Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

How to get in?

Approaching from the sea you can clearly see the Arklow Bank as a result of the wind park’s 106m turbines, currently made up of a test of seven GE 3.6 MW machines. Arklow resides inside the bank so you need to round the ‘Arklow Bank’ either the north, around the ‘Arklow North Cardinal’, or to the south between ‘Arklow South Cardinal’ and ‘Arklow Lanby’.

North Arklow Cardinal - Q position: 52° 53.862’N, 005° 55.263’W
South Arklow Cardinal - VQ (6) + LFl 10s position: 52° 40.812’N, 005° 59.230’W
Arklow Lanby - Fl (2) W 12s Horn Mo(A) 30s position: 52° 39.548’N, 005° 58.145’W

In settled weather you can cut directly across the bank at Arklow No. 2 which brings you on a direct course between Arklow and Aberystwyth – anything more than a force 4 and you should go round.

No. 2 Arklow Buoy - Fl R 6s position: 52° 50.294’N, 005° 54.558’W

If approaching from the north and hugging the coast to avoid an adverse current note Wolf Rock and there is a submerged rock 15 metres off Mizen Head. If on a fair tide keep east of the Horseshoe marker as there are lots of back-eddies to slow your progress inside. There are no other dangers outside of the Wicklow head and Mizen Head.

Approaching from the South, up the Rusk Channel, round Glassgorman No. 2 just to the east and turn in. Do note the overfalls off Kilmicheal Point can be very rough as can the Glassgorman bank in rough weather.

No. 2 Glassgorman Buoy - Fl (4) R 10 position: 52° 44.514’N, 006 05.343’W

If approaching at night from the south take note of the Roadstone Jetty situated 400 metres north of Arklow Head and 1 nm south of the entrance. It extends 250 metres from the shore and it is protected by a breakwater, often not lit, that extends out much further.

Roadstone Jetty – position: 52° 46.800’N, 006° 08.840’W

Apart from this there are no navigational hazards but do keep a good look out for numerous fishermen's pots, usually indicated by coloured jerry cans, approximately 3 miles to the north and 1 mile to the south of the harbour.

Arklow itself is easily identified for some distance by a 25m high white factory with a 44m high chimney on the shore close to the north pier. At night the pier lights are as follows.

Fl WR 6s 10m 13M on the South Pier
LFl.G.7s7m10m on the North Pier (if you cannot see this it may be due to maintenance issue).

Before finally approaching the 55 metre wide northeast facing entrance (see photo below) sit off until you can clearly see that you are correctly aligned. You should be able to look right down the first leg of the harbour entrance into the first bend where the river curves away to the right. Come straight in midchannel and be watchful on an ebb tide that sets southeast across the entrance.

As mentioned above entering the narrow with a heavy following wind from the northeast round to southeast is challenging. The more the heavy weather goes northeast, that is blowing directly into the harbour entrance, the m challenging it is.

In this condition you will be pitching into a lee shore. Once inside the entrance you then have to round hard to starboard 150 metres up river with a following seaway as the harbour turns to the northwest. If you are unfamiliar with the harbour and it has blown a steady north-easterly Force 6 for six hours this would be a condition best avoided. Heavy conditions from the east and southeast are less dangerous but nonetheless challenging on entry.

The more the wind comes around to the southeast the more the above described pitching evolves into a roll as the wind is moving round onto the beam for the final entry track into the harbour. Because the south pier extends out 50 metres further than the north pier you will not be thrown onto the north pier but it can be a challenging few moments. You will know the behaviour of your own vessel in these circumstances, but if uncertain or inexperienced, you should again avoid it if a Force 6 has established a seaway from the southeast.

The final point to note if you are confident to enter with heavy offshore winds and draw 2.5 metres plus, come in at half tide and above should you strike bottom on the through of a wave.

Generally speaking however the prevailing winds here are south-westerly and heavy easterlies are unusual. It would be unusual that you experience this in the summer cruising season.

Inside the channel there is a 3 knot harbour speed limit and you can elect to go to the fishing dock or the marina.

Approach the dock mid river and swing hard to come in its 10 metre wide entrance on the south side. The dock provides perfect shelter on the seaward quay where you can lie alongside a fishing boat, many of which are little used or layed-up, but keep clear of the Pilot launch.

The entrance to the Marina is to starboard 50 metres further upriver, immediately at the west end of the commercial North Quay with pontoons upriver of the marina entrance on the river bank. Once past the dock entrance, it is best to approach the marina and pontoon between the middle of the river and the northern bank as the south side of the river is shallow and a sandbank has emerged with a danger mark (as often-as-not dry and laying on its side indistinguishable) just before the moorings. Large vessels tend to berth on the river pontoons as the marina basin has constrained turning space. Vessels should beware of quickly shoaling depths towards the bridge.

What are the tides here?

Today's local tide estimates are based on High Water Dublin (North Wall) -0238
Today's Dublin (North Wall) tides — High water: 12:20, Low waters: 05:32, 17:58
Today's Dover tides — High water: 11:41, Low waters: 06:54, 19:17 (From Tide Times)
We are now approaching the next tidal event that will be Springs, need more detailed tidal planning information?

HW Dublin (North Wall) -0315sp -0200 np, mean level 1.0
MHWS 1.3m MHWN 1.2m MLWN 0.9m MLWS 0.6m

Direction of stream outside the harbour
Dover +0445 North going stream at 1 kn (Dublin +0415)
Dover -0215 South going stream at 1 kn (Dublin -1245)

Around the banks the north going flood tides tend to the Northwest across the banks and the south going ebb tide tends towards the Southeast. This causes the water to ride up and break on the west of the banks on the flood and the east on the ebb. Close inshore off Arklow the streams run alongside the coast.

What facilities are available?

Diesel fuel available from the fisherman’s dock, water and electricity available at the marina facilities plus shower and toilet facilities.

Bottled gas available locally in the town, along with a host of pubs and restaurants within walking distance of the marina & dock. The town hosts a boat yard, chandlery close to the river opposite the marina and engineers but no sail maker along with all the shops a you would expect in a large provincial town. A regular bus and train service runs to Rosslare ferry ports and Dublin.

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 112 (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:
Harbour master – office starboard hand just after the dock entrance.
Radio VHF Channel 16 on entry 12
Sailing Club: VHF Channel 10
Arklow Marina: VHF 16, M1, +353 402 39901/32610
Police: +353 402 32304/5 Doctor: +353 402 32421

Any security concerns?

There is no specific issue in Arklow, as with any small provincial town, lock up as you would do normally when the vessel is unattended.

What navigational resources are available for this area?

British Admiralty 1411 ‘’Irish Sea - Western Part’, Scale of 200,000:1 and 1468 Arklow to the Skerries Islands Scale of 100,000:1, British Admiralty 633 ‘’Plans on the East Coast of Ireland’’ includes Arklow Scale of 10,000, Imray chart C61 plus Discovery Ordinance Survey maps 56 & 62 cover this area. ’Sailing Directions - Irish Cruising Club - East & North Coasts of Ireland’ provides an excellent pilot for this area. OpenStreetMap provides local maps that include relief details plus walking and cycle routes for this locality.

With thanks to:

Paul Barrett, local boatman of many years.

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