Passage advice to Isle of Man

S

seafox67

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 Apr 2017
Messages
281
Location
Greenock
Visit site
I'm planning a trip for next year to watch the TT races on the Isle of Man. I will be sailing from Holy Loch, Firth of Clyde. My experience is intermediate (3 years sailing) single handed. I have a 31 foot boat and gained all my experiance in the Firth of Clyde.

I would be very grateful on advice doing the hop from the mainland to the Isle of Man;
Which would be the best port to set sail from? (Stranraer, Portpatrick)
Are there any significant hazards to watch out for?


Cheers

Paul
 
You can depart from either of those, but Stranraer adds another 16 miles to your journey, & Portpatrick is a no go in a strong W to SW. Tides are strong in the area & the North Channel varies from being slightly grumpy to absolutely diabolical. It never seems calm. It's not just the headlands, the whole strait is on the move rapido at springs.

If it's bonny weather you can also anchor at Port Logan or East Target Bay just round the Mull. The latter is surprisingly sheltered, but not in N to E.
 
seafox67 said:
I'm planning a trip for next year to watch the TT races on the Isle of Man. I will be sailing from Holy Loch, Firth of Clyde. My experience is intermediate (3 years sailing) single handed. I have a 31 foot boat and gained all my experiance in the Firth of Clyde.

I would be very grateful on advice doing the hop from the mainland to the Isle of Man;
Which would be the best port to set sail from? (Stranraer, Portpatrick)
Are there any significant hazards to watch out for?


Cheers

Paul
Click to expand...

Do you want to do it in as few hops as possible? One time we went via Loch Ryan ( opposite Cairn Ryan) - a good anchorage off the sailing club ramp -
behind the spit.(https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d54.956136!4d-5.057642?hl=en)
Then over to Bangor and thereafter to Peel. You just need to watch your timing for tides and weather windows. I think all the moorings and berths in IOM get pretty busy at TT week! IOM is great - if a wee bit costly.
 
Portpatrick to Peel, the nearest port is over 40 NM, so a good day's sail single-handed. Leaving on fair rising tide gets you down to MoG at highish water, but then you'll be at IoM near LW with a possibly exposed wait to get in the inner harbour, ( or go to Douglas instead, a long way! ) The alternative of a later departure means strong tides against you down to the Mull.
Bear in mind Portpatrick entrance looks quite daunting first time and channel is shallow at LW. Picking up the leading marks is essential.
Suggestion of stop-over in E. Tarbert Bay is a good one in right conditions. Makes for 2 easy sails.
Instead of Stranraer, Lady Bay is a good anchorage, avoiding the trek down the Loch.
Welcome to the Irish Sea!
 
Last edited:
Portpatrick is your best jumping off point. It was dredged a few years ago so there's not that much constraint in getting in and out. Obviously quite strong tides in North Channel, so slow when fighting the ebb, but at least you'd have to fight less of it than leaving from Stranraer.

As said above, Portpatrick is a no no if stronger winds or swell from SW. Some cross-tide off entrance but there's a leading line you can pick up. The thing that looks like a pot buoy as you turn to port from the dock entrance marks a rock so give it a wee berth.

You need to radio Peel up once close to get the bridge swung. Sometimes Douglas answers and they can handle it remotely. Flapgate times are on the IoM Gov website. Remember they are based on predictions, but it works off the real height of tide. I've seen it up to 40 mins out when high pressure held up the flood. You can go alongside the wall inside the breakwater to wait. And watch out for the underwater wall opposite the breakwater.

Bangor would be harder as a starting off point. It's 46 miles. The tides run strongly in Donaghadee Sd so it is awkward getting the timings right for there and Peel. There's a race off Mew Island if you go outside that is not to be ignored.

PS The Wig in Loch Ryan is rolly enough. Lady Bay is not a comfortable anchorage except in very calm conditions and even then Stena & P&O ferry wash will get you from time to time. I've seen boats abandon it and come into Stranraer in the wee small hours a few times.
 
Last edited:
Adding a few comments to those already made, with all of which I agree ...

When you're heading north you can use the ebb coming up the Irish Sea and then the flood coming up the Clyde ... if you're somewhere round about Portpatrick at low water it all works very nicely. Unfortunately the same doesn't apply coming south, because the timings are funny, so you either have to put up with adverse tide at some point or hang about somewhere.

As well as being horrible to dangerous in a strong Westerly, Portpatrick has vertiginous ladders which may deter some crew. To quote Slartibartfast, they scare willies out of me. We generally use the dinghy to land at the beach in the outer harbour, but that's not a very practical option when you're tying up.

If you're heading to Stranraer, beware the Wig a shallow patch which extends most of the way across. I've had a foot under my keel while halfway across.

I found it impossible to get hold of Stranraer Marina by VHF or three different contact numbers when I went there, so be prepared to do it unguided. The visitor berths are (or were) on first pontoon to your right as you go in. Stick close to it; the dredged area east of the pontoons is quite small and a lot of boats go aground there, including me.

Girvan is nice, and Clyde - Girvan - Portpatrick - Peel should work quite nicely.

All that said, unless the forecast is for nothing nasty from the west, I'd go down the west side of the north channel to get from the Clyde to the Isle of Man. My preferred route is Port Bannatyne - Lamlash - Bangor - Peel. As has been said, the tides round the Copeland Islands are worthy of respect, but once you're past them it's really just point and go - you approach the IoM at such an acute angle that the tides round it aren't too significant.

If you don't want to do such big hops, Campbeltown and Glenarm are possibilities.

There are waiting buoys outside the harbour at Peel. They can be very roll-y, but you don't need them for too long.

Berths at Peel are only allocated on arrival, so if you get there outside the HM's working hours you won't have one. The official procedure then is to tie or raft up to the walls near the entrance on either side and you'll get a berth the following morning.

The east end of the marina at Peel silts very badly indeed. I understand they have done some dredging, but when we were last there the two easternmost pontoons had around 1' at "low" (ie flap gate height) water. We were halfway along the long spine pontoon, beside the river, and grounded by a few inches at "low" water for a few tides, until the keel dug a hole in the mud.
 
Portpatrick to Peel was our prefered route back home after our last trip to the Clyde.

I seem to remember hugging the Mull of Galloway close in against the last couple of hours of the ebb. If you look at the tidal atlas there is a reverse eddy inshore for this period. I set an old fashioned calculated course to steer aiming for Porth Erin from the end of the Mull. It was surprisingly accurate as we ended up at Peel an hour earlier than expected without any course correction. Somewhere I have a record of our track from the Mull to Peel and I can describe it as a hockey stick curve as the last of the ebb took us North before we picked up the flood to take us back south. The only flaw in the plan was we arrived an hour earlier than expected and ended up rafting on a fishing boat in the outer harbour to wait for the flap. It was the last Day of TT! Very busy but we eventually rafted up on the wall by the chippy with the shortest walk to the showers. You can get electricity and water here.

We love Port Patrick. The ladders are far less scary than Port St Mary but you need to be aware of the pigeon holes and their occupants. long vertical wires with floating balloon fenders fixed to them help with tying up on the wall.
 
A further thought or two

If timing isn't tight - in other words if you're not just haring down to the IoM and back - you could do worse than turn left at the Mull of Galloway and use Isle of Whithorn as a jumping-off point. You can practically touch the IoM from there, and it makes even easier the option of going down the east coast of the island if things are a bit brisk from the west.

I've been into Ramsey, which is a fairly commercial harbour where you have to dry out but otherwise fine. Douglas has a small marina with a few visitors berths but, like Peel, I'd expect it to be rammed in TT week so you may need an anchoring/mooring Plan B. There are visitor moorings just south of Laxey (exposed to the east) and I think there may be some in Derbyhaven and/or Port St Mary at the south end, but I have never been there by boat. Peel is by far the most appealing place to sail to, and has been since the pre-flapgate days.

Going to the island is great fun, though, and well worth the trek. You will be expected to fly a courtesy flag - when I first went it was a bit unexpected (I was actually aiming for Iona) and so I had to buy a sandcastle flag-on-a-stick from a café and use that.
 
Just pay, sterling is fine, but don't expect anything but Manx change. Mobiles presumably OK now roaming is sorted.
Should have said, no formalities!
 
Last edited:
Thank you everyone for so much detailed information.

Going into the Irish sea will be a big step for me gaining experience and trusting my boat. I'm planning to allow plenty time so I can pick the right conditions.

With all your advice now, i'm really starting to look forward to it :)

Cheers
 
JumbleDuck said:
A further thought or two

If timing isn't tight - in other words if you're not just haring down to the IoM and back - you could do worse than turn left at the Mull of Galloway and use Isle of Whithorn as a jumping-off point. You can practically touch the IoM from there, and it makes even easier the option of going down the east coast of the island if things are a bit brisk from the west.

I've been into Ramsey, which is a fairly commercial harbour where you have to dry out but otherwise fine. Douglas has a small marina with a few visitors berths but, like Peel, I'd expect it to be rammed in TT week so you may need an anchoring/mooring Plan B. There are visitor moorings just south of Laxey (exposed to the east) and I think there may be some in Derbyhaven and/or Port St Mary at the south end, but I have never been there by boat. Peel is by far the most appealing place to sail to, and has been since the pre-flapgate days.

Going to the island is great fun, though, and well worth the trek. You will be expected to fly a courtesy flag - when I first went it was a bit unexpected (I was actually aiming for Iona) and so I had to buy a sandcastle flag-on-a-stick from a café and use that.
Click to expand...

I like the idea of jumping off from Isle of Whithorn, that would be like going for a run down to the Kyles of Bute for me :) I have a Westerly Tempest with bilge keel. With the thought of so many yachties coming to see the motorcycles, I'm wondering if Ramsey (with drying out) would be a bit less busy?
 
Whithorn to Ramsey would be a good trip, although timing needs attention to avoid having to wait to get into Ramsey. Anchoring in Isle of Whithorn bay would be one method. Aim for say 3 miles down the W. coast of IoM, tide then takes you up to Pt. of Ayre to round very close, avoids all the banks.
Tide in Ramsey Bay runs N. for 9 hrs. but not strong except near Pt. of Ayre.
Haven't been to Ramsey in years, but was very nice IMHO, except "facilities" were poor.
You will almost certainly have to raft in TT week, but room for lots of boats
 
iow to man is a nice short hop, but you will have to round the mull of galloway for that, fine in good weather, otherwise prob best avoided. If you arrive too early at ramsey you can just anchor off and wait, thats no problem. Its a no go entrance in strong easterly winds tho. For you I would have thought the simplest is out the clyde and over to bangor, or even better, donaghadee, which has a visitors berth on the harbour wall on the left as soon as you enter. There to peel is very straightforward, and you are already south of the ramrace of copeland island. If you miss the flapgate at peel for any reason you can tie up on the breakwater, go as close to the slipway end as you can, you'll have 1.5m at low water springs, but it can be busy with fishing boats sometimes; just find out when they are going out before rafting up to them. I've done all of those in an 18 footer, it will be a doddle in your boat.
 
JumbleDuck said:
A further thought or two

If timing isn't tight - in other words if you're not just haring down to the IoM and back - you could do worse than turn left at the Mull of Galloway and use Isle of Whithorn as a jumping-off point. You can practically touch the IoM from there, and it makes even easier the option of going down the east coast of the island if things are a bit brisk from the west.

I've been into Ramsey, which is a fairly commercial harbour where you have to dry out but otherwise fine. Douglas has a small marina with a few visitors berths but, like Peel, I'd expect it to be rammed in TT week so you may need an anchoring/mooring Plan B. There are visitor moorings just south of Laxey (exposed to the east) and I think there may be some in Derbyhaven and/or Port St Mary at the south end, but I have never been there by boat. Peel is by far the most appealing place to sail to, and has been since the pre-flapgate days.

Going to the island is great fun, though, and well worth the trek. You will be expected to fly a courtesy flag - when I first went it was a bit unexpected (I was actually aiming for Iona) and so I had to buy a sandcastle flag-on-a-stick from a café and use that.
Click to expand...
For info, I pitched up twice in Douglas Marina in practice week three years ago, no probs getting a berth and of course once in you are in for the duration if you want to be.
The HM is very good at slotting people in.
Stu
 
steve yates said:
iow to man is a nice short hop, but you will have to round the mull of galloway for that, fine in good weather, otherwise prob best avoided. If you arrive too early at ramsey you can just anchor off and wait, thats no problem. Its a no go entrance in strong easterly winds tho. For you I would have thought the simplest is out the clyde and over to bangor, or even better, donaghadee, which has a visitors berth on the harbour wall on the left as soon as you enter. There to peel is very straightforward, and you are already south of the ramrace of copeland island. If you miss the flapgate at peel for any reason you can tie up on the breakwater, go as close to the slipway end as you can, you'll have 1.5m at low water springs, but it can be busy with fishing boats sometimes; just find out when they are going out before rafting up to them. I've done all of those in an 18 footer, it will be a doddle in your boat.
Click to expand...

If I got the timing wrong going around the Mull of Galloway, would it be just very bouncy, rock and rolling or possibly kill me and my boat!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top