Advice on visitor moorings at North Haven, Skomer

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nigel1

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Manchester, boat in Whitehaven
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Intend on a trip from Liverpool to Ireland, but first sailing south to Bristol Channel.
Plan to stop at North Haven, Skomer to get some kip, as I will be single handing, and it looks like a 17 to 20 hr passage from Anglesey to Skomer.
Can someone advise me what type of mooring buoys are used at North Haven. Is it the type with the ring on top, or is there a pick up buoy connected to a mooring chain.
I imagine I'll be feeling a bit weary by this stage of the trip, and due to tides, will be arriving at about 0200 in the morning, so the less time messing about the better, so would be nice to be prepared before hand.
Any advice would be appreciated
 
My memory said that there was a pickup line, but, as this picture shows, taken last August, they have a ring on top.

m1-5.jpg


The bouy is being disturbed in that photo by a very friendly seal, btw, who stayed around our boat for hours, despite our dog barking at him.
 
Ok, sorry, I didn't realise.

From memory, there are three visitors moorings, all with rings on the top. Anchoring is banned just to the South of these, due to the eel grass beds, and the bottom drops down to 40m or so fairly quickly as you move North.

It's a lovely spot, hope you enjoy.
 
Alcyone said:
Ok, sorry, I didn't realise.

From memory, there are three visitors moorings, all with rings on the top. Anchoring is banned just to the South of these, due to the eel grass beds, and the bottom drops down to 40m or so fairly quickly as you move North.

It's a lovely spot, hope you enjoy.
Click to expand...

No worries, I'll be able to see the picture when I get home, 4 weeks time, thanks for taking the time to post it.
Thanks for the tip on where not to anchor. I assume the buoys are laid in an east/west line?

Cheers
 
nigel1 said:
No worries, I'll be able to see the picture when I get home, 4 weeks time, thanks for taking the time to post it.
Thanks for the tip on where not to anchor. I assume the buoys are laid in an east/west line?

Cheers
Click to expand...

Yes, East-West. You can't really miss them. It's a small haven, and you'd see them easily, even in the dark.

Cheers.
 
To add to Alcyone's information, Skomer now belongs to a wildlife trust. The warden, who lives on the island, is Chris Taylor. I think that his mobile phone number is 07971 114302. If you are able to phone a few hours or days ahead it may be worth checking that there are no foreseeable problems.

In the event of North Haven being unavailable you could anchor at Goultrop Roads, which is in the SE corner of St Brides Bay, about 6M ENE of North Haven. We've overnighted there several times and it's quite sheltered from E through S to WSW.

If you like pilot books etc. and intend to spend time in Pembrokeshire waters the local bible is Tom Bennett's book 'A Sea Guid to the Pembrokeshire Coastline', ISBN 0 9512114 7 1.
 
Shame that you are arriving so late.... sunset is when the guillemots and shearwaters return and its an amazing sight.
A word of warning.... if it's spring tides there can be a vicious swell there with the tide running south, only settling down when it turns. I had a very rough night there even with no wind,only sleeping when it turned.

PS.... cleaning the decks next morning is fun!
 
Thanks for the tip Tico, oh well, cleaning the decks will give me something to do on the run up the Bristol Channel.
I'll be arriving hopefully around slack low water, so should be OK in that respect.
Will be pushing on later the same morning, but plan to stop there again after my visit to Swansea and on the way over to Ireland.
 
Goultrop roads was an ancient anchorage, good in NE through to W. Last time I was there there were a few pot boats working the area, so keep your eyes peeled.

I can also endorse Tom's book. He's a friend of ours, and the man responsible for getting us into sailing. He used to write books on shipwrecks, btw, and his books list many in Goultrop roads, but I digress.
 
Just picked up on this thread because we're presently using the westermost of the 4 visitor moorings in North Haven, Skomer Island.

My view is that there are 4 Visitor Buoys when perhaps there's there's only space for 3.

Last year the stern of a neighbouring 35 foot yacht touched our bow in the middle of the night. We were on adjacent bouys.

A 40 foot yacht just tried to use the buoy next to us and we suggested they use another one which they were happy to do.

When dinghying ashore, you'll need £15 per person to visit the island, which is "open" from 10 till 4

We've also anchored in South Haven, a popular spot. Holding is good but you're not allowed to land from here.
 
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