Is this the tightest marina entrance?

Thepipdoc

Thepipdoc

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On our return leg of last weeks Channel Islands trip we stayed the last night at Baucette Marina, in the north eastern tip of Guernsey.
I'd been told that the entrance could be tight and shouldn't be tackled in anything but good conditions and the guy that told me this was a local and he wasn't joking!
The entrance, wall to wall is about 10 metres maximum, ( it may be more or less - someone feel free to correct me!) and leaves little room for manouvere.
As you can see the sea was flat and very little wind so it wasn't too bad.
What greets you when you get on dry land is well worth the effort - it was beautiful.
We would have stayed longer but the weather was predicted to turn sour over the weekend.
 
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I have been trying to find a photo of Whitehills, Moray Firth.

You enter between two long walls, each about 10ft high and 30 ft apart. As you enter all you can see is the lifeboat ramp facing you. Halfway down,you think "s**t this can't be right- I can't turn round so I will have to reverse out" then suddenly you see a gap on the left and have to do a very tight turn into a lovely old fishing port - now a marina.

A great stopover point.
 
I seem to remember being in Whitehills very many years ago and it was quite a tight entrance. After we'd tied up alongside we went round to watch a fishing boat coming in. He just kept going close to wall on port side until almost level with the entrance. Then a deckhand threw a line to a guy ashore and he dropped it on a bollard. Slack was taken up immediately slightly forward of amidships and the boat pivoted around and slotted in through the entrance. The line was immediately cast off and boat proceeded into the harbour.

All very slick, at reasonable speed and obviously a regular event. Pretty certain that was Whitehills.

Dunbar (further South, past the Forth) is much easier. Just aim at the little flat bit of concrete to left of the entrance. If you gun the engine at the right time the swell lifts you up and moves you over into line with the little slot in the cliffs that leads into the harbour. Quite a few interesting entrances on that bit of coast.
 
Try Courtown Ireland. This is the best picture I can find. It's basicly just a long canal, straight out to sea. You have to gun it down the canal, to keep the waves behind you, then brake like hell, to get round the sharp bend.

It was designed by an English man, that knew nothing about the sea.


harbourmouth.jpg
 
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hlb said:
Try Courtown Ireland. This is the best picture I can find. It's basicly just a long canal, straight out to sea. You have to gun it down the canal, to keep the waves behind you, then brake like hell, to get round the sharp bend.

It was designed by an English man, that knew nothing about the sea.


harbourmouth.jpg
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Courtown definitely makes the Top 10 ... canal walls are adorned with paint samples of a thousand boats .. :)

.... this is also a 'Slimline' ...

http://marinas.com/view/marina/8779_Copelands_Marina_Donaghadee_NI_United_Kingdom
 
some 25 years ago we were holed up in Baucette Marina for a few days waiting for the winds to abate (blowing steady F8). Had a gone there with a another boat who had in tow a 4m Avon Searider with a 50hp merc (was prettty new at the time...:rolleyes:) and we played for 3 days popping in and out of the entrance.... was pretty wild but great fun.... not sure I would do it today though!
 
Thepipdoc said:
On our return leg of last weeks Channel Islands trip we stayed the last night at Baucette Marina, in the north eastern tip of Guernsey.
I'd been told that the entrance could be tight and shouldn't be tackled in anything but good conditions and the guy that told me this was a local and he wasn't joking!
The entrance, wall to wall is about 10 metres maximum, ( it may be more or less - someone feel free to correct me!) and leaves little room for manouvere.
As you can see the sea was flat and very little wind so it wasn't too bad.
What greets you when you get on dry land is well worth the effort - it was beautiful.
We would have stayed longer but the weather was predicted to turn sour over the weekend.
Click to expand...
Gets worst with a low setting sun :(
 
Thepipdoc said:
On our return leg of last weeks Channel Islands trip we stayed the last night at Baucette Marina, in the north eastern tip of Guernsey.
I'd been told that the entrance could be tight and shouldn't be tackled in anything but good conditions and the guy that told me this was a local and he wasn't joking!
The entrance, wall to wall is about 10 metres maximum, ( it may be more or less - someone feel free to correct me!) and leaves little room for manouvere.
As you can see the sea was flat and very little wind so it wasn't too bad.
What greets you when you get on dry land is well worth the effort - it was beautiful.
We would have stayed longer but the weather was predicted to turn sour over the weekend.
Click to expand...

Looks scarier at low water.

I remember going in, after a rough crossing with KevB in our T34, with my heart in my mouth, only to be greeted by the sight of "you know who's" Squaddie 74, and then wondered what all the fuss was about.

It is a lovely spot.
 
We went into Perros Guirec with about a foot to spare either side - no room for fenders!

On arrival, we came around the breakwater and saw the marina off to the right. All looked fine until we realised it was enclosed with a wall which was submerged, rather like an infinity pool, with the entrance hard to starboard through two concrete pilings.

Have a look here.

http://www.digimap.gg/perros_guirec
 
I'd like to put in a vote for Vlieland. Although fair-sized vessels use the harbour it can be a bit unnerving when the tide is running across the entrance at 4 knots.

1a.jpg
 
I have only been into Beaucette once but it was certainly an interesting experience. The HM guides you in by vhf and when I first called him up he said "do exactly as I say, and don't touch your VHF, just raise your arm to show that you understand my directions". He then guided me towards a wall of rock but at the last minute the entrance appeared and in we went.

Inside it's like something out of a James Bond movie.
 
npf1 said:
Went into Beaucette last year with winds in the high twenties - brown trouser moment that I won't be in a rush to repeat!
Click to expand...

I really can't imagine what that would be like!
It was virtually flat calm with a hint of swell when we went in and even then I was saying to myself "This is not for the faint hearted".
Its the threat of jagged rocks piercing the hull that makes it unlike any harbour entrance I've encountered. There's no nicely finished masonry in site at the point of entry, just a bloody great hole where the explosives have been used to blast the entrance. It's just not natural coming so close to bare rock!
If the number of people that were stood at the entrance is anything to go by, it would seem that the locals consider a boat coming into their marina a spectator sport!
 
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