North Wales Cruising Club

The following report by our Commodore Tony Mead could be a help for boats that are judging when to enter the channel.

At the mid point between numbers 1 and 2 buoys the depth of water as I approached was 5.4 mtrs, With this depth at this point I never had less that 1.2 mtrs beneath my keel at any time on the approach to the Harbour Entrance. The soundings at the shallow points were, 2A Buoy – 6.2 mtrs. 6 (scabs) Buoy – 3.2 mtrs. Rounding the Perch Beacon 2.8 mtrs (shallowest point), the best water after rounding the perch inbound is found by keeping slightly up to the Morfa side of the channel until abeam of the final Port Hand Buoy near the CYC Start Line.

Bearing in mind that my sounder reads beneath the Transducer Ruby, touches bottom at a reading of 1.2 mtrs. I could therefore have entered safely, with a margin for error, on the flood with a sounding of 4.4 mtrs between 1 and 2 buoys. this would have given me .6 mtrs under my keel on rounding the Perch. The predicted height of tide, at the 1745 (BST) time that I started in at from the mid point between 1 and 2 buoys, was 2.8 mtrs.

Needless to say all of the above should only be used with caution and is totally dependant on boats that do so maintaining the correct ground track between the marks and not allowing themselves to be carried off it by cross tidal flows.

As an add on to the above, the sand bar over the tunnel, that extends from the Deganwy Marina approach seaward port hand buoy towards the Aberconwy School playing fields has migrated away from the buoy towards the school and, the best water to cross it is found close to the marina approach buoy.