Newark by the sea. Not.

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CaptainHogwash

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Hello sailors!

I'm considering a move to Newark on Trent, and will be looking to move a 30ft long keel yacht from its South Coast moorings which would otherwise be four and a half hours away by car if the M25 was running freely...

But where to look? I'm hoping for interesting sailing, an easily accessible swinging mooring (I don't like marinas much - unless they're cheap!), and a 'commute' to the boat of not much more than 2hrs by car.

Serious suggestions from the forum would be very welcome. Any ideas?
 
I used to live in Newark and I have also lived on the trent. From what I remember you will have a problem trying to sail a 30ft boat around there to be any fun!!!. You could run it on the engine but the bridges might be a problem for the mast. In some parts the trent can be busier than the M25 with all those pleasure boats, speedboats, rowing boats, canal boats and the small sailing dinghy, not to mention angry fisherman!
 
...a 'commute' to the boat of not much more than 2hrs by car...

We were fairly close to Newark for several years; its a great place to charter from;- N Wales, Solent, Clyde all within 3.5 hours and the SW only 4.5 hours. It gets harder work once you've got your own boat /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

To fall within your commuting range, you'll have to moor on the east coast - North Sea, cold, grey, foggy place; I sailed there once, that was more than enough /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif. On the up-side, in comparison to the Solent, moorings will certainly be cheaper, I've not much info about availability (seriously - one visit was enough!) I know Whitby, Scarborough & Bridlington were 'full' years ago; the latter two dry out too. I do remember hearing good things about Grimsby Marina - locked into the old fish docks, but probably 1/2 tide+ access.
 
We are in Nottingham .. Keep the boat on the Deben at Ramsholt .. Great place .. No facilities .. and a 10 year waiting list for a swing mooring .. Spent some time in Neptune Marina at Ipswich but the sea was 1 1/2 hours away and we got fed up of the lock and the motor .. Deben is Ok .. We have a lift keel so can get in at all states of the tide .. You have to watch for the shallow bits .. Plenty of other moorings you just have to look .. Some up by the May Bush Inn .. Levington Marina on the Orwell has a 3 yr waiting list .. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Takes us about 3 1/2 Hours on a Friday Night ..
 
Hi, Hull, Grimsby marina and Yacht club, South Ferriby and Goole. These are all accessed by lock. In the case of Ferriby there is no mooring between November and March, so you have to be on the hard all winter. Boston and Kings Lynn to the south. Whitby to the North. Even Hartlepool is only two hours away. Sailing on the east coast is no picnic as has been said. Moving sandbanks, fogs, large tidal range, long distances between safe havens and steep choppy seas.

Robin
 
I live at Newark and have a swinging mooring at Ramsholt, on the Deben. It is 150 miles and takes less than 2 1/2 hours. The A1 and A14 are dual carriageway, and part of the A12. The last 12 miles is a bit slow.

Last year there were 5 of us from Newark with 4 boats at Ramsholt and 1 at Tichmarsh Marina at the Walton Backwaters. Cost at Tichmarsh for a 30 footer is around £2,300 per year, with lift in and out extra.

I took a boat down the Trent and into the Humber last week. I had forgotten how much I detest the Trent/Humber. Had to hang off the ladder just inside the entrance to Hull Marina as we could not get in, and even if we had by the time we could get out it would not be easy to get into Grimsby.

The marina through Grimsby fish dock is OK (nice folk there) but there is nowhere to day sail to which is why so many sailors from the Newark/Nottingham area drive down to the East Coast.

One of my mates had been doing this journey for over 40 years.
 
Hi,

I keep my 30 foot triple keel yacht at Fosdyke Marina, less than an hour from Newark. It is more of a boatyard with pontoons on the River Welland than a marina, run by a very helpful guy. Cost is just over £1,000 a year. Downside is that access is restricted to near high tide. Some might regard the 6 mile trip from Fosdyke to the Wash proper as a downside, but we often find it the highlight of the day, especially the return if you can sail it and the birds are all coming in to roost. No bridge to contend with like from Wisbech. The havens on the north Norfolk coast are easily reached in a few hours sailing. We often sail in the Wash on a Saturday and never see another yacht. Glorious. At least we think so, but some might love being in traffic jams in the Solent. In our view it pays on the East coast to have a yacht that can take the ground and we chose our boat accordingly, but several at Fosdyke have single-keeled yachts.
 
We live (survive?) in Coalville, just about as far from the coast as you can get. Boat kept at Levington, average 2 1/2 hrs drive. If we were unable to get a berth in there we would look at Shotley for a marina berth or moorings at Pin Mill on the Orwell. Lots of easy day sails, and fairly easy access to the continent.
Marinas not as cheap as you might think, but probably much cheaper than the South coast (just conjecture - haven't dared to look!)
 
I'm up your way too.... we're in Shotley, and it take us just under 2 hrs.... it takes me 30mins to drive to Newark, so 2.5hrs to Shotley for you....

We considered all the options suggested above...

Fosdyke... friendly and cheap, but a bit restrictive for us in terms of tidal constraints, available water and destinations

Humber, again, very restrictive, and few destinations..

Hence we ended up in the Thames Estuary... don't regret it for one minute.... more places to sail to than you could manage in several yearsand easy access to the continent.
 
Hi,

We're based in sunny Nottingham and our boat is on the Beaulieu (Solent), commute is 2.75-3hrs (occasionally 3hrs 10mins on the Friday preceeding a bank holiday). I don't know where your boat is currently, but if it is in the Solent area the A43-A34 route is much better than the M25 trudge.
 
We are 10 minutes down the A46 from Newark and keep the boat in Plymouth... (We used to keep a boat on the Trent!)
We can regularly do the run down in 4 hours, but 4.5 is probably a better allowance...

Prices on the east coast in a marina is not too differnet from Plymouth, but the sailing is better in the west country IMHO (With the greatest respect for our eastern brethen..), and I would rather not join the hordes in the Solent...

We are considering now the Clyde, which is sameish price wise, and probably only 1/2 hour further....

The advantage of livingin the Nottm/Newark area is that all the best places are equidistant.. so you may have to drive farther, but the choice is greater.....

From all the peeps sticking their heads up from The Notts/Newark area, sounds like we may need a get together!
 
Also 10 minutes down the A46 from Newark, but you've got to be in a different village! Has yours got a pub??

Newark was good for road links when I used to drive over 50,000 miles per year around the UK. It is too far from any decent sailing water.

If Plymouth and the Deben were equidistance then I might well go to Plymouth as I dislike the muddy water on the East coast. I would not dream of swimming in it. As a Mancunian I spent 25 years going to the Welsh coast and again like the clear water but the weather over there is diabolical compared to East Anglia, which has the best in the country.
 
Newark get together Suits me Sir

Boats in Lincoln for half the year and the rest in Boston with access to the Wash.We were in The Welland at Fosdyke about a week ago,didn,t see it in the fog though /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

cheers Joe
 
Thanks for all the feedback, but given the general agreement about the need to travel I'm surprised North Wales hasn't had a few more mentions... Why is this?
 
North Wales is too difficult to get to from Newark. I have travelled to the Chester area once a fortnight for the past 20 years and it takes around 2 to 2 1/4 hours and North Wales is at least another 30 to 45 minutes.

Once you are there the number of harbours are limited and the sailing distances on average at least twice as long as on the east coast. The weather is much worse, lower temperatures, much more rain and many more weekends when it is too windy/rough to go sailing.

On the east coast estuaries you can sail on the rivers when the sea conditions are not pleasant.

I spent all my youth on the north wales coast as my parents had a holiday home there and I like the area but I would not sail there when I can get to the east coast much more easily.
 
I have just given my opinion. I sold my Macwester 30 last yeat and have a 22ft Swin Ranger in the boatyard which I am renovating. I can move it on my car/plant transporter and I am retired so I may go to Conwy for a season as I like the town. I have no wish to sail for miles and am happy pottering about in a river, and I go boating for 4 or 5 days at a time.

If I were in your shoes I would do a dummy run, leaving Newark at the time you would if working/living here and see what time you get to Conwy.

Good luck whatever you choose.
 
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