News from your cruising area
SOUTH COAST & CHANNEL ISLANDS
Three ‘marine fast-charge stations’ for electric boats on the Isle of Wight have been formally ‘switched on’–two on Trinity Landing and another at Shepards Marina.
Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely, who cut the ribbon on 24 July, said: “I commend Cowes Harbour for taking proactive steps to create future-proof infrastructure, connecting our island with the electric boat charging corridor in the Solent and along the south coast.”
Aqua superPower is leading a consortium which has secured £3.2million of UK government funding to deploy marine charging infrastructure. Ten sites along the south coast are being plugged into the UK’s ‘clean maritime revolution’ as part of The Electric Seaway Project through the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition Round 3 (CDMC3).
Sailors and motorboaters are being asked to avoid anchoring in areas marked by 23 yellow buoys in Torbay, Devon, to protect vital habitats.
More than 65 hectares of sensitive seagrass meadows– all six seagrass beds in Torbay –are protected under the scheme led by the Ocean Conservation Trust, with the support of Torbay Harbour Authority.
The voluntary no-anchor zones have been put in place by the harbour authority as part of the Blue Meadows project to protect 10% of all UK seagrass in the next five years, approximately 700 hectares, and follows seagrass protection work in Falmouth last year.
Supported by ScottishPower Foundation, the Trust has also planted seagrass seeds at St Mary’s Bay, Devon, where more marker buoys will be put in place to allow it to thrive.
Breakwater installation
Berth holders and visitors to boatfolk’s Haslar Marina in Gosport can enjoy a more sheltered night’s sleep following the installation of a 70m wave attenuating breakwater.
Got a news story that would interest a fellow PBO reader? We want to hear from you! Email PBO news editor Laura Hodgetts at pbo@futurenet.com
As part of a two-phase project to expand berthing, Inland and Coastal Marina Systems (ICMS) designed and manufactured a bespoke floating concrete breakwater to ‘create a wave screen’ in a previously exposed section of the marina, which is close to Portsmouth Harbour entrance.
SOUTH
The Boat Building Academy (BBA) in Lyme Regis, Dorset, is casting its net wider. New courses and additional bursaries are available at the Monmouth Beach-based site.
Since it was founded by Naval Commander Tim Gedge in 1997, more than 280 boats have since been handcrafted using traditional and modern techniques, and many graduates have gone on to work at the country’s top boatyards. Since attaining charitable status in 2020 th
