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Out of the Harbour and Turn RightBy Howard and Mary Williams |
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Out of the Harbour and Turn RightBy Howard and Mary Williams |
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Appendices Appendix 1 - Distances and Dates
Appendix 2 CostsMooring costs
Other
Appendix 3 – The highs and lows.
Appendix 4 - Conclusions: Southern Britain has a lot to offer:
BUT:
Appendix 5 - Voyage notes of harbours, ports and anchorages used. Forth Clyde Canal The Forth Clyde canal was a wonderful experience, with amazing views and aspects of the central belt that are hidden away. The British Waterways staff are great; they have to be as they currently operate every gate for every boat themselves. With 39 gates the need for user operable Hydraulic gates and sluices is overwhelming, freeing the canal staff to maintaining the canal and keeping its waterways free of garbage. Glad I did it once, but I’m not sure of doing it again, and its bad reputation for bricks, shopping trolleys etc is widely spoken about down south. Anyone wanting the “canal experience” can do it by bicycle; you see just as much and can do it in a day. Rothesay Great location, and good shore facilities as well. This was our third visit, this time using the Rothesay club moorings 300 meters from the harbour, which now accommodates a number of craft on pontoon berths. Wash from the ferries can be significant, but as the last one leaves about 2000 the night was “wash free.” Troon Marina A safe haven with excellent yard facilities, hardworking and very good staff, brilliant and knowledgeable chandler, great restaurant overlooking the Marina and one of the best Morrisons supermarkets I’ve ever used. Railway station is good for Prestwick airport (5 miles), Ayr and for Glasgow, and although Troon is great if you love golf as a tourist destination it’s very limited. Very good sailing grounds, with Arran, the mull of Kintyre and Ireland all accessible within a days sail. Girvan Medium sized harbour with some pontoon space, very secure from most winds. Reasonable facilities, with easy access to the train, and if you like quiet sandy beaches then it could be a good tourist destination. Portpatrick Small harbour with a very cooperative harbourmaster, often full of Northern Ireland boats as it is only 14 miles from the Irish coast. Facilities are very limited, though there is an excellent pitch and putt course at the big hotel above the harbour. There are also good coastal walks, and a very friendly and helpful coxswain for the RNLI; a visit to the lifeboat station is a must. Isle of Whithorn Small, drying harbour with very limited visitor space, but the harbourmaster has done his best to provide the type of facilities lacking in many much bigger locations. Great walks all around, but very limited facilities for vittles and for entertainment. Whitehaven Whitehaven has a huge and very safe marina, which is also very much the focus of this regenerated town. Good facilities, though lacking in decent chandlers, which was surprising. Large Tesco’s within trolley wheeling distance. Douglas IOM Douglas has all the facilities you would expect in a large town, and is a wonderful and interesting tourist destination as well. The Marina is well sheltered and secure, but beyond a lifting bridge which opens every 30 minutes from 0700 to 2100. We used the Battery Point pontoons in the harbour opposite the ferry terminal for our two night stay. The pontoons are unviable in a northerly blow, but fine with the SW winds we had when we were there. Again, the ferry terminal closed early evening, so we had no trouble with the wash. Holyhead Holyhead harbour is huge, with hundreds of club-based moorings, a substantial Marina and frequent high speed ferry traffic operating from the East dock area. For visitors there is a long run of pontoons that form the outer part of the marina, but these are very exposed and if there is going to be a NW blow then it’s advisable to look elsewhere. The facilities at the marina were still being constructed when we were there, but were dire, and the chandlers were a joke. The town is dire, with the only positive aspects being the train and ferry out and the cinema. Unless the facilities improve significantly avoid using the place and avoid the outer visitor berths. Fishguard Old Fishguard is an absolute gem, as is the old harbour, but it dries. Good facilities, great sailing club and wonderful pubs and restaurants and they have a welcoming library. I would recommend anyone passing by to visit. Dale Dale is a small village with a large number of boats on moorings in the inlet some 6 nm from the entrance into Milford Haven. The facilities are very limited, and the main visitors pontoons are stuck out in the bay some considerable distance from the village. We picked up a visitor mooring some 200 metres from the pier and then went into the sailing club to pay and to enquire about Diesel. However, no one was interested in anything other than the food and drinks operation, so we gave up and went to the pub next door. Neyland Neyland marina is accessible at all tides, has diesel, a good chandlers and good main facilities. However, it would have been more sensible for us to use Milford Haven Marina as it is only a short walk from the station and Tesco’s, Homebase etc. Padstow Good location, great harbour (accessible 2 hours from HW) but not the best place if you have to anchor or moor off. We did not have a good experience as we arrived 3.5 hours after HW on a neap tide and the harbour staff had gone home early. The harbourmaster also needs to sort out the whole way that diesel is dispensed as the system in use when we were there was like something the communists invented to create work. Bottom line – if you can get into the inner harbour then go for it, it’s a great location and good value for money. If not then think of somewhere else, particularly if you want to fill up with diesel. St Ives St Ives is our kind of place, and we enjoyed our one night at anchorage enormously. We did not think to move into the harbour as we would have had to up anchor and move late in the evening. We will be back as its a great place.. Hugh Town, The Scillies. The mooring area was a bit like a multi-storey carpark in that all the boats were as closely crammed together as they could be in the area allocated, and in Northerlies I would imagine it would be really uncomfortable. Harbour facilities are all you would expect from the main town in a small island chain – diesel, water, showers etc and the town stocked most things, but there was no chandler. Ferries, if needed, went to most Scilly destinations and were reasonably priced. New Grimsby Anchorage is a bit exposed and choppy, but there is water on the harbour wall and fuel for sale in the local Duchy of Cornwall offices (but it is expensive – over £7-50 for 5 litres of unleaded petrol!). Attached to the Duchy offices is the main island shop, which is also expensive. The Scillies are, if the weather is kind (and it was for us) one of the most unforgettable places in the whole of the UK. Helford River Our anchorage was easily over a mile from the main town of Helford, and was brilliant. We didn’t go into the Helford river/harbour visitor moorings because they were either side of the main channel and amongst a couple of hundred other vessels and we really did not want the noise and disturbance that was inevitable from the main harbour area. We visited it the next morning before moving to Falmouth – Helford looked a great place, but we just didn’t like the harbour. Falmouth. For someone who is used to the quieter side of sailing I didn’t quite know how I would react to being in this great and famous place, but it was not as frenzied as I expected at all. There were a lot of boats here and a lot of action, but somehow it was very welcoming with calm, controlled action and a place where you could relax. We tied up to the town pontoon, where parking for the day was £5, and with this came all the facilities you would expect from a good marina – showers, washing machines etc. The town is interesting, with good facilities, a maritime museum and a couple of good chandlers, with some good walks over the headland. The river is supposed to be navigable to Truro, but to do that you really need local knowledge as we hit bottom a couple of times before we made it to our tea shoppe come restaurant about half way upriver. Mevagissy Drying harbour with limited visitor facilities but the place had a nice feel about it. We didn’t linger, just tied up for an hour to explore. Polkerris Polkerris is a small village with a tiny harbour and no facilities for visitors. Anchorage is exposed to the west, and the processing plants in St Austell are noisy. Good pubs in the village Looe Tidal harbour, and we arrived at low water with and onshore breeze. We got wet getting ashore, but this did not stop us from enjoying this lovely place. Plymouth Another famous harbour with a great feel about it, and the experience was that much richer by being able to anchor where we did, at Plymouth Ho! We didn’t experience much in the way of shore facilities apart from walking over the Ho and visiting the local hostelries, but we would recommend that anyone wanting an overnight here should anchor at the Ho. The sense of historical significance is overwhelming. River Yealm Quiet river with entrance bar and narrow tidal channel. Once past the bar shelter should be available from most weather, but the river is crowded with boats which does not give it a very warm feel. Hope Cove Small rocky bay sheltered from easterlies. Salcombe The Harbourmaster described Salcombe as “Chelsea by the sea.” Salcombe has a lot going for it - wonderful location, fabulous views, but also a lot going against it if you are a Yottie. The local services are poor (unless you like restaurants and bars) and there is no real investment in long term facilities. It struck us that the Council run river harbour was there for one reason only – to subsidise the council tax. If this is Chelsea by the sea you can keep Chelsea. Dartmouth Salcombe should take lessons from Dartmouth harbour management. Well run facilities with good harbour staff and super local and council provided facilities at a reasonable cost. However, it must be hellishly busy at weekends in August. River Ex. Exmouth has lousy visitor facilities and is lousy for overnighting in a westerly greater than a F4. Best approach to the Ex is to plan to go far upriver, and Topsham is a really good option but not wholly accessible after HW+2. Weymouth Weymouth is a truly great place with sheltered harbour and optional marina, accessible through the Swing Bridge. Facilities are excellent, as are local services Studland Bay This is a great anchorage in a westerly blow, with interesting views of the chalk arches. We didn’t investigate the facilities so cannot comment on the shore side. Yarmouth, IOW This a good harbour with lots of pontoon space with conscientious harbour staff. The local facilities are, however, disappointing. Haslar Marina, Gosport. This was by far the best marina we have ever been to with outstanding facilities, conscientious and caring staff, great local facilities and services and all at a not too outrageous price. A really god place to stay, but the annual fees are a bit too much for me! Itchenor, Chichester Harbour. Mud, Mud glorious mud ….. and, of course, the Chichester bar. Don’t understand why so many boats are kept here ubless its good and cheap. Brighton This is an uncaring marina, subject to swell from easterlies and noise. – the gate crashing closed was just so annoying. Great local services, however, and lots of Brighton fleshpots… Rye Brilliant harbour, but needs to be negotiated close to HW as I’ve never seen water disappear so fast (or re-appear) as it did on the main visitor mooring area. Great facilities from a caring harbour board. Dover Not the most stunning of marinas, but it has most of what is needed close by, and the marina staff are very helpful. The Castle is an absolute must to the visitor, but the town is pretty grim. Getting into the harbour (and out again) can take time – there are so many other users such as high sided and super fast ferries. Ramsgate Ramsgate marina is a chaotic shambles run by the local authority, but the place is great, at least it was on a hot June evening. Well worth a visit. River Stour Excellent anchorage off Ewarton Ness, but we didn’t investigate further. Southwold The harbour is a mess of old wooden piers, mud banks and wooden shacks.. This is in real contrast to the town and the beach facilities, which are superb. So far as the harbour is concerned the facilities are practically non-existent, in fact worse than Salcombe and at £16 per night quite over the top. Lowestoft Great feel about the place, excellent facilities in the town and Yacht Club – overall a great place. Spurn Head anchorage This was a secure anchorage, though not the most stimulating of places. Dread to think what it would be like in anything south or west. Filey Bay This anchorage was quite uncomfortable as the wind, never that great, left us to the mercy of the tide of at least a knot North South and a swell from the east. Great if you like being rocked to sleep … Scarborough We tied up to a good pontoon mooring for 1 hour close to high water, though what it would be like at low water is anyone’s guess. Great facilities, but our fear was that it could be noisy at night. Whitby We entered the harbour in a thunderstorm almost 3 hours after high water and were welcomed like old friends and tied up by the harbourmasters staff drowning in the downpour. We didn’t expect such treatment, particularly as we were only there for a short overnight stay, and the situation could not be better – outside a harbour pub. We had an enjoyable couple of hours chatting to the punters drinking on the harbour wall before exploring this wonderful town, which exceeded expectations. We will be back. We didn’t use the marina as there was insufficient water to go past the lifting bridge and anyway we wanted to leave before the first bridge in the morning. Although the harbour is quoted at +/- 3 hours it is accessible on most tides (allowing us to leave when we wanted in the morning) but the Marina is more restricted. Blythe Busy harbour, but the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club marina was safe and clear of any wash from the frequent traffic. The clubhouse, situated on the pontoons in an old lightship was friendly with great showers, beer and food and we didn’t investigate further, particularly as the nearest onshore facilities were a long way off. With all we needed close at hand it was the only place where we didn’t leave the confines of the marina. Eyemouth We desperately wanted our first port in Scotland and last port of the entire trip to be special, but it was not to be. Eyemouth has to vie with Holyhead as the worst place we visited on the entire trip, and this had a lot to do with the fact we arrived on Gala day. We missed the days action, just had to suffer the excesses of the evenings festivities, where Bacardi Breezers and expanses of human flesh were as common as sightings of the local plod circling the town looking for trouble. Next morning, in the bright sunshine, the whole place looked refreshingly different. We will, however, not rush back. |
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