Larne Harbour and Anchorages

There is nowhere in Larne Lough for an alongside berth;

The Boat Harbour shown on the chart opposite the Ro-Ro quays has 0.6M at LAT so would have enough water for a very shallow draught boat at neaps but even then once in, if there is room (unlikely), there is nothing here for a visiting yachtsman except the small foot passenger ferry to Larne from there. That ferry is run for the convenience of the shift workers at the power station so it would be wise to book in advance.

Further into the Lough there are numerous places to anchor the first of which is off Wymers Jetty adjacent to the East Antrim Boat club. You may be able to pick up a mooring here if you ring the Club on 02828 277204 in advance otherwise it's a fairly congested anchorage (consider a tripping line?). Ashore there is a landing place with a water hose and fuel can be obtained in cans.

No official surveys have been done South of the Limit of Port of Larne boundary for at least thirty years, possibly more, so any recordings of depths on the available charts are historical (if not hysterical)

The deep water channel continued down the East side of the lough but after the two channel buoys to the South of the Ballylumford "A" Jetty it is unmarked. The porthand of these two buoys also marks (approx) the end of the Ballylumford outfall which, combined with the new gas pipeline has made the old anchorage opposite the "Yellow Stone" unusable. That new gas pipeline can be seen on the Google Maps satellite image - be warned!!

The first available anchorage with a landing is at Ballydowan; it's a bit exposed to the wind from across the lough and doesn't have anything ashore. There's a wreck close inshore but if you anchor with the rest of the local boats here you should be ok. There is a village a mile inland towards the east coast which has a small shop and café.

A nicer spot is even further down this side at Mill Bay. The bay itself dries out so if you are a fin keeler with a 2m draught you will have to anchor quite a way out whereas a bilge keeler would be able to enter on the flood and dry out the quite close in on the gravelly bottom. The attraction here was that there was a wee pub just round the corner from the north arm of the bay - but, sadly, we believe that that hostelry is no longer trading. If you row ashore remember that, to get back, you'll have a way to drag the dinghy when you leave the pub; unless, of course, you sit it out for twelve hours!!!! Joking apart this is a pleasant little spot to spend a summers evening.

Across the Lough there is Magheramorne. To get there, once you have passed the position of the old yellow harbour buoy at the SE end of the deep channel (Posn 59°49.9N 00546.48W0) continue SSE for another hundred yards or so and look for a yellow dan-buoy to starboard; this marks the end of the old deepwater channel in to the now disused cement works. NB This dan-buoy no longer appears on any charts so this channel may be unmarked nowadays.

Take care here to correctly identify this mid channel dan buoy (which may or may not be there as it is privately maintained); the old cement works are obscured by the artificial island from the "official" harbour buoy and will begin to open as one nears the old channel. The channel is no longer dredged but there is still a good 2.5 metres along it. There are also lead in marks by the old cement works; the front one is a red upright triangle nailed to a telegraph pole in position 54° 48.928'N, 005° 46' 049'W and the back one, a downward triangle 60M behind it (both shown on AC1237-0). The anchorage will be easily identified as there are small craft moorings here; just don't cut the corner.

This anchorage is likely to be busier than Mill Bay as there is a club house ashore servicing the local boats. Showers, toilets and a bar may be available at the club house, they welcome visitors and there is usually a shindig of some sort or the other on Saturday nights but we have not been able to raise them for a while to confirm any details. There's also a very posh hotel about half a mile up the road towards town.