Approaches
The Deben is the prettiest river on the East Coast, and it has the added bonus — if you like that sort of thing — of a rather tricky and dramatic entrance.

The first essential when contemplating a visit to the Deben is to go to http://www.eastcoastrivers.com. This splendid self-help organisation, arising from an original initiative by the local harbourmaster and marine firm Small Craft Deliveries, provides free sketch maps for downloading which give the latest information on navigating the entrance. As the configuration of the bar changes frequently in the winter storms it is important to have up-to-date advice (albeit subject to the usual legal caveats). The website is sponsored by local businesses and now also offers information on the entrance to the Ore, Walton Backwaters, Brightlingsea and Southwold.

First, find the red and white Woodbridge Haven buoy. Coming from the south it will probably be advisable to keep up to a mile and a half offshore to clear all obstacles, depending on the state of the tide. Having found the Haven buoy use the local information to head in towards the red West Knoll buoy and, following that, the green Mid Knoll. As you navigate past the sand banks you will have the pleasantly alarming sensation of seeing waves breaking over the sand within a few metres of the channel. Yachts of any size will need at least half tide, and reasonably calm weather, to navigate the entrance with confidence.

As none of the buoys is lit, entry at night is not recommended for visitors. If you must, then try and arrive in daylight and take some bearings on the buoys as you anchor off while waiting for the tide. Then enter on a rising tide armed with a powerful torch. Once inside, GPS and an electronic chart will help you keep to the deep water channel.

Having survived the entrance your reward is an unspoiled river of low hills and woodland which winds its way charmingly through nine miles of Suffolk countryside to the attractive town of Woodbridge. Make sure you give due heed to the port hand Horse Sand buoy half a mile beyond the entrance. Otherwise it is fairly plain sailing until close to Woodbridge.

Moorings and marinas
Beyond the entrance on the west bank above Felixstowe Ferry is a large number of moorings but they are suitable mainly for shallow draft craft and few are available for visitors. Facilities are limited mainly to the pub.

A couple of miles further up opposite the popular Ramsholt Arms on the east bank there are deeper moorings but again you will be lucky in season to find one untenanted. An easier option for the self-sufficient is to anchor round the next bend at Prettyman’s Point. You will probably find yourself bumping on the bottom at LW, but the peace and quiet is broken only by the nightingales.

On a bit further and you arrive at the busy stretch of the river opposite Waldringfield on the other side of the river. Finding a mooring is usually a little bit easier here and ashore is the admirable Maybush Inn. If you don’t want the tidal constraints of getting in and out of Woodbridge then this is the best option.

Yachts of any size aiming for Woodbridge need to avoid neaps when there is often no more than 1.4m over the bar into the Tidemill Yacht Harbour even at HW. At springs it’s HW±1 hr with a maximum depth around HW of about 2.5m. Visit the Tidemill website for detailed predictions. Self evidently there is no clinging to your bunk if the tide calls. Don’t forget also that you need to get down the river in time to negotiate the entrance, if that is your intention.

Having said all that, there are few spots more attractive than the Tidemill Yacht Harbour, with its white weather-boarded old mill, and few towns more inviting than Woodbridge. In approaching the yacht harbour make sure you follow the buoyed channel round to the left above Methersgate. The “straight on” option of Loder’s Cut is only for the shallow of draft or the very self-confident.

Once installed at the Yacht Harbour (which now has a new shower block) there are attractive walks along the river bank, pleasurable ambling around town, and nearby the Sutton Hoo burial site where a Saxon chief was interred with his boat and his treasure more than a millennium ago for the onward voyage to the sky.

© 2008 Yachtpilot

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