Moving a 24' sail boat from Anglesey to Preson suggestions ? Road or a Skipper

Marceline

Marceline

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Hello - the boat we are looking to buy is being surveyed next week and while we love the area it is in (Angelsey), we are still learning to sail (RYA Level 2 so far and more courses at Plas Menai to hopefully work towards Day Skipper)

So one of ideas is, to move the boat to Preston Marina and sail round their marina basin at weekends and practice various drills (MOB, heaving to) and look to hopefully sail the boat back ourselves next year.

So we wanted to ask how best to get the boat there.

We'd love to hire a skipper who could take the boat (and us help crew it if that was a possible), but don't know any skippers.

Or to find a company that could transport the boat by trailer (we've emailed a couple we found online, but not heard back yet)

Guessing both are pricey (and pros/cons for both) but just wanted to ask for any advice/suggestions for either?
 
While this sound a good idea I am not sure the basin at Preston Marina is big enough to usefully sail a 24ft boat and the winds in a sunken basin may be expected to have lots of wind shadow areas and many solid walls to collide with so maybe not an easy place to sail, particularly for a novice with perhaps not the most handiest of boats to sail?
As it is summer a better and cheaper bet would be to get a temporary or permanent mooring and get to know the boat within the relatively sheltered waters of the Menai Straits.
 
Thanks a lot for the comments

Just wondering though C08, is sailing in the Menai Straits possible with sandbanks and channels (we thought it was mainly just motoring in there ?) - our draft is 3ft
 
There is certainly a lot more space between Puffin Sound and Menai Bridge than the Preston Basin. The channels are well buoyed and the area between Beaumaris and Gallows Point has no surprises as long as you watch the depth. Plenty of buoys to practice picking up, lots of places to anchor and nice pubs to lunch at. We had a very happy ten years there and well worth considering. As already noted the North West Venturers club at Gallow Point and they will readily impart local knowledge. I have never ben a member there but regardless have always found them a very friendly and helpful bunch. I cannot think of a better place to learn to sail in the NW, lots of sheltered anchorages, coves, beaches, chandleries and clubs like the two Conway clubs, Beauraris Sailing club, Royal Welsh at Caernarfon, Red Wharfe bay to name a few. The beauty of island sailing is that there is usually a sheltered side where you can go and there are some good bolt holes if it turns lively.
The Anglesey Pilot Book by George Griffith is invaluable and is a mine of good information.
 
try contacting Lea Colman (Grangeway Transport), he specialises in boat transport, is very reasonably priced ( if that’s possible with diesel prices at the moment). Based just outside Aberaeron West Wales. Tel: 01545 570776 or lea5872@gmail.com
We use Lea regularly at the club.
 
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Have you thought about moving her to the Lake District next Spring instead? Coniston might be cheaper and less crowed than Windermere.
 
AFAIK, Coniston, ( Rawdon Smith Trust) has a waiting list, probably quite lengthy. Don't know about Windermere, there are annual moorings, but marina charges are high.
I've never taken a boat up the Ribble to Preston, it's a long, daunting passage through the estuary and the destination isn't very appealing. If I were in the OP's situation, staying in the Menai would have considerable attraction.
 
Thanks for the replies:

Pete, re: Lake District, I think we're hoping to be able to get coastal sailing next year. So our thoughts with Preston were we could learn a few drills and practice in the Marina then go out onto the river, and hopefully by next year we'd have got a Day Skipper qualification and start to sail close to the coasts. So though we love the Lake District, I think moving it up there for a few months then needing to store for winter then move again might be a few more extra steps.

Praxinoscope: Many thanks, we'll enquire with Lea and see what may be possible.

And thanks also C08: That's more good food for thought. Just checking, if we base the boat south of the bridges (maybe Port Dinorwic area or down towards Caernarfon) is that also possible to sail around (at high tide), or is that more motoring with the strength of the currents/sandbanks etc

(sorry if this is a dumb question, we're still trying to figure out a lot of things)
 
Another thought: why not base at Port Dinorwic say and then get a local boater to go out with you and give you a bit of confidence regarding the Swellies and the variuos channels. They will also be able to suggest the best sailing area for you to try out the boat. Having said that once out of Puffin Sound or Carnarfon Bar you have miles of deep water without hazards, perhaps a local will help you with that. You should not feel ashamed of motor sailing through areas which could give difficulty if the wind suddenly drops such as Swellies, Puffin, the bar etc.
 
Where are you based, @Marceline ?

There has been some great advice already given regarding staying in and around Anglesey. The only downside to Anglesey is the A55 ?

From some of your comments, I would also respectfully suggest that you enrol yourself on the DS Shorebased course. Among many other benefits, it will give you the opportunity to pose some of your questions to an experienced instructor (assumes a real person, not an online course).

I hope your survey is good and the purchase progresses smoothly. Fair winds.
 
Cheers and we're based in North Wales near Wrexham so about equidistant (ish) from Preston and Anglesey. We are lining up several courses with Plas Menai through Summer/Autumn that were looking forwards to, to work towards Day Skipper and so hopefully we'll figure something out.

I do have quite a fondness for Preston and things (actually in my early 20s lived at one of the apartments on the Marina - stupidly I never thought of learning to sail until decades later - one of lifes regrets as my head was full of other thing I think but glad I'm starting to learn now) so I think I'd be quite happy at Preston for a year or so just going round and round (and as it gets darker in Sep+ at least its 'lit up' if sailing in the evening.

One thing I noticed when I was taking my Level 1 + 2 at Windermere was, stunning though the lake is, I was concentrating so much on the lessons and trying to learn I hardly took in the beautiful scenery, so that was one of the reasons we thought the shelter of Preston could be good as we did drills and threw our MOB bucket over, and practice tacking (a lot!) round short courses. But if we can figure out safely learning around Menai Straits I think that would be nicer.

Another idea we're considering is hoping to find a qualified Skipper (like C08 suggested) who we can hire to take our boat out with us and give us instructions/keep us safe while learning round Menai/Anglesey while we are doing our courses with Plas Menai. I guess that would save the trip too/from Preston

We'll hopefully know in a couple of days the survey Skylark - hopefully its good and thanks to you and everyone for your suggestions
 
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I think you will spend less time doing mob practice and close manovering than you think, it would get very boring very quickly and you will learn little about sailing. The fun for us is going places and the planning / navigation. Setting off and getting to a point where the engine is turned off and we point the way to go is the start of the adventure.
 
I don't think bobbing around in a marina basin is going to be the best place to start learning how to handle and manage your boat. Too many hard things to hit close by when you get it wrong. Ditto ' staying close to the coast. That actually takes quite a lot more skill and knowledge for much the same reason - specially a notoriously shallow area like the Lancs coast. Stay in or near the Menai till you gain a bit of confidence. It's much nicer scenery too!
 
If it was me I'd keep the boat in North Wales and learn to sail it there. You won't really get anything out of drifting round in an enclosed dock up a river somewhere and it will just cost you money.
 
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