the Hamble for easy access to the Solent.

Often possible to get some cheeky speed runs on the Trent, particularly during the closed fishing season, just keep a weather eye open for the river police in their orange rib. Last year completed all the running in on a 15hp with plenty of varied speed and full throttle runs over three or four trips.

[Croolis]

I put in the Trent at Hazelford Ferry and Beeston Marina. Will be a challenge at Beeston manhandling the new engine under that bridge. To tall to be on the transom, boat barely fits without it. Ain't paying £15 quid to swing the bridge lol. That said, with bigger twin pot engine hopefully going to be more quiet and chilled, external fuel tank for easy range, I can put in at Hazelford and still go wherever. Bring on the sun.

[Matt73]

I use the Humber all the time Cleethorpes is a good place to launch although you have to register to use the slips if you have a trailer. Check the tide heights at Cleethorpes you can still launch but it would mean walking the boat a way outt and in again, i tend not to bother with less than 6m. Biggest thing to watch is wind and sea state 15mph is the cut off for me and i only really turn right and head for Donna Nook and Somercotes, although been to Spurn a few times. Keep your eye out for.the sandbamk near the leisure centre and also stay outside the swimming buoys. After saying all that your a braver man than me if you go out in these temperatures i usually get the boat out March time. All that being said the Humber is stunning once past the yacht club deserted beaches loads of seals and the odd porpoise. If you fancy pairing up get in touch. ( when its warmer)

[Croolis]

Originally Posted by Matt73

I use the Humber all the time Cleethorpes is a good place to launch although you have to register to use the slips if you have a trailer. Check the tide heights at Cleethorpes you can still launch but it would mean walking the boat a way outt and in again, i tend not to bother with less than 6m. Biggest thing to watch is wind and sea state 15mph is the cut off for me and i only really turn right and head for Donna Nook and Somercotes, although been to Spurn a few times. Keep your eye out for.the sandbamk near the leisure centre and also stay outside the swimming buoys. After saying all that your a braver man than me if you go out in these temperatures i usually get the boat out March time. All that being said the Humber is stunning once past the yacht club deserted beaches loads of seals and the odd porpoise. If you fancy pairing up get in touch. ( when its warmer)

Top answer, thx very much .

No sea stuff this side of March at least either (don't own a dry suit) . Take delivery of motor 2nd Feb, won't do any more than get it into the Trent for 1st hour run-in, and that's only if it ain't Baltic (not hopeful), so like minded here.

[Croolis]

Just while I have folks' attention on this (I know, inch or mile ), if anyone has any advice as to what anchor would be suitable for Lincs coast (I don't own one, I have several new bits of kit to buy), I'm all ears .

[Croolis]

Aaand, just because I like the sound of my own typing, here's a response I got about using their slipway ad hoc from Rhyl harbour:

Thank you for your enquiry, all powered vessels launching from our slipway must be registered and insured, application forms can be emailed or collected at the Harbour office.



Once registered, daily launching permits can be obtained from the Harbour office, please see the below link for prices.



https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/l...-moorings.aspx


The provided link goes to a daily price list that I'd missed stating £30 annual registration fee, insurance required, and £25 for the day if non-resident. Niiiice .

[Fenlander]

It's a major dilemma wanting to use a small craft when so far from the sea. We are only a little better than you in that we are a 90ml easy run to our favoured nearest launch spot. So a day out is doable and we still enjoy it despite the travelling and setting up effort.

However until we gained our current responsibilities which restrict our ability to be away overnight we would pack our boating into 1/2 week holidays in perfect locations and also similar for long weekends. Then we felt far less pressure to do the long single day outings as our boating fix was already ticked off.

You mention the Blakeney area which we know well. It is massively tide dependent as the whole area dries to near no water most places and particularly in the area of slipways when around low water. And it's muddy as hell everywhere unless at the top of the tide.

[Croolis]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

It is massively tide dependent as the whole area dries to near no water most places and particularly in the area of slipways when around low water.

Thank you.

Just checking on the above - you mean when the tide's out the water's a long way away? Sorry if that sounds dim , but in searching the forum for the things I'm talking about, words like these are often used and I'm needing to think twice about what they mean.

I did do Powerboat Lvl 2 but it was on a a reservoir so, while tidal things were discussed, it was more theory than practice. I shall do all the research before venturing near the beach, mind .

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Croolis

Thank you.

Just checking on the above - you mean when the tide's out the water's a long way away? Sorry if that sounds dim , but in searching the forum for the things I'm talking about, words like these are often used and I'm needing to think twice about what they mean.

I did do Powerboat Lvl 2 but it was on a a reservoir so, while tidal things were discussed, it was more theory than practice. I shall do all the research before venturing near the beach, mind .

If you look on Google maps, satellite view. Zoom in on Blakeney "Bishops Boats Seal Trips", that's the river where you would launch from in Blakeney. Follow it all the way to the mouth of the river, the tide is out and you can see it's full of mud all the way, as is most of that coastline.

I was there a couple of years ago without my sib. Lovely area, but the only place I could find to possibly launch from was Weybourne beach. Not much there and the coast line is, dare I say "uninteresting" unless of course you fish, then that would be a different matter.

[Croolis]

Got it, thank you. I used to motorbike up to Salthouse and walk down the beach past the bird sanctuary to the Point and coo at the seals. Had to be out of there before tide came back in or no beach to walk on.

[Fenlander]

Yes just to expand...

I'm probably more picky than most in that a significant requirement for places we choose to launch from is to have slipways that can be used at virtually every tide state and even better if there is a floating pontoon adj that is similarly accessible. As we have to travel, like you would, a fair distance it's no good to me having a slip that you can only access say 2hrs either side of high water as this restricts the time we can have out and more importantly the time we must arrive and be set up to make the greatest use of the tide.... i.e launching just as the rising tide makes this possible with enough water.

Of course the tide high and low times move each day so you need to pick a week to visit somewhere with restricted slip access times where the high tide is at a time to suit when you wish to be on the water... often for us that's sometime between 11am and 6pm (summer).

The other really important thing to get your head round is the effect of the tides on where you might be taken if the engine fails and where the tide flow can cause a difficult sea state. The tide doesn't just flow to and away from the coast at 90deg but it flows along the coast too... in places between narrows or round headlands quite quickly. In other places where a tide is flowing over shallows the water can be very rough at the time of greatest flow... made much worse if the wind is opposing the tide direction.

Lots of interlocking factors to consider.

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Yes just to expand...

I'm probably more picky than most in that a significant requirement for places we choose to launch from is to have slipways that can be used at virtually every tide state and even better if there is a floating pontoon adj that is similarly accessible.

On that note, did you ever get to Mylor David?

[Fenlander]

No our circumstances have prevented us being away together overnight even for one night since before covid started. So the backlog of great places to get to is ever building... Mylor being high up on the list as those cottages just behind the marina eatery would suit us just fine.

[Croolis]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

The other really important thing to get your head round is the effect of the tides on where you might be taken if the engine fails and where the tide flow can cause a difficult sea state. The tide doesn't just flow to and away from the coast at 90deg but it flows along the coast too... in places between narrows or round headlands quite quickly. In other places where a tide is flowing over shallows the water can be very rough at the time of greatest flow... made much worse if the wind is opposing the tide direction.

Lots of interlocking factors to consider.

Thank you. Yeah, reason I was at Norwich was attending UEA doing Environmental Science. We did loads of stuff on the coast and the broads, the Norfolk coastal erosion thing, how tides affected it all, stuff like that. If you've ever seen the big piles of rocks on the beach at Happisburgh, they were installed to prevent the erosion, but had the undesired effect of stopping tidal sand transport down the coast (at the greater angle you describe, southerly), and IIRC (15 years ago now) they said now they occasionally have to manually transport sand south because it's starved.

But all that stuff I learned is one thing, hands on as a mariner is a different ball game.

[Croolis]

Visited Huttoft at the weekend, got there about 2 hours after high tide, just about when it was hitting the level of the flat bit of the beach. Launching 2 hours before high tide and getting back some time before the 2 hours after looks like the way to go? Means having ~half the session on outward tide but doesn't look too strong, I guess though it means you'd be going the wrong way at that point if you had an engine failure...

[Steve509926]

Sounds like a plan. Never been there so I don't know what it's like.
Dont forget to take into account spring/neaps tides.

[Fenlander]

Was Huttoft a random choice or somewhere you know from going without a boat? When I research areas to launch I always use Google maps and scan the area for clusters of boats on the water, moored, in a boat club compound, hauled up the beach or in gardens adj to the water. The whole of the Huttoft area is notable for not having a boat in sight and you have to wonder why.

As well as tide times have you got your head round the changing tide range at different periods (as Steve mentions)? If you look at this link the difference in tidal range for going out on 4th Feb and 13th Feb is significant in terms of where the high and low points on the beach will be but also how much water is moving over the seabed variations to cause a rough sea. On that note have you looked at a chart for the area, a very short distance to the North of Huttoft are overfalls marked not too far out stretching for some 6Nm northwards.

https://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks...h/tides/latest

This site gives every bit of data you could want to know about the sea state of the day...

https://tides4fishing.com/uk/england/anderby-creek

Sorry to be negative but I have to say I'd be wary of going to such a bleak area with a beach launch and so few other boats about for my running in period and getting used to how an outfit performs/handles.