Owning a 55' boat in the South?

[Seven Spades]

I would like to hear form anyone who has or does own a 55' boat on the south coast how frustrating or otherwise it is to use along the south coast and Brittany. I have aspirations to go extended cruising in a couple of years time and I am looking at boats between 45-55 feet. I need a boat that can be self sufficient but plan to use it here for at least a year before we go to get to know it and to fully equip it. We have a short list of boats we are interested in and so I am not looking for advice in that front.

However, it is easy to rock up with a 40' boat almost anywhere but how difficult is it to get a berth if you are much bigger; is it necessary to make advance booking all the time? All options have approximately 2m drafts.

 

[pyrojames]

I have a 50 footer and have never had problems on this side of the channel or in eastern France. Can't say about Brittany though.

 

[ip485]

Yep, no problems here either. Inevitably in the height of the season at the more popular destinations some forward planning can be useful - places like Lymington, Cowes, Bucklers Hard, Salcombe come to mind but I have only been "berthless" once in Lymington, but they eventually found a berth even then. My forward planning usually consists of a call a few days to a week before. Out of the peak season it is not an issue. It would be very low down on the list of reasons for not having a 50 foot boat in the south!

 

[Budgieboy]

Hi Seven Spades

Think I qualify for this , recently upgraded from 38 to a 49 footer, bought it in June just as I sold the 38 Bav , I had sailed about a bit early in the season while trying to find a buyer and just turned up where and when I pleased , went off in August to get some miles under the keel of the new boat as we are off full time cruising this summer , hopefully to iron out any downsides or quirks to her , there is a really marked difference in how you are received in a bigger boat , you get a choice of one spot take it or leave it or they just turn you away , I found i had to start planning ahead as after a long day short handed ( just me and Wife ) we wanted to be heading somewhere knowing we would get a berth , it is a bit of a pain and adds a bit more pressure .

We ended up in Southern Ireland from Brighton and over there they have loads of room , got back into the old routine of just rocking up again , but on return to Falmouth heading home had to be back pre planning nearly begging at times for a berth .

Totally agree with you getting some miles under her before heading off long term .

 

[jac]

At 45-50 foot though shouldn't the boat be much more independent. Big water tanks and batteries, possibly generator and therefore able to live more comfortably at anchor. Add in a decent RIB on davits and the lack of an alongside berth becomes much less pressing.

Sure - ring ahead when required but a case of adapting cruising style to fit the boat.

 

[Kukri]

There is a positive aspect. For "n" years I owned a boat that was 37ft on deck and 51ft overall - we were never turned away but we were very often awarded the hammerhead...

 

[pyrojames]

At 45-50 foot though shouldn't the boat be much more independent. Big water tanks and batteries, possibly generator and therefore able to live more comfortably at anchor. Add in a decent RIB on davits and the lack of an alongside berth becomes much less pressing.

Sure - ring ahead when required but a case of adapting cruising style to fit the boat.

Absolutely. I much prefer swinging on an anchor, particularly for a break on longer passages along the coast, that having to work in and out of marinas all the time. More peace and quite, too.

You are also more comfortable in a small chop, so protection from the wind is slightly less of an issue. The only draw back can be overall draft, but that isn't lenght specific.

 

[doug748]

I have cruised in company with a friend and his 47 ft Beneteau. As Minn has said, he often ended up on the cushy outside whilst I had to struggle with a tight berth. The only drawback would be a good deal of rafting which is ok unless you get a couple of fully crewed 50 footers alongside which means a lot of deck traffic. He used to VHF ahead but in any case Breton marinas are generally very good at meeting and greeting.

I agree with jac that there is often another option to coming alongside but if you have ten on board you almost need a ferryman to take and bring different groups of crew, doing different stuff. Being pontoon based does solve a lot of problems. I think the difference between 45 and 55 foot is a breaker, I would be tempted to think small if possible.

I have tried to come up with places where you might have a real problem and no handy alternative, my experience is not vast but can't think of too many. Ploumanach, but you could have a look and then pick up a mooring or anchor off. l'Aber-Ildut is a fine place, limited to under 40 foot. Port Blanc probably not but 45' could be ok.

Perhaps Forumers can think of other examples?

 

[dk]

During the last cruise along N France and down to S Brittany in my 35-footer I was very often allocated a berth designed for an 8m boat, which did make mooring up somewhat tricky at times - especially when the pontoon sank below the water when jumping onto the end of it! A 55ft boat would be a nightmare is some of those places, but then I probably would have anchored off more often in such a big boat.

 

[Seajet]

I don't think you'd have a problem in Chichester Harbour or most places to the West of here.

I knew a 54' boat which was welcome in Ouistreham but that was a while ago, so I'd check - having a computer, whether laptop or tablet etc, tethered to the ' net so as to ask the questions before considering approaching a harbour seems a good idea.

 

[Bobc]

I have a 50 based in the Solent, and it's no real problem. You have to think a bit differently and I tend to not go to the popular haunts on popular weekends (I prefer it anyway, can't stand all the panic of rushing to moor and book a table at the pub).

We tend to anchor a lot of the time, which is an absolute pleasure in a big boat.

The only place I rember being a bit of an issue was Fecamp, because the finger pontoons are really short, and there's only just 15m gap down the causway, so you can't turn around.

 

[npf1]

My last boat was 58ft LOA, kept on the S.Coast for 9 1/2 years.

Firstly, the draft was more much restricting than the length.

I can't think a time (including summer weekends and bank holidays) that we did not get in to the harbour we wanted. But, for busy harbours at busy times, I would book a couple of days ahead and often had to deal with 'we don't take bookings' responses, only to get them to accept the booking when I told them the size and displacement (30 tonnes). I would always offer to arrive early (like 2pm to 3pm) to ensure we were the inside of any raft. This was usually the case for Dartmouth, Yarmouth, Weymouth & when against the wall at Poole.

Booking ahead was no hassle, but arriving early was a pain sometimes, especially on those days with perfect sailing conditions.

For small and busy anchorages though (eg St Agnes), we sometimes had to burger off somewhere else due to not enough space. Or anchor a long way out.

 

[MikeH99]

I have a DS50 which we kept in Mercury for a year before setting off. Went round the Baltic, laid up in Germany, crossed to Scotland, laid up in Dunstaffnage, cruised down west coat of Ireland to southern brittany where we are now dry sailing out of Crouesty. Visitor berthing has not been a problem anywhere although long term afloat berths are not easy to find in Brittany. Lot of folk seem to think it is a problem in the baltic but we did not find that to be the case. To be fair that bit was on the Baltic ARC rally. Can't speak to south coast as we did not have time to do much more than day trips. As a result we set out for the Baltic knowing less about the boat than we should have done (how do we switch on the freezer!) but we survived. I think your plan is good - 50 is too large for the south coast in my view - both cost and berth availability - but boy do we cover the miles compared to the Sigma 33 I had years ago.

 

[ip485]

there is a really marked difference in how you are received in a bigger boat , you get a choice of one spot take it or leave it or they just turn you away , I found i had to start planning ahead as after a long day short handed ( just me and Wife ) we wanted to be heading somewhere knowing we would get a berth , it is a bit of a pain and adds a bit more pressure .
Read more at http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?468723-Owning-a-55-boat-in-the-South#levd1H1t1uiRrfPl.99

Sorry and surprised to read this. As I said earlier it just has not been my experience with reasonably extensive cruising around the South. I wonder where you had this experience?

As someone else commented draft can be of greater concern. I am pleased that we only require just over 5 foot which means we can get into many places others cant, or leave earlier and arrive later (Chichester and Emsworth are two than come to mind).

 

[rwoofer]

At the bottom end I found my Moody 44 a bit of pain. I just hated the fact that I had to arrive early at places like Newtown Creek etc and miss out on good sailing. There were harbours in Brittany that I was lucky to get into as they had just one berth that would take my length. For passage sailing, she was great.

I now have a 20 footer for the solent and love the fact that I can rock anywhere at anytime and get in. It means I still enjoying sailing into the evening, when everyone has made a dash for the harbours.