Padstow to Appledore/Bideford Planning

[Jonny2018]

I'm planning a trip from Wadebridge to Appledore area.
I'll be leaving at high tide approx 0930 and will arrive at Appledore /Barnstaple at low tide. So my question is is there anywhere in that area with a wet quay i can tie up get some chips etc etc I'm looking at the quay at Barstaple but can't see how accessible it is?
I then plan to drop anchor/moor somewhere for the night any sheltered coves etc about that will always be wet? I don't fancy waking up on my side. Then sail home the next morning to arrive in Wadebridge at high tide.
Any help tips advice web links etc would be very much appreciated.
I'll be on a Fletcher 18gts
Thank You!

 

[jwilson]

You do have a death wish, don't you?

Almost impossible. Certainly unsafe in your boat. Normally you aim to arrive or leave the bar (doesn't serve drinks) at the entrance to Instow/Bideford a few hours either side of HW.

 

[sarabande]

The entrance to Appledore/Bideford requires intense and current detailed knowledge, especially at low tide, and always in any form of onshore wind. If you arrive at HW, Appledore, Instow, Bideford have moorings but unless you are going to dry out, the only alongside access is the Fish Quay, Bideford. Banrstple has some alongside berth just after the new bridge on the N Side, but the rier channel again needs good local knowledge.

You should be looking for intermediate havens such as Bude, Clovelly, Boscastle which have fair weather refuge.

I am not sure what average speed you are hoping to make, and what backup engine you have, but a 55 mile journey along the North Coast of Cornwall and Devon in your boat will require exceptionally benign conditions, particularly off Hartland. There are numerous small beaches where you could dry out, but even on good days the Atlantic swell piles up on the shore on the flood.

I admire your optimism, but that coast is a serious undertaking for any small boat.

 

[steveej]

whats the boat?

 

[Dutch01527]

Hi

We all need to learn so please do not take this badly. Sorry if I am delivering bad news but you have the wrong boat for extended journeys on the Bristol Channel. Basically it is too light weight.

If your engine fails or if you hit a weather change you are not safe. Please enjoy the boat within the design limits it has. Trailer it to Milford Haven or Cardiff Bay and blast around to your hearts content but do not take it out into a stretch of water that is as challenging potentially the Atlantic or Biscay in bad weather. As with climbers Ben Nevis can kill you just as dead as Everest in certain circumstances. I am all for people making informed choices about their own safety but your question leads me to believe that you need a bit more experience/ training. Sorry again if this is blunt but it is written with the best intentions.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

I might do it in an 18ft yacht with cabin to give shelter and even then it might be hairy, but your boat is not designed for bad weather and the ability to plane is no use or fatal in big rollers so your superior speed might not be available.

Further your timing seems odd. Me, I would leave Stepper point beyond the Doombar perhaps an hour before low water so I get the best tidal lift up the coast. Its over 4 miles to Clovelly which is first likely convenient all weather anchorage/harbour and if you made 10kts or better over the ground then you might still have rising tide to get you to Bideford. Of course in any bad weather you don't wont to cross the Doombar near low tide and the river above Padstow dries so its basically down with tide from Wadebridge to Stepper, Wait for hours, then up with rising tide to Bideford bay.

Your plan would be punching ebb tide from Stepper to Bideford Bay but need to wait off Clovelly. Not impossible provided your boat can still make good progress against the ebb tide in big and troubled waters but if anything goes wrong all the minor harbours will have dried out and you get swept down the Cornish coast.

Have you tried your boat out in the Camel Bay/Trevose head area to see how she takes the sea?

 

[bitbaltic]

I might do it in an 18ft yacht with cabin to give shelter and even then it might be hairy, but your boat is not designed for bad weather and the ability to plane is no use or fatal in big rollers so your superior speed might not be available.

Further your timing seems odd. Me, I would leave Stepper point beyond the Doombar perhaps an hour before low water so I get the best tidal lift up the coast. Its over 4 miles to Clovelly which is first likely convenient all weather anchorage/harbour and if you made 10kts or better over the ground then you might still have rising tide to get you to Bideford. Of course in any bad weather you don't wont to cross the Doombar near low tide and the river above Padstow dries so its basically down with tide from Wadebridge to Stepper, Wait for hours, then up with rising tide to Bideford bay.

Your plan would be punching ebb tide from Stepper to Bideford Bay but need to wait off Clovelly. Not impossible provided your boat can still make good progress against the ebb tide in big and troubled waters but if anything goes wrong all the minor harbours will have dried out and you get swept down the Cornish coast.

Have you tried your boat out in the Camel Bay/Trevose head area to see how she takes the sea?

Two good points about weatherliness. As I said to the OP on some earlier thread, even small yachts (the same size as his speedboat) are much more weatherly and able to take relatively extreme conditions, even though they will have to do so for longer. One seldom hears of yachts of any size in trouble in the BC in open water; they tend to get run aground (with or without engine failures).

The point about sea state slowing his boat is well made and I would add they do not have to be big rollers but even a F4/5 chop.

That said I think the OP may have been scared off the forums for now (unfortunate). I hope not off the sea- but hopefully off his open sea ideas.

 

[Dutch01527]

I too hope that the OP is not scared off the forum. I am never quite sure about posting safety advice to seemingly inexperienced owners who have not actually asked for it. I did in this thread because of the nature of the original post indicating such advice was needed but it still does not sit comfortably.

I am generally of the opinion that we should all asses our own risk and be responsible for our own decisions, one of the things I love about sailing.

 

[LittleSister]

I too hope that the OP is not scared off the forum. I am never quite sure about posting safety advice to seemingly inexperienced owners who have not actually asked for it. I did in this thread because of the nature of the original post indicating such advice was needed but it still does not sit comfortably.

I am generally of the opinion that we should all asses our own risk and be responsible for our own decisions, one of the things I love about sailing.

Don't beat yourself up about it. The OP asked for 'Any help tips advice. . .' , and that is what he has been given. He hasn't seen your posts and most of the others, because he hasn't been on the forum since later on the day he started this thread (unless he has another, illicit, Forum identity).

 

[vodzurk]

Hi Jonny,

Don't let all of the above put you off boating, but please do take consideration.

We're in a 21" mobo, so not completely alien to your Fletcher 18.

Having had 2 all-too-brief seasons with it, I can say almost every day out is a learning exercise, and that it can get very very ropey out there. And I've never been subject to the Atlantic!

Our first year was mostly spent being paranoid around Portishead. But it's paid off in my opinion and been totally worth it. Though engine failure is definitely not fun when you're a few 100 meters from rocks.

If you're near Padstow, could you consider doing some weekend breaks trailering it down to Falmouth? I think there's more facilities and bays to duck into down that way?

Take care of yourself, and keep asking the questions .