Falkland Islands

P 125

Delete: If entering Stanley at night, note there are unlit ship mooring buoys, one in particular in the middle of the harbour a little to the W of the Narrows.
[In March 2018 there were no ship-sized mooring buoys in Stanley Harbour, nor any plans to lay any.]

P 126
Berths and mooring

There are three places in Stanley were a yacht can lie alongside in varying degrees of comfort: the Public Jetty, East Jetty and FIPASS (Falklands Interim Port and Storage System). The Government Jetty shown on some older charts has been removed.
The Public Jetty is the best option when it is available. It is used to land passengers from cruise ships but can used by yachts without charge unless a cruise ship is expected, in which case you will be asked to move two hours before the ship is due. The Public Jetty consists of a substantial concrete pier with a pontoon on its E side. Lie alongside to the pontoon but attach the mooring lines to the round steel piles that hold the pontoon in place as the cleats on the dock are not strong enough to hold a yacht of even moderate size.
The Public Jetty pontoon is well protected from westerly winds but it is open to the NE and dangerous if there is any strength in the wind from that direction. Move out to anchor if a N or NE wind is forecast. There is a water tap at the foot of the Public Jetty.
When the Public Jetty is being used to land cruise ship passengers, anchor 50 metres off it and land by dinghy on the small pontoon 30m east of the Public Jetty. This pontoon is outside the port security area and always accessible.
The East Jetty, owned by the Falklands Islands Company, is situated 100m E of the Public Jetty. It is rough, dirty and semi-derelict. In 2018 the charge for berthing here was GBP25 per day. The best berth is on the east side but, like the Public Jetty, it can be very rough there when the wind is from the NE.
FIFASS is a substantial floating dock system 2 miles east of Stanley. Yachts can moor on the east side, for which there is a charge. Diesel and water are available. The berth is noisy, uncomfortable and dirty; the most likely reason to come alongside here is to allow repairs that require shore power, such as welding.
The visitors’ moorings shown on some old charts and government brochures no longer exist. The Canache is at the east end of Stanley Harbour and contains privately owned moorings and docks. One might be available for a long-term stay. There is a small breakwater about 200m west of the Public Jetty with room for two or three yachts inside it. This is privately owned and usually has no space for transients but it is may be possible to arrange a long-term berth here if leaving the vessel in the Falklands for an extended period.

Anchorages
The most convenient anchorage for Stanley is off the Public Jetty in 3-5m, soft mud, good holding with a good dinghy landing always available on the small pontoon between the Public Jetty and East Jetty. This berth can be uncomfortable, though probably seldom dangerous, in strong winds.
If the wind has a westerly component and is too strong for dinghy work, it is best to move to Moody Brook at the west end of the harbour. In a strong W wind this is a much quieter berth than off the Stanley; the fetch is less and the surrounding land lower so the wind is less gusty. Depth decrease gradually towards Moody Brook – go as far west as your vessel’s draft allows and anchor in soft mud with a little weed, good holding. There is a dinghy landing here that has been cleared of rocks, but as a general rule if the weather is good enough to land at Moody Brook it will be safe to anchor off the Public Jetty, thus saving a two mile walk to town.
If strong E or NE winds are forecast, move to Whalebone Cove at the east end of the harbour and anchor in the lee of the wreck of the Lady Elizabeth, a three-masted steel barque in remarkable state of preservation.
If a strong N wind is forecast, anchor anywhere convenient along the N shore of Stanley Harbour. Before doing, so call Stanley Port Control on VHF10/16 to check that your proposed anchorage does not obstruct a berth assigned to an incoming ship. The small craft berths off the Public Jetty, at Moody Brook and in Whalebone Cove are well clear of those used by larger vessels so it is not essential to get clearance from Stanley Port Control before using them, though it is politic to do so.

[There is a new concrete Public Jetty with new security arrangements for landing cruise ship passengers, hence the rewrite of that section. East Jetty and FIPASS get grubbier with each passing year – nothing much new there. None of the various moorings for ships or small craft mentioned in the text were in place in 2018 so I have removed reference to them. In 2018 there was only one small craft mooring off the town and it was not for public use. The metal landfill at the west end of the harbour is now so overgrown as to be unrecognisable, hence that deletion

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