Cruising the Tamar, Lynher & St. Germans

[Judders]

If all goes according to plan and forecast, I'll be fulfilling a long held dream (or two) this weekend with three or four days crusing a beautiful Centurion 32 on the Tamar, the Lynher and the St Germans.

I was born in Saltash but I've never sailed locally (apart from three hours in a Topper at Sibleyback). Our aim is to get up to Quay Sailing Club but until we get onboard and see just what the charts and the plotter say, we've only got six year old pilot books to go on and they're not abundantly clear.

The tides look good but its hard to know what we're going to get when we get beyond Dandy Hole. Has anyone ventured that far this year?

We'll probably visit Saltash SC at some point too and use the space north of the bridges to stretch her wings a bit and see what she can do.

Where else would the locals recomend by yacht in a weekend?

 

[fastjedi]

No advice to offer. We had our first sail to Dandy Hole a few weeks back on a friends boat from Sutton Harbour. We had lunch at anchor / saw dear on the 'beach' .... very pleasant.

 

[Lady Campanula]

No advice to offer. We had our first sail to Dandy Hole a few weeks back on a friends boat from Sutton Harbour. We had lunch at anchor / saw dear on the 'beach' .... very pleasant.

You can certainly get up to Morewellham Quay and, if time and tide permits, as far as Calstock. Anchoring in the river is relatively easy, and that's a very pretty 'potter' at this time of year.

Some pics would be good.....

 

[cagey]

Fishwick

Suggest you buy Mark Fishwick's Cruising West Country(or similar sounding title), you'll get it from shop in QAB, best guide to everything down here. Also Admiralty Leisure portfolio
Keith

 

[jamesjermain]

Things don't change that much in this part of the world but you should be aware that the Crooker Spaniard Inn at Cargreen has been closed for three years. At Weir Point, just below Cargreen there has been some silting in the channel and it's now best to keep half way between the post with the red topmark and the yellow waterskiing buoy if you are coming up at half tide or less. It's quite shallow close to the post, and just north of it, where the deeper water used to be.

It's a great run up to Calstock with the tide and you can either anchor or pick up a buoy in deep water in the pool beyond the landing jetty. You will probably be motoring much of the way as the river is quite narrow. Deepest water is where you would expect it to be - outside of bends etc, and centre of reaches.

With tides dropping off towards neeps at the moment I don't think there is much to be gained by trying to go far above Dandy Hole with the Centurion's 5ft 10in draught. People with a more intimate knowledge of the upper Lynher might disagree.

There is a landing pontoon at Saltash which can be useful for a run ashore but it's often full of illegally moored semi-resident craft.

Much depends on the weather but an evening up the Yealm or in Cawsand Bay offer attractive runs ashore. If tide and wind is right you can anchor in the entrance to the Tavy and take a dinghy a mile or so up river to the Old Plough at Bere Ferrers - a great little spot. But you will be stuck there for up to two hours either side of low water so best to visit over high water (HW Plymouth 11.03 Saturday so its a possible for lunch Sunday).
If you'd care to come and say hello, pick up a mooring off the Spaniard and come ashore. We are at Tamarisk, opposite the pub, 20 yards up Fore Street. email jamesdjermain@aol.com

 

[snowleopard]

I trundle up to St Germans fairly often. I have plenty of water under my 1.1m keels. There is no public access to the shore there however. The Dandy hole is fine and at this time of year you should be able to anchor in the deepest part but when it's busy you'll have to pick a spot in the channel higher up and it can get very shallow at low water.

If going past Cargreen up the Tamar, check your air draft as there is a cable with 16m clearance that stops me going any further.

 

[BlueChip]

Sutton Harbour Marina have a few local cruising guides for download, we found them very useful as first time visitors in the local area - worth a look


http://www.suttonharbourmarina.com/index.php/location#sailing-destinations

 

[cgull]

I used to go to Boating World up the Lynher regularly, but in a twin keeler. If you phone Boating World i am sure they will update you on the channel.

 

[Barney Rubble]

You may find these useful -
http://www.rya.org.uk/cruising/navigation/Pages/UptheRiverTamar.aspx
http://www.rya.org.uk/cruising/navigation/Pages/UptheRiverLynher.aspx

Have fun & hope you manage to explore the rivers, they really are worth it.

 

[Ruffles]

If all goes according to plan and forecast, I'll be fulfilling a long held dream (or two) this weekend with three or four days crusing a beautiful Centurion 32 on the Tamar,...

Many years ago I sailed to Spain from the Tamar on a Centurion 32. Lovely boat. Couldn't be the same one I suppose? She was called Shadowfax.