Wildlife wonder

The Suffolk rivers are home to an abundance of wildlife – take a boat trip and you’ll see some of it up-close…

Husband and wife team Sarah and Alan Harmer offer wildlife-rich river trips from three of Suffolk’s loveliest locations: Snape Maltings Quay, Orford Town Quay and Woodbridge Town Steps.

“We have both always had a great love of the water and in particular sailing on the Suffolk rivers so we feel incredibly fortunate to now run these trips – we can share that love with others and help them learn more about areas that are abundant in both wildlife and history,” they say.

The couple launched Suffolk River Trips at Snape Maltings in spring 2019 with Sea Tradar, a 32ft timber boat from the South Coast. “We then added Tilly, a 26ft Starfish boat – which was built in Oulton Broad – in 2020 to operate from Orford Town Quay and » bought a shallow draft launch Hagar, an ex-Royal Navy ship’s boat the same year as an additional boat to use at lower states of the tide at Snape, to cater for the keen birdwatchers. This year we have replaced Sea Tradar with a more modern boat, Tilly Too, another Starfish built in Suffolk,” explains Sarah.

“We are now also very excited to launch river trips from Woodbridge Town Steps for 2023. Gina, a 23ft Aldeburgh beach boat built at Slaughden Quay, is the perfect addition to our fleet.”

The three locations all offer something quite different. A voyage from Snape winds between the Suffolk reed beds on an unspoilt part of the River Alde, as well as being an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Ramsar (important wetlands) site. Passengers can expect to see abundant wildlife in the form of wading birds, a small seal population and the occasional otter.

“At Orford we head downriver around the RSPB reserve at Havergate Island where there are many different species of wading birds –Curlew, Avocet, Godwit, Terns, Sandpiper included – past the entrance to Butley Creek with its population of about a dozen common seals and back up past Orfordness, passing close to the somewhat sinister-looking Atomic Weapons Research Establishment laboratories built in the 1950s and ‘60s to test parts of Britain’s nuclear weaponry,” says Sarah.

“The trip from Woodbridge Town Steps offers something else completely. While there are many species of wading birds – keep your eyes peeled for Curlew, Godwit, Turnstone, Tern, Kingfisher and many other species – and the occasional seal, we head downriver to begin with then back up through Loder’s Cut towards Melton and en route have a sailor’s view of the picturesque town of Woodbridge on one side of the river and the nationally important archaeological site of Sutton Hoo on the other.”

All the river trips are with commentary and last up to an hour, with the tides dictating some timetables.

•www.suffolkrivertrips.com

Seal Appeal

The creeks and rivers of the East Coast are home to a thriving population of harbour –also known as common – and grey seals. They’re a familiar sight to cruising sailors who often see these cheeky-looking carnivores surface during a swim, or basking on the mudflats close to favourite anchorages.

A number of boat trips offer the chance for everyone to get safely up-close to seals including, on the River Crouch, Seal Trips Essex which operates its boat Celtic Prince from the quayside at Burnham-on-Crouch (www.sealtripsessex.co.uk). Charter Discovery operates from here as well as Essex Marina, offering trips that explore the remote and deserted creeks and inlets of the Crouch and Roach – see www.charterdiscovery.co.uk for details. Further up the coast, where Essex meets Suffolk, Seal Watching Harwich (www.sealwatching.co.uk) takes passengers from Ha’penny Pier into the Walton backwaters and the Hamford Water Nature Reserve.

In Kent, the Medway and the Swale – the stretch of water separating the Isle of Sheppey from the mainland – are a haven for wildlife. Dentex Charters offers scheduled trips from Queenborough’s all-tides landing stage into both rivers (www.dentexcharters.com) and Whitstable Boat Trips also operates trips from the town’s harbour into the Swale – see www.whitstableboattrips.co.uk.

No trip to North Norfolk is complete without a visit to the National Trust’s Blakeney Point which, in recent years, has been home to England’s biggest colony of common and grey seals. Boat trips from Blakeney Harbour are operated by a number of local companies, including Beans Boats (www.beansboattrips. co.uk). In the Wash, Searles Sea Tours (www.seatours.co.uk) has two amphibious vessels, the Wash Monsters, which depart from Hunstanton and offer a fun way of discovering the local seal population.

Brightlingsea Harbour is a small mixed leisure and commercial port situated in Brightlingsea Creek, close to the mouth of the Colne where it meets the Blackwater and Thames Estuaries

Brightlingsea Harbour is a Trust Port managed by Brightlingsea Harbour Commissioners, who also run Waterside Marina.

Harbour facilities include:

Water Taxi • Fresh Water • Fuel

• Sewage Pump Out • Laundry

• Showers • Maintenance Posts

• Wifi and electric in the marina

• Waste Disposal

Brightlingsea has a great selection of hostelries, shops, clubs and services, and our Harbour boat trips and Foot Ferry make it easy for visitors to explore the area further... The marina has been dredged and now has 2m clearance.

Essex

Blackwater Marina

Maylandsea blackwater-marina.co.uk

Bradwell Marina Bradwell bradwellmarina.com

Brightlingsea Harbour

Brightlingsea Morgan Marine

Burnham Yacht Harbour

Essex Marina

Fambridge Yacht Haven

Ha’penny Pier

Heybridge Basin

Leigh Marina

Leigh-On-Sea Sailing Club

Royal Corinthian Yacht Club

Stour Sailing Club

Titchmarsh Marina

Walton Yacht Basin

West Mersea Yacht Club

Wivenhoe Sailing Club

Brightlingsea brightlingseaharbour.org

Brightlingsea morganmarine.com

Burnham-on-Crouch burnhamyachtharbour.co.uk

Wallasea Island essexmarina.co.uk

Fambridge yachthavens.com

Harwich hha.co.uk/leisure/mooring/

Heybridge waterways.org.uk

Leigh-on-Sea leighmarina.co.uk

Leigh-on-Sea leighsailingclub.org

Burnham-on-Crouch

Manningtree

Walton Backwaters

Walton on the Naze

West Mersea

Wivenhoe royalcorinthian.co.uk stoursailingclub.co.uk titchmarshmarina.co.uk waltonyachtbasin.co.uk wmyc.org.uk wivenhoesailingclub.org

Medway Bridge Marina

Family-owned Medway Bridge Marina, located beneath the Medway Bridge in Rochester, has an unrivalled reputation for service and professionalism. For more than 40 years we have catered for motor cruisers of all sizes, with services including lift-out, scrub-off and hard standing.

Our floating pontoon berths are accessible at all states of the tide – finger berths accommodate craft up to 9m (30ft) and alongside berths can cater for larger vessels. We also have a pontoon with berths that are accessible for half the tide – usually 4 hours either side of High Water. All berth holders are entitled to discounted fuel, free parking and have 24-hour access to their boat as well as the toilets and shower facilities.

We offer:

• Up to 25-ton boat hoist

• Storage ashore

• CCTV at entrance to site

• Security gate access to the pontoons

• Fresh water and electric at every berth

• Waste facility

• Toilet and shower facilities

• On-site engineers marine engineers and electricians

In addition, our Flexible Mooring Scheme allows annual berth holders, by prior arrangement, to take up to three months holiday with their craft and add the amount of time they are away to their 12-month agreement – this means you can enjoy up to 15 months mooring for the price of 12!

Medway Bridge Marina is also home to Medway Bridge Marina Car Sales, and has a storage compound for up to 90 caravans and motor homes. For any enquiries, please email Sam Dallas Marina Manager: sam@medwaybridgemarina.co.uk

Medway Bridge Marina Ltd, Manor Lane, Rochester, Kent ME1 3HS • 01634 843576

North Kent

Allington Lock

Allington allingtonlock.co.uk

Allington Marina Allington allingtonmarina.com

Chatham Maritime Marina Chatham chathammaritimemarina.co.uk

Conyer Creek Marina Sittingbourne conyercreekmarina.co.uk

Cuxton Marina Rochester cuxtonmarina.com

Elmhaven Marina Rochester elmhaven-marina.co.uk

Gillingham Marina Gillingham gillingham-marina.co.uk

Margate Harbour Margate portoframsgate.co.uk

Medway Bridge Marina Rochester medwaybridgemarina.co.uk

Medway Pier Marine Gillingham 01634 851113

Port Medway Marina Cuxton portmedwaymarina.co.uk

Queenborough Harbour Queenborough queenborough-harbour.co.uk

Royal Ramsgate Marina Ramsgate portoframsgate.co.uk

Swale Marina Conyer Creek swalemarina.co.uk

The Embankment Marina

London

Gallions Point Marina

Hermitage Community Moorings

Imperial Wharf Marina

Limehouse Marina

South Dock Marina

St Katharine Docks

Norfolk

Wells Harbour

Gravesend theembankmentmarina.co.uk

River Thames gallionspointmarina.co.uk

River Thames hermitagemoorings.org

River Thames imperialwharfmarina.co.uk

River Thames aquavista.com

River Thames 020 7252 2244/07950 805509

River Thames skdocks.co.uk

Wells-next-the-Sea portofwells.co.uk

Suffolk

Broadlands Marina Oulton Broad tingdeneboating.com

Felixstowe Ferry Felixstowe 07803 476621/01394 270106

Fox’s Marina Ipswich foxsmarina.com

Ipswich Haven Marina Ipswich ipswichhavenmarina.co.uk

Lowestoft Beacon Marina Lowestoft beaconmarinas.co.uk

Neptune Marina Ipswich neptune-marina.com

Orford Quay Orford 01394 459950/07528 092635

Ramsholt Ramsholt 07930 304061

Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club Lowestoft rnsyc.net

Shotley Marina Shotley shotleymarina.com

Slaughden Sailing Club Aldeburgh slaughdensailingclub.co.uk

Southwold Harbour Southwold 01502 724712

Suffolk Yacht Harbour Levington syharbour.co.uk

The Royal Harwich Yacht Club Woolverstone royalharwichyachtclub.co.uk

Tide Mill Yacht Harbour Woodbridge tidemillyachtharbour.co.uk

Waldringfield Moorings Waldringfield waldringfieldsc.com

Woolverstone Marina Woolverstone mdlmarinas.co.uk