Moor for < £10 a night?

[jonjo]

The St Mawes mooring buoy fee of £20 per night for my 35ft yacht has got me thinking about my summer cruising.

During an ordinary summer holiday I condition myself to pay around £15 to £30 per marina night which is bearable during a fortnight cruise but this summer I will be able to cruise about 10 weeks on and off.

My racing clip-on bow roller is not suited to heavy duty anchoring so it is mooring buoys or very sheltered summer anchoring for me.

Where in the central and western English Channel can a 35ft yacht moor for a tenner or less a night? (my 7ft keel is a further constraint).

 

[Woodlouse]

Helford river. Or Fowey.

 

[Robin]

Jonjo you are going to have to find a way of using your anchor! If you have a foredeck fairlead, add a snubber line to the chain preferably with a rubber snubber in the line and take this snubber line on deck via the fairlead. That way the clip on roller is only used for dropping and raising.

We have the same draught as your boat, never been a problem and our keel isn't detatchable, sorry couldn't resist.. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[mormargh]

Re: Moor for £10 a night?

Regret to advise these were both £12 in 2006 for 30ft although Fowey do discounts for longer stays.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Rivers Exe and Teign for starters. Lyme Regis in settled offshore winds. Probably West Bay. Visitors pontoon at Brixham sailing club. Maybe slightly above, but not much more than a tenner on a buoy at Dartmouth.

 

[NPMR]

I agree with Jonjo that finding a way to anchor, if necessary through a fairlead with a rope/chain arrangement will extend your parking place choices.

We use the 'parking hook' a lot and find we are well away from crowds when we do this - apart from the ever-present jet-ski/fast RIB menace of course!

And of course it is usually free (excepting now, St Mawes?)

 

[AIDY]

the HM pontoon at dartmouth is not much dearer than 15 pounds either

 

[jonjo]

[ QUOTE ]
you are going to have to find a way of using your anchor! If you have a foredeck fairlead, add a snubber line to the chain preferably with a rubber snubber in the line and take this snubber line on deck via the fairlead.

[/ QUOTE ]
The Match is well equipped in the fairlead and foredeck cleat department, and following your advice last year I have purchased a couple of chain grip shackles, snubbers and lines for the job. A US trip curtailed the second half of my 2006 season so I have yet to experiment.

I will wait for a gentle northerly wind, sail around to Freshwater Bay mid week and practice some single handed anchoring with plenty of searoom.

One idea I had for single handed mooring was to reverse up, hook the buoy and attach a temporary stern line, then run another warp from the bow. Guess the danger would be clonking a nearby moored yacht during the stern to bow pivot manoeuvre?

 

[jonjo]

Have been checking 2007 prices on the internet, Helford and Fowey are in the £13 to £15 bracket but Dartmouth looks cheap at 60p/m. So with some nights at anchor it might be possible to maintain a £10 average on the English coast.

3 nights at Fowey works out at £10.30 per night for a 35 footer, but I would probably get itchy feet after day 2. Maybe with my relaxed summer schedule it is time to buy some walking boots and venture further than the nearest shore-side co-op and bar.

 

[doug748]

Once you have done it a few times you will wonder what all the fuss was about. Loads of coves around Fowey that cost nothing, you can find something for most wind directions. Its the same really right the way down through Devon and Cornwall, provided you have sound ground tackle.