The Whitestone Bank is a

sand bank In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water close to the surface or ...

approximately

east East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

of The Point of Ayre,

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. The Whitestone Channel separates the island from the bank.

Description

The bank is denoted on maritime chart AC 2094

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; ) is a town at the mouth of the River Dee, Galloway, River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. A former royal burgh, it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire. His ...

to the

Mull of Galloway The Mull of Galloway (, ; ) is the southernmost point of Scotland. It is situated in Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, at the end of the Rhins of Galloway peninsula, also being the most southerly hill. The Mull has one of the last remain ...

& Isle of Man; AC 1826 Irish Sea Eastern Part; AC 2696 Ramsey Harbour; SC 5613.21.1 Isle of Man East Coast. Ramsey ; Imray C62 Irish Sea; Imray Y70 Isle of Man (Harbour Plan of Ramsey). The currents around the

Point of Ayre The Point of Ayre ()''Place Names of The Isle of Man – Da Ny Manninee Dooie Volume Three. Sheading of Ayre: (Kirk Andreas, Kirk Bride and Kirk Christ Lezayre)'' page 258 ''Kirk Bride'' by George Broderick – Turbingen ; Niemeyer NE:HS ...

have, over the millennia formed a series banks stretching out to the east which, it is advised, should be avoided especially in heavy weather when the seas break over them. There is also a problem in that chart depths on the west coast to the southwest of the

are based on Victorian lead line surveys and are no longer accurate, there being reports of depths as much as 2 meters less than that expected. For mariners approaching Ramsey from the north, it is suggested that the best course of action is to come in north of the Strunakill Bank then tight to the

. This allows the mariner to slip inside the Whitestone Bank, through the Whitestone Channel. Alternatively, if coming up from

Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...

, it is advisable to stand off Rue Point (southwest of Ayre) and then shape a course to pass between the

Strunakill Bank The Stunakill Bank is a shoal approximately west of The Point of Ayre, Isle of Man. The bank is denoted on maritime chart AC 2094 (at position ) Kirkcudbright to the Mull of Galloway & Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), ...

and the Point. Going outside the Whitestone Bank to the east of the

involves committing the

mariner A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor' ...

to an unnecessarily long passage around the Bahama Bank. Other notable sandbars and banks in the area are the Ballacash Bank, the King William Bank, the

and the Bahama Bank.

References

{{Authority control Shoals of the Isle of Man Landforms of the Irish Sea