Firth of Forth - Draft

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roblpm

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Any Forth Sailors on here??

Sailed when I was a kid on my Dad's Eventide bilge keeler in the Solent. Recently been sailing on the West Coast of Scotland (out of Arisaig) and doing my Day Skipper.

So to while away the winter hours I am musing on what sort of boat to purchase and moor probably at Granton. (As Port Edgar seems overpriced for the state of the place!)

I drove past Granton today and ate my sandwich looking over the East Harbour (beatiful day but very cold!!).

What surprised me looking at the boats in the RFYC yard was the number of fin keels in there. I would have thought most people would have bilge or lifting keels.

So my questions to anyone who races or cruises the Forth are:

a) How does mooring at Granton work with a fin keel as I though it was mainly drying?

b) If you have a fin, how much does it limit anchoring or mooring elsewhere in the Forth for the night?

And anything else I ought to think about! I will try and crew next summer on some races so will pick the locals brains then too.

Cheers

Rob
 
Hi Rob,

I am a member at RFYC, but moved my boat to Port Edgar this last season for work related reasons. My boat draws 1.8m so I hope this helps.

RFYC is an extremely friendly club. Most of the moorings are drying, but there are full tide moorings in the Western Harbour. The fees are on the RFYC website and include the club boatman who runs HW +/-3. The bosun Piotr is invaluable! The harbour has a pontoon which is shared with the FCYC and is free for club members during the day, but has a notional fee overnight. There are plan to dredge the approach and pontoon to allow for full tidal access. This has been the case for the last 4 years. The RFYC is working on it, but there are numerous issues. The harbour is well protected, but not in an Easterly when a nasty swell enters the harbour. The results of a very bad storm are on the RFYC website. Everyone at Granton has an Easterly story.

Port Edgar is also very friendly. The advantages, or disadvantages of life in a marina are well thrashed on here. I have been away from my boat a lot this year and feel it is more secure at PEYC. I can access when I want, have water and power available and can get out at almost all states of tide. Port Edgar is being sold by the council in 2014 so changes will occur, but as yet have not been announced. When you take club fees and the higher price of the Western Harbour moorings into account there isn't too much difference. Lift in and out is also included at Port Edgar.

If you have the time go and visit both locations and talk to the various owners. I have found everyone very helpful at both locations.

Sailing in the Forth is more challenging with a deep keel and most of the harbours dry. Some have vistor moorings and you can always anchor. Right now I am 5000nm away and I can't wait to get back.
 
I am at the entrance to the Firth. Personally I would not want a boat that was any trouble taking the ground. So many of the intersting places dry out. Might just be me though..... I rate exploring and meeting folk above out and out sailing performance. For the same reasons I would not want too big a boat round here.
 
Thanks for your replies guys. I will get out and about next summer and meet some people and pick their brains. Interesting that so far there is one fin and one explorer/dryer outer. I suppose I need to figure out exactly what I will be doing with the boat which is a bit difficult as I don't know he extent of the family interest in practice yet!
 
What sort of sailing do you want to do?
Pretty good racing from Port Edgar or, with smaller boats, from Granton.
And good setting off point for Norway, Sweden and the Baltic

For weekend cruising .................. perhaps better off keeping on the Clyde and driving over (duck for cover from East Coast die hards)
 
I've got a 1.5m fin keel and am based in Port Edgar. Facilities are not in the first flush of youth but can probably be described as "adequate". Staff are always helpful and friendly. 24 hour access to the marina is helpful as is full tide access to the Firth. I race dinghies elsewhere at the weekends so its mainly day sailing from Port Edgar which is fine. However not much scope for overnight moorings elsewhere but a few reasonable anchorages are available.

If I was able to spend weekends on the boat I'd probably base her on the west.
 
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Drying out alongside the rather sturdy stone walls in most of the Forth harbours is quite easy when you get the hang of it, I even did it sandwiched between 2 bilge keelers during an Anstruther muster.

From my experience all the Forth clubs are very welcoming, though they all have their own character, visit a few and then choose your base.
 
Thanks for that info so far.

I have one of the pilot books and Reeds but they are a bit vague on anchorages. Welcome anchorages doesnt have any anchorages in the Forth at all!

Anyone care to name anywhere they have successfully anchored overnight in the Forth with a fin keel?

I will join PEYC this Spring and get out racing and cruising crewing over the summer so will find this all out then, but I find my mind wandering over the winter!!
 
Get a copy of the Forth Yacht Club Association handbook. Google the association for a link or pop into Bosuns Locker, they usually have a copy. We tend to just day trip, but find anchoring off Aberdour and Limekilns good for a row ashore and lunch. See you about perhaps at Port Edgar.
 
mcanderson said:
Get a copy of the Forth Yacht Club Association handbook. Google the association for a link or pop into Bosuns Locker, they usually have a copy. We tend to just day trip, but find anchoring off Aberdour and Limekilns good for a row ashore and lunch. See you about perhaps at Port Edgar.
Click to expand...

You are psychic! Just popped in to Seaspan and got a copy. Much better info about anchoring than anywhere else I have seen. All I need now is a boat!!
 
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was up staying in cupar (sp?) this last few days with daughter and fella
driving back over forth road bridge after yesterdays rugby got us thinking of keeping our 29' twin keeler on east coast for a year or two
any of you got other suggestions for firth of forth or just north of ?
by the way -well done scotland today!!
 
Thanks for that, will get the RNYC pilot. I shouldnt have spent the £25 on a garden gnome in Asda though! Will have to wait until next weekend!
 
I am not an expert at all - I have no boat!! However I have been looking in to this and seems that the only real options are Port Edgar Marina (run down council marina, but friendly) or Royal Forth Yacht Club moorings at Granton (friendly and mostly drying - though some moorings in Western Harbour dont dry).
 
roblpm said:
I am not an expert at all - I have no boat!! However I have been looking in to this and seems that the only real options are Port Edgar Marina (run down council marina, but friendly) or Royal Forth Yacht Club moorings at Granton (friendly and mostly drying - though some moorings in Western Harbour dont dry).
Click to expand...

Not at all, there are clubs with access to moorings/alongside berths from Grangemouth in the west to Dunbar in the south and Anstruther in the north
 
Our first boat was a fin keel which we kept on the Forth. First off we were in North Queensferry (where we live). Like Granton that has deep mud so fin keels sit upright nicely. However, after 2 seasons we moved to Port Edgar which for all it not being the most modern place is fine (friendly, helpful staff). Sailing was mostly day sailing with a few overnight trips. As said, you get used to going up against the wall in drying harbours. After a couple of seasons there we decided to go over to the west. The trip round was great, but with two young kids keeping the boat on the west was a complete flop - there was absolutely no desire for the 1 1/2 hours trip each way so if you never go to the boat it is pretty irrelevant that the sailing may be 'better'!

We are now lucky enough to have our own mooring, again in North Queensferry, but this time not in deep mud so boat 1 got replaced with a bilge keeler. I find now that Forth sailing is a lot more relaxed - popping ashore for lunch etc is no longer the clock watching exercise it used to be. Now, if we miss the tide, we get home late. We no longer need to be around when the boat touches bottom the first time in a harbour to sort ropes.

That said, I have sailed the Forth all my life. Each new boat opens up new opportunities for places to visit. Most places are lovely and very quiet and the opportunities for longer cruises do exist. Others will disagree but I think I have all the cruising destinations I need on the Forth. I've tried the West, and lovely as it is I don't really want to have to 'commute' to the boat. But I realise that I am lucky and not everyone can live within a short walk of their boat.

So, my advice is, if you are Forth bound and you are a keen racer then a fin keeler is great. If cruising is your thing (or racing with a bit of cruising thrown in) then a fin keeler on the Forth can work (and does for many). If cruising (or cruising with a bit of racing) then a bilge/lift keeler is ideal. Remember that with so many bilge keelers about, many of the clubs on the forth cater for racing them. They also open up more opportunities for places to keep them.

Hope to see you out there some time.

PP
 
Pitterpatter said:
Our first boat was a fin keel which we kept on the Forth. First off we were in North Queensferry (where we live). Like Granton that has deep mud so fin keels sit upright nicely. However, after 2 seasons we moved to Port Edgar which for all it not being the most modern place is fine (friendly, helpful staff). Sailing was mostly day sailing with a few overnight trips. As said, you get used to going up against the wall in drying harbours. After a couple of seasons there we decided to go over to the west. The trip round was great, but with two young kids keeping the boat on the west was a complete flop - there was absolutely no desire for the 1 1/2 hours trip each way so if you never go to the boat it is pretty irrelevant that the sailing may be 'better'!

We are now lucky enough to have our own mooring, again in North Queensferry, but this time not in deep mud so boat 1 got replaced with a bilge keeler. I find now that Forth sailing is a lot more relaxed - popping ashore for lunch etc is no longer the clock watching exercise it used to be. Now, if we miss the tide, we get home late. We no longer need to be around when the boat touches bottom the first time in a harbour to sort ropes.

That said, I have sailed the Forth all my life. Each new boat opens up new opportunities for places to visit. Most places are lovely and very quiet and the opportunities for longer cruises do exist. Others will disagree but I think I have all the cruising destinations I need on the Forth. I've tried the West, and lovely as it is I don't really want to have to 'commute' to the boat. But I realise that I am lucky and not everyone can live within a short walk of their boat.

So, my advice is, if you are Forth bound and you are a keen racer then a fin keeler is great. If cruising is your thing (or racing with a bit of cruising thrown in) then a fin keeler on the Forth can work (and does for many). If cruising (or cruising with a bit of racing) then a bilge/lift keeler is ideal. Remember that with so many bilge keelers about, many of the clubs on the forth cater for racing them. They also open up more opportunities for places to keep them.

Hope to see you out there some time.

PP
Click to expand...

Thanks for all that. All makes perfect sense.

I have 2 kids 9 & 11 so the move west doesnt make sense for at least 5 years if ever!!

I have never done any racing, so dont know if it will appeal to me, so will crew this summer to see what I think. An evening race in the summer does appeal and would ensure regular use of the boat I think.

So I will have this summer sailing and then decide over the winter!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring 2014 here I come!!
 
The Forth is a very fine sailing area: largely sheltered, plenty of deep water and very little fishing or commercial traffic. Tremendous for day sailing and with a few good overnight options.

The Forth Clyde canal gives very easy access to the west coast, or if your boat is a bit bigger the Caley canal is a holiday in itself and for the more intrepid going over the top is a very rewarding adventure.

I keep my deep keeler four minutes down the road in Granton. I can sail in the evening after work, at the weekend, and then for longer trips I can go north, east, west and I suppose south. Best of all worlds.
 
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