The Gazelle, Anglesey

[citygent111]

Hi all,

We're now based out of Conwy marina, and thinking it might be nice to visit the Gazelle this summer - never been before.

Is it still possible/advisable to tie up on their slipway? I understand its quite rundown so not sure if it's still realistic?

Alternatively, how close can we get to shore? Draught is about 1m, so not too silly, but obviously being a 6m boat we don't have a tender - can't even fit a paddleboard on board!

The Mrs won't want to be wading ashore if we're going for lunch, so need to plan this carefully to keep her happy :-)

And tide times - is there a recommended window of when it's safe to visit, perhaps 90 mins either side of HW?

Many thanks in advance :-)

[ptm]

Good day.
The Gazelle itself might be a better place to start. A visit at low water wouldn’t be a great idea because it gets really slippy with seaweed etc. Last time I went there were one or two rings available to tie-up, but it was a while ago. Around high water is best. There are usually one or two empty moorings nearby but you wouldn’t want to be swimming to shore and back in the Straits!

[citygent111]

Originally Posted by ptm

Good day.
The Gazelle itself might be a better place to start. A visit at low water wouldn’t be a great idea because it gets really slippy with seaweed etc. Last time I went there were one or two rings available to tie-up, but it was a while ago. Around high water is best. There are usually one or two empty moorings nearby but you wouldn’t want to be swimming to shore and back in the Straits!

Nope! Definitely not swimming it!!

We're based in Conwy marina, so it's a round trip from there - I'm working on 90 mins either side of HW to give us a 3hr visit 'window' - should be enough for a pint & a butty!

[willk]

https://www.rib.net/forum/f8/good-pu...tml#post726547

Some info from Pisshead Pawl - the Beer/Wales expert

[Pikey Dave]

Tied up there a few times, but it can be a tad iffy. You need to know where & how to tie up. As already mentioned, a visit to the Gazelle from the shore on a falling tide would be time well spent.
P.s. we can carry & deploy a tender from our 5.45. Just needs organisation & is a game changer in tricky situations.

[citygent111]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Tied up there a few times, but it can be a tad iffy. You need to know where & how to tie up. As already mentioned, a visit to the Gazelle from the shore on a falling tide would be time well spent.
P.s. we can carry & deploy a tender from our 5.45. Just needs organisation & is a game changer in tricky situations.

Yeah I am getting that impression Dave, a lot of disgarded crap on the seabed too by all accounts.

How do you work the tender then? Strapped to the boat somehow or inflated as needed?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by citygent111

Yeah I am getting that impression Dave, a lot of disgarded crap on the seabed too by all accounts.

How do you work the tender then? Strapped to the boat somehow or inflated as needed?

There's an old stone slip that's rough in places, you can tie up against it, but depending on the tide/wind, you either end up sat on it or rubbing against it. i prefer to drop my passengers off on the slip & anchor off on either side, depending on tide/wind direction. I either swim ashore in my drysuit or cadge a lift. We also sit outside so you can keep an eye on the boat. As soon as you drop the anchor, some numpty will want to raft up against you if it's busy.

Re. the tender. It's only a little one man affair & it lives rolled up in a soft bag stashed in the bow. It's literally a 5 minute job to inflate it on the RIB & shove it over the side. I bought it off a former member of this parish & it's been a godsend in certain situations.

[citygent111]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

There's an old stone slip that's rough in places, you can tie up against it, but depending on the tide/wind, you either end up sat on it or rubbing against it. i prefer to drop my passengers off on the slip & anchor off on either side, depending on tide/wind direction. I either swim ashore in my drysuit or cadge a lift. We also sit outside so you can keep an eye on the boat. As soon as you drop the anchor, some numpty will want to raft up against you if it's busy.

Re. the tender. It's only a little one man affair & it lives rolled up in a soft bag stashed in the bow. It's literally a 5 minute job to inflate it on the RIB & shove it over the side. I bought it off a former member of this parish & it's been a godsend in certain situations.

Hmmm - decisions! I've seen a few photos of the pub with about 15 ribs either beached or in the shallows. I'm not risking that, but would be happy to do as you did and anchor/swim.

OR....you got me thinking, I have an inflatable 2 man kayak in the garage! We have a 12v pump on board for blowing up the Ringo, so it'd be just as good at blowing up the kayak - I could drop off on the slip, anchor up then paddle to the pub! Less worry about tide times then too I guess?

What's the best/worst time to visit then, thinking about the tide times and the speed the water flows up/down the Strait?

[Kristoff]

I stop there regularly, never tie up to the rings on the old slipway. The boat would get banged against it.

I nose the rib in and jump out, pull the stern in and the passengers jump off, then I motor out and anchor up. If I have the paddle board inflated, I'll use that as a tender. If not, I'm swimming.

If you don't want to get wet, you'll need a tender of some sorts.

I wouldn't worry about the tide times that much. It runs fierce through there but the gazelle isn't in the very narrow part of the straits. Just make sure your ground tackle is decent. And keep an eye on it if the tide swings.

[citygent111]

Originally Posted by Kristoff

I stop there regularly, never tie up to the rings on the old slipway. The boat would get banged against it.

I nose the rib in and jump out, pull the stern in and the passengers jump off, then I motor out and anchor up. If I have the paddle board inflated, I'll use that as a tender. If not, I'm swimming.

If you don't want to get wet, you'll need a tender of some sorts.

I wouldn't worry about the tide times that much. It runs fierce through there but the gazelle isn't in the very narrow part of the straits. Just make sure your ground tackle is decent. And keep an eye on it if the tide swings.

Thanks for this mate, really helpful!

Well I dug out the inflatable kayak from the garage and with a decent pump it took 3 mins to inflate, so that looks like a plan for our next trip out!

Where you pull the stern up, it it quite sandy? Just thinking about the hull! And how far out do you anchor?

Cheers 😁

[Kristoff]

The bottom is sand littered with small rocks, pebble side up to bowling ball size. You can get in shallow enough to let passengers disembark via the rear boarding ladder without banging the hull on the bottom.

How far out I anchor depends on if the tide is rising or falling.

[ptm]

Have you ever heard of or used a bungee anchor- it's a very handy piece of kit to have on board. It is a small grapnel anchor attached to a nylon-shrouded bungee line. Clip it to the towing eye at the stern and drop it overboard about 10m out then carefully motor to shore, drop your crew off and secure a long line to a secure point ashore, then let your boat drift back out on the bungee. When you're ready to board, just pull the boat back in, load-up, take-in the mooring line and drift out again and recover the bungee. Of course you need to judge the tide as you would anyway, but it's a good method and as a bonus can be quite impressive to those onlookers who always seem to be around willing you to fail! The one I bought went by the name 'Anchor Buddy'. You might have a bit of a search but I'm sure they'll still out there.

[Chris Caton]

if you go at HT then you can just pull up on to the beach near the top of the slip, it is stoney but it’s ok :thumbs from memory there’s a wire rope running down the slip you can tie on to not been for a while, best person to ask is “HUMBER P4VWL”, they have a rib on a mooring by the pub

[willk]

Originally Posted by ptm

The one I bought went by the name 'Anchor Buddy'. You might have a bit of a search but I'm sure they'll still out there.

They are, but more widely available in North America - likely as they are more useful in non-tidal waters. I bought a Chinese knockoff recently, seems sturdy enough, yet to deploy.

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by ptm

Have you ever heard of or used a bungee anchor- it's a very handy piece of kit to have on board. It is a small grapnel anchor attached to a nylon-shrouded bungee line. Clip it to the towing eye at the stern and drop it overboard about 10m out then carefully motor to shore, drop your crew off and secure a long line to a secure point ashore, then let your boat drift back out on the bungee. When you're ready to board, just pull the boat back in, load-up, take-in the mooring line and drift out again and recover the bungee. Of course you need to judge the tide as you would anyway, but it's a good method and as a bonus can be quite impressive to those onlookers who always seem to be around willing you to fail! The one I bought went by the name 'Anchor Buddy'. You might have a bit of a search but I'm sure they'll still out there.

I bought the the smaller version for my sib and have used it quite a few times. Once you've got the hang of it, it works very well, I think as in all anchoring circumstances, the trick is to use the right anchor.

https://boatworld.co.uk/boatworld-anchor-bungee

[tinker]

I have used this mooring technique,.come across it in Fowey on a permanent mooring off a jetty and used it with an anchor a few times and an oar stuck in the sand to hold the recovery loop, (saves someone stubbing their toe on an anchor)

https://www.boatingmag.com/clothesline-mooring/