Recommendation on nice place to put in a 19ft bilge keel to build confidence with family

[richard1978]

Hi everyone,
I'm currently renovating a 19ft bilge keel boat for occassional sailing with my kids. Its on a trailer but would realistically need lifting in/out at start/end of season or holiday (I can't believe its launchable on a slip). Although I've been sailing most of my life, it's typically only a few times a year on other peoples' boats so I'm looking for a location where I can build up some confidence in relatively benign environment i.e. not too hectic or with strong/complex tidal flows. Recently I've been sailing from Port Hamble on the Solent, but this is probably the opposite of what I'm after! My experience in the UK beyond this area is pretty limited (most of my sailing has been is in Ireland). I'm based near Oxford so realistically we're talking of south coast, south west or maybe east coast?
I've been asking friends/family and have been given a few suggestions but I would really appreciate anyone with local experience. If you were in my situation, where would you head to?
Thanks in advance!
Best wishes,
Richard

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Edit. Chichester or possibly Poole harbour would be my first thought.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

How about somewhere in Chichester harbour - Emsworth? Beautiful area, plenty of places a 19' bilge keeler can explore. You could fill a couple of very happy years there without venturing further than the Winners.

Gets a bit busy when the dinghy racing is on but easy to keep out of their way. Modest tidal flow rates inside the arms and creeks of the natural harbour.

 

[Norman_E]

Its a longer trek from Oxford but I think that somewhere on the East coast mey suit you, possibly on the Blackwater if you can find a mooring.

 

[banger]

Norfolk Broads, long way but ideal for learning, you will tack more in a week than the rest of your life ?

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The Orwell, Stour and Walton Backwaters are the classic beginner waters - sheltered, not too busy, and well written up by Arthur Ransome! Plenty marinas, and I think moorings are relatively available compared with other places mentioned.

 

[Refueler]

I go for the Solent Harbours ... Langstone was chosen for Mulberrys because of its size .... Chichester has more interesting bolt holes to anchor / nose onto ...
I had a 19ft Alacrity in Chi Hbr first ... had some really good days in the Hbr sailing out of Thornham Marina ... then moved round to Langstone and to a Fishing Club mooring ....
But Langstone meant venturing out into Solent for any real 'ventures' ...

Poole Hbr is a good bet and easy run down from Oxford ...

Interested to know why you say you cannot launch / recover from the trailer ?

I had a standard road trailer for my Alacrity and we launched / recovered on that frequently.

 

[Aurai]

Hello, plenty of people can vouch for areas they know.

my suggestion is to consider the R Medway. There is plenty of navigable water to sail, without going to sea. Access is fast, from M25, and if you head for Upnor/Hoo you get dual carriageway nearly all the way. Several Clubs to choose from, you can contact me to discuss my own, which has many bilge keel boats, plenty of moorings and all the launch recovery facilities.

Very few times you cannot sail as waters are sheltered and, generally, at least one level down from the Inshore Forecast wind speeds. Access is tidally affected, but you soon learn, all the best

 

[Sticky Fingers]

The Orwell, Stour and Walton Backwaters are the classic beginner waters - sheltered, not too busy, and well written up by Arthur Ransome! Plenty marinas, and I think moorings are relatively available compared with other places mentioned.

That's a good suggestion

 

[Jungle Jim]

How about the next river up from the Hamble? The Itchen has reasonable marinas, as it's 40 minutes to the solent its a lot less busy than the Hamble and in my opinion the tides aren't as fierce. There are public slipways as well, plus there's plenty of easy sailing around Southampton Water for a small boat.

Or as you can take the ground, what about Eling or Marchwood? All the above are easy to access from Oxford.

 

[fredrussell]

If the south coast is closer then go there. I love the east coast sailing but I would love it considerably less if I had to tackle half the M25 to get there.

 

[richard1978]

Thank youy everyone for some great suggestions - I'll do some investigating!

 

[richard1978]

Interested to know why you say you cannot launch / recover from the trailer ?

I had a standard road trailer for my Alacrity and we launched / recovered on that frequently.

Maybe I'm being defeatist ! I've not tried it yet so don't know for sure. The boat didn't come on a trailer originally and the dimensions look like it would be challenging. But I could well be wrong as I have no experience of using trailers for launching boats!

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The East Coast and its creeks are a bit far, but having prepared boats for transit in Langstone and Emsworth I can reccomend these sheltered creeks, paricularly Emsworth. And when you/they are confident you can "go abroad" to the OOW Bembridge

 

[Refueler]

Maybe I'm being defeatist ! I've not tried it yet so don't know for sure. The boat didn't come on a trailer originally and the dimensions look like it would be challenging. But I could well be wrong as I have no experience of using trailers for launching boats!

Its always a nerve wracking experience till you get a few under the belt.

Before launch ... make clear marks on side vertical bars / trailer for boat position ... I also made small neat marks on the boat as an aid to know when correctly positioned.

Launching ... make sure that boat is balanced well and therefore nose of trailer sits down onto the jockey wheel to counter the slipway slope. Back car / trailer combo down and STOP before car gets to water ... take good strong rope and make fast to trailer and take a turn round tow bar. Have two ropes .. one from rear of boat to windward side ... other from bow of boat - these you use to control boat as it floats .... Yes I've seen people launch and forget to have rope to boat !!
Now make sure jockey wheel is turned to have trailer run straight ... set jockey wheel down and unhitch ... while keeping trailer still by the rope on towbar.
Once trailer unhitched and ready ... let her roll down ... the jockey wheel should run straight and your rope will keep trailer nose in line ... boat floats off ... car with rope still on tow bar can now move back up slipway pulling trailer out by the rope.

Recovery is a reverse of this .. you set trailer down in the water with rope to the towbar ... BUT you now have side bars on trailer to help guide boat ... now I use three ropes ... two are one each side just aft of midships to control lateral and one from bow to pull her forward ...
When car pulls trailer and boat out - I always had boat bow rope to car as well as the trailer rope ... to keep both together ...

If position is not correct ... let her back down into water and position again ...

The main trick is : Use a rope between car and trailer ... so car never has to get wet. The number of times I've seen Speedboat merchants with cars up to their axles in water ... there's absolutely no need for it ..

I know some will have a slightly different system and way of doing it .. fine .. we all refine and adjust methods to suit our trailers / setup ...

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

You can launch from a trailer on a beach beside a slipway easily enough, by placing the boat at low tide with shore lines tied to the slipway and allowing the tide to float it. A long line will allow you to retrieve the trailer as soon as the boat is afloat. This is a better method where there is a small tidal range and perhaps a likelihood of the trailer getting stuck at the bottom of the slipway (check the state of this at low water).
If you do launch from a slipway use a long line and the force of gravity so as to keep the rear end of your car dry or prevent it sliding into the water.
Getting the boat out is more difficult as someone will have to go into the water to position the keels on the trailer, unless you modify it with some means of guiding it (the boat) into place e.g. demountable docking arms.
I found, after my first attempt that paying for a crane was preferable.
You have recognised that it's more practical to only lift in and out only once per season.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

You can launch from a trailer on a beach beside a slipway easily enough, by placing the boat at low tide with shore lines tied to the slipway and allowing the tide to float it. A long line will allow you to retrieve the trailer as soon as the boat is afloat. This is a better method where there is a small tidal range and perhaps a likelihood of the trailer getting stuck at the bottom of the slipway (check the state of this at low water).
If you do launch from a slipway use a long line and the force of gravity so as to keep the rear end of your car dry or prevent it sliding into the water.
Getting the boat out is more difficult as someone will have to go into the water to position the keels on the trailer, unless you modify it with some means of guiding it (the boat) into place e.g. demountable docking arms.
I found, after my first attempt that paying for a crane was preferable.
You have recognised that it's more practical to only lift in and out only once per season.

Lift keelers can be launched and retreived with some skill but cant take the ground unless pure mud or sand. Bilge keelers need deeper water/longer launcg ropes to launch and are a b**r to get back on trailer, nut once launched can take almost any drying mooring

 

[Refueler]

Beaches are good for launch - BUT stay away from the sand that suffers tide ... I've seen too many cars think its dry and suitable for the car - to then find the wheels churning away in wet sand ... needing another car to pull it out !!

But the advantage of course is that setting boat at low tide to float of - does not interfere with others who want to launch / recover - which is case with slipways.

My Wife and I (wife was totally non-boaty !) used to launch / recover my Alacrity 19 Bilge keeler and later my Snapdragon 23 Triple keeler onto standard road trailers ... even at Tudor Club in Langstone - where the slipway is very long and open to all the tide / wind effects.

As regards going off the end of the slip into mud etc. - its only a problem if trying to recover boat ... you then have difficulty getting boat and trailer to lift up over the edge ... but launch ? Never found it a problem ... in fact at Thornham - manager pushed my trailer over the lip to get my boat off and me to clear slipway so he could launch other boats .. car pulled trailer out fine as it had no weight on it.
Farlington Slipway (Havant) was same ... no problem.

 

[Stemar]

OK, I'm biased, as I've been based there for years, but a drying mooring in Portsmouth Harbour needn't break the bank. Yes, the tide going in and out can be a bit strong, but that's really just a matter of timing, and apart from fighting a spring ebb to get back in, isn't really a problem. If you want to walk ashore, there are affordable places in Fareham.

Otherwise, as others have suggested, Chichester Harbour. Lots of places to go without braving the entrance, which really isn't that bad until there's enough wind that you really don't want to be out in a 19 footer, and easy access to the Solent, with all the places to go. I don't know what they charge to park a boat, but Hayling Yacht Co would be my first place to look for a walk ashore mooring, or one of the small marinas at the top of the channels

I'll have a contract on my head for saying this, but, once you get away from the Solent area, most of the South Coast that's within reach of Oxford isn't that great because you haven't got a lot of destinations - it's pretty much out and back for a day sail, or a bit of a hike in a small boat. Portland/Weymouth are "best of the rest" and I would consider there, but it's starting to get a bit far. Devon and Cornwall have many a supporter, but are a loooonnnnng way from Oxford,

The east coast is good, but a long way from Oxford. For your kind of sailing, I'd suggest a couple of hours maximum travelling, and I reckon most of the E coast is three hours or more on a Friday evening. Bristol Channel? Plenty love it, but the tides can be fierce.

You'll be told that a trailer sailer can be launched anywhere, and it's true, but the vast majority of people who start off doing that find it's a faff to launch and rig before sailing then recover and unrig the mast every time

 

[Refueler]

As Stemar says ... many places on South Coast .. most coast in fact are out and in again places with little to go to ...

There is good reason why Solent is so popular with boaters ... its a small sea area of its own basically with a lot of places to go to with / without mooring marina .. beaches, inlets, bays etc.
Staying inside the large natural harbours can provide excellent family days on water .. and being a bilge keeler ... its run up to beach ... dry out - enjoy ... float off when tide returns ...

But one word of caution : The tidal currents in the entrances to the harbours : Chichester, Langstone and Portsmouth - because of the large body of water and the narrow entrances - creates streams that can run 6kts or more ... so timing is important if you are only with moderate engine aux.