Poole to Bangor

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Tex

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Starting to plan a delivery trip from Poole to Bangor (the Northern Ireland one), due to take place mid May.
Cruising speed should be approx 20k and range about 300M.

Any suggestions for route and best stopovers for overnighting and fuel would be welcome.
 
Id say you will need fuel in Falmouth....not many options for you between there and Milford Haven.
If you do take on fuel on The Fal use Falmouth Marina, (the premier marina) you will find the per litre price far better than in Mylor or the town pontoon...a lot cheaper.
Have a great run :)
 
From Milford Haven I would suggest Arklow (more or less all weather access) which has berths and fuel, Dublin (either Howth (all tides) or Malahide (somewhat tidal) and Bangor. Three reasonable days at 20 kts. With 300 mile range you could cut out Dublin but it would be a long day. Alternative route would be from MH to Holyhead (approx 100 miles)and thence either direct to Bangor or via stopover in Isle of Man at either Port St Mary or Peel. A great trip whichever route you choose. Crossing the Irish Sea further south gives some shelter from the prevailing winds. A great passage whichever route you choose.

Richard.
 
Id say you will need fuel in Falmouth....not many options for you between there and Milford Haven.
If you do take on fuel on The Fal use Falmouth Marina, (the premier marina) you will find the per litre price far better than in Mylor or the town pontoon...a lot cheaper.
Have a great run :)

I've fuelled in Padstow, from a bowser.
 
Another option with 300 mile range would be to cut out MH and go direct from Falmouth to Kilmore Quay on south coast of Ireland. This would be a long day but probably doable in day light in May. From there to Arklow and so on. This might shorten the overall distance as you would avoid the trip up the Haven to Milford Haven or Nayland marinas for fuel. I haven't actually calculated the distances so E & OE! I have visited all of the other marinas and mostly more than once and can confirm you will get a warm welcome, decent facilities and fuel.

Richard.
 
Thanks for the input.
I was thinking of keeping to Welsh coast and calling at Isle of Man as final port of call on way north. However suggested
Irish ports may be better if weather dictates.
I know there is fuel at Peel, is this also available at Port St Mary?
 
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I did an identical delivery trip to this last year bringing a boat back to Carrickfergus. We went the isle of man route getting fuel in Peel. I did a few legs at displacement speed to stretch the range.

All told it worked out about the same price to bring a 40 footer home by sea as to put her on the back of a truck. I think if I was doing it again I would put it on a truck, save on the engine hours and the stress of getting a weather window.

300m is a decent range, what is the boat?
 
Boat is Botnia Targa 28, theoretical cruising speed is higher than the 20k I intend to plan on.
 
Targa 28 should see you home nicely, a friend has a Targa 31 we have cruised with extensively. Given the weather I would reckon on a 25knot cruise, we found 25-28 was more economical than 20 with twin d6 330hp
 
Thinking now of Poole-Falmouth-Milford Haven-Holyhead-Bangor.
Owner has suggested lunch stops, maybe just anchoring to save time. Any suggestions for suitable places not far off our main route?
Also any decent overnights/fuel stops without having to go too far up the Falmouth and Milford estuaries.?
 
Falmouth:
Pendennis Marina will give you a shorter run from Black Rock and have you in the centre of things for food and drink in the evening. Fuel is available from the town quay but might be pricey, so check ahead.
Falmouth Marina, (premier), is 15 minutes further up the Penryn river, fuel will probably be less expensive, (I've seen as much as 30p a litre difference), and the Marina bar/restaurant is cosy and good quality/vfm. It's a 20 minute walk into town from here.

If you want a stop before Falmouth then I'd either come in to Dartmouth for fish and chips, you'll have a three or four hour run to Falmouth from here or for a sublime anchorage go around the headland and anchor off Kingsands, you will only be a few minutes from your route towards Falmouth, which is going to take around two/two and a half hours from here...
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Left of field might be, head up river and fuel up then back out to St Mawes and pick up a Visitors Bouy/Mooring. Lovely spot for the evening, great for an early slip for the westerly leg before your sharp right toward Milford Haven. Thats a long leg and I guess you'll be wanting an early start!
 
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I think I am right in saying that for fuel at Milford Haven you will have to go at least as far as Milford Marina (locked in so somewhat tidal restricted. Neyland Marina is further up the Haven but has no tidal limits. The minimum additional mileage for a return trip to Milford Marina is going to be around 12 nm from St Annes Head but nearer 20 nm to Neyland. If you don't need fuel you could anchor off Skomer Island (good conditions only and no landside facilities ) or in Dale Bay (landing facilities and pub) just inside the Haven.

Nigel is quite right about the Falmouth to Milford trip. At approx 150 nm to St Annes Head, even at 20 kts plus it's a long day and the conditions around Lands End and across the Bristol Channel can be iffy to say the least. We have done the Falmouth to Milford (or vice versa) trip at least 20 times but only once did we try it direct. All the other occasions were via Padstow where we re-fueled. We normally found Padstow a little less expensive than Neyland for fuel.

Another, perhaps very left field idea, would be to re-fuel at Padstow and then go direct to Holyhead. That is a very long trip (approx 180 nm) but does cut out the need to divert into Milford. It needs some careful planning to avoid wind over tide conditions north of Milford Haven and also around the Angelsey coast.

Hope that hasn't muddied the water too much!

Richard.
 
Don't underestimate the tidal conditions between S Stack and Holyhead.

Worth also thinking of the Irish coast, especially if you can refuel cheaper with green diesel.
 
Many thanks for the additional info, St.Mawes and Padstow may be worthwhile stopping points,I'll check them out. Will certainly do some preparation for tides once we have more definitive dates. Irish coast is our plan B.
 
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