Burry Port
May 25, 2019
Bob Hockey has been HM of Burry Port harbour and marina for 15 years having previously been a boat builder in Guernsey. He has the sea in his blood and like so many harbour masters he has to be a mariner and engineer in equal measures, not mentioning project manager, health & safety expert, tourist guide and diplomat to name just a few skills! .
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Burry Port is set back in the north east corner of Tenby Bay. A huge sandy open bay, with Llanelli (put your tongue just behind your top teeth!) in the east and Tenby and Saundersfoot in the west. Apart from being the only marina for sailors between Swansea and Milford Haven it is also an important RNLI location. We were lucky enough to be shown around the brand new £3.5 million facility with its state of the art equipment and submersible tractor. Their "shouts" are often for people trapped on the vast sand banks in this beautiful but very tidal area.
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Shifting sand becomes a recurring theme as I move west along the South Wales coast. Harbour Masters are responsible for keeping the channels to their ports navigable for shipping. Bob hired 4 x 30 ton dumper trucks for 6 days to shift sand out of his marina. A silting up harbour or marina is not want a HM wants, especially a commercial marina which wants to attract deep keeled boats like Good Dog into them. A new "water injection" dredger is being commissioned which blasts the sand at high tide so it is held in suspension and taken out of the harbour as the tide recedes. In theory! It is quite a challenge for the engineers. In addition Bob has the 7 mile Cefn Sidan beach to his west, slowly moving east. (In my notes I wrote Kevin Seadon!) .
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Thank you Bob for giving Ian and me so much of your time to show is around and good luck with the marina development.
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Burry Port is set back in the north east corner of Tenby Bay. A huge sandy open bay, with Llanelli (put your tongue just behind your top teeth!) in the east and Tenby and Saundersfoot in the west. Apart from being the only marina for sailors between Swansea and Milford Haven it is also an important RNLI location. We were lucky enough to be shown around the brand new £3.5 million facility with its state of the art equipment and submersible tractor. Their "shouts" are often for people trapped on the vast sand banks in this beautiful but very tidal area.
.
Shifting sand becomes a recurring theme as I move west along the South Wales coast. Harbour Masters are responsible for keeping the channels to their ports navigable for shipping. Bob hired 4 x 30 ton dumper trucks for 6 days to shift sand out of his marina. A silting up harbour or marina is not want a HM wants, especially a commercial marina which wants to attract deep keeled boats like Good Dog into them. A new "water injection" dredger is being commissioned which blasts the sand at high tide so it is held in suspension and taken out of the harbour as the tide recedes. In theory! It is quite a challenge for the engineers. In addition Bob has the 7 mile Cefn Sidan beach to his west, slowly moving east. (In my notes I wrote Kevin Seadon!) .
.
Thank you Bob for giving Ian and me so much of your time to show is around and good luck with the marina development.