Newbie Help: Sailing on the North East Coast

the ne coast is great fun and as stated can get exciting in anything from the east. Before you purchase anything get yourself down to one of the clubs Coquet yacht club is based in Amble, you state thats local, try crewing on a few boats , get a feel for what you want and what you will be comfortable in, then start looking. This I asure you will save you £'s and time.
 
Hi chris

Nice to see someone looking at the NE. I'm based at Royal Quays and have been either there or HPool for last 15 years.

Anywhere from Bridlington to the Forth is fine sailing. Yes it can get nasty with a big NE wind but you are rarely more than an hour or 2 from some sort of refuge.

The area from Amble to Eyemouth is quite spectacular and Holy Island is my favourite anchorage.

It really isn't essential to have a bilge keeler, most people manage quite well with a fin and a set of tide tables.

Enjoy!
 
The trouble is Beadle, that our prettiest harbours and anchorages are drying, and the fin keeler misses out unless he finds a wall to prop up to. He may never see Alnmouth, Boulmer, Howick Haven and Beadnell. Craster will be dodgy. Berwick will be ok but he will settle into soft mud at LW.

I agree with you re Holy Island but the anchorage can become horrible in a brisk westerly. You cannot use the wall without special permission.

Ps. Beadle, Have you discovered the wonderful anchorage northside of the Wideopens? Go there only if no swell about. You will find a reasonable depth close in, near a little sandy beach, and you are away from the tripper boat routes.
 
Thanks for the offer Mick, that would be great (feel free to PM me).

Sounds like there's plenty of good sailing and scenery around here, looking forward to getting going with it!
 
Yes agreed

I perhaps didn't put things very well - I had in mind the notion that it wasn't a "ditch crawling" sort of area, but you are quite right.

I like Craster best of all I think - not in the harbour itself but tucked behind the rocks. Must admit I've never liked the look of the entry to Alnmouth so have always given it a miss, Amble is much easier.

I've never tried the anchorage N of Wideopen, but I have seen one or two boats there.

To be honest I don't particularly like the Farnes as an anchorage, you have the terns squawking all day and the seals all night. Love to sail round the place but would always anchor a Holy Island.
 
I've messed about in or on the sea all my life in one form or another in 2000 I wanted my own sailing boat so I went along to my local yacht club to learn how a yacht sails and handles as I'd only sailed dinghy’s and a windsurfer previously. I was a bit worried about the type of people I would find there, would they all be pompous and sticklers for the rules. I had no need to worry they came from all walks of life, Taxi driver to doctor and have been really helpful in getting me my own boat and keeping me afloat, its also kept costs to a minimum.
My advice would be to try before you buy or even start looking at boats and take it from there, you obviously have a passion for sailing and in my opinion there is no better place to ignite that passion that the North East coast.

Good Luck
 
Currently, the Alnmouth entrance is close to the Alnmouth Bay beach. Beadle, you should send me in ahead of you - calling out the depths (I draw 1m with everything raised). Then, with that knowledge if you follow my track you will be sure of not grounding.

There is a deep water hole in the river where you could remain safely afloat with a fin throughout the LW tide. Total shelter, nice pubs etc.

You may find that the sound of the squabbling Farnes seabirds gets 'blanked out' after an hour or so - leading to a peaceful night in perfect surroundings.
 
I must admit Alnmouth has never been a destination of mine for access reasons... is the river easy to pick up? I would always be wary of a swell getting up once you were tucked away inside, i'd think the access must be a monster with any swell rolling in. What sort of depth is in the anchorage? I surmise it must be the back loop of the river as identified ib the rnyc pilot notes?

Sounds a good spot!
 
Smeaks, about this time of year the local boat club lay navigation marks. Note. They are unconventional, typically two big black plastic drums. By the end of the season the entrance might have moved and they will cease to be accurate markers.

You are right about swell hazard at the entrance. Dangerous surf will make the harbour inaccessible. Calm settled weather or SW or W offshore wind situations are the time to go into Alnmouth.

The RNYC pilot although now 8 yrs old, is still correct as regards the deep hole in the back loop of the river. I would expect to find better than 2m there.

All pilots advise to anchor off at LW, go ashore in the dinghy and walk the entrance and take notes of the channel (might be better also with a handheld gps or plotter) then come back and go in -1HW.

BTW, Alnmouth was a busy little port in sailing ship days. You can still see the evidence if you hunt around. This quaint resort for wealthy Victorian Newcastle merchants was once described as a den of all kinds of vice! Enjoy.
 
Northumberland is nowhere near the UK Northeast coast!
Will our foreign visitors please familiarise themselves with the layout of the country before offering their contributions. Northumberland is the N.E.
 
The problem with going aground on a N.E. beach is the wave factor. Have you seen anyone doing what you intend? The area is great for sailing and you are not hampered by 1000's of other boats fighting for the same lump of sea
I feel mbay has it spot on for advise.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Northumberland is nowhere near the UK Northeast coast!
Will our foreign visitors please familiarise themselves with the layout of the country before offering their contributions. Northumberland is the N.E.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a picture of somewhere more akin to the UK NE. It is a few miles north of Northumberland which as the original poster recognised is the NE of the English Region. Perhaps someone recognises it?
IMG_0633.jpg
 
Quote all theiving ba**ards up there.

Only a small-minded ignorant oik would put something like that in a post.

and ...i before e except after c
 
[ QUOTE ]
its a long and painfull story of what happend to me up there in whitby but i will post it with photos and clippings from the whitby local bullsh*t paper and what the mca said to me and the corrupt council . /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
Well? We are still waiting.

As someone who had ten very happy years sailing out of Whitby I am agog to hear your tale. Of course, as in many ports, the local fishermen are taciturn and not impressed with the yachties but will turn up trumps in an emergency, in my experience.

So, please, regale us with your story.
 
A jeneau sun2000 is trailable. Fast, has fair bit of room
Cheap esp of you go to france & pick one up
Hundreds built so must be ok

Have seen a few & they seem to sail well
Exciting to sail --you might get fed up with old dogs like hurley's snapdragons etc
The whisker brigade will say otherwise but at our club the old bilge keelers tend to just sit on the moorings gathering weed
 
Daydream believer said:
A jeneau sun2000 is trailable. Fast, has fair bit of room
Cheap esp of you go to france & pick one up
Hundreds built so must be ok

Have seen a few & they seem to sail well
Exciting to sail --you might get fed up with old dogs like hurley's snapdragons etc
The whisker brigade will say otherwise but at our club the old bilge keelers tend to just sit on the moorings gathering weed
Click to expand...

Four years is a long time to look for a boat!! Or to reply to a thread :rolleyes:

Di
 
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