Any Advice Gratefully Received

Thanks to everyone who has replied to my earlier post. I have checked out Oare, Conyer and Hollowshore today. They all looked suitable. Conyer obviously the smartest. But wondered which of them had the longest tide window or if they’re the same?

I’ve got a bit of time to make up my mind as the boat is currently in Emsworth. I plan to sail her round in early May once I’ve made a couple of minor repairs.

Does anyone have any tips regarding a passage plan from Portsmouth to The Swale? Ideally I’d like to do it with no more than two overnight stops. There would be two of us on board.
 
Solent-Brighton/Eastbourne. Brighton-Dover/Ramsgate. You get about 10 hours favourable tide going East, but it's not worth fighting the tide at Dover.
 
CJ1 said:
Thanks to everyone who has replied to my earlier post. I have checked out Oare, Conyer and Hollowshore today. They all looked suitable. Conyer obviously the smartest. But wondered which of them had the longest tide window or if they’re the same?

I’ve got a bit of time to make up my mind as the boat is currently in Emsworth. I plan to sail her round in early May once I’ve made a couple of minor repairs.

Does anyone have any tips regarding a passage plan from Portsmouth to The Swale? Ideally I’d like to do it with no more than two overnight stops. There would be two of us on board.
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Conyer has a better window than Oare. But if you were down at Hollowshore on Tester's berths that would probably be best. I wouldn't accept any of their berths upstream of Ham Wharf though.
Passage? Done that trip quite a few times. Overnight stops at Eastbourne and Ramsgate. Beware arriving at Eastbourne at LW though, I don't know what the state of their dredging is. On the 2nd day, be off Dungeness at HW Dover, you'll carry the tide all the way to Ramsgate; use the inshore route from Deal onwards. On the third day, be off the North Foreland around LW Sheerness.
 
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Faversham and Oare are very tidally constrained. You might be ok at one of the Tester moorings near the mouth of the creek but you won’t have much time afloat even there. There are swinging moorings in the Swale at Harty Ferry. You could try Bluey who runs some of them. Facilities ashore are minimal. Queenborough has better swinging moorings and they are more sheltered, as well as having better amenities ashore and all tide access from a pontoon.
Conyer is nice but I believe that tides re limiting there too. It is a shame when you can’t go out for a sail and back on a tide
Take a look at Ramsgate. I like it. It will be more expensive but you can get in and out whenever you like and the town is not without its charms.
I have a berth in Faversham but will move away for the summer. Getting the right combination of tide, weather and availability is really hard and having to stay out for a whole tide just isn’t always doable
 
The tidal node is between Royal Sovereign and Dungeness. If you leave just before the tide starts heading East and make the node, you will carry it all the way into the Medway. I think you need to average 8 kts sog. So if you can make 6.5 it is doable. Otherwise call in at Eastbourne then Dover..
 
gdallas said:
Take a look at Ramsgate. I like it. It will be more expensive but you can get in and out whenever you like and the town is not without its charms.
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A lot of sense in that if you can afford it. For one thing the wife can get on & off the boat as often as she likes with absolute ease.Much better for loading/unloading gear when leaving for a trip. It is surprising what one takes even for a weekend. It is also better if you like making friends, as you soon get to know people on other berths. Holding a conversation with someone on a mooring 50 yds away is a little difficult!!

As for anchoring, most east coast places are fairly muddy so a smaller anchor has a chance. My 31 ft boat has 10 M of chain & the rest is rope. This means that if I am single handed I can run the rope back to the cockpit & pull it up most of the way from there, before going forward to do the last bit. Loads of chain is hard work. You can always add a chum in difficult places.

I do not know about regular racing, You would have to join the club for that. As a visitor I have always found the Royal Temple very friendly. But there is always Ramsgate week. Do they have a Medway week?
 
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