Practical Boat Owner — January 2018

CRUISING

Napoleonic

Fort

Lifeboat

Station

Castle

Hill

Small Craft

Moorings

First

Bay

First

Point

North

Cliff

Point

North Cliff

North

Beach

South

Beach

Harbour

Wall

Tenby

Harbour

Tenby

Roads

ST CATHERINE’S

ISLAND

Gosker

Rock

Sker Rock

Tenby

The

Pool

N

Tenby

Monkstone

Point

Giltar

Point

Tenby

Roads

SOUTH

WALES

Carmarthen

Bay

CALDY

ISLAND

cables

0 2

peaceful ... sheltered from all the winds.
There are nine monks stationed there and
20 islanders.’
We turn around and head back towards
Tenby. Joseph points out the Napoleonic
fort on the island of St Catherine’s,
accessible by foot at low tide. The island
was closed to the public in the 1970s,
when it was a zoo, then opened just for a
year in 2015. If you want to see it in all its
forbidding glory, watch the last episode in
series 4 of BBC’s Sherlock when the fort
doubles as the prison used to hold the
sleuth’s psychopathic sister!

At work and play
Next we pass Castle Hill, a headland
bearing the remains of a 13th century
castle and a memorial to Prince Albert. At
the foot of the hill is the impressive
Lifeboat House with its inshore and
all-weather lifeboats, plus an information
display, visitors’ area and shop.
Jack volunteers on the lifeboat crew,
along with many others who work in
Tenby’s maritime industry. It’s one of the
busiest stations in the country. He tells me
the previous night they had three ‘shouts’

• two missing kayakers and a missing
  child – all, thankfully, found safe and well.

Confusingly, just a few hundred metres

away is another lifeboat station, though

this one is actually a house. The Grade II

listed building with distinctive grey

cladding and a red roof featured on the

Channel 4 TV show Grand Designs when

it was converted into a family home.

We return to the breakwater, and tie-up

alongside the steps, where two girls proudly

show us their bucket of crabs. Waiting at

the top of the steps is Matt, my tour-guide

for the afternoon. We don’t get too far

before we meet David Philips, who is

adjusting the lines as his yacht Castiard, a

Van de Stadt 40, prepares to take the mud.

‘Come on down,’ he waves, ‘have a cup

of tea’. David is on passage from Lydney

in the Bristol Channel. ‘Where?’ I ask, and

before I know it he has the chart out and is

pointing out the ancient harbour in the

Forest of Dean.

Rich in history

There’s a splash behind us, and we’re

joined by a beaming teenager in a wetsuit

from one of the other Lydney boats. His

Tenby Facts

Visitor moorings

Inner harbour moorings:

the 12 yellow visitor buoys

are available on a first-come

first-served basis up to a

maximum size of 21ft in

length. These are not

serviced regularly and so

vessels use them at their

own risk. As such, there’s

no fee, but please put a

donation in the RNLI box.

Harbour wall: there’s space

available for seven yachts

on the main quay wall

where you’ll find fendered

ladders, electricity hook ups

and fresh water, plus the

use of showers, toilets,

kitchen area, lounge and

washing and drying

facilities. The overnight

charge for this is £15 per

night plus VAT.

By Sea:

Latitude 51°40’.42N

longitude 004°42’.93W

Admiralty Charts: 1482,

1076, 1179, OS 158

Contacts

Tenby Harbour Office:

Main Quay Wall, Tenby, tel:

01834 842717, Emergency

tel: 08456 015522, mobile

(Matt Broadhurst): 07812

559483, mobile (Chris

Salisbury): 07812 559482,

email: tenby.harbour@

pembrokeshire.gov.uk

Doctor: Health Centre, Gas

Lane, Narbeth Rd, Tenby,

tel: 01834 840868

Tourist information: Upper

Park Rd, Tenby, tel: 01437

775603

Tenby Sailing Club: 15 The

Harbour, Tenby, tel: 01834

842762

Bus station: Upper Park

Rd, Tenby – near multi-

storey car park

Railway station: Warren

Street, Tenby

LEFT The old

lifeboat station

has been

converted into

a home and

featured on the

TV programme

Grand Designs