Visitor Moorings - Swansea Bay

steveej

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anyone know if there visitor moorings in the Swansea bay/mumbles area?

The marina will be closed when I get there.

Thanks
 
They are fairly shallow and I think dry out. We have always anchored just North of the lifeboat station, which is fairly sheltered (from anything with a westerly hint to it) and has a good holding.
 
There is a pontoon outside the tawe lock ? - and a yellow holding buoy mid channel. Very little water there though at LW springs !

Maybe worth calling the marina and asking about the pontoon - and depths there?
 
There is a pontoon outside Tawe Lock and there are 2 holding buoys but to be honest, aside from it being tricky at LW springs, the water there stinks so much at the moment that it would be thoroughly unpleasant. I'd only use it in an emergency.
 
Are you getting there when the tawe lock is closed because of low water, or are you getting there when the marina is closed at night?

If it's during the night but there is plenty of water until 7am I'd probably go on the pontoon or the (two orange) holding buoys as the river is easy enough to enter. I wouldn't enter it at night near low water, it is shallower than charts suggest and can get choppy near the pier heads. In part the choice depends on your ability/attitude to taking the ground.

IIRC the almanac suggests a holding area ?west of the west pier head but you should check that out. It is all quite shallow.

As Shan says there is something of a 'pool' near the old lifeboat station at mumbles where you can anchor in around ?2m below CD if the wind has west in it. Certainly go here if you are sitting out a daytime lock closure and there is west in the wind. moorings along mumbles front get very shallow.

If you are arriving at night, near low water, in anything from south through east to north east, double check your plan because there is no shelter in Swansea bay from such winds and you may be forced to try to enter the river if the wind gets up.
 
I might be missing something because LW is at 19:45 or thereabouts according to my navionics app and the marina will be open. Where are you coming from and with what boat? If you arrive later in the night and after LW you are going to have water in the river all night(hw at 2am) and still have 3m of it when they open for business at 7am. I don't know the depths on the waiting pontoon or your draft, but my guess is that would be all right. Pull onto it on a rising tide and reduce to datum to check it out before turning in.

Predict Wind says you could see the wind veer from west through north to north east during Friday night into daylight Saturday, possibly uncomfortable at anchor off mumbles and you might be up resetting it.
 
Coming from Cardiff its only a little 22ft boat, 1.2m draught. It would be because I want to leave in the night at the next HW to get to Lundy / Ilfracombe and the lock will be closed. So its just a case of hanging out for 6 hours.
 
Coming from Cardiff its only a little 22ft boat, 1.2m draught. It would be because I want to leave in the night at the next HW to get to Lundy / Ilfracombe and the lock will be closed. So its just a case of hanging out for 6 hours.

Is there a reason you want go to Swansea? In a similar time you could be in Combe Martin or Ilfracombe? If you leave Cardiff 2hrs before high water and hug the coast until the tide turns it's quite possible in a 22ft boat.
Allan
 
Then I would not go to Swansea at all. It is quite a detour from your rhumb line (as Allan says, Ilfracombe is not and there are other options on the English coast). I would also look into going non-stop, depends on how well you can punch the neap flood. If you would have to punch part of it to get to Swansea, why not punch it all?
 
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