portishead docks rally

[solitaire11]

hi all, wondered if anybody has been to the docks rally. any good? going this year hopefully.

[graham]

Last time we went was before the Marina was built so cant really comment.We had to Lock back out at 5 AM into a howling South Westerly with hangovers /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[LeytonC]

what are the date of the rally this year? over to damo i think!

(ok, i could look but post them on here for us all to see!)

[damo]

Docks Rally scheduled to be Fri 24th - Sunday 26th June this year.

I usually sail off somewhere else to avoid it ( /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ), but now I am an employee I'll be on nightshift that w/end /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif . At least I won't have to worry too much about the mayhem in the lock!

[solitaire11]

it says on the pcc website 9/10/11th of june??????????

[damo]

You may well be right - I lifted the dates from their Member's Handbook in the office.

I'll get a definitive answer ASAP, but I'm on night shift now so it's hard to talk to the relevant people!

[damo]

While we are waiting, the PCC website says that 9/10/11 June are preferred dates.

[damo]

But not finally confirmed, according to Marina manager

[LeytonC]

Thanks for letting us know, i might take a run down to that! - if they ever sort out a date!

[pjs100]

Whose in charge of the bibles?
JJTOP

Hello Can I pick your brains pls? I see you are based in Sharpness, I have never turned right out of Avonmouth but would like to!
Any tips or advice would be gratefully recieved! How long does it take to get from Sharpness to Gloucester and from there were can you go?

Cheers

Iain isneddon@clevelandcable.com

[LeytonC]

sorry about delay in answering - not been around much in the last few days, its 18.5 nm to sharpness from avonmouth, requires an amount of local knowledge to get up there, best thing to do is to find someone you know who has done it and go with them / or have them on your boat, its really worth the tirp though.

[damo]

Just realised I will be duty Berthing Master during the Docks Rally. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing, since I've always gone off sailing during that period before!

At least this year noone will be able to pinch all my leccy

[solitaire11]

hi damo. was that you on the controls last weekend???

[damo]

Yes - my first busy weekend! It went well from my point of view - hope it was smooth for the customers /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

And I got out sailing for a couple of days, going out on the free flow after the Sunday shift /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thanks for that, hope to see you "up river"

Misty Spirit

[SoulFireMage]

Ah, only just heard about this weekends events! So we'll be walking around there :-). Shame the boat is nearly out of stagger distance all the way down the other end of of the pontoons!

[graham]

I havent sailed up to Sharpness for several years,in fact the last time there was only one Severn Bridge to go under.

do you know what the locking charges are for visiting boats and also the Canal license for a few days. We are thinking of visiting Sharpness ,Slimbridge and Gloucester later in the summer.

Also is it neccesary to book in advance or just phone on the day?

[Jobs_a_ good_ un]

Its £ 20 to lock in and £ 20 to lock out You have to buy a licence from british waterways in glos but they wont let you out the lock at sharpness if you dont have the licence so get before you go
Last time I was there they were asking if I had a bss for the boat so be aware of that
Pm if you need more info i give you a bell
Mark

[LeytonC]

dockers like you to ring the tide before to arrange a ETA, just in case ships are due - dont forget you will need the high level bridge!

[LizzyD]

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gifWay-hay!!! It's Friday morning. The sun is shining, and I'm off to the Portishead Docks rally at lunchtime today. Agenda is as follows.

12:30 Pick Bev up from work
13:00 Take her to Asda in Cardiff Bay 'cos she wants even more clothes to take!!
13:45 Start boat engine
14:00 Lock out of the Barrage
14:02 Open first can of Strongbow
18:00 Get to Portishead
18:05 onwards - Party 'til we drop.

Can't wait. See you all there. We're bringing our little dog. I hope it's OK to do that.

Mike /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[BSSOffice]

[ QUOTE ]
Its £ 20 to lock in and £ 20 to lock out You have to buy a licence from british waterways in glos but they wont let you out the lock at sharpness if you dont have the licence so get before you go
Last time I was there they were asking if I had a bss for the boat so be aware of that
Pm if you need more info i give you a bell
Mark

[/ QUOTE ]

I have now been informed by BW South West that short-term visitor licences are available, but only in advance.

Whilst a BSS certificate or a RCD Declaration of Conformity that is 4 years or less can be used to support your short-term licence, equally you can gain such a licence using a self-declaration form. You can find out more on this waterscape.com page (http://www.waterscape.com/images/2006_ppb_short_term_licence_fee_and_condition_for_ england_and_wales.pdf)

Requirements for the BSS can be found on BSS Essential Guide page (http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/site/2ndeditionBSSEssentialGuide_212.asp) of our website

Regards
Rob@BSS Office

[graham]

Thanks for the advise guys. re the BSS I thought that a boat coming in from the sea was exempt for a short visit or has this changed now?

£40 locking fees plus a canal license OK if going up for a week or more but would make it expensive for a weekend.

[LeytonC]

Yeah, BW are having a crack down on licence / BSS abusers at the moment - which is good cos there are loads of problems with people not paying at the moment.

BTW Sorry about not going to docks rally but tide time sucked for me this weekend. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[LizzyD]

Well, what an eventful weekend. I've been looking forward to the rally for ages and the start for us all went wrong, thanks to some bad seamanship by me.

We set off on Friday at 16:00. Bad start! We should have left at 13:00 to get the flood tide up the Bristol Channel, but no. Smart Boy here (that's me) decides to take Bev for a drink at lunchtime and she in turn wants to call at Asda's for yet another item of definitely-not-needed clothing. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Consequently, we're late leaving which means the tide turned against us half way along our journey. I've been in similar positions before and you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now. So that meant that by 19:00 when we should have been in the marina, we were only half way there. Still, it was a warm evening, we had lots to eat on board and even more beer, so we settled down for a slow slog up channel. I contacted the marina at Portishead and they said that we could lock in with them as late as 22:15.

Later that evening, the VHF crackled into life asking for a response from any vessel near Portishead. I answered the Coastguard back and they said that they had received a 999 call to a yacht in distress near Portishead. I told them that we didn't know of another boat in the area, as there was only us out as far as we could see. They told us to "stand by", so we maintained a listening watch on Ch 16 and 67. Nearby, we could see the Portishead Lifeboat Station and Bev spotted activity on the slipway. I got the binoculars and could see their lifeboat being pushed into the sea by their tractor. I said to Bev that it would be interesting to see where they were heading, because I didn't remember seeing anyone behind us. The boat launched, then turned and headed directly at us! I couldn't believe it. Someone had reported us as a yacht in distress. We couldn't have been less distressed. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif "Are you OK?" they shouted when they came alongside. I'm standing at the tiller looking cooler than The Fonz with my shades, sun hat and beer can. That said, I was horrified to think that they had launched for us. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif My only emergency was that the beer cans were beginning to lose the chill they'd had at the begining of the day!

These good men left us and continued on their wild goose chase looking for a casualty that wasn't. They came back to us after about 45 minutes and I grovelled apologies for their wasted time, effort and money. The three lifeboat crew were brilliant and it's my first brush with the waterborne emergency services in the eight years or so that I've been sailing. I cringed inside as my day job is as a Firefighter and has been for nearly 30 years. I've lost count of the number false alarms I've been to and to think that I was party to one now was sickening. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

When we eventually reached Portishead, we realised that it's now past 23:00 and there's no way we can lock in as there wasn't enough water beneath the boat. We'd just have to anchor up and wait for the tide. Bev wasn't too pleased with this prospect, as we should have been in the thick of the action in the marquees, knocking back vast quantities of Thatchers. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Still, we were stuck out there, so we dropped anchor near to the Kings Roads. I let the anchor go and could feel the anchor chain grumbling and grinding. I realised that the anchor wasn't biting into the ground and should have recovered it there and then. We were clearly dragging our anchor and at risk of being set upon the shore. I asked Bev to give me a running commentry on the readings of the echo sounder, when the anchor bit - hard!! Beverley graciously allowed me my thermo neuclear swearing fit that followed. (It's always made worse when you've got no one to blame but yourself.)

I told the marina office who advised that I should let Bristol VTS know. This was all starting to go wrong, but I was too tired to blush. At least we weren't going anywhere, so we set the alarm on the mobile phone for 01:30 and rested, but still dressed ready to respond on deck if necessary.

At 01:30, the alarm went and as Bev carried on snoozing, I went into the cockpit to watch the tide turn. Moments later we were facing the other way and the tide was now on flood instead of ebb. Bev came out of the cabin and we started the engine. With the boat facing the opposite way, we could drive it over the spot where the anchor was, and hopefully yank it out in the reverse way in which it went in. We did this with no problem and I was really relieved to get the anchor back. There still wasn't enough tide to get in, so we re-positioned the boat over where I knew there was soft mud. The anchor would hold well, and we could recover it easily.

We went back to the cabin and put the kettle on. By now it's 02:00, and by the time we'd eaten our doughnuts and hot chocolate drinks, it was 03:00. The marina office said there was loads of water to come in over, so it was engine on and with Bev steering us towards the anchor chain, I was at the front pulling hard on the chain to get the anchor back for the last time that night / morning!! By 03:30, we were tide up on the pontoon. We shut down the engine and lights, made up the double in the main cabin, got into bed and was asleep in less than a minute.

Next morning we woke at 09:00 and the bingeing began. Damo came over to say hello and it was great to put a face to the name. We met so many lovely people while we were at the rally. We ate like Kings, drank like fishes, and partied like Charlotte Church!! I even won a raffle prize!! We had a saunter around Portishead, browsed the chandlers (but didn't buy which is a first for me), and talked and chattered with people we've never met before, but who now feel like old friends.

A big, big, big congratulations to the organisers. You've made our first rally memorable. Can we do it all again next weekend please? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Take care all,

Mike.

PS. A big, big thank you to Damo for helping me out in our panic to get out of the lock and head off home. You're a star mate, and Bev and I owe you a pint or three. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[graham]

Sounds like you had a steep learninmg curve followed by a great weekend /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif.

We missed it unfortunately due to work commitments.

In the past i have anchored in soft mud just to port of the marina entrance channel on the way in. You are out of the tide there and if you ground at LW its very soft mud.Anchoring in King Road puts you in a lot of tide and is a bit precarious for being run into. bristol VTS know about commercial traffic in and out but maybe unaware of fishing boats or pleasure craft that dont all report in.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Damo up there a few weeks back.By coincidence he was the first person I bumped into on the pontoon.

[damo]

Thank you very much for the kind words /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

I was on duty for nearly 40 hours over the 3 days, and had a few pints in the marquee as well, so I slept in pretty well on Monday morning! It was hard but enjoyable work, helped by the fantastic weather.

From our point of view it ran very smoothly, so I hope our 60-odd visiting boats felt the same. A lot of that was due to the fantastic organisation by the PCC, and the understanding of the visitors, who were very amenable during the lock rush hours and when asked to cram themselves into every last nook and cranny in the marina!

Maybe we should all fly the Forumite burgee to make it easier to find each other next time /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

.