How to navigate with google earth

ANCHORAGES

L

ike so many other people, I

absolutely adored the Arthur

Ransome series of books about

the Swallows and Amazons – and,

of them, I was particularly fond of

Secret Water, which tells of the children’s

exploits amongst the muddy dykes and

creeks that form the Walton Backwaters.

As the children explore and adventure,

they carefully survey and map the whole

area of tidal waterways and marshy

islands, creating what, for many years, was

about the most accurate map/chart of the

area available to visiting yachtsmen.

As you approach the Backwaters, they

are completely invisible. It is not until

perhaps half a mile off that you see them

open up and realise how apt the title

Secret Water really is. The whole ‘secret’

archipelago is worthy of exploration by

cruiser and dinghy and I have, particularly

in my youth, spent up to a fortnight there

without any chance of being bored.

even a slight swell is frightening at best.

From No2, follow the buoyed channel

until you locate the Island Point north

cardinal buoy. This is quite small and does

not stand out well against a line of sunken

lighters that form a breakwater on the

north-east corner of Horsey Island. Turn

to starboard (west) at Island Point and

you have before you Hamford Water or

the Westwater as it is sometimes known.

It offers the best sailing in the Backwaters

and the best deepwater anchorage,

particularly for craft with more than

about 1.5m of draught.

Sail in past the Exchem starboard-hand

buoy and drop anchor along the south side

of Hamford Water off the Horsey Island

shore somewhere before the Exchem east

cardinal buoy. (Having two buoys with the

same name so close together is unusual and

can be confusing, but they are at least quite

different in appearance.) The area offers

good holding in firm mud and, although

the better shelter is with southerly winds,

the fetch across Hamford Water, especially

towards Low Water, is not sufficient to let

big seas build up in northerlies.

With the anchor down and the kettle

on you are ready to think about some

delightful muddy explorations. W

Arthur Ransome changed the name of Hamford Water

to Secret Water for his famous children’s book and it

remains an apt description, as Colin Jarman explains

Now, how about a place to anchor prior

to further exploration? For a safe approach

to the Backwaters it is essential to locate

and pass close to the Pye End buoy

(L.Fl.10s), which lies a little way south-

west of the main shipping channel into

and out of Harwich Harbour. This is a safe

water buoy of reasonable size, but locating

it can still be tricky if any sort of swell or

sea is running or when approaching from

south-east with the harbour lights behind

it. Using GPS makes practical sense. Once

it has been located, convention says that

you should leave the buoy to port and then

shape a course of about 240° for a mile

until you reach the first port-hand buoy

(No2 Fl(2)R.5s) at the beginning of the

Pye Channel. This is a well buoyed channel

that runs southwards between the hard

Pye Sand on the seaward (east) side and

the shore on the west side. Do anything

not to go aground on the Pye Sand; it is

like rock and being bounced on it by

0 1nm

Bramble I.

Garnham’s I.

Island Pt

No 9

Exchem

Pye End

L.Fl.10s

Crab Knoll

No 3

No 2

Fl(2)R.5s

Sunken Pye

Pennyhole

Bay

Pye

Sand

Honey I.

Horsey I.

Hedge

End I.

Hamford Water

HARWICH

WALTON-ON-THE-NAZE

Exchem

(^41)
3
2
2
3
(^03)
(^32)
2
(^1801)
(^08)
West Mersea
Harwich
Walton
Backwaters
Woodbridge
Hamford
Water
Hamford
Water, Walton
Backwaters
PHOTO: COLIN JARMAN. CHART: MAXINE HEATH
MARCH 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 59
Sailing
eastwards in
Hamford Water
towards the
popular
anchorage