It’s just as well I like to live beside the seaside because with the stormy weather the past few days I thought I’d be in it.

With high tides and strong gales Eastbourne marina’s outer seawall breakwaters have been tested.

As the photo I took yesterday below shows, the waves were having a great time hitting the breakwaters…

As you walk around the marina you may notice some Jet Skis sitting in a berth, normally, on a strange sort of flat plastic platform, which keeps the Jet Ski out of the water when it’s not being in use so it doesn’t get affected too much by the salt water.

Now, going back to probably the early 2000s when North Harbour wasn’t particularly populated and there weren’t many berths with boats in, you used to be able to do a kind of test drive around North Harbour, but couldn’t go very fast because there’s a speed limit, but you can still take it out and try it out, but now that’s more populated with boats and houses, the noise and the safety factor mean that that’s no longer possible.

So, whilst you can berth a Jet Ski in the marina you need to bear in mind is every time you want to use it, you have to go through the locks. This means you need to be very manouverable to make sure you don’t run into the other boats that are waiting for the locks to operate. So your Jet Ski needs to be one of the more advanced versions which has a reverse gear so that you can easily move back and forth as required by the Harbour master and fellow boat users

It’s been a busy few days here in Eastbourne’s premier marina – especially if you, like me, are a fan of wildlife.

If the harbour seal wasn’t enough excitement, the heron’s long awaited return added to the anticipation. Then, he reappeared this morning, twice in three days – what a treat!

In an earlier blog post I wrote about seeing a heron in one of the locks at Eastbourne’s Sovereign Marina around midnight.

I’ve kept my eyes open since then and it’s taken a while but early yesterday another heron was standing statuesque in the outer harbour at low tide.

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.

Click for more photos!
Read more »

For the past few days the big motor yacht has been moored in the relatively safe waters outside of Eastbourne’s Sovereign Marina.

With a lot more Russians moving to the harbour the rumour mill has been going into overdrive about every mega-rich oil baron and his comrade.

Apparently this vessel was too big to fit into the marina so it moored where the tide wouldn’t cause it to run aground, unlike the sailboat in my earlier post this month ;-)

Just as car registrations now take place twice a year, it was felt that only having one official fools day in April meant that we didn’t have sufficient opportunity to do silly things!

For the past few days, the following sailing boat hasn’t moved (even when the tide has meant it could do). I don’t know whether the owner’s are just trying to save a few euros, or whether they may have experienced technical problems, but it’s made a different view from the promenade and always brings a smile to my face ;-)

Well, there’s a pride of lions, a pod of whales, even a university of owls, but Eastbourne’s Sovereign Harbour has been blessed with a of cormorants.

The most I’ve counted at one time is 12, and the photo below has 10…

If you know the answer, or have some polite ;-) suggestions please reply to this post and share with the world!

Unfortunately many Eastbourne Half Marathon well-wishers were disappointed not to see Elvis, the kangaroo-suited prankster, at this year’s event.

It appeared, that like so many others, the clash of the annual fun run with Mothers Day meant that Elvis had a more important place to be.

This slight disappointment didn’t ruin the event, and the weather even improved to almost Spring-like proportions, as the score of Bermuda Place residents managed to light the barbie and applaud the dedicated runners as they headed for the finishing tape.

Eastbourne Borough Council have set their Council Tax charge for properties in Band D at £1,506.33 for the year 2008-09.

The Council Tax charge comprises elements for East Sussex County Council, East Sussex Fire Authority, Sussex Police Authority as well as Eastbourne Borough Council.

Read on to discover the total charge for bands A to H …
Read more »