Sibbing in Fowey.

[Davey64]

We normally take the caravan down to Pentewan Sands and launch the SIB from there. There are plenty of coves & beaches to land & explore.
If you come out of Fowey harbour and head west around the headland into Carlyon Bay there is a village called Polkerris and the Rashleigh Arms there serves good food.
Also Portmellon just south of Mevagissey is nice too.

[Fenlander]

Thanks Davey... only just seen this. Yep I think Polkerris will be our "local".

Not long now... car fuelled up and packed with all the boat gear... just clothes and that to add and we'll be swooping down the M5 tomorrow evening.... just in time for a rainy weekend!

[paintman]

Have fun!

[Fenlander]

Thanks Paintman.

Well been here a couple of days with the usual settling in tasks... stocking up on food/drink and working out the lay of the land (and sea) etc. Fowey certainly seems an ideal sibbing location with a couple of decent launch slips... several pontoons for visiting eateries/shops... garage two mins up the road open 7am-8pm who has no problem with boat tanks etc.

Bit of boating related effort needed before inflating/launching though. Cottage is at the estuary waterside... with an all states of tide running mooring attached to the front of the place being a big attraction for us.

Turned out this mooring hadn't been used for months... the rope was covered in slime and near impossible to grip to pull in/out... and even once cleaned to get a grip the whole thing was twisted and covered with seaweed needing huge effort to move a metre at a time.

So at low water had to get out and wash off the whole rope length, untangle and remove weed etc. Thought I was home free but in testing it from right in to right out something snagged and it stuck out.

I was very grateful to a previously unknown to me forum member who lives nearby in helping to resolve this by jiggling the buoy from his dinghy while I heaved from the house end.

As long as the day brightens as forecast we'll get set up this afternoon and have our first run about the estuary.

[Fenlander]

Well been on holiday in Fowey ten days now and too busy holidaying to post some info but here's the first installment.

The only place to launch on the Fowey side is at Caffa Mill car park and slipway (PL23 1DF). This is adj to where the small car ferry operates... there is enough parking at this time of year to find a space every time we've returned from an outing (no parking at cottage) but school holiday times could be busy. About 25% of the car park area is set aside for boat storage and there is loads of space around this area to set a SIB up.

The public slipway is decent concrete at all states of the tide and not too busy. There is no pontoon but there are toilets/wash facility at the top of the slip (20p coin operated doors).

One image shows the ferry slipway in the foreground... the public slipway we used... and in the distance a third one, the old ferry slipway. The old ferry slipway can be used but it is on a narrow one way street with no parking so there is no purpose to it for sibbers.

There is no charge at the public slipway but you do need a harbour licence to operate in the estuary. Charge details at... https://www.foweyharbour.co.uk/

For the first time with a smallcraft we are moored for two weeks. As in the post above the mooring took a little sorting out but not having to do a daily setup or pull out is a luxury. It is quite hard to operate though so it cost me £23 for some sailing gloves to handle wet rigging so I could get a grip.

For various reasons this holiday's boating is more water taxi to eat/visit/shop than seagoing adventuring but the Fowey estuary is proving a perfect place to do this. It has a huge selection of craft to look at... both moored and travelling. From cargo ships pulled in by tugs to canoes everything is represented.

I have slightly revised my opinion of many of the eateries in that that there is a fair bit of "emperors new clothes" going on. This view is perhaps slightly skewed by daughter being a vegetarian and many menus making you something of an outcast with a "choice" of one/two dishes. But our go-to place has been the Quay Cafe Nos4r2 mentioned... more of that later.

[Mickhitchuk]

Looks like a lovely place, and good weather to go with it,is there a speed limit on the estuary?
Do you sleep ok with your sib moored up, or is it a heart in mouth job when you go look for it[emoji2]

[Fenlander]

Yep lucky with weather and it's a superb location for scenery, interest & boating.

There is a 6kt speed limit throughout until you pass seaward of Dawn French's gaff (see image, what a stunning location for a house). The usable length of the estuary from the sea is about 2.5Nm for a smallcraft but the last 0.5Nm dries loads either side at low tide so there's nowhere to stop.

For various reasons on this holiday we have so far mostly been content to enjoy the immediate area boat, wildlife and people watching just trickling along around 4-5kts. There are hundreds of boats here and having been on larger craft with parents as a younger child it's great to revisit the type of area I was knocking about 50+yrs ago.

Re theft I said before we came here there was no point in having the luxury of a mooring then being stressed to hell about the boat or engine being taken. I have taken all reasonable precautions and had my insurance co confirm by email the circumstances for these two weeks are fully covered by the temp policy upgrade to allow for boats moored on tidal waters. This is not normally included with a Craftinsure basic smallcraft policy.

Pics of one of the cargo ships from last week, a stunning 113ft French yacht that passed this morning, a beautiful Fairy Huntsman that I remember well from childhood and Dawn French's house marking the end of the 6kt limit.

[Fenlander]

Fowey has ticked off one of Mrs Fenlanders life wishes... to see a dolphin. OK so not quite the same as Donny and others being surrounded by them but one came to the area we were staying and appeared many times over two or three hours. I saw it first and rushed for the best camera... framed a perfect shot pushed the shutter and... no internal memory space message flashed up. Damn memory card was still in the laptop and by the time I'd run in to get that I just had a long distance shot to grab as you see here.

Other picture is heading for the middle/upper reaches of the estuary...idyllic and peaceful surrounded by the woodland covered hills.

[Sutty]

I was in Fowey over the weekend on the plastic pig and tried to call you on Ch 16 to no avail. Hoping to meet a foreign Ribnetter for a morning coffee and a croissant, so finished up talking to her in doors!!

[Fenlander]

Next bit of info for potential Fowey sibbers (and RIB users).

If you want to use a caravan or camping site Penmarlam is the place... about 300m up the road from the Mixtow/Penmarlam pontoon and slipway. On the opposite side of the estuary from Fowey itself.

The facilities at the slipway area are superb with plenty of space... wide slipway... excellent modern toilet and shower block plus the pontoon. Access to this whole area is barrier controlled and costs about £110/wk if you daily launch or almost £200/wk if you use the pontoon (prices inc harbour fees).

The Quay Cafe on site is excellent (to our taste anyway) with well cooked and reasonable priced light meals daytimes... and a slightly better menu PM. Run buy a pair of older guys who are either comedic or comedically grumpy depending on their mood.

One serious factor is the steepness of the slip and its approach... you'd need probably three fit adults to transom wheel a SIB out and to the parking/storage area and a damn good handbrake on a car towing a RIB.

[Fenlander]

>>>I was in Fowey over the weekend on the plastic pig and tried to call you on Ch 16


Sutty sorry about that.

It was eldest daughters birthday weekend visit (5hrs on the train each way for her) so we were somewhat distracted.

[paintman]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

One serious factor is the steepness of the slip and its approach... you'd need probably three fit adults to transom wheel a SIB out and to the parking/storage area and a damn good handbrake on a car towing a RIB.

Plastic wheelchocks of the type used by caravanners. I have several sets of these: www.towsure.com/caravan-wheel-chocks
If you tie a length of cord to each one & loop the other end over a convenient point on the car you don't need someone to pick them up when you drive away so they don't get in the way of the trailer wheels.

Use them when I launch & recover at Coverack - those that know it will know what the slip's like.
I've lent them to others who've got stuck & are having problems getting the clutch bite point on steep slopes (not just slips) & are worried about rolling back.

[smallribber]

We spent a week in Fowey last year taking both the 17 foot fletcher bow rider and our sib. We stayed in a little cottage on the waters edge at penmarlen and kept the boat on the marina pontoon. It was quite expensive but we had a lovely time. If the wind is in the wrong direction the sea can be quite rough

As fenlander has said the fowey estuary is quite short and dries out a lot at low water

The road down to the marina is quite scary and yes quite a steep slip. I was glad I went in my old Disvovery TD5

Dennis

[Fenlander]

Yep it was reading your report BP that started us thinking of Fowey.... and I remembered your cottage so we looked at its location when going to the Quay Cafe.

To clarify re the estuary drying out for anyone thinking of this destination... Yes it does in the very upper reaches but this is beyond the majority of the boating action and really only where you'd explore in shallow craft for the scenery. The first 2Nm or so where the 3 slipways are and the 4 pontoons is all states of the tide access with either no or very short drying out areas.

We might have returned to the cottage we had in Teignmouth last year but despite being in the main boating area there were huge areas of drying mud/sand that restricted launch/recovery times too much.

At this place in Fowey despite having a 4-5m tidal range the difference high to low water is only about 4m extra to pull the boat.

We had a couple of rough days at the start of the holiday and it has been rougher than a novice might go out in at periods over the the last couple of days... when there's an easterly element to the wind. But this has been a much longer duration rough than the east coast chop we see so often at Mersea Island area... so much nicer for a SIB as you are going up and down the waves rather than punching through a short chop taking your teeth out.

[Fenlander]

Well home now after a great two weeks in Cornwall. I would have to give Fowey a massive thumbs up as a SIB holiday base... particularly with a family where there needs to be a mix of sibbing and other activities.

Postscript: Our plans were a little thrown by us ending up with contaminated fuel after the first couple of days. Nothing more than the tiny OB tool kit with me and no outside space at the cottage to be messing about with fuel so off to the Suzuki dealers. For one reason and another it was possible this would take a few days to get through their workshop so to avoid a SIB free period I phoned around for an outboard we could hire.

Eventually very grateful to Fowey Harbour Marine Engineers who agreed to hire me one of their used outboards... a 10yr old Mariner 8hp 4-stroke.

I was mightily impressed by how well this OB pushed the Aerotec for such a low HP and found that 14lbs less weight made a huge difference to manhandling it. Hiring this is why I was able to give the details in the Aerotec with 8hp - Will it plane thread.

This situation was opportune as prior to the hols we'd been talking about downsizing the OB for sure and possibly eventually the Aerotec as well. This is the last year daughter will come with us so we lose that help setting up and manhandling... plus sadly Mrs F has seen the return of some mobility issues meaning she can't help much now.

So with a creaky 62yr old back myself even the light (for a 20hp) Suzuki is more than is sensible for me to manhandle. The two years with it have made the best combo ever but needs must and all that.

[The Gurnard]

It was very enjoyable reading your holiday report Fenlander and Im delighted you had great weather.

Sorry to hear of both your missus and your own age related pains..I can very much relate to that too.

I confess that several years ago ..I fought with my quicksilver 4.3 HD and 25 HP outboard ..pushing it across beaches etc but refusing to put the wheel hubs in the water. It got to the stage I didn’t use it much. The old trailer was not galvanized.

Last year I bought a new galvanized trailer for it and now float the boat on and off like I used to do with my hardshell boats. I had forgotten how easy it is using slipways and dunking the trailer. The boat now has a new lease of life and I realise how much I missed using it.

I realise my £800 trailer will be rust after 10 years ..but when I stopped and though..thats £80 a year .. which is the equivalent of a couple of nights on the gravy .. for me ...its a no brainer.

I appreciate you don’t want towing ..but if it extends your boating life by making things easy which also means enjoyable ..why not ?

Just a thought.

[Fenlander]

Actually Mr G a trailer is our left field possibility and one Mrs F is very keen on. That would open up all sorts of boat types too. But I'm keen to try the outboard downsize with the Aerotec first and see where that leads us.

I's a smaller leap than trailing (again) as I really would like to have our boat at home and the trailer couldn't go outside and would mess up our garage space.

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Actually Mr G a trailer is our left field possibility and one Mrs F is very keen on. That would open up all sorts of boat types too. But I'm keen to try the outboard downsize with the Aerotec first and see where that leads us.

I's a smaller leap than trailing (again) as I really would like to have our boat at home and the trailer couldn't go outside and would mess up our garage space.

Obviously your space at home is perhaps the governing factor but if at all possible I would seriously think about the trailer option it makes things so much easier

if not a 9.8 hp tohatsu 2 stroke is an excellent motor if you can find one

Dennis

[duggie12]

Looks like a great trip fenlander
Bit annoying about the outboard but at least you got hold of another one
I wondered if there was a market for outboard hire - I mainly sail and canoe these days so only have the need for a bigger outboard (15-20hp) once a year or so and wondered if it would make more sense to hire but when I looked into it I couldn't find anything up this way
Good that you had nice weather - this summer is ridiculous !

[Fenlander]

To be totally accurate I called it a hire but the guy didn't hire as such... I bought a used one from him with an agreed sell back price at the end of the holiday. He wanted it that way so it was totally my liability if I lost or damaged it... fair enough... he got me out of a hole.

To have hired a 4m poly or inflatable boat in Fowey with a 4/6hp was £90 a day so I thought getting the OB to keep our boat in use at a cost equating to under £20/day was fine.