Eastbourne Marina: High Tide Warning

I don’t want to panic anyone, but as the following video snippet shows, the tide in the outer harbour here at Eastbourne’s Sovereign Marina is very high.

In fact, I’ve been here ten years, and based on the ‘A’ test, this is the highest tide I’ve witnessed.

Royal Sovereign: Preventing Accidents off Eastbourne

As you walk along the Eastbourne seafront and look out to sea, you might notice an odd looking shape on the horizon, a shape looking something like a large cross.

In fact, that cross is a very important safety feature for any of the marine users navigating this part of the English Channel for its the Sovereign Light Tower.

Around about that point on the sea bed there’s a sand bank and at low tide it can be as shallow as about 2.5-3 meters.  That’s been a hazard to shipping over the years and has seen many ships run aground.

In olden days, to prevent this happening, there was an actual ship called the Royal Sovereign that had a lighthouse on it and was anchored on the bank to prevent ships running aground.

In modern times, the boat has been replaced by a more formal structure, which consists of a tower sticking into the sea bed with a helicopter platform and a lighthouse on top of it.

If you get a chance take one of the boat tours out there, it’s certainly well worth a look.

Seal Visits Eastbourne Marina

Residents and visitors to Eastbourne’s outer marina were in for a treat this weekend – if they were patient that is! For if they looked closely, they may have noticed a small head and two dark eyes staring back at them from the sea.

harbour seal

Click for more photos!
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Double Check Your Southern Water Bills…

Southern Water Soakaway in Eastbourne Marina

…As You May Be In For a (Nice) Surprise!

I first reported on the fraudulent charges Southern Water were billing Sovereign Harbour residents inmy post Money Down the Drain way back in April 2006!
The sterling work that Ray Battersby started and the SHRA’s Waterlines newsletter reported on meant that all Eastbourne Marina residents were supposed to get an automatic refund without having to go through the bureaucratic rigmarole.

But this has taken some time.

So, imagine my surprise when I opened my bill the other day only to discover a line on the statement saying ‘refund’, though it didn’t offer an explaination.

Check your bills carefully, you may have been refunded too

4 Tips to Help Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Recycle

We like living on the marina to enjoy all of the good things ‘Mother Nature’ has to offer.

Here are 4 ways to help her by reducing your own Carbon Footprint by thinking about the things you do that involve producing the harmful carbon dioxide through burning fossil fuels.
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Going Green on the ‘net (part 3)

Recycle

With green issues more prevalent than ever, the website junkk.com provides details of 100s of ways you can

reuse rather than waste

everyday household items by converting them from something you want to throw out, into something more practical.

Many of them provide excellent min-projects for your kids!

Going Green on the ‘net (part 2)

Recycle

Proving that

One person’s rubbish is another’s treasure

the website freecycle.org is a forum where two local people can contact one another to swap what they don’t want for something they do.

It really is that simple!

Going Green on the ‘net (part 1)

Recycle

Web auction sites like eBay are a great way to get rid of your unwanted items.

Make Money and Reduce Landfill

at the same time!

It’s amazing what other people will buy – you may even pick up a little bargain or two yourself ;-)

Sign of the Times … Only 3 Years Late!

Just before the Bank Holiday weekend, four signs were erected on the beach of the outer marina …

The New Signs on the Beach...

These are a much needed, and long-overdue addition to this area of Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour.

Residents have been campaigning for over three years about the need for signs like these to increase public awareness to the potential dangers of the boat lanes and especially the mud which is exposed at low tides…

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Review: Introduction to Nautical Archaeology (part 2)

I wrote in a previous post about members of my local dive club participating in an introductory course in marine archaeolgy on 28th April.

That article covered the first 2 parts of the course, whereas this article covers the final part of the course where we all got wet in a local swimming pool to try and translate the stuff we’d learnt in the classroom and on the outdoor, ‘dry’ exercise into practise.

Underwater Surveying Using a Frame

Underwater Surveying Using a Frame
photo: (c) Jon Martin 2007

The photo shows an underwater frame, which is one technique of surveying all or part of a dive site. The other technique we used…
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