George Hunter
New member
Hi Tony
Would be great to know what would deter you from considering the skipper 17.
It is a small boat and doesn’t have the highest of ballast ratios so I suppose that would be a downside.
George
Extending my cruising in my skipper 17
- Thread starter George Hunter
- Start date
Would be great to know what would deter you from considering the skipper 17.
It is a small boat and doesn’t have the highest of ballast ratios so I suppose that would be a downside.
George
steve yates
Well-known member
George, it's all perfectly doable. Just pick your weather and use common sense.
Phil the cowman on here circumnavigated in a pirate express. I took my bradwell from Cumbria to top of Scotland and back, via Isle of Man Ireland and outer Hebrides. Search my posts for parts 1, 2 and 3 for where the boat went. Night sailing is nothing to worry about, it's easy and necessary to get anywhere sometimes.
Phil the cowman on here circumnavigated in a pirate express. I took my bradwell from Cumbria to top of Scotland and back, via Isle of Man Ireland and outer Hebrides. Search my posts for parts 1, 2 and 3 for where the boat went. Night sailing is nothing to worry about, it's easy and necessary to get anywhere sometimes.
Wansworth
Well-known member
We now live in an age of comfort and easy ness but not long ago voyages were regularly made in small craft without hot running water even today the hardy marina can find hot showers in marinas if weeksstruggling against the elements get too much.In my life time refusal by club stewards to shower if one was not a member are events of the past,small boat voyaging can be a chance to step out of our modern rush.....
Gargleblaster
Well-known member
I have just given a talk on Mary Bryant who in 1791 stole a naval cutter (open boat) and took it 3256 miles. She did it with 8 men and a 4 yr old and a 1 yr old. Similar distance to Bligh's open boat voyage. They did have a quadrant and a compass but nothing that would have helped them with longitude and I doubt if they had the tables to give them declination to find latitude.
So a voyage around Britain seems pretty tame in comparison with charts and modern navigation equipment and nice friendly ports to call in at.
PeterWright
Well-known member
But note that a naval cutter, at 32 foot long, was much bigger than a skipper 17, although probably slower with her small dipping lugsail. That, and the 28 foot whaler, were the standard ships boats in the Royal Navy, at least until the 1950's - my grandfather's yard in Ipswich was one of the many that used to build them.
Peter.
Peter.
steve yates
Well-known member
One thing you should add if you dont have it, is a remote fuel tank for the ob and enough spare cans to refill the entire tank, as on a circumnavigation you will have quite a few days without any wind in the summer.
AntarcticPilot
Well-known member
Or worse, persistent headwinds, which I encountered on my trip from the Clyde to Titchmarsh. While it is perfectly possible to make headway to windward, it's VERY slow, even in a much larger boat than the Skipper. Over a period of 3 weeks, the wind was either stronger than we felt we could manage or, on days when it wasn't too strong, it was a headwind. We used the engine an awful lot on that journey.
You're better off in the Skipper in one respect, though. On the East Coast there are VERY few havens suitable for a fin-keel Moody 31 from Whitby south. However, a Skipper should find shelter in the various creeks on the North Norfolk coast and at Donna Nook on the Lincolnshire coast, as well as various drying harbours such as Scarborough and Bridlington.
johnalison
Well-known member
We have the advantage today that weather forecasts are so good for about three days. Given time, it would be possible to have a safe and enjoyable trip, but with a small and potentially slow boat, it would be still be a good idea to invest in a Railcard. My 34ft boat with 27hp will just about motor against the wind in F4 in open water, but my VMG sailing to windward will not exceed 4.5 knots in good conditions and could be as low as 2, making a 60-mile leg a thirty-hour marathon, if my arithmetic is still working.
tony_lavelle
Active member
The Skipper 17 is very light and tender. You would need untiring concentration and fair weather (<F4). It's really just a big dinghy, suitable only for inshore waters. Also slow to beat to windward. I have owned several sailing yachts including trailer-sailers and this was by far the worst.
Gargleblaster
Well-known member
I notice there was a Skipper 17 in Derby on Ebay last night. I would put the link here but it is over £400 starting bid so I am not sure I can.