East Coast Rivers September Blog
Jan Harber's latest East Coast Rivers blog including Barges at Snape; Orfordness Lighthouse under threat from the North Sea; smacks and classic yachts at West Mersea; and upper reaches of the Deben
Jan Harber is the author of East Coast Rivers Cruising Companion. 
Barges at Snape
During August the quay at Snape Maltings had two Thames sailing barge visitors: Ethel Ada (built 1903 by Shuttlewoods at Paglesham and named after their respective wives) and Adieu (79 tons steel-built in 1929 by Horlocks at Mistley) both from the London River. Two such large barges have not been seen at the navigable head of the River Alde in Suffolk for some years, although the little barge Cygnet is based at Snape and two yacht barges, Dinah and Blackthorn, are currently moored further down the river at Iken.
I was lucky enough to be invited aboard the 90ft Adieu when her owner, Iolo Brooks, took her down river to Orford and here she is (below) passing Blackthorn, moored just by Iken Cliff.
And a few minutes later we were passing Richard Johnson’s Dinah, the yacht barge built on the Medway in 1887.
Although we left Snape Bridge very early on the tide, we had a few encounters with the mud and reeds early on which delayed us a little so that by the time we had navigated Troublesome Reach near Iken Church, it was getting near the top of the tide. This made spotting the withies rather difficult as many by now had only a few inches showing above the water and the mud flats were well covered giving the misleading impression that there was plenty of water everywhere you looked.
Our experience reinforces the advice, whether you are heading up or down the Alde above Aldeburgh, to be as early on the tide as possible so that the mud is not yet covered and the withies are easier to spot.
Orfordness Lighthouse under threat from the North Sea
The pictures of Orfordness Lighthouse was taken a week ago when Trinity House allowed visitors to the Ness to tour the lighthouse. We took the opportunity to go on this combined National Trust and Trinity House trip as we have heard that the light house is scheduled to fall into the North Sea at some time within the next five years. There are various schemes afoot to erect another structure as well as possibly moving the existing building lock stock and barrel further inshore on the Ness. The various bodies involved in what happens next include the National Trust, English Heritage and English Nature. It would seem that they have conflicting views on what to do about the impending demise of an historic navigation aid. As can be seen from the photographs, the North Sea is getting very near the lighthouse.
Smacks and classic yachts at West Mersea
Playing a starring role at the recent West Mersea Week was Kismet, the elegant Fife-designed Edwardian yacht (built in Scotland before the First World War) which has recently been rebuilt and restored to her former glory by Richard Matthews. A couple of years ago Matthews rescued her from the saltings at West Mersea where she had been languishing as a houseboat. She was launched on the Saturday at Fox's in Ipswich, brought down The Wallet on the Sunday to race for the first time at West Mersea on the Monday. She came second overall in the Classic Yacht class.
Reuben Frost's Boadicea CK213 was originally built in 1808, and is looking as good as ever in 1909 – an East Coast icon if ever there was one. R. Titchener's highly competitive smack Sallie, CK224, was second overall in the Smack class at Mersea Week.
The upper reaches of the Deben
My nephew, Nicholas, has recently delivered a Hallberg Rassey 38 back to Woodbridge from Antigua. I shipped aboard for the, very short, last leg from the Tidemill Yacht Harbour in Woodbridge up to Mel Skeet’s Granary yard at Melton on the top of the tide. The upper reaches of the Deben towards Wilford Bridge are a revelation at high water. Here are a couple of pictures to show you what I mean:
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