Wisbech
September 3, 2021
HM 154. Wisbech. "One of the finest Georgian brick streets of England”. Pevsner's guide.
The entrance into the Nene from The Wash was one of the most challenging and satisfying of my trip so far. After a bumpy night at anchor (photo 8 shows the track) we used our depth sounder to "feel" our way along the shifting channels leading to the river entrance. At one point the depth gauge dropped to "zero" and we felt ourselves grind to a halt in a sandy dead end (photo 9). It was a rising tide and so we carefully turned around, retraced our steps and found another way into the main channel!
This pretty town (photo 4) is 12 miles up the very straight River Nene "cut", designed by none other than Thomas Telford, my favourite engineer, in 1830. First you pass the extraordinary offshore fresh water reservoir (an experiment to rival Rutland Water which did not work), then the white "lighthouse" of Sir Peter Scott (founder of the WWF) and then past the magnificent Sutton Swing Bridge before finding yourself in the town centre river moorings.
HM Jamie Hemming was a fount of knowledge about the intricate drainage schemes that keep the fens from flooding - he explained heavy rain is just as serious as a storm surge from the sea. Originally a fisherman and then master of a pilot cutter, Jamie now is more of an engineer. One project is negotiating with the owners of Europe's largest offshore wind farm - Race Bank - regarding where exactly all their "export cables" (photo 6) bring electricity onto the land. Shifting sandbanks have caused some of them to become "un-buried"! Jamie has also dealt with a hot air balloon who decided to land on a sandbank at low tide....and then needed rescuing.
Wisbech is a first class council owned commercial harbour and a lot of effort has been made for visiting yachts. You will be made to feel very welcome. Thank you Jamie and Andy.
The entrance into the Nene from The Wash was one of the most challenging and satisfying of my trip so far. After a bumpy night at anchor (photo 8 shows the track) we used our depth sounder to "feel" our way along the shifting channels leading to the river entrance. At one point the depth gauge dropped to "zero" and we felt ourselves grind to a halt in a sandy dead end (photo 9). It was a rising tide and so we carefully turned around, retraced our steps and found another way into the main channel!
This pretty town (photo 4) is 12 miles up the very straight River Nene "cut", designed by none other than Thomas Telford, my favourite engineer, in 1830. First you pass the extraordinary offshore fresh water reservoir (an experiment to rival Rutland Water which did not work), then the white "lighthouse" of Sir Peter Scott (founder of the WWF) and then past the magnificent Sutton Swing Bridge before finding yourself in the town centre river moorings.
HM Jamie Hemming was a fount of knowledge about the intricate drainage schemes that keep the fens from flooding - he explained heavy rain is just as serious as a storm surge from the sea. Originally a fisherman and then master of a pilot cutter, Jamie now is more of an engineer. One project is negotiating with the owners of Europe's largest offshore wind farm - Race Bank - regarding where exactly all their "export cables" (photo 6) bring electricity onto the land. Shifting sandbanks have caused some of them to become "un-buried"! Jamie has also dealt with a hot air balloon who decided to land on a sandbank at low tide....and then needed rescuing.
Wisbech is a first class council owned commercial harbour and a lot of effort has been made for visiting yachts. You will be made to feel very welcome. Thank you Jamie and Andy.