North Devon (Appledore)

[jakew009]

Just getting used to going out in the rib (7.5m).

Appledore is only 20 mins away and dead easy to get to for us. It seems by far the best slip in the area.

A couple of questions:

a) where the hell do you park a 13m long vehicle if the car park is busy? I’ve somewhat given up actually parking at the slipway and taken to just getting someone to take the trailer home again but not ideal. Are there any secret parking spots you can leave a trailer and then get back to the estuary?

b) I’m gradually learning this by trial and error, but what states of tide is the slipway actually usable?
I hear a lot of “3 hours either side of high tide” but in a Spring tide like we had this week, that means coming in at 4.5m ish and back out again at 3.2m ish
In a neap like we’ve got coming up next week it’s in at 3.3m and back out again at 4.2m.

Today we came out at 5.8m which was ~2.5 hours after high tide, and it was totally uneventful.

So is the +/- 3 hours worst case or best case? I guess I need to go and sit by the slipway and watch for a few hours...

[treerat]

Hello.

My local slipway too. I usually only go when I think I'll get in a park g place, there are a few st the top end with space behind that allows the overhang. Otherwise I just hang out the front and back a bit. Parking is the biggest pain there.

As to times I usually rock up three hours before and there's just enough water and allow 2.5 hours after Hw as it gives some wriggle room.

I've a 4x4 so not too bad off the end of we need to. I know some that are more then happy with landrovers to pushchair a bit more too.

Bideford always seems quieter car park wise, but a little more restrictive tide wise, but still 4 hours to play with.

I've never really looked at what actual heights both are doable.

[diver 1]

I launched once there and forget the timings now, we had a good long day out around lundy and walked over lundy too. Tide wasn't an issue, it was low when we launched, but I drove over the sand a bit. The issue was the depth of water further west in the estuary near the lifeboat than at the bottom of the slip itself..

[diver 1]

Another thing wind over tide makes for a lot rougher conditions across to Lundy due to the speed of the tide. It was quite a lively day the day we went. Somewhere else the same forecast weather conditions would have been a lot kinder!

[Iankristy]

Better than ‘3hrs before and after’ is find what Height of tide you need with a decent app. I know for example my local slip needs 2.8mtrs to launch retrieve. That can be quite different 3hrs before high tide between neeps and springs

[jakew009]

Originally Posted by Iankristy

Better than ‘3hrs before and after’ is find what Height of tide you need with a decent app. I know for example my local slip needs 2.8mtrs to launch retrieve. That can be quite different 3hrs before high tide between neeps and springs

That's exactly what I was getting at! 3hrs either side could be anything from nearly 6m down to not much more than 3m....

I think I am just going to have to do some experimenting myself

I've got a landrover so I guess a bit of mud isn't going to hurt and theres a fleet of tractors not far away if shit hits the fan

[Iankristy]

If you don’t have it get the Imray tides app. Cost about £8 but worth it imo. Easy to use you can tell exactly what tide is at what time

[Gaz101]

Bank end Bideford loads of parking for bigger vehicles in the coach parking area have to pay for two spaces and the rates are Cheper than Appledore

[jakew009]

So after a bit of investigation today... I reckon that if you don’t want your trailer to go off the slipway, you need about 5m of water.

If you don’t mind your trailer going off the slipway, but want your car to stay on, you need about 4.5m.

If you don’t mind heading off the slipway and around the bend, I think you could get down to circa 3.5m quite easily, beyond that you’re going for quite a drive.

These photos were taken at about 3.6m.
The bottom of the slipway is very gravelly / stony, any half decent 4wd should be able to find grip. It looks a lot rougher than it actually is.

Quite why they didn’t extend the slipway another couple of metres I guess we will never know.

For anyone who has come in at lower tide, how hard is it getting to the slipway? Planning on some careful experimentation on a rising tide...