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

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

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.

Where I am, there is a drop off the end of the slipway that looks, AFAIR, about two feet. The slipway is fine for motorboats, ribs, dinghies and lifting keelers but has a very small window of sufficient height of tide for a bilge keeler on a trailer.
Thankfully I now have a much bigger, fin keel boat!

 

[Solent sailer]

anywhere on the solent /chichester would be good, Poole has a lot of shallow spots for learning and would be a bit small for a family break. the solent gives you lots of places to visit with plenty of depth and fairly benign tidal streams. all of the solent is sheltered compared to outside so great for learning in a smaller boat.

 

[Refueler]

Where I am, there is a drop off the end of the slipway that looks, AFAIR, about two feet. The slipway is fine for motorboats, ribs, dinghies and lifting keelers but has a very small window of sufficient height of tide for a bilge keeler on a trailer.
Thankfully I now have a much bigger, fin keel boat!

2ft .... that's a lot ... slips I've seen usually are not more than 1/2 to 1ft .. but even so a trailer should be able to pull up and over once empty ..

 

[Refueler]

anywhere on the solent /chichester would be good, Poole has a lot of shallow spots for learning and would be a bit small for a family break. the solent gives you lots of places to visit with plenty of depth and fairly benign tidal streams. all of the solent is sheltered compared to outside so great for learning in a smaller boat.

There are also quite a number of municipal free slipways ...

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Normally we get someone come along and ask where they can launch their trailer sailer. Tradition has it that we tell them that they don't want to do that, launching is tricky, stepping the mast every weekend is a nightmare and stuff will regularly get broken.

I didn't realise that the opposite advice is to be offered to someone who hadn't previously wanted to trailer sail. What fun.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Normally we get someone come along and ask where they can launch their trailer sailer. Tradition has it that we tell them that they don't want to do that, launching is tricky, stepping the mast every weekend is a nightmare and stuff will regularly get broken.

I didn't realise that the opposite advice is to be offered to someone who hadn't previously wanted to trailer sail. What fun.

Most the advice on trailing was "Dont" except maybe once a year. The advise on where to leave the boat was still good, limitting distance to boat with family in car plus relatively sheltered and non-extreme tides

 

[Concerto]

This web site will give you an idea of where you could possibly launch.
Boatlaunch

 

[PilotWolf]

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

Be careful of Poole, lovely location but there's a lot of catch outs there.

W

 

[Refueler]

Normally we get someone come along and ask where they can launch their trailer sailer. Tradition has it that we tell them that they don't want to do that, launching is tricky, stepping the mast every weekend is a nightmare and stuff will regularly get broken.

I didn't realise that the opposite advice is to be offered to someone who hadn't previously wanted to trailer sail. What fun.

As one who posted about launching etc. - it was prompted by the OP's own comment about being unsure of doing it.

As to tradition ? I agree that often its suggested that finding a suitable mooring etc. is preferable to launch / recovery - but its a job that should be learnt like most other matters with boating ... developing the skill has rewards in being able to consider exploring other areas with the boat.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Be careful of Poole, lovely location but there's a lot of catch outs there.W

Sandbanks (Poole) is UK millionaire row. Prices anywhere near there are very high. However in some of the drying creeks and backwaters of say Emsworth they are just normally high

 

[PilotWolf]

Sandbanks (Poole) is UK millionaire row. Prices anywhere near there are very high. However in some of the drying creeks and backwaters of say Emsworth they are just normally high

The drying and shallow areas are what I was thinking off plus the Sandbanks ferry...

W

 

[oldmanofthehills]

The drying and shallow areas are what I was thinking off plus the Sandbanks ferry...W

Ive run aground trying succesfully to keep out of way of sandbanks chainferry Also run aground straying between islands. Great fun but Poole harbour can be trying until you get the hang with many shallow patches and some lack of clarity.

Emsworth and Langstone simpler. The water is there in the creeks or its out.

 

[jdc]

Welcome Richard.

I think the key thing is to make sure your family enjoy it and going to the boat is not 'Daddy's obsession' but a real highlight. To that end I completely disagree with the suggestions of the east coast. I speak (write) as one who kept his boat at Pin Mill for years and after that Waldringfield, so I'm in touch with my inner Maurice Griffiths and know, appreciate and love the east coast, but one spends so much time worrying about the tide that it's actually not fun for the kids (it's maybe apposite that the first person on this tread to suggest the east coast, despite living in Cambridge, actually sails out of W Scotland).

From Oxford I recommend either the Solent, of which I know little, or the SW of England. It's about 5 hrs(1) to Falmouth, and of course less to Exmouth (but in Exmouth there are still too many tidal issues for real fun and escapism). Dartmouth, Salcombe, the Tamar (eg Weir Quay), Fowey or the Fal seem better to me. Despite living and working in Cambridge for 35+ years I moved my boat from the E coast to Mylor near Falmouth about 20 years ago and never regretted it. We used to(2) set off from Cambridge late Friday afternoon, call in near Oxford to collect crew, and get to Mylor around 1am. Then sail over night to somewhere, possibly the Scillies, but often only the 20 mins sail across to St Just. Getting up on the Saturday morning the heart sang! The water is different, the scenery ditto.

(1) I assume not in central Oxford? St Aldates to the Botley road A34/A420 roundabout on a Friday afternoon is hell on earth, and can add an hour.
(2) Eventually we moved to Cornwall

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Welcome Richard.

I think the key thing is to make sure your family enjoy it and going to the boat is not 'Daddy's obsession' but a real highlight. To that end I completely disagree with the suggestions of the east coast. I speak (write) as one who kept his boat at Pin Mill for years and after that Waldringfield, so I'm in touch with my inner Maurice Griffiths and know, appreciate and love the east coast, but one spends so much time worrying about the tide that it's actually not fun for the kids (it's maybe apposite that the first person on this tread to suggest the east coast, despite living in Cambridge, actually sails out of W Scotland).

From Oxford I recommend either the Solent, of which I know little, or the SW of England. It's about 5 hrs(1) to Falmouth, and of course less to Exmouth (but in Exmouth there are still too many tidal issues for real fun and escapism). Dartmouth, Salcombe, the Tamar (eg Weir Quay), Fowey or the Fal seem better to me. Despite living and working in Cambridge for 35+ years I moved my boat from the E coast to Mylor near Falmouth about 20 years ago and never regretted it. We used to(2) set off from Cambridge late Friday afternoon, call in near Oxford to collect crew, and get to Mylor around 1am. Then sail over night to somewhere, possibly the Scillies, but often only the 20 mins sail across to St Just. Getting up on the Saturday morning the heart sang! The water is different, the scenery ditto.

(1) I assume not in central Oxford? St Aldates to the Botley road A34/A420 roundabout on a Friday afternoon is hell on earth, and can add an hour.
(2) Eventually we moved to Cornwall

I used to sail out if the west coast of Scotland, but the travelling became too much and I moved to the East coast. I'm now berthed at Titchmarsh, on Secret Water!

 

[Iliade]

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.

Securely lashing a fender or two to the rearmost end of the trailer will reduce its effective weight and make this even easier, just don't overdo it and have the thing floating!

P.S. We were at Thornham for a while in the nineties when Jim Titmarsh took over - I did seem to spend an inordinate amount of time using the keel to dig new rythes in the dark when all we had to guide us were withies and an incandescent torch ;0)

 

[Refueler]

Securely lashing a fender or two to the rearmost end of the trailer will reduce its effective weight and make this even easier, just don't overdo it and have the thing floating!

P.S. We were at Thornham for a while in the nineties when Jim Titmarsh took over - I did seem to spend an inordinate amount of time using the keel to dig new rythes in the dark when all we had to guide us were withies and an incandescent torch ;0)

My Father had his Hilyard at Paynes next door and then moved to Fareham Club ...

I liked Thornham but access was very limited and I was told that dredging was not allowed as it was a conservation area ...

A number of times I had to anchor my Alacrity to wait tide to get onto the pontoon. Some neaps - I couldn't get to my allotted berth !

Later I heard Thornham was sold to a London based outfit ...

 

[LittleSister]

I think the key thing is to make sure your family enjoy it and going to the boat is not 'Daddy's obsession' but a real highlight.

+1

. . . appreciate and love the east coast, but one spends so much time worrying about the tide that it's actually not fun

I don't agree with this at all. I sail on the East Coast and don't find tides a 'worry' at all.

I agree with Antarctic Pilot that the Orwell etc. is a very good cruising ground for a beginner (and also the more experienced).

I've previously been based on the South Coast and West Country, and they have their advantages (and tides!), too.

 

[PilotWolf]

Not trying to scare you but be careful of taking a car on to a wet slipway. As someone else said use a rope to belay the trailer down the slip to th water.

Probably not practical for a leisure user but the other option is to have an extension bar made for the tow hitch

I know a professional and competent crew launching a RIB watch the rig and brand new Ranage Rover slide down the slip into the water. Needless to say it was written off - they had the bar made up after that and the company banned all vehicles on slipways

W.