Milford Haven 1, Entry and Passage Anchorages

Approach and entry to Milford Haven is simple enough,

.... although there are various dangers in the offing that are best seen by reference to our chart of the approaches to Milford Haven.

To the north of the entrance there is Skomer Island, Skolholm Island, Grassholm and The Smalls. With attention to navigation you can pass between Skomer Island (giving it a good offing due to overfalls), and Grassholm. Skolholm likewise needs a good offing to avoid Wild Goose Race.

Most sailors coming or going to Southern Ireland tend to use Broad Sound passing between The Wild Goose races and the Skomer Island Race; coming or going to Fishguard the local sailors all use Jack Sound (some even swear by Litle Sound between Skomer Island and Midland Island in settled weather but I'd have the engine on for that as the wind can turn on the way through and have you all aback in a very confined space!)

Full pilotage details:

If approaching from the South the Mariner needs to be aware of the Castlemartin Firing range and if approaching from the East there are also the Manobier, Penally and Pendine Sands ranges to be considered. Full details of each range, including contact details, can be found at

DTE Pembrokeshire Public Information Leaflet (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The problem is that these four ranges affect the coastal cruiser from Worms Head to Milford Haven and all are potentially active during the working week though you will be glad to hear that, at the weekends, none of them is active. Another problem is that none of the aforementioned ranges talk to each other so that to make a coastal passage on a week day you have to make separate calls to each of them to ascertain whether or not they are planning to be active.

The Ranges (Pembray and Penally) in Carmarthen Bay only really affect passage into harbours in that bay and we will discuss those when dealing with those harbours.

Manobier and Castlemartin are the bugbear for passage making from Culdy Island to Milford. The legality is the same as for all MOD ranges and you have right of passage, the reality is that if every sailor along that coast stood on his "rights" they'd get nothing done so, unless you really are being pressed by tide or weather to make a passage close in, then you should stand out to sea and give them room (remembering that at the weekend they normally pack up and go home).

Manobier is an ground to air missile range and they are firing at targets out at sea; Castlemartin is a ground to ground range with the targets on the cliff edge so the danger is from "overs." Manobier extends 12nm south of Old Castle Head (due west of Caldy Island); Castlemartin is huge, but for practical purposes the south boundary is E/W through the St Govans SCM and the west boundary is N/S through the Turbot Bank WCM.

There are range safety boats working out of Tenby and Milford, the ranges can be contacted on VHF 16 and will contact you on VHF if they deem you to be in the way. The range safety boats will back up any "instructions" given by the RSOs on VHF and are oblivious to the fact that you will loose an hour or more of tide if you follow their instructions.

The moral of the story is that, in order to avoid any hassle, you should make passage at the weekend. In ten years of sailing these waters I was only once an "inconvenience" to them and had to hold to my own rights as I was pushing it to get into a tidal harbour at the end of my trip; I was made well aware of the fact that I was holding up operations and was "shepherded" by a safety boat hard on my quarter bellowing at me through a bull horn.

On the other hand Manorbier range once cleared me through under the cliffs between firings and was very helpful, as the alternative was to go south about Culdy Island and thence way out to sea to go round them.

Milford Haven CG do not include a Gunfax with their Maritime Safety messages but, on a daily basis, are informed by the ranges each morning of the intended activity so a phone call to them before departure is well worth while.

The best plan is to stay outside of the area by passing south of the St Gowan southerly Cardinal buoy (Q(6)+LFl.15s) which marks St Gowen Shoals and tide race. On the other hand the inshore trip past St Govan's Head and inshore of Crow Rock sports some lovely coastal scenery as well as a back eddy on the flood in places so if the weather gods are kind to you take advantage of it.

The Turbot Bank as marked by a westerly Cardinal buoy Turbot Bank (VQ(9)10s) is worth avoiding in breezy weather (esp. wind against tide) by passing outside it. All the areas of tidal disturbances are clearly marked on the chart. In anything other than very settled weather the sea around Linney Head can be quite lumpy and the rhumb line from St Gowans to Sheep Island takes you through those waters; it's best to put in a wee dog leg to seaward to take you through more comfortable seas!

In the closer approaches to Milford Haven the main tidal stream runs ESE from local high water +0450 and the WNW going stream starts one hour before local high water. These streams can attain 3 kn at Springs. Click on the chartlet to the left to get a zoomable version in a new tab

Once in the entrance the effect of the cross stream is replaced by a simple in and out effect. The tide ebbs out of the entrance from half an hour after local high water reaching 2 knts at Springs. The flood into the harbour begins shortly after local low water and can reach 1.5 kn.

The area where these two streams meet at almost 90° outside of the harbour can give rise to a confused sea.

The two main, big-ship channels are marked on the charts and it is best to stay outwith those. The entrance is wide, and small craft can use the whole width of it. In thick onshore weather, especially with an ebbing tide it is wise to give Chapel Rocks and At.Ann's Head a wide berth to avoid confused seas.

It is extremely likely you will meet big ships using either of these channels, and they are constrained by their drafts. Therefore the narrow channel rules always apply whether under sail or motor, and small craft must keep right out of the way. Also bear in mind visibility from the bridge of the ship is restricted at close quarters, you may be able to see them clearly but if you get too close in front of them they cannot see you.

All small craft must keep a minimum distance of 90 m away from all ships, terminals, and ships at anchor. All ships on the move should be considered as having a moving exclusion zone around them and especially forwards of them.

Milford Haven Port Authority have the overall responsibility for these waters, and they produce a useful guide for small craft showing what is permissible in all the different areas. Download it here:

Enjoy the Waterway (mhpa.co.uk)

Their website also provides local notices to Mariners, and plenty of other information for small craft users. A link is provided below:

http://www.mhpa.co.uk

Keep listening watch on VHF channel 12 upon approaching the harbour.

The actual entrance is made between St Ann's head to the West (The promontory is topped by a conspicuous lighthouse shown in the photo gallery) and, to the East, Sheep Island at 36 m tall and Rat Island at 23 m tall, lying off Studdock Point and East Blockhouse Point respectively. In the middle lies the appropriately named Middle Channel light structure Fl(3)G.7s18m8M. The East and West channels pass either side of this and are well buoyed, with the West channel being the deeper.

In strong onshore conditions the East Channel is probably the best for small craft, and the shallows over Chapel Rocks and Mid-Channel Rocks should be avoided.

Night entry (a distinct possibility given the local distances and tides) is possible. using the St.Ann's Head Lighthouse (Fl.WR.5s 48m 18/14M) the white sector of which will guide you to the West channel entrance. Red sectors keep you away from Linney Head (although this doesn't totally cover the Turbot Bank).

A set of leading lights can then be picked up, the rear one displayed on Watwick Point, the forward one on West Blockhouse Point. Following these inwards a further set of leading lights can be picked up, the rear one on Little Castle Head (Oc8s53m15M), and the forward one on great Castle Head (Oc.4s27m15M). The characteristics and arrangements are best seen on the charts.

Added to the extensive lit buoyage, these sectored and leading lights make night entry relatively easy, but to save all confusion (as often happens in these situations), it is best to enter a carefully chosen and checked selection of waypoints into your GPS to get you in.

The above instructions for night entry seem easy to follow but the reality is that it is very, very confusing from sea level; notice that the lights on Castle Head ( the last ones you need) have a range of 15 miles and sit nearly 90ft at mean sea level and are of the first you see (even over the land at East Blockhouse point as you come over Freshwater Bay) Be very careful to indentify which lights you are looking at by checking the light signatures (This is one harbour that I would now make out a black felt tip on white paper light plan for, before departure; it's not one to blunder into unprepared, as I did!)

Once inside make for your choice of Anchorage or Marina, many boats go straight to Dale just within the entrance to the North.