Location &
sailing area....
Adventure
Sails is based in Appledore, situated in the picturesque Torridge / Taw
Estuary on the North Devon Coast. Our dramatic and rocky coastland is
spectacularly counterbalanced by the gentle sandy Welsh Gower
Peninsular directly opposite, with the unique windswept granite island
of Lundy, with its maritime nature reserve, in between. All are areas
of outstanding natural beauty.
The
pretty little fishing village of Appledore, full of multicoloured old
fishermen's cottages, hidden 'drangs' and courtyards, is steeped in
maritime history and has been a port and shipbuilding centre for
centuries. It was granted 'Free Port' status by Queen Elizabeth 1st in
gratitude for the role it played in supplying ships and sailors to
fight the Spanish Armada. Local ship building peaked during Victoria's
reign and still survives today. DML Appledore is currently working on a
£50 million contract to build sections of two new Royal Navy
aircraft carriers, HM Queen Elizabeth and HM Prince of Wales.
Although
most of its shipping is now limited to sand dredgers and fishing boats,
just upriver is the busier port and little white market town of
Bideford, home to the Lundy supply ship and visitor ferry, MS Oldenburg
and the Kathleen and May, the only wooden triple-masted sailing
schooner to still sail and trade in British waters.
Appledore
Sails caters for a wide range of experience and tastes from estuary
sailing, gentle waters to rough seas.
Return
trips in Patron to Clovelly and Lundy can be easily undertaken within a
day, depending on tide times, leaving time to explore these delightful
places.
Weekend
trips can be made to Ilfracombe, Watermouth Cove, Padstow, Tenby,
Saundersfoot, Burry Port, Oxwich, The Mumbles or Swansea. Newquay,
Milford Haven and Cardiff can all be reached within twelve hours.
A
one week charter will enable you to explore the Bristol Channel ports
and harbours, explore the Scillies, or even visit the SS Great Britain
in Bristol by boat. Longer trips can include North Wales, Ireland or
take you around Lands End to the South Coast.
Wherever
you visit, hopefully you will experience the joys of maritime life and
encounter the numerous seals and dolphins which frequent these waters
and the basking sharks a little further down the coast, not to mention
the numerous examples of bird life.
Depending
on tide times, trips may sometimes start at another local picturesque
fishing village, Clovelly; world famous for its uniqueness, being built
into a cleft of a 400' high cliff. The cobbled, traffic-free, 'High
Street' tumbles its way down past whitewashed cottages festooned with
flowers to the tiny working port below where you will be met.
All
trips are individually planned depending on where you want to go and
what you want to do, but taking weather and tides into consideration.
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