Holyhead Harbour

Any kind of approach from the North will find the small craft mariner.....

...... having to contend with Carmel Head and the Skerries.

To seawards of Carmel Head is an extensive area of rocky shoals, shallow patches, tidal races, overfalls and other dangers that no right minded small craft Mariner would want to involve himself in. The Skerries is the outlying stack of rocks and these are well marked by The Skerries Lighthouse (Fl(2)10s.36m.20m). This Lighthouse also displays Iso.R.4s.26m.10M in such a way that this light covers the dangerous shoals to the north-east of it.

More pilotage directions:

An inshore passage between Carmel Head and the Skerries does exist and is used at slack water by experienced locals. It is not proposed to describe it here. Suffice to say that any wind against tide situation (with the tide capable of reaching 6 kn), will cause very confused seas, which can rapidly degenerate into breaking seas should wind increase.

This leaves the other option to pass outside the whole lot, and give The Skerries a good offing of at least a mile. In unsettled conditions a clearance of about 2.5 miles would be better. The tide here runs South West from +0030 Dover, and turns north east at -0550 Dover. It must be borne in mind however that a traffic separation zone guides shipping around this area, and you risk straying into the oncoming lane should you keep too far off the Skerries. All is clear on the chart.

Once past the Skerries a turn southwards can be made, and after leaving Langdon Ridge and its associated westerly cardinal buoy (Q(9)15s) on your port side, a course shaped up for the harbour entrance.

If approaching from the South or South West a good offing needs to be given to the Holyhead Race which lies up to 2 miles off The Stacks. The South going tidal flow begins at -0030 Dover, while the North going flow commences at +0530 Dover. These streams can reach 5 kn during spring tides close to South Stack, with strong wind against tide conditions producing dangerous breaking seas. In general the heavier the weather, the greater the offing should be, as the effects of the tidal race can be felt several miles off. For more information see the note made in 2011 in the comments at the bottom.

Some thoughts on "Approach".

The key to approaching Holyhead Bay is to get the tides right especially on anything approaching springs. From the east, the inshore route across the top of Anglesey is the safest the only issues are not being at Carmel head on the max state of the ebb and condition of strong wind against tide.

From the South there is an area to the west of south Stack. Designated "Tidal Energy Demonstration Zone" Currently this has a surface marker approx. 2.9 Nm west of South Stack LH. Which may have a guard vessel on station. (Currently, there are no other surface obstructions present in the zone)

In the closer approaches, entry to the harbour is made between the end of the breakwater (Fl(3)G.10s.21m.14M) and a red can buoy Clipera (Fl(4)R.15s) which unfortunately is just off the edge of our harbour chart.

A traffic separation zone has been established in the harbour mouth which can be seen partly on the chart provided. Incoming traffic keeps closer to the breakwater (driving on the right), outgoing traffic keeps well clear of the breakwater and closer to the above-mentioned red Clipera Buoy.

The harbour authorities "Holyhead Harbour" work on VHF channel 14, with the initial call on 16. Be prepared for ferry traffic including fast cats, and keep a weather eye behind you as well. If in the slightest doubt call Holyhead harbour before entering the small TSS in the entrance.

Give the breakwater a good clearance as you enter, then swing to starboard taking note of the green conical Spit buoy (Fl.G.3s) which marks shallows radiating southwards from the breakwater end. This must be left on your starboard side as you proceed into the harbour.

Follow the line of the breakwater at a reasonable offing following it as it bends round to the West. Once the small craft moorings off the beach and yacht club are bearing due South you can turn to port and make your way towards them. A quick glance at the larger scale chart will show the fairway areas where anchoring is not allowed. The approach within the harbour outlined above keeps the small craft Mariner well clear of the Outer Platters shallow patches and their associated buoyage.

The visitor then has the choice of using the Marina, the moorings provided by the yacht club (with launch service), or even the possibility of anchoring.

The harbour is well lit for night entry but the East shore of the Outer Harbour (Twyn Cliperau) is a long line of sodium street lights so it can be difficult picking a point to assess ones drift against the pierhead light. (That you are drifting will be emminently obvious as the far shore will be speeding past the light like an old black & white movie panorama shot!) The other problem after that is the number of moored boats (including the Life boat) which do not carry lights - one of those multi candle powered hand held search lights can be a boon but have it ready in the cockpit (by the time I found mine I was almost aboard the lifeboat!!) From memory the long North breakwater doesn't carry street lights so it is difficult to navigate close to it in the dark. Just be aware that once you have rounded the pierhead you can't breath a sigh of relief and relax - there's still a lot to do. Tom Webb in his comments at the bottom of the page had similar problems with night entry as well as a horrendous encounter with the rips around the Skerries.