Recent content by tatali0n

Wayfarers are lovely, stable boats that will, quite literally, take you anywhere. We use them for teaching at my club in South Cerney. The main issue you'd have with one I suspect would be launching and retrieving it. They're not light. Direct is a very good way to describe it. I find when I'm...

Welcome to the obsession, Neuromoa :) Definitely think about getting in touch with Portishead Cruising Club (Portishead Cruising Club) Their clubhouse is currently in Pill (they used to meet there socially every Wednesday evening pre-pandemic, no idea if that's still the case) but most of their...

Thanks for all the tips folks, it's very much appreciated. We're kind of obliged to stop in Fowey as I've got a trophy to return (for an annual event that will be running the weekend we leave) and friends to catch up with and say goodbye to. I can see how skipping Falmouth might save some time...

Hi folks. We're planning to bring our Westerly Griffon around from Plymouth back to Portishead in the Bristol Channel at the end of this month. I have just over two weeks to do it (28/05 to 13/06). Back of the fag paper passage plan is Plymouth > Fowey> Falmouth > Newlyn > St Ives > Padstow >...

Funny enough, when I read that you'd found a boat in Torquay, I very nearly suggested that if you decided to keep her down there, look very seriously at Brixham as an alternative. And then reconsidered because I didn't want to unnecessarily disparage Torquay. But Brixham is far better ? Had a...

We kept our Westerly in Portishead for the first couple of years, then moved to Penarth for a bit and finally put her on the back of a truck and took her down to Plymouth, where she's been the last three years. Love the sailing area, adore the fact that we can almost guarantee dolphins anytime...

Just to reiterate the above. Find a handy sailing club that has a Sailability section. By way of example, https://www.fossc.org.uk/sailability.html - not intended as a plug ;) but the Sailability group is very active, sailing every week through the summer, very inclusive, very enthusiastic and...

There's not much to be done for the M4 around Newport, except check the route on Google Maps and divert around it if Google suggests it's quicker. We never go through the city anymore to get to Penarth though, or it is, as you describe, stop start all the way through. We always drive past and...

Those waves are pretty typical behaviour for tidal races in the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary when the weather's calm. If you take a broader view of the chart, you can see the seabed goes from 2.7m below datum off the southwestern edge of Steep Holm, down into a 17.7m hole in the seafloor...

Indeed. Though if I'm handling the lines and Dad's on the helm, I always hop out anyway, just a paranoia thing; I figure once I'm on the pontoon with both lines in hand we're safe no matter what he does. I expect you know this, but one of the most useful tips anybody ever gave me about...

The Cardiff locks are, in some respects, easier than Penarth; the pontoons stand about a meter proud of the water, so at gunwale height more or less. Surprising how much easier that makes it coming alongside. You can fender most things with a little bit of ingenuity. If you're really concerned...

Isn't that the landing beach on Flat Holm, rather than Steep Holm?

Although anything's possible, I've rounded Rudder Rock on low water springs a few times now (a couple of Holms Races and a few "let's just go and sail around it cus it's there" type trips), Appreciate how alarming low numbers appearing unexpectedly on your depth sounder can be and you're...

1Shug, it occurs to me if you're wondering what actual point of sail you were on at the time, and whether or not you should've tacked or gybed, you could really benefit from some basic sailing instruction. Have you thought about doing a dinghy course? It may not be suitable to your age or level...

If my boat is moored anywhere another boat might come into contact with me, I put fenders all around rather than rely on the other guy putting suitable fenders out himself. I find people have differing opinions as to what measures as adequate when it comes to fendering so I prefer to set my own...