Lady Grace Boat Trips

Boat trips from West Mersea crabbing pontoon all year round. Picnics, sunset trips, bird watching, pirate & mermaid parties etc

A 21ft open launch licenced for 12 passengers

GENERAL 20 MINUTE TRIPS

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. . A very enjoyable and relaxing boat ride. 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. £3 per person for a 20-minute boat trip. I run 7 days a week. 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. I do offer longer trips for special occasions such as Birthdays and Wedding Anniversaries.

PIRATE PARTIES -TREASURE HUNT ON THE BOAT

I offer a pirate party for a maximum of 12 people where we have a treasure hunt boat trip with a treasure map finding scull and crossbones chocolate coin treasure hidden in the creeks on other boats on our boat trip round. 1 hour trip, £75 for the hour.

LITTLE MERMAID PARTIES - BOAT TRIP IN SEARCH OF ARIEL'S FRIENDS

I offer a Little Mermaid themed Birthday party where the childrendress up as mermaids and have to help me find Ariel's fishy friends who have been scattered amongst the creeks during the rough weather. As a treat for helping me find all Ariel's fishy friends the children get Little Mermaid themed cupcakes after their 1 hour boat trip. Maximum 12 people, £75 for the hour. Great fun for children, particularly as a birthday treat for them and their friends.

VALENTINES SPECIAL

Book in advance and send me 10 reasons why you love you partner and I will put these reasons into love notes in little cork bottles, your partner will think you are taking him /her out on a romantic boat trip round Mersea, when in actual fact he /she will discover your love notes have been scattered in cork bottles round the creeks for him /her to discover, like 'message in a bottle'. If you have planned on showing your partner just how much they mean to you and plan to propose marriage, then that last bottle he /she discovers can be an extra special discovery. You can continue the romance for a further hour and have a picnic out on the water too. £75 per hour.

EASTER EGG HUNT BOAT TRIPS

I offer an Easter egg hunt where the children get dressed up as Easter bunnies and we go on an hours boat trip in search of chocolate Easter Eggs. The eggs will be hidden out on other boats in the creeks. It is a 1 hour trip, maximum of 12 people on the boat, £75 for the hour.

CHRISTMAS REINDEER HUNT BOAT TRIP

At Christmas time I offer boat trips where the children dress up as elves and have to help me find Santa's reindeers which have gone astray in the local creeks, we have to round the reindeers up and as a reward for finding all Santa's reindeers in time for Christmas eve the children get chocolate reindeer treats. Maximum of 12 people, 1 hour reindeer hunt boat trip, £75 for the hour.

WEDDINGS

You can have a basic office wedding carried out at your local registry office which covers the legal paperwork and the 2 legal sentances required to legally marry. After, you can hire the Lady Grace to perform the full wedding ceremony of exchanging vows and rings infront of your close friends and relatives and hire the Packing Shed after for the reception. A romantic, quiet setting for small weddings. £100 for the hire of the Lady Grace, the the wedding ceremony performed by the skipper is included in this price.

FERRY 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”. 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. A minimum of 3-4 hours is recommended. The maximum number of people is 4 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 throw 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. 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 round Tollesbury creeks 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 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. 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 at £50 per hour.

Lady Grace is also available to book for ash scatterings, a nice way to say goodbye to a loved one at £50 for 1 hour.