Sailing Directions

The following directions are intended as a helpful description of your journey up river. They do not relieve master and skippers of vessels of their obligation to conduct their own safe pilotage plans within harbour limits.

In the entrance, the stream ebb or flow seldom exceeds 2 knots except after heavy rainfall or strong northerly winds when, on the ebb tide, this can run up to 3.5 knots.

At Spring tides, the River almost dries out for two miles below Totnes at low water, but vessels drawing not more than 3 feet (0.9m) can proceed to Totnes one and a half hours after low water.

The tidal stream, 1.5 miles outside the entrance, runs NE from 2 hours before to 4 hours after high water at Dartmouth and SW from 2 hours before to 4 hours after low water at Dartmouth.
To make the best use of this guide reference should be made to the Admiralty Chart No 2253 (Edition no 5. 21st February 2002) or a suitably detailed and up-to-date equivalent.

Dart Harbour mooring buoys are blue. Those designated for visitors are marked with a black "V".
Visitors' pontoons and visitors' dinghy moorings are marked with blue flags.

CAUTION
Keep a good look out for the two lower ferries that ply between Kingswear and Dartmouth - they comprise a tug and vehicle carrying float that is towed alongside the tug. They are restricted in their ability to manoeuvre and fly "D" flags. Do not impede the passage of the wire guided Higher Ferry that crosses the river just below Dart Marina.

The Daymark Beacon is a 24m high stone tower. This marks the eastern side of the entrance to the River Dart. It is maintained by Dart Harbour and has recently been refurbished.

The Homestone Buoy (Red Can) QR marks the Homestone Ledge.
The Castle Ledge Buoy (Green Conical), Fl G 5s, marks the extremity of the Castle Ledge. Mariners without local knowledge should not pass between the Castle Ledge Buoy and the shore.

Keep Kingswear Lighthouse, a small white structure, Iso WRG 3s 9m 8M in line with the right hand edge of the large white house above the lighthouse. This will keep you in the middle of the channel. At night keep in the white sector of the light. Leave the Checkstone Buoy (Red Can), Fl (2) R 5s, to port.
Follow the course of the river keeping to starboard of the river centre. Immediately to the north of One Gun Point, at the entrance to Warfleet Creek is a private landing jetty which is not for public use.
There are a mixture of private and Harbour Authority moorings on the western side of the river. Royal Dart Yacht Club (RDYC) moorings are on the eastern side of the river. The RDYC has shower and toilet facilities, a bar and restaurant. At night keep in the white sector of Bayard's Light (Fl WRG 2s).

On the eastern bank is the Royal Dart Yacht Club. There is a pontoon for visitors from other yacht clubs adjoining the club. The lower ferries run from just upstream of the club. The Lower Ferry runs from Dartmouth to Kingswear. These are a tug and float combination that manoeuvres with difficulty. All vessels must give way.

Just upstream of the lower ferry slip on the western shore is a visitors’ pontoon (summer only) for yachts of less than 9m LOA and dinghies. This is outside the Dartmouth Yacht Club (DYC), which has shower/toilet facilities and a bar.

The yellow ships’ mooring buoys can be seen in the middle of the river. The main channel is on the Dartmouth side of the buoys and the visitors’ anchorage is on the Kingswear side of the buoys.

The South Embankment extends from the lower ferry slip to the Town Jetty. There are several public landing steps here. These should not be obstructed and boats are not to be left here unattended. The fish quay is about half way along the embankment and has a davit on its southern end. This is in frequent use by the local fishing fleet. Fresh water is available at the quay wall.

Immediately upstream of the Lower Ferry slip at Kingswear is the passenger ferry pontoon and to the north of it is Darthaven Marina . A set-down and short stay pontoon, operated bt Dart Harbour, is available at the southern end.

The Town Jetty is a pontoon connected to the embankment by a bridge. Local passenger vessels use the outer side of the jetty between 0845 and 1700 daily. These berths are available for use by yachts overnight between 1700 and 0845. Arrange to berth here with river staff on VHF Channel 11 call sign “DartNav”. The Kingswear passenger ferry runs from the north end of the Town Jetty, its berth is clearly marked and must not be obstructed. The inner side of the pontoon is available for use by yachts. Berthing up to two deep is possible. Fresh water and electricity are available here.

The entrance to the inner harbour, known locally as The Boatfloat, is just to the north of the Town Jetty. It is under the control of Dartmouth Town Council tel: 01803 832281. The Boatfloat dries out at low water.

SHORT STAY DINGHY PONTOON
Adjacent to the Boatfloat is a small visitors' short stay dinghy pontoon (max 6 hours, max 4.3m)

Public showers are available at the public toilets in Mayor's Avenue car park.

MID STREAM MOORINGS
Visitor's moorings are available mid-stream, downstream of the fuel barge.

The fuel barge can be contacted on VHF channel 6 call sign “Dart Crusader”. It has both diesel and petrol available.

The waste pontoon is situated upstream of the fuel barge. Please see Waste in River Guide index.

Upstream of the waste pontoon are three visitors’ deep-water pontoons (Kingswear Deep Water), which are available for larger yachts.

Adjacent on the Dartmouth side, below the Higher Ferry, are visitors’ pontoons for boats up to 8m LOA (DA Pontoon - Outside only) and DC Pontoon.

These locations fly a Dart Harbour blue visitors' flag.

The Higher Ferry runs on cables and it is advisable to give it a wide berth. The Ferry has right of way over all vessels.

Dart Marina is situated on the Dartmouth side above the Higher Ferry. Visitors' berths are sometimes available. Contact Dart Marina on VHF Ch 80 “Dart Marina”.

Sandquay, immediately to the north of Dart Marina belongs to Britannia Royal Naval College and its contractors. Expect a lot of small boat activity in this area.

During the months of March to August, inclusive, the traditional practice of setting nets for salmon and trout takes place by a small number of licensed netsmen. The area north of Kiln Gate and as far upstream as Ham Point is used from time to time during the period. Please give way to nets while navigating.

Old Mill Creek is located on the port side of the river. There are yacht repair and lay up facilities at the head of Old Mill Creek. Passage up the creek should be made on a rising tide. The deepest water is to be found close to the moorings in the creek. All the moorings here are private. The yellow buoys belong to the Naval College and may only be used with their permission.

Noss is a marina on the eastern side. Contact Noss Marina on VHF Channel 80, call sign “Noss Marina”.

Follow the course of the river favouring the starboard side of the channel. Private moorings marked with orange buoys are situated on the west side of the river.

Continue to favour the starboard side of the river as Maypool is reached. There is a disused grid marked by two unlit green poles with triangular topmarks just below Maypool. There are a few moorings just off Maypool jetty, which is private. Dart Harbour moorings are on the western side of the river.

Identify the Anchor Stone, marked by a red pole with a red can topmark (Fl(2) 5s light), early and leave well to port. There can be a tide race here but it is easy to negotiate once identified. There are Dart Harbour visitors’ moorings just beyond the Anchor Stone. These can be used with permission from Dart Harbour VHF Channel 11 call sign “DartNav”.

There are some visitors’ moorings in this area. Contact DartNav on -VHF Channel 11 for directions. Visitors’ short stay dinghy berths are available at the end of the Dittisham pontoon.
There is a water taxi service operated by the Dittisham to Greenway Ferry. The ferry is based on Greenway jetty. The jetty is private; the owner can be contacted by calling the ferry on VHF Channel 10 call sign ‘Greenway Bell’ for permission to land.
It is advisable that vessels proceeding further up river do so on a rising tide. Follow the moorings round the outside of Flat Owers keeping to the Galmpton side until the second boathouse, (Sandridge Boathouse) is reached.

If there is sufficient water, it is possible to cross Flat Owers. From midway between Greenway and Dittisham steer for the first boathouse (Waddeton Boathouse) keeping Flat Owers Buoy, an unlit red can, to port.

On reaching Flat Owers Buoy leave to port and turn to port towards Sandridge Boathouse. There are some unlit racing marks off Lower Gurrow Point.

Within 100 metres of Sandridge Boathouse turn towards the centre of Dittisham Mill Creek until abeam of Higher Gurrow Point and then alter course to starboard and steer for Blackness Point Beacon, unlit, comprising a red pole with a red can topmark.

Once within 100m of Blackness Point Beacon, by which time Mill Point should be in sight - turn to starboard, parallel with the west river bank.
From Blackness Point Beacon follow the course of the river keeping to the centre until closing the first set of moorings.

To proceed beyond Stoke Gabriel (and if there is sufficient depth of water) cross to the Stoke Gabriel side of the river, on a line with the yellow cable marker, on the beach above Blackness Point and Pig Hole Point (334 degrees).

Follow close to the moorings on the Stoke Gabriel side. There are visitors' buoys just off the entrance to Stoke Gabriel creek. There are short stay dinghy berths on the pontoon in the creek. Fresh water is available from a standpipe at the shore end of the pontoons.

To get beyond Stoke Gabriel from the entrance to Stoke Gabriel Creek keep close to the Stoke Gabriel side of the river until reaching Mill Point. From there, turn to port to about 45 degrees across the river and steer for White Rock. From White Rock, follow the course of the river and keep heading between No 2 Buoy, a red can, unlit, port hand mark, marking the entrance to Bow Creek and No 3 Buoy (Langham Wood) a green conical, unlit, starboard hand mark.

At No 2 Buoy turn to starboard rounding No 3 Buoy and steer towards Duncannon, leaving the moorings to starboard and No 4 Buoy (Duncannon) to port. After passing No 4 Buoy keep close to the Duncannon shore.

Please note that accompanied 2 or 12 seater open canoe trips by Canoe Adventures operate from Bow Creek.

Bow Creek is navigable on a rising tide. The channel is marked with port and starboard marker poles. This area dries out.

The Maltsters Arms can be found one and a half miles up Bow Creek. The quayside is accessible for up to three hours either side of high tide.

After passing Duncannon keep very close to the outside of the bend until reaching the 6 knot speed limit sign.

Near Ashprington Point there are two port hand marks to give guidance to the position of the deep water channel.

From the sign move out into the centre of the river leaving the red unlit beacons with red topmarks, close to port.

Keep between the two pairs of unlit port and starboard hand buoys.

After clearing No 7 starboard hand buoy, continue over to the outside of the bend and keep close to the shore on the port side until Ham Point unlit starboard beacon, a green pole with a green triangular topmark, is abeam to starboard.

Alter course into Sharpham Reach and keep over to starboard. Leave the port hand buoys; Nos. 10, 12 and 14, unlit, to port.

Keep close to the outside of the bend and leave No 10 and No 11 Buoys, unlit red cans, to port. Stay close to the shore on the starboard side.

From the wreck on the right hand bank, head diagonally across the river so as to make the outside of the next bend and pass close to the 40' off mark, an unlit red pole with a red can topmark.

Keep close to left bank once past the 40' off mark and make into the centre of the river as the next left hand bend is negotiated. From there just keep in the centre of the channel. It is wide enough for two boats to pass so favour the starboard side.

There are berths on both sides of the river here. Baltic Wharf Boatyard , to port, is private but enquire at the office for visitor berth availability. The berths to starboard are council berths but are controlled by Dart Harbour on behalf of South Hams District Council. Directions are posted giving details of payment and use of these facilities.

It is possible to go up river to where the river forks. There is a single berth at the terrace of The Steam Packet Inn. Ask at the Steam Packet about berthing. The main channel goes up to the bridge. The Totnes Boating Association (TBA) clubhouse is on the right bank. The TBA has its own moorings. Ask at the clubhouse if any are temporarily available for visitors.