Good afternoon and welcome to the last Ships Blog of March 23. Weather-wise another blustery weekend for some with a few showers thrown in as well. Wind predominantly westerly on Saturday going Northerly on Sunday and consequently the temperature will drop during that afternoon. Shotley Point Yacht Club are heading to Ipswich this weekend for their opening event of the year.
Note for your diary. Friday 12th of May we will be hosting a berth holders evening in the Shipwreck. All berth holders plus their partners are welcome to join us from 6pm to 9pm for some nibbles and complimentary drinks from the bar. This will be an opportunity for new berth holders to meet up and for some new members of staff to get to know everyone.
Following a recent meeting of the Leisure Vessels Navigation and Safety Group, Border Force have requested that all yachtsmen continue to be as vigilant as possible and report any suspicious activity around our coasts. Reports can be made to Crime stoppers on 0800 555111 quoting the reference ‘Project Kraken’. Alternatively the police can be contacted on 101. In other news the Harwich Harbour Authority three year capital dredge will be completed by the end of July 2023. The final phase of the channel deepening is within Harwich Harbour and is currently taking place. They have asked that all yachtsmen navigating in the area to be particularly careful as there may be up to three different dredging vessels working in the harbour at the same time. It is strongly recommended that that everyone monitors VHF channel 71 (HHA coms) so they can be aware of all dredger and ship movements in the confines of the harbour.
Finally this weekends tides are Saturday HW 14:14 4.0M and Sunday HW 14:51 3.83M. Duty lockmasters are Marc Gilbert days, and Richard Whitby night watch. Ellie our new office lady gets married this weekend so we are sure you will join the team here in wishing her all the best for the big day.
PS, don’t forget the clocks go forward one hour for BST. Have a good one!