Falmouth 4 - The Upper Reaches as far as Truro

At a Glance

Heading north up the river past Turnaware Point, the character of

...... the River changes dramatically as instead of acres of open water, the shores close in and are fringed with cliffs and trees.You are now in the jurisdiction of the Truro port authority, and they provide various mooring buoys, yacht pontoons (see below for prices) and collect anchoring charges at a flat rate of £7 per night.

There are numerous places where a yacht can go and get plenty of peace and tranquillity, but stocking up could be a problem. You may be surprised to find huge ships laid up in the river. The intrepid explorer, prepared to take the ground, can follow the river right up to the city of Truro on a rising tide, where stocking up will almost certainly not be a problem.

Alternatively there is a regular ferry running between Falmouth and Truro; sit in the sun and let them bother about the depths!!

Other Falmouth coverage which can be reached via the links below or the Channel West link on the left of this page:

Falmouth 1, approach, entry, Inner Harbour, Penryn River

Falmouth 2, St. Mawes, Percuil River

Falmouth 3, Carrick roads, as far as Restronguet Creek, including Mylor and its Marina

Falmouth 4, The Upper Reaches as far as Truro

Approach

The main thing to remember as you approach Turnaware Point, is that

..... Turnaware Bar stretches out from the eastern shore (Turnaware Point), and it dries. It is a well-known yacht trap, and to avoid it one should keep to the western side. It is marked by the Turnaware Bar Buoy, (Green, Fl.G.5s), which needs to be left on your starboard side as you head north. The tide can run quite strongly in this area at Springs, achieving 2 or 3 kn, as the River is now constricted on both sides.

The River is deep, and as you head north if you stay fairly central between the banks you will have no problems. It is steep too on either side. Pass the chain ferry at King Harry passage, and keep heading north, you will see large mooring buoys, and by following the line of these you will come to a point where the River swings sharply to the East. Again the large ship mooring buoys give the clue and on the southern shore you will see Smugglers Cottage restaurant with its associated pontoon. A fork now appears in the River, with the River Fall petering out into the drying Ruan Creek, and the deepwater making a hard turn northwards and becoming the Truro River. You will see an isolated visitors pontoon for yachts here, leave on your starboard side as you head north. The River starts to shallow out now, and an eye needs to be kept on the tide. More pilotage details:

Pushing further northwards now and using the moorings, pontoons, and buoyage as a guide, remembering the deepwater lies fairly centrally, one will come to Mopus Reach (as the River swings to the West shortly after passing a visitors pontoon on the western side) and its associated small craft moorings and visitors moorings. This area south of Malpas Point and north of Kea Wood marks the last place that a yacht of average draft can lay afloat at all states of the tide.

For those making their way to Truro the next part of the passage is best attempted on a rising tide. At Malpas Point there is basically a T-junction, and for Truro one needs to make a turn to port, firstly going South West then swinging round to the north-west at Victoria Point, leaving the green buoy to starboard. You will need a good rise of the tide for this as depths at CD are as little as 0.1 m, ie. Little more than a gutway. Heading West the channel is now marked by buoyage, the channel now swinging northwards to hug the eastern shore (leaving the red buoyage to port). After passing the quay at Sunny Corner, a sharp turn needs to be made to starboard, and the best water will be found by the Lighterage Quay on the western bank of this inlet, leading to the tidal barrier. This gate is 12 m wide and is normally kept open unless very high tides are expected. Small coasters sometimes use the Lighterage Quay, and you will find a waiting pontoon if the gate is closed, or the tide hasn't risen enough to get you to the Town Quay. The tide can run quite hard through the gateway, as it is a narrow restriction or broad expanse of water.

Once through the barrier the way is marked by a series of red and green beacons, as the navigable gutway first swings North-east, North, North West, and then North-east again, forming an S shape. The river narrows right down with Tesco's on the port hand side, and the deepest water closer to the old warehouses on the starboard side. The River now divides into three branches, yachts berth in the port hand branch by the harbour office. There is water for around one and a half hours either side of HW, drying to soft mud . The authority encourages visitors, and may be able to assist larger vessels in making the passage. The harbour office is on VHF channel 12, callsign " Carrick One", or telephone 01872 224231 or 01872 272130. A link to the website is below:

Port of Truro - Cornwall Harbours

Harbour Anchorage Marina

Waypoint

Safe Distance SW of Turnaware Bar Buoy 50:12'.345N 005:02'.235W

Charts

Rules & Regs

Speed Limit 8Knts, Minimal Wash in the upper reaches, pastTurnaware

Hazards

Tides

Truro, HW 8mins after Falmouth

Berthing

Mooring options for the yachtsman or motorboater include anchoring,

......mooring buoys, pontoons, Malpas Marina and finally alongside and drying out at Truro. This section of the pilot guide covers anchorage, moorings, facilities and eating and drinking places, as in this stretch of the River everything is spread out, and we can cover each area one at a time.

As mentioned before, stretch of water comes under the authority of the Port of Truro, and they provide the many visitors moorings and pontoons, and also charge for anchoring. Berths on the visitors pontoons and moorings are charged at a flat rate of £18 a night up to 12 meteres or £14.80 per metre per night for ten visits. If you just want to drop anchor somewhere quiet and away from the madding crowd you would be subject to the Visitors Harbour charge of £7. The harbour master's launch is on VHF channel 12 callsign " Carrick Three" with the harbour authority at Truro on the same working channel, call sign " Carrick One". The launch collects Harbour Dues, and will give advice. Perhaps the best way to see what is available is to look at the plan rather than the charts. Find out more:

Another fun way to explore this section is using the interactive facility to swoop around and examine places of interest. Link below:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=50.250059,-5.038605&spn=0.053456,0.109863&t=h&z=13

Having just passed the Turnaware Bar, anchorages are available in Channals Creek, to the north, and on the edges of Tolcarne Creek to the South. Always keep out of the main channel, as it is used by many tripper boats and the occasional coaster. The first harbour authority pontoons will be seen, and may be used. Depending on the fortunes of international sea trade, one may find large ships laid up in King Harry Reach, secured fore and aft. There are now extensive mussel farms in this reach, and some care will be needed if sailing not to get tangled in them. The chain ferry crosses the river here, and never try and cut in front of it as the chains are taut. The pontoon just downstream of the ferry is for local tripper boats, and you are not allowed to berth on the outside of this. Boats can tie up to the inside of the down river end to get water from the tap, if the tide is suitable (not much depth at low water). Dinghies use the inside of the up river end.

The next anchorages are available at Lamouth and Cowlands Creeks, both very attractive but drying virtually as far as the boats moored at their mouths. Anchorage is between these moorings and the deeper water channel. Bilge keeelers can explore as far as the hamlets of Coombe and Cowlands and dry out on the foreshore. Public phone at Cowlands.

The Smugglers Cottage at Tolverne Point has been closed for several years.

At the next junction the rivers divide with the River Fal petering out into Ruan Creek, and the Truro River swinging to the north. Anchorage can be had in the entrance to Ruan Creek on the north side. There are isolated dangers (3 Huge mooring blocks ) marked by a yellow pole with an X top mark, keep well clear. Bilge keeelers can nose in and dry out on the southern shore of Ruan Creek, but there is a voluntary restriction on anchoring once past the first bend. For those desperate for a pint a dinghy mission 3 miles inland to Ruan Lanihorne, up Ruan Creek, will be rewarded by the King's Head pub a few minutes walk from the old landing quay. Obviously a close eye will be needed on timing the tide.

After swinging North up the Truro River, the next harbour authority pontoon will be seen, and anchorage can also be had in this reach anywhere out of the main fairway. An anchor light should be displayed at night. A little further north still, the river shallows rapidly in an area known as Maggoty Bank, marked with a green buoy.(Depths of less than half a metre at LAT). It then deepens out again and there is another harbour authority pontoon as one swings to port into Mopus Reach. The tide runs hard in this reach and very close attention needs to be paid to the depth despite the presence of local moorings as there is very little water at low spring tides.

There are a couple of visitor's buoys at the end of the reach leading to Malpas Point where the river splits, the shallow River Tresillion running in from the north east whilst the main channel swings port to the South West. There was a visitor's pontoon opposite Malpas Point at this junction and beyond that was Malpas Marine, telephone 01872 271260. This pontoon has now been joined to the Malpas Marina set up and is run by the Truro Port people. They may well have a mooring available for you, or for a charge will allow you to land and leave your dinghy on their pontoon if moored elsewhere. There is a toilet and shower, and water and diesel available by Jerry can. In 2022 they are charging £22.00 per night for boats under 6 metres and £25 per night for larger boats. Here you will also find the Heron Inn, which does food and overlooks the River. One tiny post office/shop and a public phone completes the picture. You will see a pontoon at Victoria Quay; that has been installed for the use of house owners in the new developement ashore and does not provide facilities for visitors. There is also a bus from here to Truro (once in the morning, again at Lunchtime and back at tea time)

Next stop as already described is the city of Truro, where all facilities are available and the boat can be stocked up once more. In fact Tesco's superstore is very close. Water available on the quay, rubbish disposal, showers and toilets, mail delivery, restaurants, cinemas and all kinds of shopping available. There are two Chandlers nearby and excellent railway connections. The town quay berth is not too salubrious, with its oozing smelly mud at low water, but no matter how much you like peace and quiet and solitude, this is really the only place to obtain provisions. After spending some time skulking and lurking amongst the quiet creeks it also makes a nice change to be back in civilisation.

Marinas and Mooring

Mylor Yacht Harbour Ltd

Mylor Yacht Harbour
Falmouth
Cornwall
TR11 5UF

Harbour Authorities, Marinas, Moorings & Berths

Yacht Marina - Full Tidal Access/ Year Round Protection

Call www.mylor.com More Info

Milford Marina Harbour Authority

Cleddau House
Milford Marina
Milford Haven
Pembrokeshire
SA73 3AF

Harbour Authorities, Marinas, Moorings & Berths

Marina - 4 Gold Anchors Award

Call www.mhpa.co.uk More Info

Premier Marinas (Falmouth) Ltd

Marina House
North Parade
Falmouth
Cornwall
TR11 2TD

Harbour Authorities, Marinas, Moorings & Berths

Marina

Call www.premiermarinas.com More Info

FHC Visitors Yacht Haven

North Quay
Falmouth
TR11

Harbour Authorities, Marinas, Moorings & Berths

Moorings /Berthing - 100 Boats

Falmouth 4 - The Upper Reaches as far as Truro

At a Glance

Approach

Waypoint

Charts

Rules & Regs

Hazards

Tides

Map of Mooring and Anchoring Sites, Upper Fal, Truro River -

Truro looking NNW -

Berthing

Marinas and Mooring

Facilities

Boatyards & Boatyard Services

Chandlers

What to Do

Yacht Clubs and Associations

History

Local Business

Brokers

Boat-Charters

Divers

Marine-Engineering

Marine-Electrics

Outboard-Sales-and-Service

Sea-Schools

Sailmakers-Repair-and-Covers

Yacht-Survey-and-Designs

Other-Businesses

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