Comment

Fowey is a deep water harbour that is a very important exporting port on the South West peninsula, being the largest in tonnage terms. It is also in the top twelve ports for non-oil product exports in the United Kingdom. Fowey Harbour Commissioners provide the important pilotage and towage services for the export of China Clay through Fowey to destinations all over the world.

It accommodates over 7,000 visiting craft through the summer season and has up to 1,500 resident craft. Fowey Harbour is a picturesque place to visit with good facilities and a friendly atmosphere. You'll find all the information you need to assist in planning a visit to Fowey.

Fowey Harbour Commissioners have a policy for making all of the Official Harbour Publications widely available.

It has always been a primary policy for Fowey Harbour Commissioners to ensure that environmental considerations figure highly in port operational planning and management.

Navigational Safety The main defined deep water channels are in constant use by large deep draught ships that cannot deviate from their course. Yachtsmen are advised to keep well clear of the main channels whenever possible and use the recommended small craft routes at either side. When the main channel has to be crossed, this should be done at right angles to the channel.

Advice on ships' movements All ships over 37.5 metres entering the harbour take on board a harbour pilot 1 to 2 miles off the port entrance. The pilot cutter will normally precede the vessel into the harbour. Whilst all ships are required to have a pilot on board, he is not in command of the vessel, that responsibility always remains with the Captain of the vessel.

Ships under 90 metres length normally proceed directly to the jetty areas North of Bodinnick ferry unless mooring to the commercial buoys in the lower harbour. Ships over 90 metres length use on tug to turn around in the Swing Ground area.

Departing and escorted vessels Ships leaving the harbour normally proceed directly from their loading berth to sea. Fully laden vessels, often with a draught of up to 9 metres, have considerably increased stopping distances. It is essential to give the vessel clear passage ahead. Vessels will need to follow a track as near to the centre of the main shipping channel as possible. The pilot will disembark once the vessel is clear of the harbour entrance to a pilot cutter which will be in close attendance.

Port entry The Harbour entrance lies between St Catherine's Castle on the West side and a white cross on Punches Cross rock on the East side. The entrance is only one cable wide at its narrowest point.

The Harbour is entered on a Northerly course through the entrance and then North Easterly to the Swing Ground area off the Town Quay. At night keep in the white sector of the Whitehouse light until abeam of Polruan. The majority of visitor's mooring facilities are situated on the East side of the Harbour, opposite the Town Quay and at the entrance to Pont Pill.

Information on entering the Port can be obtained from Fowey Harbour Radio or Fowey Harbour Patrol on VHF Channel 12. Advice on commercial movements is available from Fowey Harbour Radio or Fowey Pilots on VHF Channel 9.

Facilities for Visiting Craft The Royal Fowey Yacht Club on the Fowey shore, 100 metres south of the Town Quay, welcomes visiting yachtsmen to use the club's facilities.

The Fowey Gallants Sailing Club, 100 metres north of Albert Quay, welcome visiting yachtsmen to use the club's facilities. Showers and meals are also available.

Visitor's moorings Visiting craft are well catered for with a number of facilities located close to the town. There are four floating visitor pontoons, two are at the entrance to Pont Pill, 1 opposite Albert Quay and the other in Mixtow Creek opposite the commercial jetties - the western section of this pontoon is reserved for visitors.

Adjacent to the pontoons in Pont are a number of fore and aft moorings, suitable for vessels left unattended or weather bound. On the east side of the harbour, inside the swing buoy and adjacent to the underhills pontoon, are a number of visitor swinging moorings, suitable for craft up to 13 metres in length.

All Fowey Harbour Commissioner's moorings are marked "FHC Visitors" and are coloured white or yellow.

There are short stay landing pontoons - a maximum of two hours, for all craft over 4.5 metres.

R.N.S.A. mooring The Royal Naval Sailing Association has a mooring facility in the harbour for its members' use.

Craft wishing to dry out for any reason should contact the Harbour Master's office for local restrictions.

Print

Email this

Comment

Add your comment

Name:
Email: *
Location:
**
	e.g. 123-123
Comment: Please note: All HTML tags will be ignored. Format Text:
By posting a comment, I confirm that I have read and agree to the terms of use. Comments are not moderated but we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention and we may delete inappropriate postings. Please treat other people with respect. You must not post anything that is abusive, indecent, unlawful or defamatory. Remember, you are personally liable for what you post on this site. If you wish to complain about a comment, contact us here.
* Your email address will not be displayed ** To avoid register now or login