By November’s Harbour Board you know how well the harbour did over the summer. The answer is very well until July but as soon as the school holidays started the number of visitors dropped off steeply. There weren’t as many visiting yachts around in August, which is normally the peak month and, it seems, other ports had the same experience. But some things held up, like the water taxi income, so it wasn’t all bad.
The Board has now taken the final decision to go ahead with the dredging of Kingsbridge and underneath the Batson pontoons next February. This builds on the success last year of water injection dredging in the Batson channel and (equally important) the success of the environmental monitoring. The mud below the Batson pontoons will be levelled to -2m (that is, two metres above low water) as will the Kingsbridge basin. So Kingsbridge will end up having the same range as Batson, giving Kingsbridge 45 minutes, maybe more, each side of high water. The dredging will also remove a ledge which was left after the last Kingsbridge dredge: this has prevented the basin flushing out properly.
The Board also made progress with the Normandy/Whitestrand proposals. The most likely outcome is a doubling of the length of Normandy pontoon and some change of use between Whitestrand and Normandy. In order to allow proper access round the back of the new Normandy pontoon, there will be a small amount of dredging there, which will be done at the same time as Batson and Kingsbridge.
There is apprehension all round about the future of the ICC. The ICC decided in October to contract out its sailing activities, whilst retaining responsibility for Egremont, but the person who was due to take on the contract has since withdrawn. This is bound to create uncertainty about whether the ICC will be sailing – and therefore have an income for Egremont – next season. Doubtless there are lots of people working hard behind the scenes. Egremont is good for the harbour and good for Salcombe and the surrounding area, where the families stay while their children are learning the ropes.
The onset of winter means the work of maintaining moorings has begun. You may have noticed that gradually the buoys on deepwater moorings are changing to a type which is more expensive initially, but longer lasting. Moreover below the surface the harbour is increasingly using heavier chain for the lowest part of the mooring, which should also save money in the long run.
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