Conway or Pwllheli ?

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Benny59

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Opinions invited from west coast boaters please

I'm hoping to close the purchase of a used Fairline Phantom 40 in a couple of weeks

It will be late March before it can be delivered to me

Thing is, I have not arranged a berth yet

As I live near Droitwich, I'm considering either Conwy or Pwllheli (or maybe Holyhead)

Any feedback on marina facilities, cruising grounds etc are very welcome at this stage

Also, is it important to secure a berth before I close the sale ?

Many thanks
Benny
 
You mean Droitwich by J4 of the M5?

If so, then there can't be much difference time wise to get to the south coast, especially on Friday evenings when you factor in the M5/M6 car park.

I don't want to start a fight with the North Wales mob, but the cruising there seems more limited than the south coast
 
hi ben welcome conwy has two marinas conwy and deganwy conwy is larger ie 500 berths ,shop ,chandlry great pub which is closed at the mo for masive refurb ie at least 1,2 mil deanwy is more smaller and and over looked ,for me we love conwy as in winter we dont use the boat much but we are 5 mins from the beach u can walk in to town via river walk ,b ut we intend to viosit pfrli yes it is wrong ,to see what it is like ,some guys in the marina never go far bur we do iom and this year went sc otlandd no last yr this yr we are going ireland so big scope to cruise ,roy
 
Droitwich to the west coast of Wales is long drive. I moor our boat on the river Severn near Worcester, literally 15mins house to boat. I know many would say why keep a seagoing boat on a ditch, but it's only a day to reach sea lock at sharpness. Other options, if river is not your thing, is Portishead or Cardiff marina, both a lot nearer and an easy commute.
Can't argue though that Conway is a great location, just a long commute their and back.
 
Nick_H said:
You mean Droitwich by J4 of the M5?

If so, then there can't be much difference time wise to get to the south coast, especially on Friday evenings when you factor in the M5/M6 car park.

Hi Nick

I don't want to start a fight with the North Wales mob, but the cruising there seems more limited than the south coast
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Hi Nick

To be honest, all this is new to me and MrsB

We picked this particular boat following a recommendation by a friend and we didn't give much thought as to where we will be based

When you say South Coast, are you referring to Solent area ?

A biggie for us to know just now is, should we book a berth before closing the sale ? ie. are we likely to purchase and find we cannot obtain a permanent berth for at least a year ?

Many thanks
Benny
 
we are based in stoke so maybe 1 hour a nd a half behind you goin south we di 3 yrs in dartmouth , can ypou go for a wknd big ask it is your shout remember its only £1300 to move ur boat
 
sharpness said:
Droitwich to the west coast of Wales is long drive. I moor our boat on the river Severn near Worcester, literally 15mins house to boat. I know many would say why keep a seagoing boat on a ditch, but it's only a day to reach sea lock at sharpness. Other options, if river is not your thing, is Portishead or Cardiff marina, both a lot nearer and an easy commute.
Can't argue though that Conway is a great location, just a long commute their and back.
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Thank you Sharpness

To be honest, although Cardiff is more convenient, we prefer the other locations. That is until Nick responded :encouragement:

I'm looking at the Southampton area now

I'd be interested to learn of the approx cost difference Solent v N Wales

BTW: we intend to travel Thursday afternoons / return Monday afternoons, every two or three weeks

Thanks
Benny
 
seastoke said:
we are based in stoke so maybe 1 hour a nd a half behind you goin south we di 3 yrs in dartmouth , can ypou go for a wknd big ask it is your shout remember its only £1300 to move ur boat
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Hi Seastoke

Boat will be delivered by road late March so we can choose pretty much anywhere within c3hrs from home ;)
 
Yes, I think the Solent is the closest spot on the south coast, about 2.5 hrs drive (I do that trip most weeks as I live in Lymington but sometimes work near Halesowen)

The full service marinas will be a fair bit more expensive than N Wales I would imagine, but there are some lower cost options as well. I think someone mentioned that Deacons yard (upriver of Hamble bridge) is putting in some new pontoons , and this would be an ideal choice and a sensible cost.

I don't think you need to find a marina berth before buying a boat these days, as most marinas seem to have some availability. You may not get your first choice, but you'll certainly find somewhere suitable

The Solent has many advantages. It's quite protected so you can normally go somewhere on the boat even if the weather's not great. It has loads of places in easy reach, from lively towns to pretty villages to nice beaches to tranquil anchorages. For longer breaks you can go to the West Country, or across the channel to France, Belgium or the Channel Islands, or even further afield to Holland or Brittany.

I'm sure N Wales is lovely, but I don't think it has that kind of variety.
 
Conway marinas and the near boating area is largely protected from the prevalent SW winds, so quite calm seas usually.

Holyhead marina / bay is somewhat protected as well from most winds.; but it' a lot more spectacular boating area than that near Conway .
 
Ok! So as someone who has experience of keeping a boat in most of the North Wales marinas here are my thoughts:
Conwy v Deganwy, both nice marinas with good facilities, Conwy bigger, nearer to town and nice walks to local beaches and mountain. Deganwy, a little more up market, next to hotel with good facilities and within walking distance of better restaurants (this is based on 5 years on Conwy and 10 years on Deganwy). Great base for some really good cruising, Anglesey, IOM, Ireland, Liverpool, Scotland etc. Downside, half tide barrier.
Holyhead, good facilities, total access (big bonus) but otherwise, not a lot of pluses, further to travel, exposed during bad weather and apart from good walks not so much to do when not boating.
Pwllheli, nice Marina, reasonable access but not total (approach does dry out). Further to travel (for most of us) and personally I found the local cruising area less interesting than Conwy.
Sorry! Just thought of another negative for Conwy/Deganwy, extremely tidal, one needs to get used to fighting the current (although this doesn't tend to be a problem in my 50 knot Hunton) ?.
 
Conwy. I even moved home to be there. Very easy to get to by comparison and although some cruising grounds have been mentioned nobody thought to say how great local day tripping is. Anglesey on your doorstep. The Lleyn as a weekender. You could spend a year here and not visit the same location twice and it's all good. Weather. Regardless of the prevailing wind you can always find sheltered waters. I hear the boys down south always bemoaning weather and what a shitty season yadda yadda well I've been on the boat every weekend and when it's so bad you cant get out the channel there is always the river. I'm not even in the marina. I'm not slumming it with Seastoke and the boys :p Im in the harbour right under the Castle. Tides? Ok yeah. I bent a prop. Once. Big Wow wont let me forget it. But honestly. The talk about gate is no biggie. We go out for the weekend, its not like you have a 6 hour window in and out. You have a 6 hour window a day to return on. What hardship? You'd be missing out going else where. Pwllheli is nice to visit, lots of nice places to visit but Conwy is the best place to settle.
 
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