Around the Club - Winter 2009
The summer has seen quite an eventful time around the Club. We finally agreed on a new marina layout to maximise the use of the sea bed leased from the Crown Estate. The proposed layout gives several extra berths as well as improving access into the crane. Obviously, a new marina is dependant on getting the necessary finance, but in the meantime we have to keep the existing structure in a satisfactory state of repair. The other major concern is the amount of siltation that has occurred in the basin, to the extent that at low water springs, several boats are aground in the marina and it is not possible to launch or recover boats with the crane. The Site Committee have carried out a depth survey in order that we can apply for a dredging licence.
However, as permissions have to be obtained from several official bodies including Cowes Harbour Commission, it is unrealistic to hope that the work could be carried out this winter so we are working towards having everything in place for early next winter. This would be what is classed as a “maintenance dredge” as it will be less that ten years since the previous dredge and silt would only be removed back to the original depth. If we were to go deeper or leave it longer than ten years then it would be classed as a “capital dredge” and far more environmental surveys would need to be carried out and more consents obtained, all adding to the cost of the work.
In addition to the never ending task of replacing decking on the apron, several other maintenance tasks have been carried out, either by Dave Tilson as Club Manager or members of the Site Team. These have included replacing and strengthening hand rails and erecting netting on the sides of the link span to the pontoons to prevent a re-occurrence of an unfortunate incident when a member lost his balance and fell through into the tide.
Leaving the marquee frame and roof up last winter proved very successful, so we are doing the same again this year, but with the side sheets nearest the clubroom also left in situ. This means that the linking cover between the club and the marquee can also remain up. As well as giving much less work to the hard worked members of the Site Team, it also provides a covered area for those who feel the urge to partake of tobacco whilst supping their pint of HSB (or whatever else happens to be your favourite tipple). This covered area has been made much more attractive with the addition of some hanging baskets and makes the approach to the bar much more inviting.
At long last we have now got an up-dated marina waiting list, and in order to keep it that way, it is now necessary for members to apply to go on the list and pay a deposit fee which will be deducted from the first year’s mooring charge when a berth is allocated. Members need to revalidate their application each year and specify the boat for which a berth is required. No longer is it possible to go on the waiting list saying “When I get a berth, I will buy a boat”. This has been introduced following the debate on the subject at the last AGM when it was unanimously agreed that a booking fee should be levied in line with most other harbours and clubs.
Elsewhere in the port the proposed new outer breakwater is now very much on the cards with SEEDA and Cowes Harbour Commission each agreeing to fund a third of the project with the remaining third to be put up by whichever company wins the contract to develop and run the new marina at East Cowes in front of the “Union Jack” building. Despite the recession, I understand that several firms are interested in tendering for the job. One of the reasons that it has taken so long to get to this stage have been the environmental impact studies that have had to be completed and the various bodies satisfied that it will have no adverse effect on any part of the environment. In the course of these studies, it came to light that the original proposed position of the breakwater would damage an eel grass bed, (eel grass being a protected species) so the plans had to be re-drawn with a slightly different alignment. Also extensive computer modelling had to be carried out to ensure that the breakwater would not cause any significant change in tidal flow in the harbour, and at a presentation given to yacht clubs it was shown that with all the data available the greatest change would be in the region of 0.25 knots, and that only for a short time during the strength of the ebb.
For us here at the CCYC, the greatest advantage of the scheme will be the reduction of swell around our pontoons during strong northerly winds, making the marina much more comfortable and reducing the likelihood of damage to boats or the pontoons. It will also reduce wear and tear and thus save the club money. Leisure craft approaching Cowes from the north or east will be able to enter the harbour via a new eastern approach channel which will ease congestion with commercial vessels in the main approaches. The Harbour Master has given assurances that leisure craft would not be prohibited from using the existing channel, but would be encouraged to do so unless coming from or leaving towards the west, when it would make sense to use the main channel.
Since the last edition of “The Ark” Cowes Harbour Commission have taken delivery of a new mooring barge ‘Sea Clear’ to replace the old ‘Sea Clear’ which was second hand when purchased and well over twenty years old so had done sterling service around the port. The new vessel is larger, more powerful and much better equipped to overhaul the moorings in the roads. The hull was built by Simms Leppard at Newport, but unfortunately the company folded so the empty shell was towed to Hythe where it was fitted out by Southampton Marine Services.
I usually include any significant buoy changes locally, and two have come to my attention recently. For as long as most people can remember the buoy marking the entrance to Newtown Creek has been a red port hand buoy. This summer it was replaced by a yellow and black West Cardinal buoy flashing white (9) every 15 seconds. The range of the light has been increased from one to two nautical miles. The other is that the lighthouse on No Mans Land Fort has been discontinued and a port hand buoy established just to the north of the fort.
Artificer’s Apprentice