Portishead/Bristol Channel advice

[thejonesey]

Morning all,
I have been south coast based for years but would like to have the boat a bit nearer home. Is there anyone on the forum who would share thoughts on Portishead marina and local cruising grounds for day boating and overnighting or longer..
We have a Fairline Turbo 36 so she’s up to the job!

 

[TwoHooter]

We left the South Coast in 2016 for the same reason as you, we live in the Forest of Dean and wanted the boat to be based closer to home. We spent our first winter in Penarth then moved to Portishead in March 2017 and spent the year there. I think we went nearly everywhere in the Bristol Channel where our boat could get in, including Bristol, Neyland, Padstow, and lots of anchorages. We would have gone into Lydney but the gates were already OOU by then. Our summer cruise was to Waterford in Ireland. In November 2017 we took the boat to Southwold in Suffolk for a refit, and after that we turned to face south and west again in 2018.... but we never got past Lands End. There are so many nice places on the south coast and we like the Channel Islands too. We don't do day boating, we never go out for less than an overnight, but whether one is day boating or cruising the Bristol Channel doesn't offer enough variety to suit us. We are now based in Sutton Harbour, Plymouth, and while the drive is a nuisance it's not enough of a drag to persuade us to come back. If we did return we would probably choose Portishead again. and that may be what happens if we still have the boat when we reach the age where we don't want to cruise.

https://flic.kr/p/2oquUm1

 

[thejonesey]

Thanks TwoHooter. The lack of day boating would be a problem for me as we are time poor at the moment. I enjoy overnighters but don’t want everyone to be a cruise. We may move the boat back to the Hamble as it is 90mins compared to 75mins to Bristol (from Cirencester.)

 

[jwilson]

Your are pretty much tied to marinas and there are not that many in the BC. Also whilst your boat can probably cruise at fairly high speeds put any westerly-ish wind against an ebb tide in the channel and the chop will be pretty horrible at speed.

 

[mattonthesea]

We live in Bristol and kept the boat (raggy) there for the first four years, mainly to work on her. But day sailing is fairly pointless, given the tides, and managing them wrt the wind. It was ok for us as we go out for 12 weeks at a time. But now she is up to scratch the BC it's not at all attractive. Worth the drive to other places.

 

[TwoHooter]

Another thought - friends of ours have had a winter berth at Penarth for many years. They left today to start this year's summer cruise. There's a lot to be said for having a nice sheltered safe haven for the winter and then moving from one place to another during the summer.
Ship ROCKLAND (Pleasure Craft) Registered in United Kingdom - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 0, MMSI 235069294, Call Sign 2BTU3

 

[rawley]

I reckon Cardiff/Penarth is your best bet. You can get in/out of the barage in all but LW springs (depending on draft) and can realistically do a day's sailing from there.
We keep our boat in Bristol harbour (as live locally) - it's cheap-ish (but prices going up): however, it is a real faff to go out sailing (48hr pre-booking lock and plimsoll bridge swing then long trek down the Avon and then still at the muddy and of the BC). We can never go sailing just for the day. If you can stand the drive to Cardiff (or Swansea) you have got much more flexibility on the Welsh side of the channel IMHO.
Portishead has good facilities, more range and flexibility on getting in/out and easy to get to (for us) but still quite pricey IMHO. Watchet would have been an option (nice town and location) but see issues with dredging, etc. (on this forum).
....but if you are driving that distance from Cirencester - you might as well drive to south coast have have a nicer time sailing

 

[thejonesey]

Thank you both. I did look at Cardiff Bay but it is as far to drive to Hamble.

 

[38mess]

I know this doesn't help you much but the best thing I ever did with my sailing boat was to move it from Cardiff bay to Milford every summer.

 

[bitbaltic]

I know this doesn't help you much but the best thing I ever did with my sailing boat was to move it from Cardiff bay to Milford every summer.

Snap

I wouldn’t consider the inner Bristol Channel again with a sailing boat and Jwilsons points above apply to a faster displacement mobo. If I had a 45+ ft boat I might bring it to Cardiff for winter berthing (20 mins from home) but even the probably not. I’m proud to have 6 years in the inner channel on my skippers CV but with a young family looking for coastal sailing, that was then and Milford is now.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

From Portishead leaving at HT you can only readily go to Cardiff or Newport to get there before tide prevents entry, and Newport is a mud berth. With practice and judgment one can get to Watchet Marina if one can make fair speed but their rocky ledges dredging state and rising gate can be an issue, and if late one has to anchor in Blue Anchor Bay and rise on the tide to Watchet. Leaving at rising 0.5 tide you can get to St Piere Pill Chepstow but pontoon dries to mud, so if you dont want to dryits turn round and back to Portishead. You can also rise on tide to Sharpness canal though company or "pilot" might be needed as odd and challenging waters

So its day sailing, another trip to Cardiff, set to go "Down Along' and head for Swansea or just keep going till you get to the Camel Estuary or even St Ives.

After 30 years of it I got fed up and went to South Cornwall

 

[solitaire11]

You will be really dissapointed coming from hamble to the bristol channel, i boat in both, but it's chalk and cheese! Theres nowhere to day boat /overnight really compared to the south coast.

 

[thejonesey]

Thanks all. It does not sound right for us given the lack of day boating. Perhaps I’ll buy a nicer car to make the run easier instead!

 

[jwilson]

I actually like the Bristol Channel, but you really need a boat with two iron keels that can take the ground anywhere. Few of these built these days. Modern fin-keelers deny you lots of interesting places to go, from Lynmouth and Porlock to Solva and Porth Gain.

 

[Allan]

I sailed in Bristol channel from Cardiff for years and loved it. The appeal for me has diminished dramatically due to the problems at Lydney harbour and Watchet. Bristol harbour is more difficult these days too.
I would take issue with the comment about needing bilge keels. In most of the muddy places, Western, Newport, St Pierre, Thornbury etc. a single keel normally sits much more upright. The only places that a bilge benefits are places like Watermouth cove, where you dry out on hard sand.
Allan

 

[jwilson]

I take the point that in some of the jelly-muddy pills a fin will sink in and you may heel a fair bit more with twin keels, but you don't really want a fin keel in many of the nicer places west of the Holms. Unless you like always drying against walls or anchoring off.

 

[Birdseye]

I dont think its a good location for a MoBo. After all, your boat is about the destination more than anything else, and there simply arent that many destinations in the BC compared to the Solent. For raggies like me, the boat is all about the boat handling and sailing and a bit of racing - at 5kn I cant get far in a tide anyway. So whilst I am pottering locally and kidding myself that I am the new Ben Ainslie, you are all about tearing up the water ( wallet and fuel) towards somewhere pleasant to stop.

 

[thejonesey]

I dont think its a good location for a MoBo. After all, your boat is about the destination more than anything else, and there simply arent that many destinations in the BC compared to the Solent. For raggies like me, the boat is all about the boat handling and sailing and a bit of racing - at 5kn I cant get far in a tide anyway. So whilst I am pottering locally and kidding myself that I am the new Ben Ainslie, you are all about tearing up the water ( wallet and fuel) towards somewhere pleasant to stop.

Thank for your thoughts. I see your point but we tend to travel at 5/6 knots these days too! That said it’s not sailing which I love as well.