It has been a glorious summer but the Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club (KEBC) was unlucky with its Crabshell Regatta when it poured with rain. So things were looking dodgy when the club was embarking for its annual Rivermaid cruise – leaden skies and a weather forecast for light rain to be followed by heavy rain. In the event, there was hardly a drop of rain, or breath of wind, and the cloud cover kept the evening warmish.
An evening cruise in September is interesting if, like me, you don’t usually go on the Harbour when it’s dark. The glassy water highlighted the significant improvements in navigation marks which have been made gradually over the last few years. The new numbers on the marker posts up to Kingsbridge were clearly visible. This is to help Kingsbridge people pick their way home in the fog: decreasing numbers mean you are not going out to sea.
Nearer the Harbour entrance, the two pairs of buoys which replaced the lights on Black Stone and the beacons on the Pound Stone, Old Harry and Castle Rocks (although they will remain there until they rust off) were clearly visible. Lights on the top of rocks are difficult to maintain, not least because they always break down in a storm and you can’t get on top of a big rock with a spanner when the weather is rough. Maintaining buoys is easier and cheaper and the four buoys marking the channel turn you naturally and reliably onto the bright flashing transit lights on Scoble Farm. But the real improvement has been the tri-coloured sector light at Sandhill Point. This is higher-tech (so more accurate) and brighter than the one it replaced and makes it much easier coming in past the Bar.
The KEBC members are getting excited about this winter’s planned improvements to the moorings in Kingsbridge basin. All the hurdles of planning permission, Natural England and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) licence have now been overcome and the work is expected to start in January.
The cruise seemed to mark the end of a beautiful summer – and one which has been good for the Harbour, with plenty of sailing boats, but not crammed full. The numbers of motor boats, particularly big ones, continues to fall, presumably as the result of increasing fuel costs. And Salcombe can be confident it is earning a reputation for friendliness and good value – Fowey seems now to be the most expensive harbour along this stretch of coast.
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