HELP, trying to get back on the water on a budget Wales or SW

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a3xloser

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Hi looking for advice due to illness I have been forced to give up work at 55 and want to get back on the water as a seaside get away from ghetto I have ended up in, so I know from the past you guys know just about everything, I have had 2 narrow boats but find it boring, and for a short time a Yacht in Cardiff Bay which was great fun but I was working and didn't have the time for.
So here's what I want , recommended mooring Wales or SW with sailing for low skilled sailor and what boat, a boat that under power that can make head way against currents seems good idea but I also want good headroom and sails,
Budget up to at a push £2000/PA Mooring and £7000 for boat, this is really max and pushing it a bit lol. ok any advice please
 
Well if you're happy to join a club I can suggest Newport Uskmouth Sailing Club, as a new member there last year I've been totally welcomed to the club, it's very friendly, the river is well sheltered, good security (you have to pass through a power station to get to it by road) and very affordable, you could increase your boat budget with the money saved with mooring fees or take some courses to increase your knowledge. It's an easy sail to Cardiff and once you're in you have the City to visit, I always think if I was based in Cardiff where would I go for a short sail? (Watchet but you have to get the timings right to get in). As with most clubs it does require a bit of member input (some work hours) but the experience you gain from the members and feeling of a little likeminded community it's worth it.

As for what boat, I can't really comment a huge amount. Bilge keels seem very popular round here so you can dry out, I have a fin and it does limit me, best thing to do is visit a few clubs and see what people have.
 
I spent last season on the Bristol channel on a hurley 22. Paid £2k for the boat and another £2k on doing it up. Great seaworthy boat. I was paying about £2k a year to park it in Cardiff Marina, but next time would join one of the yacht clubs (much cheaper).

Your boat budget should get you something substantially bigger than the Hurley 22 and provided you join one of the yacht clubs your annual costs of moorings, lift outs etc should also be in budget.
 
ok thx I forgot about Yacht clubs I went private last time as I didn't have the time to give to a club, but I do now so will look at that, my main concern about choice of boat for this area is not having the speed under motor to get back to port if I mess up timings and am too slow to make headway, makes me tempted to keep saving for a macgregor 26x, but a cheap boat at a club while I learn is tempting.
 
Thx Tom the club looks great and a good plan, but with some limits to mobility I am unsure if I could manage a swinging mooring, I am concerned that sailing maybe out my price range if I need pontoon, not even sure I know enough about mooring and sailing that area to make decision,all I did in Cardiff was to sail round and round the bay.Wolverhamptons not the best place to live to take up sailing lol.
 
Rather than a M 26 you might as well go straight for a mobo, it will do its job better; there's a Macgregor 26 on a mooring I know, the thing shears around all the time unlike the boats around it which work with nature not against it - and it looks ghastly - neither fish nor fowl !

Or get a proper, rewarding sailing boat such as in my signature below, we all learned to work the tides and they can motor at five knots +, sail or motorsail faster, at least one has been at Cardiff Bay for years.
 
If you want a non-swinging mooring maybe a drying quay berth at Caernarfon? About £600 for 8m. Only 20 miles further than Cardiff and plenty of places to day sail to.
 
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that's not a bad idea as I have not goy a boat yet I can pick a boat to go with the mooring, when you say dry quay are we talking walk out on sand or 4 foot deep mud, and is the sailing there noobie friendly?
 
yes I don't really want to open the Macgregor 26x debt and it would be pushing my budget to the limit, but a 20 knot unsinkable sail boat , is tempting for novice who wants to sail around for fun, I had a keel yacht in Cardiff, spent moor time planning than sailing lol.
 
As far as moorings go, whilst your 2k/pa would be pushing it for (say) a boat around 25-30ft in the commercial marinas of Cardiff, as others have said it would be doable on the pontoons of either club in the bay. There may be waiting lists for these though. To be honest it doesn't sound like you would get a lot of use from a swinging mooring.

Your mooring budget would certainly get you a marina berth for 30ft or under in the commercial (but publicly owned) marinas at Swansea and much better Milford Haven. Accepting longer travel time (not much longer for Swansea) these have some substantial advantages for a novice. The tides are weaker and the range smaller further west; this means you will not be as much constrained by the direction of the tide and a modest boat can punch the tide under motor in either of those places provided conditions are reasonable. The smaller tides also mean there are not lots of sandbanks covering and uncovering to run aground on.

As far as the inner Bristol Channel (i.e. East of Porthcawl) goes nothing (apart from the aforementioned Macgregor) is going punch the tides there, especially on a windy day, and it is not advisable to try. You will make weather mistakes at the start (everyone does) and getting back to port after those mistakes generally means putting more stress on your engine than you might in bluer-water locations. When you buy a cheap old boat it will have an iffy engine and if you don't spend a lot of money sorting it then the end result in the waters off Cardiff is often a lifeboat tow- have a look at the Penarth RNLI for this summer's selection of eBay specials and underused/maintained boats pulled into the barrage in just that way. (As an aside, don't expect wonders of the sails that will come with a boat in your budget either).

Having moved our boat to Milford this year I am amazed to see that about 90% of the boats in the marina are older boats in good nick and in seagoing commission. In comparison to Penarth marina where I reckon half the boats are not fit for sea whatever their age. The extra maintenance required to really be safe in the inner BC is what I reckon makes the difference as owners in the inner Channel just stop investing.

What I am getting at is that given your budget and aspirations I don't think the inner BC is an ideal place for you to start. Whatever you do though I suggest you put aside a couple of hundred quid for a day skipper theory course. A lot of your worries seem to be/will stem from not knowing enough about tide, weather, and their interactions. Pulling the bits of string to actually sail is the easy part, having the confidence that you are leaving port safely is the difficult bit.
 
Quiddle said:
If you want a non-swinging mooring maybe a drying quay berth at Caernarfon? About £600 for 8m. Only 20 miles further than Cardiff and plenty of places to day sail to.
Click to expand...

The moorings at NUSC are fore and aft not that it matters, getting on and off a boat F&A or swinging is still the same. Getting on and off a boat from a drying mooring is going to be harder unless you want to carry a set of step ladders. I can't see many people walking out to their boat at LW sitting on it for 2-3 hours for the tide, sailing off then 9-12 hours later doing the same to get off again.

Tidal streams, tidal ranges, sand/mud banks, wind over tide are present in all sailing areas, you need to feel confident and you can deal with these, if not you need to get some experience/training. Don't put your faith in a "20 knot unsinkable sail boat" to power you out of bad situations otherwise you'll more then likely find yourself in them.

If getting on and off a boat into a dinghy is a problem then pontoon is the only real way.I've replied to your PM so hope that helps you out.
 
Yellow Ballad said:
The moorings at NUSC are fore and aft not that it matters, getting on and off a boat F&A or swinging is still the same. Getting on and off a boat from a drying mooring is going to be harder unless you want to carry a set of step ladders. I can't see many people walking out to their boat at LW sitting on it for 2-3 hours for the tide, sailing off then 9-12 hours later doing the same to get off again.

Tidal streams, tidal ranges, sand/mud banks, wind over tide are present in all sailing areas, you need to feel confident and you can deal with these, if not you need to get some experience/training. Don't put your faith in a "20 knot unsinkable sail boat" to power you out of bad situations otherwise you'll more then likely find yourself in them.

If getting on and off a boat into a dinghy is a problem then pontoon is the only real way.I've replied to your PM so hope that helps you out.
Click to expand...

NUSC? I'm talking about here where you step off a quayside onto your boat.
https://goo.gl/images/iU64LM

Wholly agree that a Mac 26 is no substitute for confidence and competence afloat.
 
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Sorry the swinging moorings at NUSC was in reply to a3xloser reply in post 8 and the drying bit to post 12 about walking out to the drying Caernarfon moorings. (The wall ones will be a ladder)

I was talking to a chap in Caernarfon last year who had just got his quay side mooring who said he waited 10 years to get it after being in the trots beforehand. If this is true or not I don't know I suppoose a call to the Harbour Master would answer it. Personally I'm not sure I fancy my boat going up and down a wall every tide if i'm 100 miles away.
 
Ok loads of good info as always on this forum thx everyone, its looking like now I don't have the income I used to that it may not be realistic to have a floating caravan on the sea, but I have had a Yacht and it was fun and I even took a 38 footer into Swansea in gale force winds and moored it on a training course"that was an experience" I have had 2 narrow boats on canals(don't do this guys it so boring) so maybe a day Yacht at Newport and learn to sail there, but its best to ask than get into something you cant afford. maybe I get a motorhome and look at the sea from that lol.
 
Porthmadog is a good choice for a floating caravan that can sail. A 26foot boat should be about £500 a year, plus you do not have to take it out in winter.
 
Newport Usmouth SC is a good bet - sailing as it used to be when there were no marinas and we helped each other. Excellent compound storage, proper boat handling and river moorings. All fairly cheap and within a quarter of your budget if not less,

There are lots of boats there for sale or simply standing and not used.

Only thing I would say is that the name you have chosen for yourself sounds self pitying. Wouldnt really want to talk to someone full of self pity in the club bar so cheer up!
 
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