East Coast (London to the Wash)
Tidal estuaries, reed beds, mudflats, saltmarshes, The Broads, wildlife, history (lots of history!), pretty villages and towns - The East Coast has it all and the Shrimper is absolutely the very best way to explore and experience it.
Come and follow in the footsteps of the early Anglo Saxons and Vikings - it hasn't changed much!
Shrimpers are supreme here where there are shifting bars to cross and muddy shallows inside, with creeks to explore.
Each river is very different in character, from the wide open, commercial Orwell to the prettier, much smaller, Deben. From the messy but delightful Mersea island and its magic fish cafe to Arthur Ransome’s much loved Walton Backwaters with major seal population, from the shingle banks of the Ore and its castle, becoming the Alde, and leading to smartish Aldeburgh, and for the brave come up to Snape, but don't get stuck! it’s a great area.
The Deben
The Deben starts with the regulation Martello towers and carries on up river getting shallower and muddier until for most boats it gets difficult at lovely Woodbridge. But if you’re a Shrimper, there’s another 2 miles to go.
The Deben has, and we hope, will again be the hotbed of Shrimper racing in the area. It is a superb area with quite perfect sea sailing in the bay outside, and gentler but tricky conditions in the winding shallows to the north.
The Ore and Alde
Orford and Aldeburgh have the highest number of Shrimpers on the East coast rivers, and hold Aldeburgh weeks for both juniors and a motley selection of keelboats and dinghies including Shrimpers. Aldeburgh week has a real buzz because of the number of competitors in a hair-raisingly small space. Past Aldeburgh, in the shallows again, Shrimpers have sailed to Snape for concerts and slithered around in the mud on their return with equanimity.
Up the Creek in Mansion Reach (Alde)
The Orwell
The Orwell is wonderfully accessible whatever the weather and tide, with five marinas at various points as you go up to Ipswich, stopping off points like Pin Mill with the excellent Butt and Oyster pub and Thames barges on the mud.
Programme 2016
East Coast rally
Sat 16th-24th July
Details of this year's rally will be published shortly. We will start in the Blackwater and weather permitting sail to the Crouch to finish.
June Bird (june.bird@hotmail.co.uk)
Please click on the links below
http://www.5inabar.co.uk A bit of self publicity, but you can buy to download and print the Shrimper song I wrote. Just click on "Store".
Setting up your Shrimper: definitive help from Robin Whittle, past master of racing and cruising: Shrimper set up
A collection of cruises There are many more logs to view on the logs section ofthe main web site
Creek crawling in Suffolk - Bumbling up the Butley Creek
Robin Whittle's super description of the Blackwater event and he and Gillie's later navigation of the Chelmer river can be reached by clicking Blackwater and Chelmer
