Standing on the quay of the English port of King's Lynn many years ago, I was fascinated by the seething tidal stream with a tide range of seven metres, causing the fishing boats to dry completely at the quayside. Last summer, during our cruise along the English east coast to the Wash, where King's Lynn is the main fishing port, we could experience this wonder of nature at first hand. In her pilot for the English east coast the Dutch author Anje Valk describes the bay in the North Sea off East Anglia as unknown and unloved. She calls the Wash 'a kind of super Shallow', where advanced navigational skills are a necessity. We couldn't agree more: navigating here was more of a challenge than what we faced in the Norwegian fjords, the German Bight, the Gulf of Biscay, or in between the Swedish skerries and the Frisian Islands. Nevertheless, we enjoyed every minute of it, and we loved the peace and quiet in this remarkable area that hardly exists for pleasure craft.
The Wash has hardly any marinas, and our plan was therefore to enter the rivers flowing into it. However, we were not sure if this was possible. We had sufficient information about the inland waterways, where you see many narrowboats and hirecraft. We had a recent chart of the Wash, while the harbour approaches are described in almanacs, and in Anje Valk's pilot we could also find useful information. But we had hardly any navigational details as to inland waterways access, especially as to lock dimensions - locks in England's inland waterways are often too narrow for our boat - the waterlevel at various tides, bridge clearances, shallow parts in the river, mooring possibilities and so on. We had to make do with whatever details we could gather from Tourist Centres and telephone conversations with lockkeepers and harbour masters.
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We planned our trip to the Wash via a number of ports, starting at the river Crouch, which can be entered at all tides and has several marinas. After that we went along the east coast in northerly direction, visiting a number of rivers on the way. In Lowestoft we were in for a surprise: we could get to the Norfolk Broads. We had heard a lot about this large watersports area, but we had not expected the lock to be accessible for our boat. We enjoyed exploring the pretty villages, charming rivers and picturesque nature of the Broads, and afterwards set out to sea again via Great Yarmouth.
Even from the English east coast it is not easy to reach the Wash. From Great Yarmouth it is still too far for a day's trip; we never travel at night, nor would this be sensible in such a complicated and unknown area. Moreover, the ports can only be reached around high tide; the Wash is a network of channels in between drying sandbanks. Shifting sands cause frequent changes, and even though channels are well buoyed commercial vessels need a pilot, at night as well as in daytime.
The only suitable stopover for us was Wells-next-the-Sea, whose marina does not completely dry up at low tide. It is not easy to get there; the approach starts miles off the coast and leads through narrow, winding channels in between drying shoals. We got a taste of the Wash! Working the tides is imperative, for conditions in the entrance rapidly worsen when ebb begins and access may become unsafe. Equally important is the weather; in north-easterly winds the outer entrance is a mass of broken water making the small buoys very difficult to see. If the attempt fails you have a problem: the nearest refuge is about seventy miles back, as harbours along the North Norfolk coast all dry at low water. The harbour master of Wells will come out and assist you if necessary, but I suppose he can't work miracles. So make sure to have a reliable anchor if you ever go there; grounding will cost you your vessel. For that matter, it is advisable not to go to Wells or the Wash in case of northern or north-easterly winds.
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From Wells-next-the-Sea we went on to King's Lynn. This port town is situated in the mouth of the river Great Ouse and has fishing and commercial docks behind gates, but no marina or mooring facilities for yachts. The harbour master of Wells frowned when we told him of our plan to bring our boat to King's Lynn. Did we really have to go there? If not, we had better not, they are not equipped for yachts. But they won't send you away, we read in Anje Valk's pilot, much to our reassurance. For that matter, being sent away would be nasty, for there is nowhere to go: there isn't a single alternative within reach in one tide.
So, in order to get from Wells to King's Lynn we needed two tides: the first to leave Wells at high tide, then anchor in a deep channel of the Wash and head for King's Lynn by the next high tide. We were lucky to have the first high tide early in the morning. This enabled us to get to our destination before dark. The Wash has a-symetrical tides, which means that the water rises within three hours and then falls for nine hours. Tidal streams run strongly and we had the full flood stream, so that we went off like a shot into the harbour, together with dozens of fishing boats and other commercial craft. Finally the bystanders on South Quay had the chance to see a Dutch yacht passing by!
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We already knew that South Quay is completely dry at low tide, so we made a beeline for the adjacent Boal Quay, where the water is very deep and where we caught sight of a number of fishing boats. Fishermen mostly set out early, at the crack of dawn if possible, but the boat we moored alongside to did not look as if it was going to leave the harbour shortly. So we would not be in the way and had an excellent starting point for visiting King's Lynn, proceed to the inland part of the Great Ouse and after that return to the Wash, to the rivers Nene and Witham.
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King's Lynn is a small-scale, attractive historic port, a former Hanseatic town. You can find remnants of its nautical past everywhere in the centre. There are no mooring facilities for yachts, even though there are plans to build a marina accessible both from the Wash and the Middle Level system, to be realised in the old Nar loop adjacent to Boal Quay, where a lot of digging would have to be done. The inland waterways are very popular for boating, but hardly any visiting yachts arrive from the Wash, and the plan for a marina has been put on hold because of the global recession. In our view the basin near the Information Centre in the town centre would suffice for pleasure craft from the Wash. There are pontoons, but as yet no access from the river: the lifting door is difficult to operate and there is a fixed footbridge. If the two would be adapted, boats could enter and leave the basin around high tide.
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After we had explored King's Lynn we continued upstream the river Great Ouse, to the inland part and after that returned to the Wash, to the rivers Nene and Witham. We skipped the river Welland as we didn't expect to get any further than Fosdyke marina, which is close to a busy motorway. Still, it is worth mentioning that apart from Wisbech, Fosdyke is the only place on the Wash with a marina and easier to reach, especially for sailing boats, which cannot go to the Witham because of the low bridges.
| Great Ouse | Nene | Witham |
