Arguably “the shortest river in England”, the River Sid is not navigable for most of its short length – largely due to the number of weirs, which means that migrating fish are themselves unable to ‘navigate’ up the river.
However, it would be possible to take a kayak or canoe to just before the ford, although in terms of access, we are entering the tricky waters of who owns the River Sid – and its waters.
But being short and very shallow, today’s boats won’t get very far up the River Sid. Nevertheless, its neighbours are navigable – and it’s interesting to see how they are navigated.
A recent bit of news from Exeter city council says that they are “starting a revolution on the Exeter River Exe”:
Work on the Exe Estuary is going green after the Exeter Port Authority took delivery of a new hydrogen electric boat for a trial period.
The boat has been made and designed by Ecomar Propulsion and will be based on the estuary for a limited period of time to assist with the trials and testing of the vessel.
The boat was launched into Exmouth harbour and is currently in the final stages of fitting out. A team from Ecomar Propulsion are currently installing the last items on an innovative new power systems and they are doing it whilst she is afloat.
“The beauty of the hydrogen refuelling is that the port doesn’t need to install expensive equipment. We can carry the bottles to the boat and they weigh about the same as a regular barbeque bottle. We can easily charge the batteries directly from the pontoon as well, so it makes the move to clean energy really easy,” said Grahame Forshaw, Exeter Port Authority’s Harbour Master.
The article also refers to work at the University and their Centre for Future Clean Mobility
Greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping activities currently account for 3% of global emissions (2022). Without rapid action to decarbonise the sector, these emissions will grow in the coming decade.
This has become a focus of the UK government and has led to the UK taking a proactive role in driving the transition to zero emission shipping in UK waters.
From building a new zero emissions Dynamometer facility, the first of its kind in the UK. To working with leading industrial partners in the sector such as Ecomar Propulsion and OS Energy, we are at the forefront of global research into clean maritime propulsion solutions.
Whether the Stuart Line Cruises, based in Exmouth, would plan to ‘go hydrogen’? They do, after all, offer boat trips along the Jurassic Coast – including boat trips from Sidmouth.