Milford Haven to SE Ireland

[[70521]]

It's covered by default with my GJW policy: "UK and Irish Coastal Waters". However, the middle of the Irish Sea wasn't covered as it's more than 12 miles (iirc) from land. They were happy to extend cover to the whole Irish Sea at no cost. Worth checking for St George's Channel.

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You must have a different default policy than mine, had a long chat with them at the SBS 2018 about it and the fact we were often >20nm offshore and that was a no, no. I learnt much that day and let them know what I've got planned and if there is any adjustment on the premium.

 

[Praxinoscope]

The exact wording on my policy ...
' UK inland and coastal waters including Ireland and Continental waters between Brest and the River Elbe. This includes all tidal, coastal and inland waters between Brest and Elbe. You are not allowed to travel further a North than 61 degrees North, further East than 10 degrees a East, further South than 48 degrees 10 minutes North and further a West than 12 degrees West.'
As the Irish Sea is tidal it would seem that my standard policy covers the whole of it.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The exact wording on my policy ...

On my certificate ...

Cruising area: United Kingdom inland and coastal waters and Ireland. Irish Sea.

And in the policy itself ...

Coastal waters: Waters around the coast up to a distance fo 12 miles offshore of the land mass described in the Cruising area. You can travel between two points by the most direct route even though it might take you outside the 12 mile limit. Otherwise you must not proceed further than the 12 mile limit even between the land mass and associated islands except for the United Kingdom when you may travel between the land mass and associated islands (with the exception of the Channel Islands).

I had "Irish Sea" added partly because it's easy to get 12 miles offshore but mainly because I wanted to go to the Isle of Man and that is not in the United Kingdom and did not, they said, count as an "associated island".

 

[Praxinoscope]

Strange how there seem to be restrictions on many insurance policies, the wording on mine which I posted in #22 seems to be fairly comprehensive and has remained much the same for the whole of my sailing life, I have at times extended it when I wanted to travel further, but it seems to cover all the areas that I am likely to sail during a normal season.
It certainly covers the whole of Ireland East & West, Isle of Man etc. but not quite the extreme North of the Shetlands.

 

[[70521]]

I came to the conclusion that if you were to do anything out of the ordinary advise them in writing and ask for a reply. My own plans include many remote Scottish islands including Flannan and St Kilda, and the west coast of Ireland.

 

[Kola]

I came to the conclusion that they will pair it to the bone if they can get away with it!

 

[mbroom]

Mine for my UK boat has UK and Eire coastal and inland waters

 

[mattonthesea]

If you are Milford Haven based then please ignore this. I would go to on a short trip to Skomer on the day before. It's through Jack Sound but with the right tide no problem. Then you can see more puffins than you can count and set off tide-independent (well mainly) at your discretion. As said above Arklow is lovely and 1950s while Greystones is more like a new version of the U-boat pens at L'Orient! And costlier than the Solent. The town is on the end of the commuter line from Dublin so very modern and trendy - difficult to believe it is only 20 miles up the cost from Arklow.

So a plus one for Arklow

 

[awol]

The exact wording on my policy ...
' UK inland and coastal waters including Ireland and Continental waters between Brest and the River Elbe. This includes all tidal, coastal and inland waters between Brest and Elbe. You are not allowed to travel further a North than 61 degrees North, further East than 10 degrees a East, further South than 48 degrees 10 minutes North and further a West than 12 degrees West.'
As the Irish Sea is tidal it would seem that my standard policy covers the whole of it.

Why can't insurance companies simply give the N/S/E/W lat/long limits with clear exclusions if they need them? "Coastal waters" needs a definition, Isle of Man and Channel Islands are not part of UK - not that I'm suggesting intentional weasel words, but I, for one, would appreciate simplicity.

 

[dgadee]

Kilmore Quay has a really, really good fish and chip shop. Also a really good hardware store. Worth going there just for the fish and chips.

The tides are interesting around Carnsore - one of those places where you can catch two favourable tides.

Arklow is where I would stop off if going to Newlyn. Cuts out all the faffing further down the Irish coast. Supermarket beside the pontoons.

ps: the Irish talk about Ireland. I know no-one Irish who speaks of Eire.

 

[PeterR]

If you are going round UK you might find my series of youtube videos from when we did it in 2010 of interest. The link for our crossing from Milford Havon to Ireland is at

The rest can be found titled Right Hand Down a Bit Parts (1 to 26)

I'm afraid they date to a time when Youtube only allowed 10 minute per video and degraded the image considerably.

We went straight from Milford Haven to Dun Laoghaire. We had meant to stop at Arklow but the tide was perfect for carrying on. That followed our general observation that we often ended going somewhere other than our intended destination as the weather often dictated a better solution. As we left Milford we allowed for anywhere from from Holyhead to Arklow and ended up in Dun Laoghaire!

 

[Leisure 27]

Does it rain nearly every day?

 

[Tzu]

I'm planning a round Britain cruise in the hope that maybe... anyway, looking go the best Irish Sea crossing from Milford Haven, it seems to me there are three options - Rosslare, Wexford and Kilmore - All three seem to have their con's and not may pro's. So, what is the advice on which might be the best given a long day at sea and short(ish) handed 27 foot fin keeler?

Cheers, Dave

Why cross and not go up Cardigan Bay? Some great harbours up that coast that can take a fin keeler, Mostly tidal so you need to get the timing right though. Be great to hear of a circumnavigation that goes into Abewrystwyth/Aberdyfi/Barmouth/Porthmadog. Some decent anchorages too in decent weather.

But wait till the Welsh lockdown ends, social media and their local papers suggests they pitchforks at the ready to repel invaders

 

[[163233]]

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You must have a different default policy than mine, had a long chat with them at the SBS 2018 about it and the fact we were often >20nm offshore and that was a no, no. I learnt much that day and let them know what I've got planned and if there is any adjustment on the premium.

Try yachting 24, my policy says 200nm on my current Med cover, when I had UK cover it said this:

UK, Ireland and North SeaThis sailing ground includes the waters of the UK and Ireland (not West of 12 Degrees West and the North Sea, not South of La Rochelle and not North of the line between Bergen and Unst), as well as UK and Irish rivers and inland waterways. In estuaries, an imaginary continuation of the coastline forms the boundary between the inland waterways and the neighbouring sea.

also this (old policy, but same wording in current):

§ 2 SCOPE OF COVERThe insurance cover is effective within European Inland waterways and upto 200 nautical miles from the shoreline of European Coastal and TurkishMediterranean waters.

I can't see any weird restrictions on types of fuel hose or single handing either.

 

[jdc]

You can anchor pretty much anywhere off the SE Irish coast. St Margaret's or Ballytrent bays between Carnsore and Rosslare offer good shelter from winds with any W in them. If the wind is strong and from the S best go to Arklow. If from the NE best carry on past Kilmore and bring up in Ballyteige Bay less than a mile NW of Kilmore (but watch out for cables marked on the chart). I did recommend the bay between Carnsore and Kilmore, but it's got a number of rocky patches so I think not recommended for a fist time visit or a night time arrival. Watch out for the Barrels.

I prefer to aim to arrive in the evening and anchor over night before continuing into port the next day (but we come from Cornwall, so it's about 2x your distance from Milford and passage timing is thus less predictable). Anchoring like this has the great advantage that if the tides don't suit or the crossing takes a little longer than planned you're not faced with a night-time entry into a strange place. I find it just takes all the angst out of the exact arrival time. You can always anchor in pitch dark with only the echo sounder as a guide. In fact we once anchored in St Margaret's bay in bright daylight but fog (pre GPS) by homing in on the sounds of children playing on the beach near the caravan park.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Dunmore East is slightly easier but Kilmore quay fine enough if you avoid them there rocks. Jump off from Dale in Milford Sound and 14 hours later youre there. Just make sure you have gps and charts or chart plotter for Kilmore

Wexford has very shallow entrance bay and one can only get the last 5 or so miles in fine weather at high tide, though one can wait the tide just outside the bar. I like Wexford but etc, again charts and gps or plotter! (tip follow the scallop dredgers in)

 

[rotrax]

Dunmore East is slightly easier but Kilmore quay fine enough if you avoid them there rocks. Jump off from Dale in Milford Sound and 14 hours later youre there. Just make sure you have gps and charts or chart plotter for Kilmore

Wexford has very shallow entrance bay and one can only get the last 5 or so miles in fine weather at high tide, though one can wait the tide just outside the bar. I like Wexford but etc, again charts and gps or plotter! (tip follow the scallop dredgers in)

Call or email Captain Phil Murphy at Kilmore Quay, the area's Harbourmaster.

He will provide the latest channel info for Wexford.

First mate gets regular updates from him since our last visit to Wexford.

It is, IMHO, worth the trouble.

 

[boatmike]

We were following an Irish boat in, "Ah to be sure weve been here before, follow us in!" when we spotted a man on the shore waving like a bstd! We did a 180, when we finally got in it turned out it was the HM . Cracking bloke he kept an eye out for all entering. We were on line for the big rock that is there if you get it wrong, which the Irishman did!

We did this trip in 2010. Left Milford Haven in bright sunshine with a southerly F4 and a good forecast. 3/4 way across the sky turned black and we had heavy rain and a nasty sea to contend with. Our escape with bad vis and a gale of wind to deal with was Waterford. If you have GPS and Radar its much easier than Kilmore Quays. The approach at Kilmore is dangerous in bad vis as the gap in the rocks is quite narrow. We got stuck in Waterford for 26 days that year as the gales in the Irish sea region persisted. My advice therefore would be Kilmore Quays if weather allows but be prepared to press on to Waterford if s**t happens. Our plan was a circumnavigation too but after 26 days we gave up and when the wind went north east we ran back to lands end. Rounded lands end in bright sunshine and the wind completely died! Had to motor into Newlyn..... Better luck to you guys!!

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Which is why I suggested Dunmore East at the entrance to Waterford River or indeed Waterford if Dunmore exposed. Waterford sadly is a dump and despite being home of Waterford Crystal is sadly disappointing, but the passage up the river is beautiful.

If you are heading to Dublin, Dunmore is out of way but if going to Dungavan or Cork it on the way

 

[PabloPicasso]

Kilmore is lovely. Highly recommended. Waterford is a long way up the river but worth a look if you have time. Arklow, I would not go onto the marina, the seaward end of the yacht club pontoon on the river is much more appealing. Near shopping centre supermarkets, cinema town centre but a longer walk to the showers.

Come to Ireland, its lovely.