Run by Stacey Belbin – 07791 859 624 or email ladygraceboat.trips@gmail.com

All Year Round - Water Taxi and Harbour Trips

A 21ft open launch licenced for 12 passengers

Local harbour trips around the Packing Shed Island. Approximately 20 minutes. On a clear day you can see the wind turbines from a distance and Bradwell Power Station can also be seen. On your boat trip you will pass many different pleasure and cruising yachts, motorboats, oyster dredging boats and fishing boats.

There is the possibility of seeing the seal and there are also many different bird life species that are attracted to Mersea Islands’ tranquil area of marshlands and mud banks, including turnstones, curlews, cormorants, egrets as well as the common tern and seagull. We also have the local Thames Barge situated on the pile moorings that can be passed upon request. A very enjoyable and relaxing boat ride.

Great fun for children, particularly as a birthday treat for them and their friends. Boat trips can be booked in advance to secure a time and place aboard, or alternatively you can turn up on the day and wait for the boat to return to the hammerhead.

Maximum of 12 people for boat trips. However, a full boat of 12 people is not needed, I leave as and when people would like to go, with as little as 1 person aboard. Children are welcome as long as they are supervised by an adult. £2 per person for a 20-minute boat trip. Currently runs weekends, bank holidays, and evenings by appointment only with prior notice given. FROM APRIL 2013 I WILL BE RUNNING A FULL TIME 7 DAYS A WEEK LAUNCH AND BOAT TRIP SERVICE.

I am also available for launch service to get to and from your boat, for both local and visiting yachtsmen. I can be contacted either on my mobile; 07791 859 624 or by the VHF on channel 72, call sign “Lady Grace”. Again, this is currently for weekends, bank holidays, and late evenings by appointment with prior notice given. We have many places to eat at Mersea for both visiting yachtsmen and visiting tourists including;

The Art Café and the Blackwater Pearl for light snacks and full English breakfasts;

The Coast Inn and The Victory for great traditional meals and beverages;

And not forgetting the well-known “Company Shed” and the “Oyster Bar” which are extremely popular for their locally caught fresh fish to eat in and the option of taking fillets of fish and pots of shell fish home for another day. Needless to say, both the Company Shed and the Oyster Bar sell our local Native Oysters, of which Mersea is famous for.

Mersea is definitely a port to put on your list to visit. If you visit Mersea during Mersea week in the summer, you will also catch all the entertainment of music, the travelling fair, bagpipes playing through the town, the local yacht racing, rowing races, greasy pole and our excellent display of fireworks. For people wanting to go to and from their yachts during normal working hours the fee is £2 per person each way. Requests for a water taxi outside of normal hours will be accommodated with prior notice given and a fee will be negotiated depending on the times required.

November to March –Fishing Trips, Bird Watching & Photography Trips

As the cod and whiting come into the River Blackwater as the winter months approach, beginners fishing trips are available for a fee of £5 per hour per person or you can book the boat so that you have it all to yourselves which a fee is negotiated by me with prior arrangement. A minimum of 4 hours is recommended. The maximum number of people is between 4-6 people for fishing trips. Bait and tackle are including in the price and full tutition will be given. If you book a trip for X number of hours and on the day the weather is favourable and you would like to stay out longer then this is fine. the hours are flexible to your needs and requirements should you hire the boat. If you would like to keep your catch then the fish caught will be measured to make sure they are sized. If they are undersized or not wanted then we thrown them back to live another day. These trips are an ideal day out for beginners and for parents wanting to take their children fishing for the first time to get them hooked. We also welcome clubs such as Scouts and Brownies etc.

Bird watching trips are also available during these months. £5 per hour per person, with hiring the boat all to yourself as an option and for as long or short a trip required. We will take a slow ride up the local creeks including Salcot creek, Ray Channel, around the Packing Shed Island out Mersea Fleet and take a ride towards Osea Island depending on the length of trip booked. Local birds sighted include Curlews, Cormorants, Egrets, Turnstones, Knots, Marsh Harriers, Shags, Sanderling, Dunlin, Brent Geese, Swans, Shell Ducks, Mallard, Oyster Catchers, Bar-Tailed Godwits, Black-Tailed Godwits, Ringed Plover, Redshank and Greenshank, Whimbrel, Herons, Greylag Geese, Guillemots, Red-Throated Diver, Avocets and not forgetting the common and black-headed gulls and common terns and many more. Wildlife and bird watching Groups and Clubs all welcome.

With such interesting views and a variety of different boats, I also offer trips for photographers to see the Thames Barge, the local fishing boats, the Packing Shed and the Beach Huts. Pictures have a very different view when taken from the sea as opposed to on land. Again, it is £5 per hour per person. For both bird watching and photography bookings, I can take a maximum number of 12 people but it is your own preference of how many you would like to bring on your trip if you book the whole boat to yourselves. Dates throughout the year can be arranged with prior notice.

Available dates:

January

12/01/13

13/01/13

19/01/13

20/01/13

26/01/13

27/01/13

February

02/02/13

03/02/13

09/02/13

10/02/13

16/02/13

17/02/13

23/02/13

24/02/13

March

02/03/13

03/03/13

09/03/13

10/03/13

16/03/13

17/03/13

23/03/13

24/03/13

30/03/13

31/03/13