Welcome drinks and meet up on Friday evening from 18:00 on board Sky Song.

Saturday we are looking to take a walk along the river path to HMS Vale for lunch, setting off at 12:30 to arrive about 13:00. You can also dinghy up and moor on the jetty, tides are favourable for this.

If less able, or you don’t fancy the walk, you can get a taxi to Melton Boat Yard where access is through the boatyard and a few steps over the flood wall.

It would be appreciated if those who are going could pre order, menus available on the HMS Vale website and will be attached in the WhatsApp group.

Sunday BBQ on the Marina BBQ area, weather permitting light up around 16:00.

A few things that may be of interest to those unfamiliar with the location:

There are local museums, cinema and swimming pool and train station just a short walk from the marina.

There are many local restaurants and pubs local to the marina and in the town.

The town is a 10-minute walk from the marina, it has lots of small shops and tea rooms.

The Deben Bar is well buoyed, and although requires vigilance, is relatively easy. With a 1.6m draft I can get in/out 3hrs before HW with water to spare. The channel is deeper but narrower than previous years.

If in doubt or require advice contact John White (Odd Times) on VHF CH 8 or phone him on 07803 476621.

The route up to Woodbridge is well buoyed. On approach to Woodbridge I would advise to keep to the buoys, rather than go through the cut, that has less water. The port  and buoys close to the marina are small and can be mistaken for mooring buoys. The sill depth is shown on approach to the entrance, this is accurate.

Any issues call Tidemill Marina on CH 80.

The Deben entrance chartlet is available from the East Coast Pilot web site.

For those who haven’t made the trip before, on a flood tide allow a couple of hours from the Deben Bar to the Woodbridge Marina entrance. For boats coming from the South, it often makes sense to go up the day before to the Orwell, then go up to the Deben the following day, this makes working the tides in the Deben entrance much easier.

If you are not in a hurry you can overnight on a mooring at Ramsholt or Waldringfield, or anchor at the ‘Rocks’.

Similarly, if leaving the river and going South, it is often best to have a stop at Ramsholt (usually overnight) so you can leave the river at around mid-tide when there is still a good amount of flood tide left to take you down the coast to the Orwell or beyond.

Tide times (and heights over the Marina sill) for the Tidemill Marina can be found at this link.

Any problems, or if you require further information, please contact me (Steve) via mobile.

If you haven’t received the email, or want to make contact with the organiser, you can use:

Steve Hillyard 07810 598311 or east.events@moodyowners.org