Cruising the UK south Coast

Divemaster1 said:
Take the extra hit on the road and get up to West Scotland..

Spectacular scenery, great diving in clear water with loads of sealife both big / small.... and deep sheltered sealochs for those windy days
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Does a Belgium-UK ferry service berth further up the East Coast (Newcastle-ish area), then a short hop across to the West Coast?

Not that driving seems to worry Bart too much. ;)
 
AndieMac said:
Does a Belgium-UK ferry service berth further up the East Coast (Newcastle-ish area), then a short hop across to the West Coast?

Not that driving seems to worry Bart too much. ;)
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Try the DFDS web pages for services from Amsterdam - Newcastle or Hook of Holland - Harwich.

P & O also do a Rotterdam - Hull service

I don't think there are any services from Belgium to places further north.

Tom
 
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Why not take the time to smell the roses! you are still thinking like a car driver! Nick H is right, take more stops, don't go so far, enjoy the boat, and RELAX!

In my experience if you are taking a female partner and you do the trip you are planning, she will never want to come boating again! My advice; more stops, less distance, more dinners/drinks and enjoy a relaxed trip well within the capabilities of you and your boat.

Barry
 
strakeryrius said:
I agree with you - there's lots going on underneath it, but if - like the OP - your intention is just to drive your boat the 70 odd NM straight across it to get from A to B then there ain't a lot to see.
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If you go straight across like most people then you'd be missing out on some lovely places, mostly off the beaten track and all the better for it. Admittedly after Portland it's a reasonable distance to West Bay but at Barts cruising speed only about 45 minutes. I'd happily stop there overnight but probably not much longer. The diving out in the bay can be superb, especially now scallop dredging has been banned. There are some excellent seldom dived reefs with fabulous sea life. One of them is my all time favourite dive spot.
After West Bay there's Lyme Regis with shelter in the harbour, buoys just off and a huge new slipway. Not many boats visit, but my favourite small harbour, beautiful place and friendly locals. I had my first boat there and love going back. And the coastline from West Bay onwards is spectacular, all the way along to Exmouth.
After Lyme there's Beer, well worth a visit, just anchor 50 yards or so off the beach (but not in an E or S wind, very sheltered from N & W). Interesting little village with a great fish and chip shop! To wake up at anchor there on a sunny still morning with the morning light on the cliffs is very special.
From there you can stopoff at Branscombe, the scene of the grounding of the Napoli, thankfully now all gone, another lovely little spot but not an overnight anchorage. A few miles further on there's Sidmouth, not my favourite place, but nearby there's Ladram Bay, worth a short visit and then there's Exmouth. The town is nothing special but the river is beautiful and go up about 5 miles to Topsham and you may never want to leave!!
On from Exmouth towards Torquay in the corner of the bay there's Babbacombe, again very sheltered from the N & W with a lovely pub with spectacular views over the bay, well worth a lunch time visit. And if you fancy anchoring overnight stay put or move on a mile or so to Ansteys Cove, sheltered from all directions except from the E.
And I forgot Teignmouth! Another one of my favourites, very sheltered in the river, 2 visitors pontoons just yards from the beach and 2 excellent pubs, great views up the river towards Dartmoor, an interesting town, working docks, good pubs and cafes, good beach, Teignmouth has it all. And very few visiting boats. Even better!
From there you're into Torbay with Torquay and Brixham, marina land in all the pilot books.

But don't dismiss Lyme Bay as most people do in their rush to get further West as quickly as possible, in the right conditions it's a gem of a place.
 
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Medskipper said:
Why not take the time to smell the roses! you are still thinking like a car driver! Nick H is right, take more stops, don't go so far, enjoy the boat, and RELAX!

In my experience if you are taking a female partner and you do the trip you are planning, she will never want to come boating again! My advice; more stops, less distance, more dinners/drinks and enjoy a relaxed trip well within the capabilities of you and your boat.

Barry
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Barry thank you for your advice, but the reason for this trip is a diving holliday,
the other 6 dive buddy's don't fancy the boating trip as much as we do,
they want to travel to one destination (marina) for a week, and from there go out diving 2 times a day,
In the past we have done diving trips like this to France and Spain.
I was only "considering" to travel part of the trip by boat if weather conditions allow, while my friends travel by mobilhome.
(some might join me though ;))

Me and swmbo know exactly what you mean by a relaxed boating trip,
see this link,
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=212996
but thats a totally different usage of our boat
 
longjohnsilver said:
But don't dismiss Lyme Bay as most people do in their rush to get further West as quickly as possible, in the right conditions it's a gem of a place.
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John, thank you for the lovely and tempting advice on the boating in Limebay area, I apreciate that it is a very nice area to discover,
but as explained in the previous post, this is meant to be a pure diving trip.
Due to practical reasons it is needed to base us for one week in "One" marina, so therfore still remains the question, what would be the best place on the south coust as a base for our diving,
better make a new threat on this, will do it now.

for sure, one day we will do a boating trip to lime bay, and so many other nice places to discover on the south coast. but that would be without the diving buddy's :)
 
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Divemaster1 said:
Take the extra hit on the road and get up to West Scotland..

Spectacular scenery, great diving in clear water with loads of sealife both big / small.... and deep sheltered sealochs for those windy days
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Thank you Alf for your tempting advice,
Scotland aswell as Ireland are still on our whichlist, ;)
but for next year it is just UK :confused:
 
Zebrugge to Rothsyth... :D

Scotland_Belgium_ferry.gif
 
Bart........Maybe a trip down to the southern hemisphere, to break up the long winter?

We have some great temperate water dive locations (Tas.), as well as the tropical north (Qld.).

Just thought you needed a bit more pushing. :)
 
AndieMac said:
Bart........Maybe a trip down to the southern hemisphere, to break up the long winter?

We have some great temperate water dive locations (Tas.), as well as the tropical north (Qld.).

Just thought you needed a bit more pushing. :)
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How long do you think it will take him to drive his boat down to your part of the world? :)
 
Nick_H said:
Not towing a boat he wont. I reckon it's 300-350 miles to Falmouth, going the fast route M25, M4, M5, A30, so at 50 mph with stops i'd say 8 hrs from Ramsgate.
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I've done Dover - Plymouth in 4 hours before, so extrapolated 4-5 for Falmouth from that - but that's how fast I would drive it without towing anything - completely forgot about that element - doh!
 
strakeryrius said:
How long do you think it will take him to drive his boat down to your part of the world? :)
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I know Bart doesn't mind a bit of a drive, but........:o

Got the whole set-up ready to go over here, in fact, he could probably have a holiday here for around the same sort or money, factoring in the exchange rate and leaving his boat at home. ;)
 
Teignmouth. Why does no one go there, it's easy most any tide, even low water is ok. There is no marina, perhaps that's the problem for boats that dont have S.S. and Shave facilities. Never seen one of them that dont.

Whats this big thing about shower blocks, how clean they are or what ever. I've hardly ever visited any of them exept a quick pee on the way back to the boat.
 
AndieMac said:
I know Bart doesn't mind a bit of a drive, but........:o

Got the whole set-up ready to go over here, in fact, he could probably have a holiday here for around the same sort or money, factoring in the exchange rate and leaving his boat at home. ;)
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that"s a promise I'll never forget Andy :cool:
 
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