USER888
New Member
.
Last edited:
Best River/Harbour to sail / liveaboard in UK/Ireland?
- Thread starter USER888
- Start date
Saguday
Well-Known Member
I'd strongly recommend the East Coast - rivers like the Blackwater, Orwell, Crouch or similar. Great sailing, excellent friendly sailing community, lots of yards and support infrastructure and it's not expensive - you can get moorings for 500 quid a year even at (relatively) crowded places like West Mersea. Oh, and it isn't too busy!
Although I'm in the West Country and love it I have great affection for my East coast sailing days and for what you're planning I would have thought it ideal.
I'm sure others will chip in with their particular biases soon. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Although I'm in the West Country and love it I have great affection for my East coast sailing days and for what you're planning I would have thought it ideal.
I'm sure others will chip in with their particular biases soon. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
sighmoon
Well-Known Member
Maldon is indeed very nice, and there are lots of traditional wooden boat building skills on hand if you buy a wooden folkboat.
You will doubtless run aground quite often to begin with, but as the bottom is soft mud, you're unlikely to damage anything.
You will doubtless run aground quite often to begin with, but as the bottom is soft mud, you're unlikely to damage anything.
C
Chrusty1
Guest
For what you want to do, I would say that you would probably be better off with a bilge keeler, able to go almost anywhere, dry out upright on cheap moorings and drying harbours. Devon and Cornwall would be my choice.
Saguday
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
But seriously, how does full keel of a FB and all those shallow depths and entrance bars get on? Remembering that I am of relative inexperience. Then again I suppose if I can learn to navigate around the mud of east coast then it would be a good sailing apprenticeship.
And I must say, the 500 quid a year mooring sounds very very good!
What about Maldon? Looks an interesting seafaring little town from the pics and text I have perused online.
[/ QUOTE ]
Everyone runs aground at some time or another on the East Coast but as has been pointed out there are no hard bits to bang into so usually no damage done. Mostly it's mud so you can settle but further off the coast the sand and shingle bars are the ones to watch for as you'll end up horizontal (unless you have legs of course) in which case the excitement mounts as the tide comes in.
Maldon is lovely but loses all of it's water a couple of times a day that far up the river. There's always Heybridge Basin (locked) although it's a small place. Tollesbury is worth checking out, as is West Mersea and even Bradwell Marina (all on the Blackwater river). West Mersea is where we were based and there's a ton of boatyards and mooring providers, access is all-tide usually, although further up you may ground a bit on some tides but it's just soft and gooey. Just round the corner is Brightlingsea which is another big boating centre although I don't know it particularly well.
The Orwell is another good spot, with many marinas and lots of facilities in the large port town of Ipswich. The Orwell is one of my favourite rivers, mostly unspoilt except for Ipswich at its head and the container port at Felixstowe at the mouth.
The West Country is also beautiful although more expensive in my experience, but nowhere near as much as the Solent. My favourite is Plymouth simply because we used to live there and I like the buzz of the harbour and all the rivers and creeks to go at inside the breakwater. The Tamar is a fabulous river. Obviously the more facilities there are the more expensive it gets and in general it is cheaper over on the Cornish side of the water. The coast is of course much more exposed to Atlantic south westerlies here and can get pretty mean, but this may stand you in good stead if you are thinking of crossing the Atlantic in earnest. Falmouth and Carrick Roads is the next large place west for boating and is also a great cruising ground, but seems to have become very expensive in recent years as money has moved out from London - perhaps some local knowledge from Cornish sailors there can tell you where the good deals are.
Suggest you go online and just google for a lot of these places and try and buy the East Coast and West Country pilots advertised in YM and elsewhere - they'll give you a good flavour of these areas.
Neil
But seriously, how does full keel of a FB and all those shallow depths and entrance bars get on? Remembering that I am of relative inexperience. Then again I suppose if I can learn to navigate around the mud of east coast then it would be a good sailing apprenticeship.
And I must say, the 500 quid a year mooring sounds very very good!
What about Maldon? Looks an interesting seafaring little town from the pics and text I have perused online.
[/ QUOTE ]
Everyone runs aground at some time or another on the East Coast but as has been pointed out there are no hard bits to bang into so usually no damage done. Mostly it's mud so you can settle but further off the coast the sand and shingle bars are the ones to watch for as you'll end up horizontal (unless you have legs of course) in which case the excitement mounts as the tide comes in.
Maldon is lovely but loses all of it's water a couple of times a day that far up the river. There's always Heybridge Basin (locked) although it's a small place. Tollesbury is worth checking out, as is West Mersea and even Bradwell Marina (all on the Blackwater river). West Mersea is where we were based and there's a ton of boatyards and mooring providers, access is all-tide usually, although further up you may ground a bit on some tides but it's just soft and gooey. Just round the corner is Brightlingsea which is another big boating centre although I don't know it particularly well.
The Orwell is another good spot, with many marinas and lots of facilities in the large port town of Ipswich. The Orwell is one of my favourite rivers, mostly unspoilt except for Ipswich at its head and the container port at Felixstowe at the mouth.
The West Country is also beautiful although more expensive in my experience, but nowhere near as much as the Solent. My favourite is Plymouth simply because we used to live there and I like the buzz of the harbour and all the rivers and creeks to go at inside the breakwater. The Tamar is a fabulous river. Obviously the more facilities there are the more expensive it gets and in general it is cheaper over on the Cornish side of the water. The coast is of course much more exposed to Atlantic south westerlies here and can get pretty mean, but this may stand you in good stead if you are thinking of crossing the Atlantic in earnest. Falmouth and Carrick Roads is the next large place west for boating and is also a great cruising ground, but seems to have become very expensive in recent years as money has moved out from London - perhaps some local knowledge from Cornish sailors there can tell you where the good deals are.
Suggest you go online and just google for a lot of these places and try and buy the East Coast and West Country pilots advertised in YM and elsewhere - they'll give you a good flavour of these areas.
Neil
whisper
Well-Known Member
I agree re.Plymouth - plenty of room to sail and plenty of creeks to get settled in, plus some nice day sails.
I also agree with earlier poster re. a bilge keeler - opens up a lot of super little harbours and drying creeks.
I also agree with earlier poster re. a bilge keeler - opens up a lot of super little harbours and drying creeks.
Sybarite
Well-Known Member
One place only : Strangford Lough, County Down. Nowhere like it. I know people who cruised there on holidays and liked it so much they moved to live there.
sighmoon
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
You mention the mud is soft, so is the mud also soft enough in places like Maldon that the full keel will sink in nicely on a drying mooring and keep the boat upright? Or are there some mooring areas where the mud is too hard and she'll lean over aways?
[/ QUOTE ]
I think she'll sink in eventually, but it will take a few tides for her to dig herself a hole.
You mention the mud is soft, so is the mud also soft enough in places like Maldon that the full keel will sink in nicely on a drying mooring and keep the boat upright? Or are there some mooring areas where the mud is too hard and she'll lean over aways?
[/ QUOTE ]
I think she'll sink in eventually, but it will take a few tides for her to dig herself a hole.