mersea - round the island

I was looking at the website for the mersea week for the RTI race & came across this

 

I thought ( wrongly it seems ) that the sea cadets or an other group of helpers were available to help completer’s get their boats across the strood.How big is the strood anyway? What do you need to do this?

So the question is what’s the normal procedure of doing this?

 

 

Edited by bert - 21 Jul 11 at 9:21am

sorry for my ignorance, but what is a strood?

I did Pyefleet week last year and saw the boats come round the island (Mersea Island) unfortunately some didn't make it to the strood before the tide turned and had to sail back the other direction.

Depending on the boat, I believe some people take their trailers to the strood before setting sail around the island.

I have done RTI for the past 3 years in various different boats. The normal procedure nowadays is to carry your boat over yourself (Just grab it under the gunwale and lift). It isn't too difficult, you have to carry it for about 30m (Although if you hit the Strood right at high tide it will more or less float over itself) but that has never been a problem for me when I've done it. A couple of nice people from Dabchicks or the Yacht Club normally hang around on the Strood too and give you a helping hand if you need it. I wouldn't advise bringing your trolley to get the boat across because the amount of people who stand around watching, the amount of other trailers and the very limited amount of space makes it very difficult to access and use it. Be extremely careful on the side of the Strood closest to Brightlingsea - tack sooner than you think you need to, be ready to yank the daggerboard up and be very, very careful not to capsize. On the side of the Strood closest to the Hammerhead the water is very shallow next to the mainland, even at high tide. Stay pretty close to the island. (There will probably be a RIB moored in this spot to let you know too)

Edited by Mister Nick - 21 Jul 11 at 9:58pm

Yep done it several times. Back in the day when Neptune and I were mere pups (before he grew up and I got his Saturday job in the chandlery) we used to have the Army come up to help out lug boats across- if you were really lucky and female (or had one crewing for you) they'd lift you out and carry you across whilst you were still in the boat. There were buckets to chuck a quid or so in for whatever charity they were raising cash for that day. AFAIK the garrison don't support it any more which is a shame.

If you're in a heavyish boat it might be worth getting the trolley dollies to drive your trolley up there, if it's light then pick it up and waddle across.

It's a good laugh I've done it in a Mirror, Laser and 420; going anti-clockwise is a complete lottery, you'll either do very well, or not make it round. Most people go clockwise and hit the strood at high tide to take the ebb around the back of the island. The only thing this can do is through-up some interesting chop across the mud banks around the eastern point as this is (usually) wind over tide.

It's worth checking the forecast before driving. The event has been canned due to heavy winds recently and given the nature of the separation across the fleet, whilst there's rescue cover, it's not 'regatta typical', so it's a test of seamanship and boat preparation as much as the tactical stuff too. Don't let that put you off though- it's a good spirited event and the competitors genuinely look out for each other as you go round.

The Strood- it f**ked up my Megane.



Edited by rogue - 22 Jul 11 at 10:17am