Eyemouth (Almanac stub)
At a Glance
Contacts
Harbour Master 01890 752494, mob 07885 742505, VHF 12 &
16
This is an "almanac stubb" the author has not been into Eyemouth
on his own boat yet.
Eyemouth is a popular stopping off point for sailors cruising this
coast; it's a good day's sail (45ish miles) from Anstruther,
Granton or Arbroath, a gentle afternoon from Tweedmouth or 40+
miles from Amble which explains its popularity.
The harbour has been formed by reinforcing the banks of the River
Eye Water where it flows into a cove just to the west of Gunsgreen
Point; the seaward side of this cove is protected by a reef of
rocks called the Hurkars which can be passed on either side
depending on your direction of approach.
The port itself supports a sizeable fishing fleet along with
visiting boats from the South during the summer fishing season but
these are, in the main, kept separate from the yachting fraternity
which is catered for on the East side of the harbour. Obviously you
will meet these FV in the approaches and should keep a weather eye
out for them especially in the harbour entrance which is only 17
metres wide. They have increased the pontoon space by adding
another pontoon to the West wall of the inner basin.
The mainstay of the town has always been the fishing industry and
its fortunes have thus ebbed and flowed around that; despite this
the harbour has a reputation for good hospitality to visiting
yachties and most of those visiting have remarked on this. In
recent years they have added a long, serviced pontoon on the East
side of the inner harbour which is popular enough to require
visiting boats to raft together on it, indeed you may find that to
berth against the quays on the east side or in the Gunsgreen basin
you may still have to raft (there is a difference in the tariffs
for the quays and the pontoon, about which, more below)
Eyemouth has won a contract to service the NnG Wins Farm off
Fife Ness and that work is being done on the land at the North end
of the harbour on the East side of the entrance and will be carried
out from the North Dock.
We have been assured by the HM that the East pontoon is
very much in the business of catering for visiting leisure hulls
but that he would appreciate advanced notice of your intention to
call in.
Eyemouth (Almanac stub)
Approach
Firstly, even in a moderate blow, do not think of trying to get in here in winds....
.... from the North round to the East because it turns into a maelstrom in the bay. (Mind you, on this coast, anyone venturing out of anywhere with strong on shore winds in the forecast needs his head looking into!)
Having said that, from the South there are few off shore hazards but be careful if you are closing the shore to photograph the cliffs because there are some isolated rocks around especially off Burnmouth. From the North you will be coming around St Abb's Head which is steep to; the advice here, especially in wind against tide conditions, is to stay in close to the headland where there will be less of a chop. The ESE tide at St Abb's starts about three and three quarter hours before HW Leith/Dunbar.
If you've come up from the South in settled conditions you'll be
arriving at fairly low water so the Hurkars will be very evident as
will the rocks extending out to the north of Gunsgreen Point; as
long as you are happy with the nav, it's perfectly ok to slip
through to the south of the Hurkars and turn into the harbour mouth
as it opens just to the East of south of you. On the other hand,
if you are at all unsure then continue past the Hurkars to the
North Cardinal Mark and start you approach rounding that.
(Obviously you'd adopt this plan of attack at night unless you have
radar and are good with it!)
From the North you will have come round St Abb's head and be able
to see Gunsgreen Point ahead (once you've passed Horsecastle Bay,
half a mile down the coast from St Abb's, it's the next headland
down). If you've given St Abb's more than a mile offing then it
won't be so easy as Gunsgreen is going to meld into the coastline
to the south of it- 'twas ever thus (you may have had the same
problem finding Stonehaven from the north!) Anyway, all you have
to do is plod down the coast until the harbour mouth opens and then
allow it to just close and come in on that line (174°T or so)
For a night approach you'll notice that they use the green light on
the west breakwater and a further green light behind and a bit
above as leading marks and that when you are on the correct line
the Iso red on the west breakwater will be a touch to the left of
those. Be very careful not to get these muddled up with the Q.G
and Q.R on the buoys at the inner end of the dredged channel or
you'll be in trouble; personally I'd spend a few moments getting
them right before I ploughed on in (the leading lights will,
naturally, be hidden in amongst the street lights of the
town!)
As a stranger, I would hesitate before deciding to make my first
approach at night.
A call to the HM on channel 12 is recommended for advice on the
state of the dredge etc.
£ GMT
Waypoint
Charts
Rules & Regs
Hazards
Tides
Berthing
Once in the harbour you will have two options; although there are now two pontoons, as a visitor you will end up on the Easterly pontoon on the port side as you come in.. (the westerly one is normally for local boats)
You will have discussed this with the HM before hand on your approach and will have fenders etc ready (there may not be time to do this once in the harbour). There's plenty of room to turn the boat round into wind, especially if you have a decent paddle wheel effect) and you should expect to have to raft. (I'm told that they are sometimes three deep at peak times).
They will charge you (2022) £25.00 for up to 10 metre boats and
£2,50 per each additional metre above that. . Further details can
be found (along with multiple photographs) on their website. There
is a very useful video of Eyemouth on that site.
http://www.eyemouth-harbour.co.uk
Eyemouth Harbour - Spring 2020 a word from the
Harbourmaster:
Visiting yachts are welcome at Eyemouth, with a serviced pontoon in
the tidal upper harbour which has a depth of 0.9m alongside.
Showers, washing & drying machines and other facilities are
available in the harbour office building close by.
Depths in the Upper harbour and alongside the visitor's pontoon are
as charted at 0.9m, however a shallow area exists where the river
issues into the harbour, in front of the RNLI station house.
Visitors are advised to keep to starboard when entering the Upper
Harbour before crossing to the Visitor's Pontoon on the port
side.
Update 2021 They have continued the dredging campaign here into this year and are reporting CD - 0.8 in the Inner Harbour. This means that at MLWS you should get close to a couple of metres alongside the pontoon - but consult the HM if that is marginal for you.
Marinas and Mooring
Eyemouth Harbour Master
Gunsgreen Basin
Eyemouth
TD14 5SD
Facilities
Water and shore power can be found on the pontoon and shore
power is available on the quaysides as well, though you will
probably have to carry your water there. There are toilets and
showers to be found in the Harbour Office building. You will
require 2 X 50p coins to operate the showers. They supply power
cards for the shore power - but before purchasing one of those
check that the previous occupant hasn't left credit on
it!!
They can supply diesel in the Gunsgreen Basin but I'm afraid the
petrol station is a good mile's hike away.
You will find a chandlery and boatyard here but the chandlery,
although it does Calor gas, does not stock refills for 907 Camping
Gaz cylinders. Other than that, as has been said, this town lives
and dies with its fishing industry so you will be able to source
repairs for everything you've broken so far on your travels!
For restocking the ship's larder there is a Co-Op and a Costcutter
which are quite small so you'd get what you need but not much
choice in brands.
Chandlers
Fishermans Mutual Association
Harbour Road
Eyemouth
TD14 5JA
What to Do
Your much abused crew will be able to find much to sustain their
appetites here though the more base of those are in much shorter
supply than they were back in the 1800s when Eyemouth had a
fearsome reputation for debauchery!
There is also a not-to-be-missed Boat Museum with both full sized
and replicas in abundance. You can't miss it ; the northern face is
done up to look like the stern quarters of a man o'war in the black
and buff colours of Nelson's Navy.
For a choice of restaurants search here
History
Local Business
Rigging-and-Riggers
Riggerous Ltd
The Shed
Port Edgar Marina
South Queensferry
Edinburgh
Lothian
Gerry Fitzgerald is an experienced yachtsman who has sailed and worked on boats all over the world. He is also a trained laminator with Robertson's of Sandbank, a yachtmaster
Uncategorised
Fishermans Mutual Association
Harbour Road
Eyemouth
TD14 5JA
Eyemouth Harbour Master
Gunsgreen Basin
Eyemouth
TD14 5SD
Riggerous Ltd
The Shed
Port Edgar Marina
South Queensferry
Edinburgh
Lothian
Gerry Fitzgerald is an experienced yachtsman who has sailed and worked on boats all over the world. He is also a trained laminator with Robertson's of Sandbank, a yachtmaster
Tide Information for eyemouth
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