Done windermere, where next?

[Adrian]

I've been based on Windermere for a couple of years and would like to move the boat (Jeanneau 24 lift keel 5hp OB) to the coast, getting fed up of Friday afternoons on the M6 (i live in Birmingham) and limitations of Windermere. Can anybody recommend a good area to start coastal cruising (needs to be a marina with showers etc for SWMBO) considering the limitations of the boat, like the idea of north Wales or the Solent, anybody with boats in these areas living in the midlands, what’s it like getting down to the boat on a Friday?

Any other recommendations?

thanks.


<hr width=100% size=1>Adrian
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.kydproducts.co.uk>http://www.kydproducts.co.uk</A>

 

[[3889]]

Travel to N wales has to be easier than S coast on a friday, using m54 a5. Sailing is good although marina berths are limited at present: Pwllheli and Caernarfon have waiting lists so the only real options are Holyhead or Conwy - if you are used to Windermere I would say Conwy is the slightly more forgiving venue but with strong tides in the river. If you are still prepared to travel to cumbria you might consider Maryport or Whitehaven, both of which are decent marinas and about half the price of N Wales.
Andy

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[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Does it really have to be a marina berth, will you not consider a mooring and open up your options 100 fold?

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

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[extravert]

Marina berths in North Wales are not about where you want to sail, it's where has space. As already mentioned most places have waiting lists.

Deganwy has opened this year on the other side of the river from Conwy. Being new it may have space. Access is limited to a few hours around HW though.

There is also a small but well run marina at Aberystwyth, but it looks full too.

What you could do is perhaps go somewhere less than ideal for now, like Liverpool, until a better place becomes available. Get your name down now.

There are various developments in the pipeline that will ease pressure in the future, for example expansion at Pwllheli, new marina at Beaumaris (eventually!) and a new marina at Fishguard.

<hr width=100% size=1>Summer is what you expect - rain is what you get.

 

[StugeronSteve]

We made the move to the coast by keeping our Dehler 25 (lift keel) at Bucklers Hard, Beaulieu, initially intending to dry sail from the boat park, but ending up on piles May through to October.

Beautiful place, very helpful staff and swmbo will love it.

At a sensible time you shoud be able to get there in 2hrs-2.25hrs from east side of Birmingham. Takes us about 2hrs 50min from Nottingham.

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[ships_parrot]

Others have mentioned the obvious marinas (and the waiting lists). I used to sail around North Wales until I left home at 18, and in my experience if you can make do with a non marina mooring and a sailing club with showers, you have many more options. Moorings are also likely to be a lot cheaper too, especially if, being lift keel, you can occupy the shallower or drying moorings. Porthmadog might be one nice place to try (two clubs - one has less scary showers than the other..).

One thing though, if you decide on this course of action, make sure you've got a good dinghy. There's nothing to get you out of the mood quicker than a row out to the boat in something that's either a) unstable b) semi inflated and getting less inflated all the time...

Robin.

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[ridgy]

Holyhead is a wonderful place to keep a boat...24 hour access and neither South Stack nor Carmel Head are anywhere near as bad as the pilot book says (in the kind of weather you would choose to go out in), except perhaps in NW winds.

As a bonus you can come and go as you please within the bay all day, good for building confidence.

For a 24' boat you can get a mooring at Holyhead SC for about £300 Apr-Oct which includes a launch service that runs from 9am-11.30pm on weekends and a club house with a bar, food, and good showers. If you really need a pontoon, say to load gear on then for £5 you just motor 200 yards to the marina visitors pontoon and use that.

Within 2-3 hours sail you have 5 lovely bays on each side that are rarely busy, some with beaches and pubs.

Throw in major transport links and if the weather is worse than forecast then walk down the road and get a ferry to Ireland for the day.

Don't know about the A5 across Wales but when you get on to Anglesey the A55 has no traffic whatsoever, perhaps a 5 minute delay over the bridge at peak hours.

Port Dinorwic hasn't been mentioned which is a nice place, although anywhere in the menai straits is very tide-bound. I had a mooring in Bangor for two years before moving to Holyhead and wish I'd gone sooner.

I've just over-wintered in Liverpool and as far as I can see it has nothing to recommend it at all. Access +/- 2 hours and nowhere to go (especially in a 24') when you do get out.

Nick


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[[3889]]

Agree with Ridgy about L'pool but wouldn't recommend Holyhead myself. Its not so much the danger of the stacks and Carmel head but the effective tidal gates running at 5knts which severly limit where you can go. The marina I found uncomfortable in winds with North in them and there was a lot of damage in 2002 after a NW Gale. Also the town is a bit dire and there's an extra 40 minute drive from the mainland. Handy for ferries though.

Andy

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[Avocet]

If you want the North West, I have personal exoerience of some of the Welsh ports and agree with the comments made so far. I would also recommend Fleetwood for a 24 footer because you'll be able to have a little sail in the Wyre estuary in most weathers even if it's too rough to go out. If it's not too rough then crossing Morecambe bay to Peil island is a very pleasant 3 hours or up the bay to Lancaster (Glasson dock) which is also very pretty.

Also I can heartily recommend Whitehaven (might have a bit of a waiting list now) but the tidal "window" is much better than Fleetwood and there's no channel to stick to before you can get to the sea. It also has lovely shiny new toilets and showers and it's a very pretty, friendly town. The only downside is that the sea can often be a bit lumpy round St. Bees head.

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[Jeremy_W]

>>> I've just over-wintered in Liverpool and as far as I can see it has nothing to recommend it at all. Access +/- 2 hours and nowhere to go (especially in a 24') when you do get out.

Liverpool is very good for racing. The boatyard side of the marina is OK, but the bar/ restaurant side of things is utterly hopeless. The bar staffing is so appalling that a friend of mine once sent in a written complaint. The marina promptly replied calling him a liar!

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[colvic987]

how about milford haven, although no motorways to area, but closer for u then windermere, and should be plenty of areas for moorings and u can get out into the deep blue yonder if you wish or stay in the haven area....

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[charles_reed]

Try Aberystwyth

It's only a half-tide harbour, but so are all the rest around Ceregdion bay, excepting Pwllheli. The latter had about a 100 boat waiting list when I last spoke with Bill.

Both are a super scenic road trip from the Midlands, not fast but fun unless you get behind an underpowered caravan.

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[Adrian]

Thank you all for your replys, plenty for me to look at there.
(late reply due to two weeks sailing the north Ioanian!)

Adrian

<hr width=100% size=1>Adrian
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