What could be even better than a comfortable apartment in the harbour town of Dartmouth?
I’d say “having a quiet slipway close by, and a garage to keep your boat in at night would be just about perfect”, but then I am a dinghy sailor! Our motivation for buying our apartment at the Pottery was purely selfish to start with and we’ve had many a happy trip out of Warfleet creek in several different boats. But our guests can benefit from those same features. Here they are again:
** Somewhere to launch close by **
The slipway is just 40m from the apartment, easily close enough to push a small boat back and forth. See Google StreetView to look our into the creek. The launch is tidal, and can be a bit of a push at a low spring tide, but most of the time it is easy, sheltered (no nasty winds as you are climbing in) quiet, being away from the main channel.
There is another, non-tidal slipway at the other end of town, just next to the higher ferry see Google StreetView again.
** Somewhere to store a boat **
The Garage at No1 The Pottery is around 30 feet long, accessed via a conventional garage door – if it fits in your garage it should fit in ours. We kept a Wayfarer (15 feet) and a Pico (12 feet) together for some months.
** Somewhere to Moor up **
If you want to come ashore in Dartmouth town, there are several places for visitors to moor up – see the Dart Harbour website for details. Note that some of the harbour master might tap you for mooring fees, but probably only for an overnight stay.
** Somewhere to buy boat bits **
If you need “gear”, there are 3 local chandlers, one in the town centre at the end of Newcomen Road (with plenty of clothing) and one at the other end of town (with more sail/rigging related stock). The biggest is at Darthaven Marina in Kingswear, 200m the other side of the ferries.
Of course, these facilities apply equally to all water craft and we have welcomed canoeists, power boaters and even a windsurfer to the apartment – were not elitist about the noble art of sailing (well, perhaps a little!)
BTW: For tides I use Admiralty Easytide – don’t forget to adjust for Daylight saving time in summer.
