Ilfracombe, what a great weekend

[chrisbarrett]

Im so pleased to post something from the Bristol Channel as we don't seem to have many mobo's on the forum from Wales and the West. Leaving Penarth saturday afternoon we just had a great weekend out in the Channel which included a Saturday night in Watchet drinking and feasting in the Star Inn which was as reliable as ever. Before I go on to tell you all about a lovely cruise down to Ilfracombe I have to confess to a very very stressfull passage through the gate at Watchet, earlier this year I had a bad experience with the flooding tide making it difficult and evil to get in , but on saturday I ABSOLUTELY CRAPPED myself, my first attempt was abandoned as I was pushed sideways and ended up broadside so I decided to let 3 yachts behind me go first, with their narrower beam and deep keel and not forgetting a lower superstructure they made it look easy! After stopping my knees from knocking I managed to give it some welly and got in without any further incident,and I thought it was tough... some poor sod in a mobo that had just got in managed to race through the gate and holed the boat on the pontoon. The following morning one of the raggies leaving gave the wall a hell of a smash after showing great skill the night before,just shows how precarious Watchet can be when the gate is first opened.

Anyway we went on too have a fantastic Sunday cruising down to Ilfracombe the weather was great with plenty of warm sunshine and a NNW wind of about 5mph , we left the boat at anchor, going ashore for a couple of hours, even had a dip in the sea with the kids at low water, it was bloody freezing....We then stopped at Watermouth Bay had BBQ while the kids fished,the day was made even more enjoyable for the kids with the sighting of shoals of porpoise. Ended the day with a steady 16 knots back to Penarth with the sun setting due west behind us, it's always great to say that the boat ran like a dream and never faltered.

 

[Who]

I was on the pontoon watching your approach.

We were first through the gate and narrowly missed the wall.

The next boat was not so lucky.

The tide was running so fast that "Chrisbarrett" was forced into the wall twice. Fortunately minor scuffs.

If anyone attempt Watchet on a spring tide, I strongly recommend that you leave it for 1 hour after the gate opens before attempting entry.

 

[Morpheous]

How did you find getting back in through the barrage? We locked out @ 18:00, almost couldn't get out because so many boats were trying to get it, they were queued back nearly to Outer Wrach! Tide was flowing so quick our log recorded we travelled 9 nm back to Portishead. I'm sure it's usually 17.

 

[buster3]

your right, watchet, its the only place that I worry give it 30 mins to a hour then go, got to keep the power on.missed out not called in this year

Ilfracombe stopped for ice cream with the boys and dave did so fishing on the rib is rich sollitare and terry offshore asset just in front of my bow

why cant something be done with cardiff barrage with times

 

[chrisbarrett]

We were locking in on the 19.15 but the lock was so full we had to wait for another lock, it was very busy,the usual chaos!. As for the tide we were set at about 16/17 knots but I noticed the plotter was showing between 19 and 22 as the SOG. There was a fair run of tide behind us , it was more noticeable mid channel 3 hours before high water.
Chris

 

[chrishelen]

It was a nightmare in the locks on the weekend,one of the yellow ribs 1 hour trip took 3 hours by the time he got back in,the Bristol Queen gave up and went to Barry,a number of factors caused this,i think part of the problem was the high tides 13.2 metres on saturday,so at high tide there was restrictions on as the outside level was higher than the inside level for an hour or so, also number 2 lock was out of action for the weekend,oh yes i think it was also the shanghai cup on sunday with what seemed like hundreds of yachts going in and out.oh yes and the sun was out.

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

The problem was that lock 2 is out of use for repair and lock 1 has a high sill (something like 1.5m above chart datum) so it isnt useable at the bottom of a low spring. Combine this with the Shanghai / Nimrod cup races (same again next Saturday) and the almost flat calm enticing a lot of mobos out to play and you have chaos.

But you were warned - see the harbour authority notice to mariners

 

[jason -and the arguenauts]

Im so pleased to post something from the Bristol Channel as we don't seem to have many mobo's on the forum from Wales and the West.

Don't know why because Portishead and Swansea are full of them. Maybe they dont venture out.

The secret to Watchet is not to go in or out when the gates are just opening. Give it at least a couple of red/green sequences

 

[Morpheous]

Yep, we were warned, by other forum members too. I phoned the barrage Saturday morning to suss out the situation and they said it would be OK, and to be honest we were fine. Had to wait to get in but only cos we were too polite, I hadn't realised the boat in front of us in the queue hadn't gone in because they were too big. We would have fitted in apparently. Ah well, good practice on the boat handling. Outbound we were the only one locking out (lock 1), glad i wasn't trying to get back in though.

 

[solitaire11]

hey whitemischief,

i passed you in the portishead fairway sat morning and on way out sun night... was gonna honk but you looked busy.lol

 

[PCUK]

If you need to enter Watchet immediately after opening, go straight into the area between the port-side wall and the hammerheads. Don't try and make the turn into the pontoons.
Once into the wall/hammerheads area, turn into the stream and stabilise the boat then make your way to your chosen berthing area.

 

[Morpheous]

hey whitemischief,

i passed you in the portishead fairway sat morning and on way out sun night... was gonna honk but you looked busy.lol

Always busy! Still getting to grips with it all, and effectively single handed, wifey refuses move her posterior from the seat when anything nautical occurs!