Swellies - The Knowledge......

[jmt]

I know there are lots of folk out there (Kawasaki!!) who know the Swellies well. I have boated for years around Anglesey, but have only ever taken the standard route between the bridges.

On Saturday, my friend and I were up early and we put a jet bike in at Menai Bridge and spent a copuple of hours exploring between the bridges at low tide. Apart from us, there were only a couple of fishing boats about. We had a GPS (but sorry no camera with us) and had a very interesting time exploring round the back of the house and all over the place - we covered 24 miles!

One question - if you come in from the road/rail bridge end and head to the left of the house, on the GPS there is an asterix (similar to the one that shows the Pole/Mark on Swelly Rock on the other side) when you are just past being abreast of the house in the middle of the channel. There is nothing obvious we could see in the water. Is there a wreck or something else there under the water? It may just be our lack of familiarity with the GPS we had.

Great fun exploring and also having a little bit of fun in the whirlpools and rough water created by Swelly Rock! Going backwards against the land with a little throttle on is a strange experience.

Next time we are in the boats, I will feel much more confident about the area and look forward to going through "the other side".

 

[ColdFusion]

Is there a wreck or something else there under the water?

Something else, otherwise known as a rock

 

[catalac08]

Certainly there is a passage the other side of swelly rock - I was anchored just before the bridge one night waiting for the right time to go and where I could see swelly rock. A largish sailing boat came rushing up and just went straight in from the PD end. It seemed to proceed well enough as we watched with interest, then we watched the white become green, then red then white then green and red again as it passed the wrong side of swelly rock and the nav lights stayed red again until it was almost under the other bridge. Two 360s, wrong side of SR and then backwards under the Menai Bridge-what now skip!

 

[Searush]

If you can get hold of a copy, the definitive Swellies pilot is in the 1950's YM Anglesey & N Wales Coast Pilot by Henry Glazebrook. It defines about half a dozen different routes, one of which is used by big ships that struggle to get the turns in for the normally recommended route.

CF is right there is a rock there but it is probably still underwater at LWS so wouldn't affect you in a jetski. The GPS chart is more focussed on deeper keel vessels. Pics below are from "wrong side of the island.

And this is the exit towards PD under the r/h arch of Stephenson's modified tubular bridge.

BTW, Caernarfon Harbour Trust have an excellent single sheet pilot guide for the Swellies and it is free from their office on the Slate Quay. I think there is a PDF copy on their web site if you want to download it.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

I've gone the 'wrong way' many times - Kawaski showed me the route - and I have not seen any large rock. The sonar shows a large number of peaks and troughs.

As Sea Rush says, the back route is used by big ships, such as the Balmoral, when it isn't dodging yachts in Watchet, and she isn't exactly small.

 

[Kawasaki]

exploring round the back of the house and all over the place - we covered 24 miles!


That is something I always explain to new peeps who ply the Strait
It'a amazing how many miles you can devour in the Strait
As opossed to nipping out of a Port an nipping back again.
Then the fuel is gone!
It's 17 miles long
Do it twice an yerve done 34, good at arithmetic me!

I digress but the biggest stastic the RNLI have as to 'shouts' is mobo peeps running out of fuel!

One question - if you come in from the road/rail bridge end and head to the left of the house, on the GPS there is an asterix (similar to the one that shows the Pole/Mark on Swelly Rock on the other side) when you are just past being abreast of the house in the middle of the channel. There is nothing obvious we could see in the water. Is there a wreck or something else there under the water? It may just be our lack of familiarity with the GPS we had.



Next time we are in the boats, I will feel much more confident about the area and look forward to going through "the other side".

Don't look or trust your GPS when negotiating the Swellies
Although the place doesn't change (like Caernarfon Bar etc) the 'sticky out' bits remain the same
Except for 'Price's Point' (the bit on the left going towards Caernarfon opposite The Swellie Rock Cardinal) It seems to me to have 'grown' a bit over the years.

Keep No. 1 eyeball as yer best navigation aid.
The 'pole mark' on the Swellie rock is a South Cardinal
Which tells you to keep 'South' obviously.

Don't forget
Each Producer of various Chart Plotters, like Chart Publishers, has a slightly different way of showing their own particular way or brand of 'cartogrophy'
Or whatever it is called
Admiralty
Yellow is Land , green is drying out and Blue is 5m
Then lighter blue is 10
Then white is 'deep'
Imray however
Green is land , sand is yellow and shallow is white
Then the deep blue sea is Blue!
Makes more sense to newbies when I show em!
Anyway.

I dunno what your 'Asterix' is there is no wreck there that will bother you.
There is a 'dead' mooring on the wrong side at the moment just under the water at high tides(even neaps) which is a nuisance.

The reason the Balmoral and some other large vessels go through on the 'wrong side' is because they have difficulty making the turn to port whilst heading to Caernarfon
Just after the Swellie South Cardinal, plus the fact that Prices Point sticks out more than is indicated on the Chart at LAT
Commercial vessels that used to ply the Swellies years ago,
to the old Shell jetty at Caernarfon etc, were probably more manouverable than the Balmoral etc.
They went through on the 'normal' side
All serious Commercial vessels have to have a Pilot with them through the Swellies
From Caernarfon Harbour Trust

Anyway
Back to the OP's origional query

As you pass under Brittania bridge
Going towards Menai
Keep 'just in the middle'
Head for the slipway on the island for 100 yards (half a Cable)
Then disect the channel
Then look for two dead trees
Then a Gravestone
Then





















Then send me a load of money in a brown envelope
If the job goes pear shaped!

Hey
Yer not far out with the Swellie job
Gis a PM next time yer about
Show yer whole lot fer a Pint
Usual terms and conditions of course

 

[jmt]

Thanks.....

Thanks all - interesting stuff. From our explore, the route the other side seems easy enough at low tide - just need to make sure that we have perspective when a lot of the things we could see are covered by water!

Off to Lanzarote oin a couple of hours - hopefully hire something out there and do some boating.

Thanks.