Moving to bristol?

I've just moved to Portishead (as of yesterday). It was a bit difficult as I had engine trouble getting the boat from Sharpness. Marina very nice, although at the moment lots of building work going on around the marina. People are really nice. I couldn't have done the move without the help of White Mischief who crewed/navigated for me and he had never even met me before!
I would wholeheartedly recommend Portishead and there are a good balance of all year round boaters, motor and sail, and seasonal boaters. I am really looking forward to my stay there although my personal circumstances will stifle it a little at first there seem to be a great bunch of folk there who are willing to help - and thats from experience! :-) Good luck with whatever you decide.
Davnic Row
 
worth having a look at Bristol Floating Harbour (apart from the tidal access window) it is A great place to spend the night on your boat after a night out on the town!
I keep thinking I would rather be in Portishead (purely for the wider window) but then spens a night on the boat in Bristol and change my mind!
 
I kept my boat in Bristol while getting her ready. It's a nice working Marina. The Harbour is your other choice. nice place to be but it is a pain getting out. Think 2 hours will get you to Avonmouth after factoring locks and swing bridges in. On the other hand finding the Portishead marina is like finding the yards above the bridge in Poole but you'd be used that I suppose.

One simple practical point is that Portishead has a floating pontoon type lock whereas Bristol has ropes lowered down to you. that could make a difference depending on strength of your family/crew.

I would talk with expereinced channel sailors before tackling it tho'. I got a lot of support from this forum. Despite that I managed to engineer some 'learning' experiences in my first two trips out. !!!

Matt

PS Alan, your trip sounded good. I'm currently waiting for a big wind to go thru' before heading across to La Palmas
 
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