Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

14°C

Swell today

Direction SW, height 0.0 metres, period 9.9 seconds, significant wave height of 0.1 metres.

Haven position?

52° 16.383' N, 006° 22.250' W

Where is that position?

Off the lifeguard station in approximately 2 - 4 meters LWS.

What is the initial fix?

This waypoint is 200 metres south of the North Long VQ(6)+L Fl.10s.

What is the story here?

Rosslare South Bay resides to the immediate north of Rosslare Europort on county Wexford’s southeast coast.

This is good anchorage except in winds from the north round by east to south east. As the prevailing winds are south to westerly this is a well protected bay.

Access is straightforward. The simplest route in is to use the buoyed Rosslare Harbour shipping channel and continue past the harbour into the bay. Taking this approach there are few if any obstructions and access is very safe and simple.

Please note the Long Bank outside the bay prevents boats coming in directly from the Irish Sea. Do be conscious of the harbour traffic and the strong currents in this area.

Why visit here?

Rosslare South Bay offers the benefits of the Harbour stop over without all the difficulties of trying to fit around the commercial harbour operations. In addition you have all the leisure amenities attached to one of Ireland’s major tourist beaches within a stroll.

How to get in?

The South Long’ buoy marks the entry into the main harbour shipping channel and from there the main shipping channel buoys can be followed in along with the sectored leading lights. Strike of west-northwest from this initial fix and you will pick up on the channel markers and leading lights.

The Rosslare harbour channels are used by large commercial traffic and fast ferries operating at up to 35 knots. So please contact Rosslare Harbour on channel 12 and make them aware of your channel transit. Seek guidance so you do not obstruct harbour operations.

Because the channel can be busy it is courteous that you stay out of it to avoid commercial operations. The south side of the channel has more rocks and stronger currents – notable the Carrack rocks southeast of the harbour. The north side of the channel by contrast has no obstructions, lighter currents and plenty of deep water. This is the best leisure craft approach to take.

Tides around Rosslare Harbour can be very strong, at their strongest at LWS where they can reach up to 4 knots. Also due to local conditions it sets south for approximately nine hours and goes north for only three. The strongest run is directly off the pier head itself and when setting southward it will push the vessel to seaward off the pier head. So coming in well to the North of the pierhead and north of the channel avoids the worst of the current.

Once to the north of the harbour breakwater lay off for the waypoint instead of entering the harbour. You will see the lifeguard lookout station located on the beach in the middle of Rosslare Village (see photograph) and that is an ideal point to anchor. The area has a gradually shelving beach of 5-6 metres within the bay area. Take the boat in to a depth that is comfortable for you to anchor off.

What are the tides here?

Today's local tide estimates are based on High Water Cobh +0049
Today's Cobh tides — High waters: 07:36, 19:53, Low waters: 01:41, 13:56
Today's Dover tides — High waters: 01:04, 13:22, Low waters: 08:17, 20:33 (From Tide Times)
HW Dover -0510, mean level 1.1
MHWS 2.5m MHWN 1.4m MLWN 0.8m MLWS 0.0m

Tidal direction inshore of Tuskar Rock
Flood runs north-northeast, spring rate 2.5kn, Dover +0500
Ebb runs south-southwest, spring rate 3.25kn, Dover -0200

What facilities are available?

Rosslare strand is a bustling tourist beach. Once ashore at the lifeguard station there is a public car park behind it. You will have shops, restaurants, pubs and a train station with a Dublin service all within 5 minutes walk. Rosslare strand is a blue flag beach safe for bating.

What emergency contacts are there?

Dublin Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) VHF Ch 83 covers the area from Carlingford Lough to Youghal. Carlingford (04), Wicklow Head (02), Rosslare (23) and Mine Head (83) provide relay stations. Coastguard Radio is always called on a working channel. Emergencies are worked on 16, 67 and working channel.

Alternatively, or if ashore, phone 999 or 121 (free) and ask for ‘Marine Rescue’. Gardai (police), Fire and Rescue are also available on this number. Dublin (MRSC) may be contacted directly on +353 1 662 0922/3

Other useful contacts in this area:
Rosslare Harbour on channel 12 or phone +353 53 9133249

Any security concerns?

Rosslare strand is a tourist bay with little if any boat activity or boating related crime. It is most likely that you will be anchored there on your own.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

Admiralty Charts 1787 Carnsore Point to Wicklow Head, 1772 Rosslare Europort Wexford Harbours, Admiralty inshore 5621.15 Covers Rosslare. Imray charts C57 and C61 overlap in this area plus Discovery Ordinance Survey map 77 covers the land area.

With thanks to:

Phil Murphy, Kilmore Quay Harbour Master.

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Please zoom out to see the 'initial fix' for this location.

How can I get this offshore?

If a mobile signal is available you can access all of our information via a mobile phone's internet browser. We provide a 'Lite' site, Lite In Your Foot Steps using the shorter initials www.liyfs.com, that presents our data in a simplified, speed optimised format. Similarly, if an internet connection is limited or expensive, switching to the 'Lite' site enables faster and more efficient access.

Alternatively print this page's text, illustrations and photos, but without the internet menu, layout, backdrops and Google maps, or economise upon printer consumables and print this page with text only, to get a hardcopy of this location.

What other useful information is available?

The latest monthly Dover Tides and Cobh Tides courtesy of the National Environmental Research Council. Printable monthly tides for Dublin, Dunmore, Cobh, Galway, Belfast are available from the ISA.

The national weather forecast, Met Éireann and BBC shipping forecasts, plus a very simplified Leinster tourist outlook. From an Atlantic perspective a 24 hour North Atlantic synoptic chart that you may ‘right click’ and save to your hard disk. Met Éireann’s Eastern Atlantic chart and the BBC’s surface area forecast plus visible satellite images for Ireland and Northeast Atlantic from Met Éireann. Wind observations, XC UK & Ireland, Windguru wind & wave reports, and Windfinder where you can determine a forecast time. Coastal radio stations (VHF Channel) Weather forecast at 0103 and thence every 3 hours updated every sixth. Carlingford 04, Dublin 83, Wicklow Head 02, Rosslare 23 and Mine Head 83. Radio broadcasts on RTE 1 (89.1FM) 0603, 1253, 1655 and 2355.

A free tidal range prediction application for windows, a simple tide monitor plus the rule of twelfths are available in inyourfootsteps.com shared ‘experience’.



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