waterside pubs with jetties

[johnguy]

Here’s a question. I am thinking about where to plan some sailing trips with my Swallow Bre next year. Can anyone recommend sailing areas where there are waterfront pubs with jetties it is possible to tie up to? In the Falmouth area there is the famous Pandora Inn, but as far as I know there are no others in any part of that estuary and inlets. In Milford Haven there are five, which is great, makes for fun morning and afternoon sails with a nice break for a pub lunch. But are there any in Plymouth Sound and the Tamar? Or anywhere else in the south and west? There is a good website for launch sites and slipways around the UK, but not one I know of that lists pubs with jetties. Maybe a business opportunity for someone. It would be a great resource.

[Graham W]

Good question!  Yacht clubs with similar facilities could also be included.

[Sea Simon]

Blimey...so many...where to start? Big advantage of BR/Bre size boats is that you can also beach if needed.
I often have to tow a tender/kayak with my bigger boat.

Look for tankard symbol, or PH on maps/charts. I generally carry OS maps as well as charts, better for finding footpaths than Google.

Pubs within 100m or so of pontoons...

St Mawes Town. Pubs, YC and some VERY nice hotels/restaurants. Idle Rocks a (expensive) favourite! (Beaches/slipway access)

Falmouth town itself (pontoons right in centre of town) Penryn.
Flushing &  Mylor (with yacht clubs too).

"Redacted"! 

Helford. Pub and yacht club, pub at Helford passage too.
"Redacted"! 
Not too far to Portscatho, Porthallow, Cadgwith, Coverack etc...subject to favourable weather...all with pubs n hotels (beaches/slipways, not pontoons)

I could easily fill two weeks around and about Falmouth.

"Redacted"! 

Plymouth...a larger, more military, yet also yotty city destination. Lots of history too...also has quieter isolated pubs and YCs at, for example "Redacted"! 

Guides.
The new book advertised on here may be useful? I've not seen one.
https://www.swallowyachtsassociation.org/?page_id=17

I have an older (8th ed) "West Country Cruising Companion" for a few quid off ebay. Newer pilot books can be borrowed directly from my local library. Hospitality venues charted and described.

[Nicky R]

There are several I know of on the east coast.

The Blackwater has the Jolly Sailor and the Queens Head pubs at Maldon and The Jolly Sailor and the Old Ship at Heybridge. The Green Man at Bradwell isn’t on the water, but is a 5 minute walk from the marina or slipway.

The River Orwell has the Butt and Oyster at Pin Mill. The Royal Harwich yacht club at Wolverstone isn’t a pub, but is another favourite. Just check the opening times as it doesn’t do food every day.

There are many pubs in Harwich within a short walk of the Ha’penny pier, although they’re not on the river.

The Deben has the Ramsholt Arms and the Maybush at Waldringfield. There’s also the Ferry Boat inn at Felixstowe ferry which is a couple of minutes walk from the river, but getting ashore there can be tricky because of the very strong tides.

There aren’t any riverside pubs on the Ore and Alde, but the Jolly Sailor pubs at Orford and Plough and Sail pub at Snape are only a couple of minutes walk from the water.

[garethrow]

If you are brave / foolish enough to be using the Teifi esturay (home to Swallow Yachts of course) then the Ferry Inn at St. Dogmaeils has its own jetty for customers to tie up to. If you make your way further up river to Cardigan and use the public pontoon there there are several adjacent options in town - Grosvenor pub, Pizza Tepee, 1176 restaurant, Fishermans Rest cafe, Albion Hotel. HOWEVER, be aware of tidal restrictions - roughly +/- 2hrs of HW and numerous shoals.

Regards

Gareth Rowlands
GRP BR20 Halen Y Mor

[johnguy]

Thank you all for helpful suggestions. Here is my offering. Milford Haven is a great sailing area and there are at least five pubs/cafes with pontoons where you can moor while you lunch and perfume your nose in comfort. From seaward moving up the Haven they are Griffin Inn or Cocos at Dale Yacht Club, Dale, Ferry House Inn at Hazelbeach, Jolly Sailor at Burton, Lawrenny Arms at Lawrenny and the Creselly Arms, Creswell Quay (need to be very tide aware for this one and they don’t serve food but it is a lovely creek crawl).  Good sheltered launch ramp and friendly marina at Milford Haven, nice marina but exposed ramp at Neyland, sheltered ramp at Lawrenny Quay, also visitor moorings and a caravan park.

[Willie The Rut Lander]

Johnguy's initial question is pretty fundamental to my attitude to BRe sailing (pub and safe overnight mooring) and the subsequent enthusiastic responses show we are not alone! However, I can't help think that there is a smarter way than this forum to record the findings; perhaps something along the lines of boatlaunch.co.uk where we drop a pin on a map and make comments about beer, food, tides, ground state (is that the right term?) etc. I fear it may not be feasible within this forum (no map facility?) but I'd be slightly hesitant to open it to the wider world for fear it may grow many heads. It could, alternatively, become a great source of info not available in Almanacs etc.
To add to the pubs already mentioned, may I add the FBI at Dittisham and two I haven't visited, The Maltster's Arms, (upstream of Dittisham and Keith Floyd's old pub) plus The Old Plough at Bere Ferrers on the Tavy (off The Tamar).

[Sea Simon]

As one who has been "lucky" enough to live in (what was, certainly until post COVID) a "Hidden Gem" for the past 35 years, I've modified my above post as we REALLY do not need any more publicity hereabouts.
I dread this advice ending up in some sort of "guide". There already plenty of people publicising "Hidden gems" online, all too often to exploit beautifully quiet unspoilt areas for personal gain.

A problem that friends in W Scotland, Scilly and the Lakes tell me is not unique to rural Cornwall.

We were lucky enough to have "free" parking, water access/slipways etc. That has had to change since the "users" overran us, and having parked for days (sometimes weeks at a time) in the limited parking available (often leaving camper vans and large 4x4s obstructing lanes and slipways. On return, they then use the "free" water supply to wash everything  down before depositing their rubbish for us villagers to remove.
Carparks and slipways do not materialise out of thin air,  and must be maintained. The two slipways here are maintained by local volunteers, not "The Council". We rarely see more than £100 out of the honesty box for a full seasons use by hundreds of users.
Rubbish disposal  and water supplies must be paid for, by someone.

Now we have queues for water launching access, ANPR cameras for £££ parking, locked water taps. Constantly overflowing rubbish bins have been removed, A neighbour has had to start locking his wheelie bin closed as it's  filled with others picnic/boat waste! Even Anchoring is chargeable, and you will be hunted down by the harbour patrol.

And then there is also the damaging effects large numbers of people, and water traffic has on wildlife. We've seen dolphins, porpoises, otters, seal and Ospreys in the river in recent years. Rarer now...

I'm sure members here, and on similar boating forums, don't behave I this way.

Cheap, indestructible Plastic kayaks were the start of our problems, £150 SUPs from Lidl perhaps the "final straw"?
Recent trends include playing loud music while boating, usually from overpowered  RHIBS but these last seasons I've witnessed boom boxes on SUPs,  in what were once quiet parts of the AONB...yes really!

[Willie The Rut Lander]

Simon - I can feel the rage coming through your every word and concur with it all. Maybe we should just have our own Swallow pilot? As a fairly serious sea kayaker I've seen the democratisation of kayaking (and SUPs) and, as you suggest, it's pretty ugly.
On one of my first passages in my BRe this summer, I moored alongside at Wareham, which was so peaceful during the day but at night was full of powerboats with crew who knew absolutely zero about mooring - they just sat there as the skipper threw over a single fender and some bits of mooring string. I subsequently found a hole in the gelcoat of my BRe that matched the exact shape of a stinky's prop - what a coincidence! The only thing missing was a Bully XL!
Oh, I just got that off my chest!
PS - The latest edition of the DCA journal landed on my front doormat today; now that's something the SUPers will never read. Perhaps we should stick to that?

[johnguy]

Don't worry Simon, I'm not going to write a guide or build a web site, and I do appreciate your tips. I always enjoy your contributions here. I have a week in Mylor planned next year. It is my fourth time there and we love it and we will try to visit a couple of new places this time thanks to advice I've had here and in FB groups. Also sailed Tamar/Plymouth a few times, and may do another trip next year if I can winnow the advice to find the sort of things we like to do. I hope my tips will encourage a few people to try Milford Haven. It is certainly not over crowded.

I think SUPs are barmy, but then after a lifetime in the merchant navy, royal navy and fifty-five years of sailing, what would I know? It's good that people get on the water, however they do it, I try and tell myself.

[Sea Simon]

Thanks all, for the reassuring messages. Good to know I'm  not alone in these respects.
Always happy to try to help like minded boaters, but too many I encounter these days appear likely to be happier in a caravan site or all inclusive "complex" 😀

Eg, last eve, tied up in a near empty port, must have been 3-400m of MT visitors pontoons and >10 empty visitors buoys to choose from.
Wanting to scrub my waterline, I uncharacteristically chose an MT pontoon.

Came back 2100 from meal ashore to find a visiting 47 ft caravan, 8 pob ( probably all in ensuite cabins?) Having safe arrival sundowner drinkies in their cockpit, directly opposite me...ffs!
My boat was literally in their shadow!

[Llafurio]

Helen's Bar at Bunaw Pier, Kilmackilloge, Tuosist, Co. Kerry. https://helensbarkilmacalougue.weebly.com/ .
Or, Riney's Bar, up the Pier Road from Sneem pier, Killarney, Co. Kerry.
Or the "Boathouse" at Dromquinna Manor , Kenmare, Co. Kerry.