Sovereign Harbour
| Sovereign Harbour | |
|---|---|
 View across the North Harbour |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | EASTBOURNE |
| Postcode district | BN23 |
| Dialling code | 01323 |
| Police | Sussex |
| Fire | East Sussex |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Opened in 1993, Sovereign Harbour is a development of the beachland in the seaside resort of Eastbourne, to the east of the town centre. Formerly known as The Crumbles, the marina now consists of four separate harbours, a retail park and several housing projects with both permanent and holiday properties. The marina was originally run by its developer, Carillion, until 2007 when it was bought by the Premier Marinas group, who also run several other marinas along the South Coast including Brighton, Chichester and Port Solent, among others.
The tidal Outer Harbour is only used for entrance to the marina through twin sea locks, which are operated 24 hours a day. It needs frequent dredging to keep the access channel from the sea to the locks open and deep enough for vessels. The local RNLI lifeboat has its own mooring there. The entrance is beside Martello Tower No.66.
All the harbours (Inner, South, West and North) are artificial and were dredged one after the other, after 1991. Behind the locks is the main marina called Inner Harbour. This is the central body of water and was the first harbour in use. It contains berths for both visiting and resident berth holders, as well as provides access to the other three harbours via lifting bridges. The other three are used mostly by resident berth holders as well as the local fishing vessels.
The North Harbour is the latest development, and this body of water is larger than the initial Inner Harbour. The two remaining harbours West and South are much smaller and in use by local residents owning a house/apartment around these waters.
A large boat lift now uses a corner in the North Harbour, near the local chandlery and winter storage for yachts. The locks - for access to and from the sea - and all lifting bridges are operated from the Harbour office building located next to the locks. The office is manned around the clock - all days of the year. The keep listening watch is on VHF channel 17 (and not channel 80 as most marinas in the UK). Apart from operating the locks and bridges the office is also used as information centre for visiting yachts, the staff provide visiting yachts their berth and collect the harbour fees. Directly adjacent to the locks (and the office) is a fuel pontoon where self-service pumps for diesel and petrol are found. There is also an amenities building which provides toilets, showers and laundry facilities to visiting and resident berth holders. Visiting yachts normally contact the harbour master via VHF before arrival to obtain information about tides, depths of the dredged channel and other relevant information.
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Wikipedia