Any info. On holly head marina. ?

MORUMAN

MORUMAN

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hi everyone, i have just joined this site which i discovered on e-bay whilst looking for water tank sterilisation options. i still need to know what is available for treating a 120 gallon ( 540 lit). tank, and how much liquid or tablets would i need. ?

however to keep to the title of my first posting iam contemplating moving my boat to holly head marina. i have a 35 ft. striker sports fisherman which i have been using on the island of bute in scotland, next door to arran, unfortuanately all the fish have long gone so hope anglesea has a few left. ?

does anyone know if the marina at holly head is ok. ? exposure to westerleys. ? noise from the irish ferries. ? getting in and out at low water. ? approaching in a westerley gale. ? any fish in the area, is the area trawled to death like scotland. ? etc.http://www.ybw.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13283&stc=1&d=1314115498

any comments will be much appreciated. moruman.
 
Holyhead

I have sailed in and out of Holyhead quite a few times. Last time about 6 weeks ago.

It is accessible at all states of tide and in most weathers. I even have used it as bolt hole when the northend of Anglesey was a bit on the lumpy side. It does get pretty choppy in there in a Northerlies but not an issue if you are on one of the pontoons.

If you are either going out through the Skerries or past North Stack then the tide runs pretty strongly and both areas are tough in wind over tide situations. However if you are heading straight out to the Irish Sea then not a problem.

As to fishing.. There are quite a few profesional fishing boat chartes on the north side of Anglesey and they seem to do quite well.. I have never fished there myself
 
I've only been there once but found it a good marina. We were on the outside in a F10 southerly and although a bit bumpy and with a good deal of heel it was much calmer than expected. We rounded the wall in F8-9 and it immediately gave confidence and that "Thank F... we're home" feeling. I would expect it to be OK in a westerly as long as you weren't on the outside of the first pontoon. There's also a lot within a day sail from there, and very little to distract you from the boat. We found the town pretty much hopeless and not a decent pint anywhere.
Cheers
Dave
 
Some good overfalls & tide races in the area - but they will cost you your trawl gear I reckon, as they are very rocky sea beds. Most of the few remaining fishermen in the region seem to be at Caernarfon or perhaps Conwy where the bottom is mostly sandy & better suited to the awful damage that trwals cause.

The fast Cat to Dublin can create a dangerous wash in Holyhead - it will hit the moorings up to 20 mins after the boat passes the harbour entrance so it comes as a bit of a shock to suddenly find your boat thrown from gunnel to gunnel.
 
Holyhead is exposed to easterlies and can be pretty uncomfortable regardless of whether you are tethered to a buoy or tied to a pontoon. Fortunately, it's not a common wind direction. The marina is very safe from the prevailing south westerly wind. The harbour can be entered at any states of tide but there are very significant tidal gates pretty-much immediately to the north / clockwise and south / anticlockwise around the island. Carmel Head and The Stacks respectively. A careful check of a tidal stream atlas is required.

Local harbour regulations oblige you to call control on ch 14 to check commercial vessel movement prior to entering and leaving. Not everyone does this and there's often a threat of a fine to those who don't.

Stenna and Irish Sea ferries pose no significant problems, in my experience.

Generally, both the sailing club and marina staff are welcoming, warm and friendly. The town centre needs investment. There are big-name supermarkets nearby for any major provisioning and the marina complex has a well stocked shop and cafe, too.

There's usually someone around to take shore lines and almost all berth holders are friendly and approachable. But please don't feed them :D

In my personal experience, if you are likely to need and mechanical or electrical work doing on your vessel at any time in the future, Holyhead is not a place of choice.

I've never caught a fish from the sea in my life so I can't help on that score.
 
davidjackson said:
Holyhead is exposed to easterlies and can be pretty uncomfortable regardless of whether you are tethered to a buoy or tied to a pontoon. Fortunately, it's not a common wind direction. The marina is very safe from the prevailing south westerly wind. The harbour can be entered at any states of tide but there are very significant tidal gates pretty-much immediately to the north / clockwise and south / anticlockwise around the island. Carmel Head and The Stacks respectively. A careful check of a tidal stream atlas is required.

Local harbour regulations oblige you to call control on ch 14 to check commercial vessel movement prior to entering and leaving. Not everyone does this and there's often a threat of a fine to those who don't.

Stenna and Irish Sea ferries pose no significant problems, in my experience.

Generally, both the sailing club and marina staff are welcoming, warm and friendly. The town centre needs investment. There are big-name supermarkets nearby for any major provisioning and the marina complex has a well stocked shop and cafe, too.

There's usually someone around to take shore lines and almost all berth holders are friendly and approachable. But please don't feed them :D

In my personal experience, if you are likely to need and mechanical or electrical work doing on your vessel at any time in the future, Holyhead is not a place of choice.

I've never caught a fish from the sea in my life so I can't help on that score.
Click to expand...

Newish marina customers won't recall It was a southwestely 70 to 90 knot blow that destroyed half the marina in October 2002 I think. If it came from the E/NE then that would have been the end of that! Not only did most of a whole leg sink leaving yachts semi-submerged under pontoons (yes with the pontoons on top) there were a lot of boats with torn off toe rails, cleats and holes and quite a few with some sort of gel coat scrapes. The fetch (as small as it is from the wall in that direction) plus the overall movement of the whole marina was enough to cause havoc in there.

There are three problems vie personally experienced, firstly, the marina is fixed to the sea bed using what amount to elastic ropes that in a blow allow the marina to move up and down and around far too much (the video link)

Secondly its the fingers you tie to. The floats that support the finger berths have been known to come out when the weather gets bouncy and get trapped between your boat and now unsupported pontoon. If your really unlucky the pontoon just breaks off at the join.

Thirdly is the boat next door that in winter you must make a point of tying up too and fendering between, because if you look around the marina for "experienced" users they all are tied together and fendered between because if their lines or pontoon breaks its you they can lean on!

A significant number of boats move from Holyhead to marina's on the Menai in the winter to avoid the mayhem in the winter storms. Its no surprise that they are some of the original marina customers who know what it can be like!

I believe from one of the berth holders meetings a few years back there were problems arising with some insurance companies.

A great summer spot / a “risky” winter berth.
 
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Holly head marina info.

many thanks to you all, for the very good information, especially the winter conditions and the poor beers available in the town.

SO it looks like i will go for the 6 months summer contract and winter out on the hard, and take some good lagers on visits. there is also a "hobson's choice" situation for a boat of my size with the majority of marinas in the whole of north wales full and running very long waiting lists, caernarffon even want a fee for being on their waiting list, they have 12 berths that would accomodate my boat and 46 people waiting for them, so it's easy maths to see i would be dead and gone before a got one.

so thankyou again and safe sailing. MORUMAN.
 
I spent a week on a mooring in the harbour in the late '70's, sheltering from the weather, and very good it was too. No Marina in those days.

Recently spent a few overnights there, and foundbit OK and welcoming.

Always found the pub across the road good for a night out including meals. There's another up a little hill kind of opposite the Marina, and there is also a small "local" shop.

Some nice walks around - including to South Stack.

No real need to go into Holyhead town very often - perhaps the odd trip for supplies, and maybe a movie?
 
Richard10002 said:
I spent a week on a mooring in the harbour in the late '70's, sheltering from the weather, and very good it was too. No Marina in those days.

Recently spent a few overnights there, and foundbit OK and welcoming.

Always found the pub across the road good for a night out including meals. There's another up a little hill kind of opposite the Marina, and there is also a small "local" shop.
Click to expand...

You're in luck, we went to that pub and it hasn't changed at all since the seventies :)
 
savageseadog said:
Newish marina customers won't recall It was a southwestely 70 to 90 knot blow that destroyed half the marina in October 2002 I think. If it came from the E/NE then that would have been the end of that! Not only did most of a whole leg sink leaving yachts semi-submerged under pontoons (yes with the pontoons on top) there were a lot of boats with torn off toe rails, cleats and holes and quite a few with some sort of gel coat scrapes. The fetch (as small as it is from the wall in that direction) plus the overall movement of the whole marina was enough to cause havoc in there.

There are three problems vie personally experienced, firstly, the marina is fixed to the sea bed using what amount to elastic ropes that in a blow allow the marina to move up and down and around far too much (the video link)

Secondly its the fingers you tie to. The floats that support the finger berths have been known to come out when the weather gets bouncy and get trapped between your boat and now unsupported pontoon. If your really unlucky the pontoon just breaks off at the join.

Thirdly is the boat next door that in winter you must make a point of tying up too and fendering between, because if you look around the marina for "experienced" users they all are tied together and fendered between because if their lines or pontoon breaks its you they can lean on!

A significant number of boats move from Holyhead to marina's on the Menai in the winter to avoid the mayhem in the winter storms. Its no surprise that they are some of the original marina customers who know what it can be like!

I believe from one of the berth holders meetings a few years back there were problems arising with some insurance companies.

A great summer spot / a “risky” winter berth.
Click to expand...

Dear Moruman,

I hope I didn't waste too much of your time reading my evidently ill informed posting.

There was a problem with an early winter blow a few years back, certainly not as long ago as being of significance to the wise old timers around, which had my pontoon finger cause damage to the stern of my boat; the marina did the honourable thing without question and funded the repair. My view of boating is that you shouldn't be doing it if you're not prepared to "lose it, break it or bleed" so I didn't think it worthy of comment.

My preference is a 6 month berth with winter on the hard. I've read that there is a higher predisposition to storms in the winter :D
 
There are some private moorings in Holyhead and occasionally, one comes up for sale. Laid and serviced by a guy called Stuart but sorry I don't have any contact info. A call to the sailing club should find him though. Friends who have wintered on them faired better than many in the marina.
 
I spent a couple of nights in Holyhead last weekend while on TS Royalist. We used the bar and restaurant which is part of the sailing club. Excellent real ale, only one pump but lovely beer. The food was also excellent. I wouldn't hesitate to use that place again, however it appears that thee is nowhere else to go in Holyhead apart from the superstores. We also had to drive a few miles to the next village to get the petrol tank filled for our ship's boat. The Tesco in Holyhead seems to be the only fuel station and is currently closed for a refurb. I didn't hear any noise from the ferries, or feel any wash.
 
I have used Holyhead Marina many times, but as I also have a static caravan overlooking Holyhead harbour I guess I have a bit of an advantage as I know where things are I guess.
As said, the staff at the marina are extremely pleasant, Stuart in the boat yard is a huge wealth of information. The only time I ever worried about the ferry wash was when I lost all power and there was a mysterious crackling sound coming from the engine compartment.
A friendly passer by kindly towed me clear of the incoming Stenna HSS and helped diagnose the blue smoke/burning smell/crackling! I digress...

The fishing can be rewarding depending what species you're after, whiting and codling can be caught off the wall at Holyhead, as can wrasse, eel and dogfish (I even caught a dead doggie off the wall about a month back) :confused: I have caught smoothies and flatties, not breaking any records though I did hear a big smoothie was caught at Treaddur Bay a couple of years ago, photos were taken and then the fish was left hanging out of a waste paper bin at the side of the road :mad: again, I digress....

I can't comment on the weather, most of the time going out it's with the kids so unless theres no wind, no waves, no water..... you get the gist :)
 
many, many, thanks again, this club is very good and i do have somthing to compare it with as i am a member of the mercedes owners club and toyota supra club, these are also very good and use the same software design for the system etc.
many other club forums have been adopted by some of our younger generation and the technical / real interest stuff has been brought down to a piffle level, bit like facebook where everything has to be mocked or somone asking, what did you have for dinner last night. etc.
sorry to sound like an old fart as i try not to be one, i marvell at the technology we now have available and embrace it all.

safe sailing to you all. MORUMAN. (RESPECT THE SEA JUST LIKE ME).

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