Coleraine on the north coast, with its access to open sea through the River Bann estuary, is of growing interest to cruising folk, both as a home port, and as a convenient location where boats may be securely left in mid-cruise. With sailing seen as “the sport for life”, the increasing number of cruising enthusiasts entitled to a free travel pass means that Coleraine’s rail links provide an attractive option, and it is popular for crew changes. There are good road connections, and an airport – City of Derry, in easy reach, while connections through Belfast International and Belfast City are also manageable. From the mouth of the River Bann, all of Ireland’s north coast is within a day’s sail, as too are the nearer Scottish Hebridean islands.
Cranagh Marina is being created around an old salmon fishery on the east shore of the River Bann north of Coleraine. The 80 additonal pontoons are being installed in November in the section on the right.
Photo: Ciaran Clancy
Although the Bann – Northern Ireland’s longest river – accesses the sea through a narrow channel between long training walls, the four mile estuary is a broad and attractive winding waterway, the shoreline morphing from sand-dunes on both sides – the area is deservedly renowned for golf – into a fine river in pleasant rural surroundings before the bustling university town is reached.
In addition to a useful anchorage at Dougan’s Bay one mile in from the Barmouth, the eastern shore of the estuary provides three marinas. The most northerly, Seaton’s at Drumslade two miles further upstream, is daddy of them all, while second in seniority is Coleraine Marina just below the town, a municipal facility which is home to Coleraine YC .
New boy on the block is Cranagh Marina, midway between the two, which is being developed by the Carey family in a quiet spot near the University of Ulster campus. Formerly a salmon fishery (which probably gives the site the ultimate seniority of all the estuary’s waterfront places) the old buildings were sympathetically renovated to create a charming and peaceful haven with 20 pontoon berths and shore facilities. Next stage is the provision of 80 additional berths before the 2010 season, with the work of installing the new pontoons immediately upriver of the quay/slipway scheduled to begin in November 2009. It will ensure that the place is large enough to be a viable and vibrant facility popular with waterborne sports enthusiasts of all kind, while retaining its friendly nature, making Cranagh one of those ports where your cruise is under way as soon as you step aboard your boat berthed there.
CoastNotes is an Afloat.ie website department which aims to provide a home for news of developments of interest to crews making their way along the Irish coast. Please send us your info, and we would hope to set it in the most useful cruising context.
