nooby and 13ft boat in christchurch,dorset

B

biddle_1

New Member
Joined
4 Jun 2009
Messages
3
Location
Christchurch,dorset,uk
Visit site
Hi, I have recently gained my first boat,although pretty small its a great start to my boating...its a 13ft dorey style with a yamaha 6 on the back. I launch from christchurch quay slip and have mastered getting it in and out pretty well...we usually go up river towards iford and then turn around...having done that I am feeling more confident to go towards the harbour or even out through mudeford quay....my first question is, can it get through the shallows of the harbour and what's the rule of thumb and also, do you think it can handle going through the mudeford run and into the open waters? Any help would be great as I am pretty un experienced and wanting to avoid getting beached or doing something I really should'nt be...

Regards bidsy
 
our first boat was a 13 footer that we launched from Mudeford Quay. The harbour is no problem for you - the channel is clearly buoyed an you should be able to get out through the run at everything apart from low water springs, though 6hp may be underpowered out at sea or in the Run as the stream can be fast.
 
Brill thanks for that, I knew the water moves pretty fast in the run and my little 6hp would struggle, what would be a good starter boat to venture out to sea?
I figured everyone has to start somewhere, i'v had a great time so far... I will venture into the harbour on next trip...what's the situation on a little fishing off the boat? Cheers
 
[ QUOTE ]
what would be a good starter boat to venture out to sea?

[/ QUOTE ] Try looking for a Shetland or an Orkadian. Both tough little boats and excellent for a bit of fishing /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
6hp will get you in and out of the Run, but you won't have much to spare. I'd have thought that a 13' dory is an excellent place to start and it would be fine for the river and harbour as is with the 6hp. If it were me, the only thing I would do is put a bigger outboard on if I wanted to go to sea - 25hp would be fine, and 40hp would be a blast and could get you skiing.

You'd need to check on the fishing in the harbour - I know the river is very tightly controlled - but out at sea you can do what you like. There used to be a good tackle shop up on Bargate near the British Legion - I'd ask there.

This was our 12'7" beasty in the Run about 15 years ago. With a 60hp Mariner, it could hit 55mph, so you can imagine that a 13' dory with 40hp would be no slouch either...
Boat%20No%202%20Wysiwyg.jpg
 
Biddle, it's well worth getting your head around the tides and channels and how they work, Mudeford is a little curiosity of tides and runs, and in the right conditions your boat will be fine, but you need to be aware of what's going on around you.

i.e when it's okay to cut out of the channel in the harbour, when you can use the run for example slack high tide - however get it wrong by 40 minutes and your going no where with a long wait unless you pull it out on Avon Beach... Hence the need to local knowledge.

Do some research, understand the tides and geography of the harbour and you'll make the most of what you've got. The great thng about a Dory is you can go explore where few others can, as it's quite shallow. But the only way to explore is to either study the local chart and tides, or trial and error... (which usually involves sitting on the mud till next tide!

Great little boat and perfect place to own one. Once you get your head around your locality and it's limits at different states of tide, you'll find lots of interesting new places to go to in and around the Harbour and spit.
 
Excellent, well everybodys advice has been taken onboard and really think some swatting up on the layouts of the harbour will be of great use...do you think taking a trip (not in boat) to see the harbour at low tide the best way? I have used tide times to get boat in and out of water, best to go into harbour as getting towards high?
If you see me in the mud looking bored you know i'v gone wrong!
 
Hi Bet your 13ft Dory will turn into a 30ft sports cruiser in a few years /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
malta126.jpg

swansea1fenders050.jpg

See? Like magic /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Late reply as I was going out from and back to Christchurch yesterday. In your boat the harbour should be fine as long as you stick to the buoyed channel. It actually seems just a bit better this year than last.

I draw a metre and a find that as a rule of thumb the height of the tide plus about 20cm less my draft is the minimum clearance going through the harbour in the channel.

As for the run then as others have said with only a 6hp you need to be very careful about the flow out of the harbour around low water. Finally the sea just outside the run is often very 'messy' with the swell and waves bouncing off the concrete wall and can be quite rough for a short distance. Taking a good look from the quay at low water can be very helpful in understanding what is going on with the channel and sand banks at higher water levels. Also take the time to look at the traffic in and out and see how other boats such as your Dory and with similar sized engines are behaving.

Christchurch is a great place to start boating from as I did two years ago.


Harpsden
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top