Docks Office    0870 6096699  VHF 11
Barry YC        01446 735511     http://www.barryyachtclub.co.uk/  

We have included Barry in the notes purely because it is ideally situated as a place to hold before going up channel to Bristol or, equally, as somewhere to stop after negotiating your departure from Bristol. You might prefer Penarth or Cardiff for their facilities but for either of those you have to negotiate the Cardiff Barrage whereas Barry is much more convenient as long as you take care to anchor in depth sufficient to remain afloat at low water.

You won’t be able to go into the dockyard here; you are restricted to the outer harbour but that is well sheltered from all directions apart from SE.  It’s just under 28 miles from here to Bristol Docks - about four hours running up with the tide under your transom but a bit longer coming back especially if there is a bit of west in the wind - the wind against tide sets up a really short chop and you may have to reduce hull speed because of it.  It’s worth remembering that, at this end of the Bristol Channel, the westerly sea breeze on a sunny afternoon in June can reach F4 or more.

There has been a settlement (and even a fort) here since Viking times. A small port developed here but it wasn’t until late in the nineteenth century that Barry expanded into what we see today.  The docks were developed as a result of Cardiff reaching capacity for coal exports and a levy of a penny per ton being set by Lord Bute for coal exports from Cardiff;  the local mine owners were a bit miffed by this and, along with the railways owners (most of who had financial interests in the mines anyway!) built Barry Docks. The result was that for the best part of a quarter of a century Barry outstripped Cardiff in exports but, by the 1920s, the effect of WWI and the miners’ strike on the South Wales coal industry meant that the docks went into decline.  There are still ships using the docks but you are talking one or two a week; today Barry is best known for the Amusements on Barry Island which is sad because the capacity of these docks is going to waste.

The approach to Barry is simple, there are no dangers except

...... in bad visibility when you’ll need to keep a close ear on the VHF as the cargo ships and car transporters pick up the Pilot Boats at the Breaksea RACON only five miles SW of Barry and proceed up channel at a rate of knots. 

Be careful around Lavernock Point and Sully Island to the East of Barry; although there is plenty of water there for the normal yacht the bottom can put up some awkward, short overfalls and make life uncomfortable; in conditions of Westerlies in excess of force 3 to 4 on the ebb it’s best to give them a wee bit of an offing.

The pierheads are lit but there are no lead in lights for night entry.

This is where you will have some fun especially if you intend catching the next tide.

You really must do some calculations well before entry once you know what time you will be arriving.  The only really deep water is in the fairway, and you can’t anchor there, so you need to know just how shallow you can go to satisfy departure requirements the next day.

Barry can be a bleak place on a wet mid week evening in the early season. There are no facilities for the visiting yachtsman at all unless the Yacht Club is open (see times below). So, if you are arriving at a time when the club is likely to be closed, you would be well advised to contact their secretary to tell them that you are coming so that they can arrange for some one to be on hand to let you have a key to the club facilities (showers and toilets)

During the summer the club bar is open on Monday, Thursday and Friday evenings at 2000 and on Saturday and Sunday afternoons

You will find very little at the top of the hill to the west of the harbour - the main hub of entertainment is the shore front on Barry Island to the west of that hill; there is a pub and  Post Office/shop at the top of “Dock Road” out of the harbour. There is also a large retail park on the other side of the Docks but, by the time you have circumnavigated the dock, that’s a good mile away.