New to the Bristol Channel

[Richard_Peevor]

Dear All,

Just thought I would say, "Hello". I initially posted earlier in the year when I was considering moving jobs. Now I have and have a job in Cardiff and hopefully, solicitors pending a house outside of Swansea.

My boat (29' fin keel yacht) has always been in Gosport and my sailing area has been The Solent etc. The drop in price between the two places has allowed me to get a berth in Swansea (either no berths left or too expensive in Cardiff) as opposed to the moorning I had in Portsmouth Harbour. Hopefully the boat will get plenty of TLC, especially as it will only be 20 mins from home too.

The boat will be coming over in December, sadly overland I think as with moving house too I dont think I will have the time to sail round.

I have been reading the Imray pilot and looking through my small craft folio of charts to get some idea of the area. I am alos hoping I wont be too late to pick up a copy of the BCYC book. I have written my cheque out and will post it today. I also looked at the google maps guide which was good too.

I am a little worried at present about my lack of a second keel.. It seems I am going to miss out on a lot?? I have a good tender so I may have to put that to a bit more use!

The benefit to me of the solent was that I could pick the trip depending on the crew.. with friends on board we could pick 15-30 mile trips depending on what took our fancy and with the kids on board 11 months and 3.5 we just did a quick 5-10 mile hop into a marina. That bit I think will be nigh on impossible... I guess day trips to the Gower from Swansea will be the order of the day for a while.

I am pleased upgrading my ground tackle was last years expenditure.

Any tips, guidance appreciated and I will keep scouring the forum for advice!

Best Wishes

Richard Peevor
"Restless Angel"

 

[sb99]

Hello Richard, good luck with the new job and house.

I’m in my first year of motor boating so unfortunately cannot offer much advise as my trips have been limited to trips around Cardiff area to Watchet, Barry, Steepholm etc but no further. I ‘m sure someone a lot more experienced who is more familiar with the area will be along soon and will be able to help you and advise on any limitations.

With regards to the BCYC handbook, if you do have a problem obtaining a copy PM me and you can borrow my copy for a few months.

Must agree it is great being only 20 mins away from the boat, plenty of opportunity to carry out those outstanding jobs. Good place to hide from SWMBO as well, make's a change from garden shed /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Csail]

The keel shouldn't be too bigger problem, i know ours is long keel but we go in just about everywhere. The strong tides and especially wind over tide causing a big messy sea are the biggest concern here so i would rather not have bilge etc. Nash sand area just out of Swansea gets quite nasty quite quickly. Where are you thinking of doing your first trips, east or west?

 

[Richard_Peevor]

Thank you sb99.. I may take you up on the offer if I have problems getting the book. very kind of you.

csail, thanks for your input - sorry to be dumb but when you say you go in to most places are you drying out against a wall etc? We draw about 1.6m and have a standard short keel (no bulb).

I havent made any passage plans yet, still investigating! Which way would you recommend?

 

[LizzyD]

Hi Richard and Welcome to Wales.

I hope you have many happy years sailing here. I should introduce myself to you a little better. Carling don't breed wimps! But if they did, they would look like me! I have just closed my boat down for the rest of the Winter. The truth is, I hardly used it this Summer because the weather was so contrary, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for 2008. So today, I removed the spray hood and bimini for a rinse in the washing machine (doing it now before Bev gets home and finds out) and the two sail sail covers (I have a mizzen mast as well as a main).

Casualty figures for this operation? One blood blister - right hand, caused by trapping my own finger in the pliers. One bruise to left hand knuckle, caused by slipping spanner. One adjustable spanner, slipped out of same hand and lost over the side. One "L" shaped tewar inthe mizzen 'cos clumsey-arse here ripped it against a cleat whilst dragging it in cockpit.

Nerver a dull moment with a boat is there? I have a long-keeled boat and like CSail, go most places. This year we did Bristol, Swansea, Portishead and Ilfracombe, but I still haven't managed Ireland, Padstow, Lundy or Sharpeness as yet. As soon as the weather looks good - next year - we'll have a go.

Good luck with your sailing wherever it takes you.

Lizzy D

 

[Sneds]

Bristol or Portishead can both offer you pontoon moorings for overnight stays, oh, and Watchet and Swansea.
I have never been further than Cardiff or Watchet due to my last boat being petrol engined and the lack of supply. We now have a twin diesel so hopefully next year will be able to go a bit further afield.
Guess fuel won't be to much of a problem for you!
The blue book is very good and extremely detailed, a good read.
Good luck with all the changes.

 

[graham]

Welcome to the channel Richard.Lots of people have finkeelers here.It does limit you a bit but pros and cons ,it all depends on your priorities. From Swansea you can make Milfordhaven ,Porlock ,Watchet ,Cardiff and a load of places in between where you wont need to dry out.

It helps if you can dry out leaning against a wall which allows you to use places like Ilfracombe and Minehead.Theres plenty of places where a fin will sink nicely into the mud over low water.

Once you get the boat here and start cruising Im sure you wont regret it.

 

[Richard_Peevor]

Hi Graham

Thanks for the reassurance. Your pictures of minehead look good.

I think its just that usual anxiety of doing something new! Like you say, once I've started cruising the area I'm sure it will all just become normal! Most of the anxiety will be the first time in new harbours as low water approaches to see what the boat will do.. I have not dried her out against a wall before and just worry the time I try and sink her into the mud I will probably find myself on a hard bit of sand and end up with her on her side for six hours or more!

I will post my antics on the site to keep you all entertained!

Richard

 

[Jinks]

[ QUOTE ]
The benefit to me of the solent was that I could pick the trip depending on the crew.. with friends on board we could pick 15-30 mile trips depending on what took our fancy and with the kids on board 11 months and 3.5 we just did a quick 5-10 mile hop into a marina. That bit I think will be nigh on impossible... I guess day trips to the Gower from Swansea will be the order of the day for a while.


[/ QUOTE ]

That sounds about right to me. You're quite limited on places to go within the 15 - 30 mile distance when you start from Swansea. Ilfracombe is slightly over 20 miles I'd guess and after that you're starting to struggle a little. The nearest Marinas for you will be Watchet (40 odd miles) and Burryport (not sure how far - 20 miles ish) but with access limited on the approach. Lundy Island at just over 40 miles is a great weekender with a quiet, sheltered anchorage (you can pick up a buoy) in a Westerly or a South Westerly although going ashore will require a tender.

There are some really nice anchorages off the gower but the popular beaches like Oxwich and Port Eynon have more than their fair share of PWC's which can affect the peace and quiet.

I assume that one of the big differences you're going to need to get used to is the level and speed of tides that you'll experience off Swansea compared to Gosport and you'll possibly need to plan your passage to make sure that you go with the tide rather than against it.

Reading this back to myself it sort of sounds a bit negative which wasn't what I intended as there is a beautiful coastline and some excellent sailing right on your doorstep - it's just going to be different to what you're used to.

My boat - a mobo - is in phase 1 at Swansea and I'd be happy to get together for a beer and a chat. I have a good mate with a yacht also in phase 1 and he's usually ready for a beer. We don't live as close as you so our time down over the winter will be limited but if you fancy meeting up drop me a pm and we'll sort something out.

Welcome to Wales.

 

[duppamiller]

We moved our 31' fin keeler from Chichester to Portishead at the start of the year. Overall we're very glad we did, but for reasons we weren't expecting! A few random examples:

Tides - we were expecting these to be scary, but really they're not - we'd had a couple of 'interesting moments' off Portland Bill (heading backwards over the ground in a maelstrom of breaking waves) - but not one round here - the only negative is that short sharp chop

Peace and Quiet - as you know, the Solent on a sunny afternoon in August is packed full of boats and their wash - in the unspoilt Bristol Channel you might see a handful of other boats all day - I don't think that the novelty will ever wear off - it's fantastic!

Cardiff - the marina, mermaid quay and the various clubs are all very different - they're more like several different ports that happen to be roughly in the same place than a single destination - if you add in the other places mentioned above then there's more choice than it first appears

Anchoring - haven't used the hook here, as yet - unlike the Solent where you need to anchor to take time out from the constant hassle of collision avoidance - we just heave to in a quiet spot away from the worst of the tide and shipping

Keel - I was worried about this too, but csail makes a good point - having spent a season here I'd much rather have a fin and get places before the tide turns - if it takes you a while to build up courage to dry out against the wall (like me!), then it only counts out a handful of places on the N Devon coast

Chandleries - there's not many of them and they don't hold much stock - it's not as if you can pop into Marine Super Store if you draw a blank at Aladdin's Cave - so you have to plan ahead, which makes you nervous of taking on a big project - if you've forgotten something or break something else in the process then the boats out of action

Repairs - this has been our biggest disappointment - if you break something you can't fix, or simply haven't got time to do a major job, then be prepared for a big wait - maybe we were lucky in the Solent, but it never took longer than a couple of weeks for someone to sort things out - round here it takes a couple of months, if you're lucky!

Friendly - there's none of that 'snotty yotty' / yacht squadron business you can get in the Solent - everyone's super-friendly and can't do enough to help, whether it's on the pontoon, in the lock, at the marina office or even on this forum!

 

[Sneds]

Glad you're enjoying it, even the motor boat brigade ain't that bad! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Csail]

Well put and all true. Don't forget to book in for Bristol Harbour Festival next year...i think August. Really worth booking.

 

[Sneds]

2nd that /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[wotayottie]

hello again, Richard.

I once read a book called "the last of the sailing coasters" which was a bio type story by a chap who sailed the severn trows just as they were going from sail to power. In those days, much of the local transport in south wales and north devon was by boat, and it was fascinating to read of the places they sailed these unweildy old boats into. Many places that I have never been even with a bilge keeler. Their secret was to work the tides and the weather.

So what I'm saying is that there are far more places to visit than just the staples mentioned above. The trick is to gain local knowledge, and for that purpose I can recommend some weekend wandering in the car with the local charts to hand.

Yes you would be far better off with a boat that could comfortably take to the ground, but the are lots of places (Chepstow is just one example) where even a fin keeler can dry out becauise the mud is so soft that in effect the boat remains afloat in the mud. The downside of this is that you cant walk ashore when you have dried out.

Dont forget the tide issue. Whilst Swansea bay is not fast running, the tides here do allow you to get a lot further in your hour. For example, when we last came up from Padstow to Cardiff we averaged10 knots for several hours in a sailing boat.

 

[graham]

Completely agree with you about fin keels in mud.I have had a couple of bilge keel boats a fin keel and a lifting keel over the years.In my experience a fin is more likely to dry out level than a bilge in soft mud especially on a river bank where the mud is sloping.

 

[LizzyD]

CSail mentioned the Bristol Harbour Festival. In 2008, it's on the 1st to the 3rd August. I missed this years event, because I bottled it due to the awful weather we'd been having. Then on the festival weekend, it really brightend up. Bev and I went by car and we were sorry we hadn't mustered up the nerve to go by boat and make a weekend of it.

Anyway, perhaps we should have a forum meet-up? We can all meet each other as well as welcoming Richard to Wales (erm, even though we'll be in England!), but I'm sure you know what I mean.

Take care all


Lizzy D

 

[paulm299]

Hello Richard , I have a MoBo in Pocketts Wharf , Swansea marina . Plenty to see around Swansea the Gower and if feeling adventurous around to Pembroke . I live in Port Talbot but I am over the Marina most Sundays over the Winter . When your boat arrives , Give us a call I an sure a couple of us will give you a hand to get your boat in the water , Good excuse to meet the other members in Swansea who I have not met yet .

 

[quimby]

You can moor at Chepstow off the end of the pontoon, be sure to take a line from the mast and you will be ok.

 

[Sneds]

Forum meet up at the harbour festival?
Great idea!
Will there be beer involved? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Anwen]

Richard, we are in phase 2 at the marina, having moved from Plymouth last year. We have a fin keeler too, and so far haven't found this to be much of an issue. We haven't done a lot this year due to weather and work, but managed a weekend in Tenby, swinging on the anchor overnight. We really enjoy going round the corner to Oxwich when the weather is good. Three Cliffs is quieter than the Oxwich end, but either option is excellent on a nice warm day.

Meeting up for a beer is a great idea.