Entering Conwy

[Miker]

I am doing a bit of passage planning and read in the almanac that entry to Conwy is HW +- 2hrs. My boat draws 1.9m or 0.9m with the keel up. I am wondering whether I could enter the channel upto 1 hour earlier (HW - 3 hrs) given that it will take me nearly an hour from the fairway buoy to the marina.
My concern is not wanting to be approaching Conwy in the fading light.
Advice welcome, please.

 

[webb202]

I often do it at +-3hrs with 1.1m long keel but preferably on a rising tide - stick well to the channel, see http://www.nwcc.info/directions.htm

 

[Miker]

Thanks. It would be on a rising tide.

 

[misterg]

We sail a shallow draft bilge-keeler, so take this with a pinch of salt:

If you're happy with the keel up, I reckon you'll be OK any time except at LW springs. My experience this year (prior to the last month of heavy rain) is that the shallowest part of the channel is ~1m less than the tide height - at least a metre less than last year. Just follow the channel from the fairway buoy.

IME, one of the shallowest places is the L-O-N-G stretch between C1 and C6 on the NWCC page above, where the echo sounder will stay the same. If you get past that, it gets deeper again, and I think you'll be OK (as long as you're not cutting it fine on a falling tide - there are a couple of other shallow places - just after you turn to enter the harbour for example). There is plenty of water once in the harbour. (I use EasyTide for heights, and am happy to come & go at 3m or above - drawing <1m).

The marina sill opening times may be a narrower window than the depth of water.

HOWEVER

The buoys are in the process of being re-laid at the moment, and additional buoys are being added to be 'paired-up' with the old ones. It looked thoroughly confusing on Saturday. It would be worth giving the Harbour Master (Tony Mead) a ring nearer the time to find out how far works have progressed (the C8 buoy was on a barge in the harbour on Saturday, for example!).

All the buoys are lit, btw. Allow for 2-3 knots of current with the tide, and if turning into the marina, take care not to get swept past / into the entrance.

When are you thinking of visiting?

Andy

 

[[3889]]

I sailed a fin keeler drawing 1.7m from Conwy and could enter by arriving at C2 3 1/2 hrs before HW on any tide. I needed 3.4m at C2 to guarantee uninterupted passage through the channel. The 2 shallow patches are about 300m W of C1 and 2/3 of the way between C6 and C8. The tide rises very rapidly at this time and a short wait, if you are in doubt, will soon give extra water.
When transiting C6-C8 it is essential to hold the rhumb line as the tide runs strongly on the beam. Use C8 and the large hotel SE of the Orme as a transit. In darkness C8 can be difficult to track as its period is 30 secs.
Since changing to a twin keeler drawing 1m I have entered and left the river at LW neaps and HW+/- 4 hrs on springs.

 

[SteveGorst]

Mike

I have developed a little ready reckoner in Excel for getting in and out of Conwy which you can download from Conwy Reckoner Some of the marks such as North Channel and Dutchmans Bank refer to shortcuts across the banks that we use but for your purposes the parts with the yellow highlighted title 'channel' are what you need to follow. I squeezed out of the river yesterday and found the area between C1 and C2 a little shallower than last year so I have updated the Reckoner accordingly. In my boat motoring against the tide at 5 knots it takes about 1 hour to get from the fairway buoy to the pontoons by the town jetty.

If you use the Reckoner just make sure you enter the times in the format dd/mm/yy hh:mm I have put the date in incase the tide spans 2 days ie it is around midnight. Although the reckoner says high water with low water either side it works equally well if you put low water in the middle.

Hope it's a help to you.

Steve

 

[misterg]

Steve,

Do you know what's happening with the buoys, and when the work is likely to be finished?

Andy

 

[[3889]]

Steve
Great spreadsheet! Is North Deep the shallow channel that runs from C8 towards Puffin Is.?
Andy

 

[jhughes]

Having compiled a similar Excel ready reckoner for myself I had a look at yours and was very impressed. I had overcome the problem of Excel not subtracting time in the same way as you by entering the date and time.
Mine was very basic by comparison, but as an Excel novice I am confused by the use of the $ sign in your functions, what purpose do they serve?

 

[SteveGorst]

The buoys were a bit of a surprise to me yesterday. I thought they were going to indicate how wide the channel actually was and how boats could give each other plenty of room when rounding them but they seem to have put them quite close together. So we'll still be getting knocked around by the big powerboats /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I don't know when they will be finishing the work but you could email Tony, the harbourmaster, and I'm sure he would let you know.

Cheers
Steve

 

[SteveGorst]

No North Deep is the channel that runs from the beacons just off Llandudnos West shore to the Great Orme. If there is enough water for that you are also ok to cut across from C8 to Puffin.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Miker]

Thanks again. I'm thinking of a two/three day sail from Fleetwood from this Thursday - wind and rain permitting. I see no fun in sailing in the pouring rain after my return from Whitehaven on the Festival weekend. At the moment the predicted wind direction suggests Liverpool on the Thursday and perhaps Conwy on the Friday. If we chicken out, the next sailing window is in mid August.