Lavernock fun

BenMurphy

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Got my first real taste of Lavernock in a bad mood today. 2 hours into the flood with a force 4-5 and wind over tide. Thought I’d given sufficient offing around the Ranie but I was concerned about going too close to the Wolves and subsequently the Cardiff grounds - got punished as a result. What conditions result in the worst seas around Lavernock Spit?
 

vodzurk

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I've asked almost the same, but never quite figured it out.

With me it was going between the holms in calm weather, barely any wind at all, and at what should have been LW slack water.

Waves were definitely over a meter high, which ain't good in a 21" planing mobo. It got a bit worrying when the nose was submerged with every wave we hit.

Had similar last weekend too, weather showing as good, yet the BC was pretty rough the whole way up from Swansea to Portishead.

Our way of working it is to see what we can do with research on Windy website, and then if it's not great, hug the coast. Then always be ready to turn back/to nearest harbor if it's getting uncomfortable.
 

Snoopy463

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Ben has chosen ideal conditions for Bristol Channel Chop. Lowish water with strongish wind over a fast making tide. Add to that the shoaling around Lavernock Point and you get an Alton Towers experience. I find it best to go as close to the Rannie Buoy as possible, either side, and make a hard left as soon as prudent. I guess a lot depends on the type of boat, though.
 

BenMurphy

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I think probably I tried to shortcut it too much I didn’t want to get too close to the Wolves but in retrospect a wider berth would have probably been better. It’s the tacking leg on the return. What do you think?
 

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Snoopy463

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I took a trip from the Bay to Barry harbour and back a week ago. I know very exciting, but I didn’t fancy bashing across the Channel in a 4-5 with nowhere to stop and have a cuppa, so a buoy in Barry Harbour it was. Left 2 hrs before low tide, so on the last 2 hours of the ebb, with the stiff westerly behind us. Stayed close in, about 100 yards off Sully Island, over the charted light blue bit of Lavernock Spit and out to the Rannie Buoy. After the buoy, directly towards Penarth Pier and anchored in the calm until there was enough water in the Wrach channel to get in the locks. I’m not a purist when going to windward in those parts and have no issue with dropping the sails and motoring direct.
 

BenMurphy

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I took a trip from the Bay to Barry harbour and back a week ago. I know very exciting, but I didn’t fancy bashing across the Channel in a 4-5 with nowhere to stop and have a cuppa, so a buoy in Barry Harbour it was. Left 2 hrs before low tide, so on the last 2 hours of the ebb, with the stiff westerly behind us. Stayed close in, about 100 yards off Sully Island, over the charted light blue bit of Lavernock Spit and out to the Rannie Buoy. After the buoy, directly towards Penarth Pier and anchored in the calm until there was enough water in the Wrach channel to get in the locks. I’m not a purist when going to windward in those parts and have no issue with dropping the sails and motoring direct.

Was that at Barry Yacht Club? Is it usually pretty easy to find a free buoy there?
 

donm

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I think probably I tried to shortcut it too much I didn’t want to get too close to the Wolves but in retrospect a wider berth would have probably been better. It’s the tacking leg on the return. What do you think?

Doesn't look to be anything wrong with your route. Not sure what boat you have but most headlands will have rough water in the middle hours of a tide if wind against tide, and the range at our end of the Channel magnifies this in some spots. Ranie/Lavernock spit, which is quite shallow, is often a little broken but worse on a spring ebb against fresh S Westerlies. The tide carries you through it pretty quickly and there is no going back! Probably not the place to be this weekend.

In Barry, we all lay our own moorings so there are not any visitor berths. We do not get many visitors these days and those that come often lie to the Pilot buoy for a few hours. If any longer some anchor in the lock entrance but must stay aboard due to the risk of shipping. It is possible to lie alongside the small number of boats in the middle as they stay afloat, but you need to call the Club Moorings Officer who will guide you to a suitable berth. You will need plenty of fenders and a tender for access ashore which is +/- 3 hours HW.
 

Yellow Ballad

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I asked on the BYC Facebook page the last year, they were very happy for me to raft to a boat for an overnight stop (stayed afloat at springs) I'm sure a quick message would be appreciated if you want to do the same. When I've visited for a lunch stop (waiting for lw to turn I tend to throw the anchor right in the middle of the ship channel to the lock around the same distance in as the pilot buoy (apparently they can be funny), there's no ships going in +- 2 hours. LW (I've been told it's been a very long time since anything has been into Barry at all but others will know better than me. I actually prefer going to Barry if heading down channel or turning back up then cocking about going in to Cardiff, one day I'll go ashore and visit the club, It was once a frequent thing according to the "old salts" at the club.

As for Lavernock, I've been through in the total opposite and it's pretty surreal how the tide takes you, spinning backwards with no steering, water swerling and bubbling. I turned on the engine on just to keep me off Wolves/Cardiff grounds. Once past the Ranie the wind hit me from the total opposite direction to what it was before and it was a beat up to Newport where the wind died again.

The channel works in mysterious ways, there's dragons further up!
 

38mess

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The first time I visited cardiff by boat we missed the tide so stopped off at Barry, we left as soon as we could on a rising tide, decided to look at flathome island on the way, the rannie was benign, but we sailed right over the wolves, not by choice, about an hour or so after low water, they are like a magnet.
I suppose we must have been on a neep tides and had plenty of water under us.
 

Birdseye

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Got my first real taste of Lavernock in a bad mood today. 2 hours into the flood with a force 4-5 and wind over tide. Thought I’d given sufficient offing around the Ranie but I was concerned about going too close to the Wolves and subsequently the Cardiff grounds - got punished as a result. What conditions result in the worst seas around Lavernock Spit?
Was racing on a boat some years back with westerly wind in the high 30s gusting 45 !!! and the RO sent us round Lavernock Spit buoy against the the spring ebb. I swear that the waves were square! It was worse than the Raz on a bad day and that wasnt something I would chose to repeat either.
 
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