Moving boat from West to East

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First post here but probably read daily, so hi ?

Well I’ve only gone and bought a boat (Bavaria 36)! It’s been tough finding one, the market is very buoyant and certainly wish I’d bought two years ago when I first came up with the idea ?‍♂️

Anyway the best day of boat ownership is approaching and hopefully the second best day is a long way off!

The boat is currently in North Wales and I’m looking to move it to Essex with the help of a delivery skipper/instructor.

Read so much great advice (and I’m probably going to need lots more) on here already and hoping there’s some great recommendations for an Instructor/Skipper who would be able to help me achieve the above.

I have day skipper but I’m nowhere near competent/confident/qualified (delete as you wish) enough to take this on on my own.

Are there any recommendations for a good instructor/skipper who would be great for the above?

What kind of timescales do you think would be necessary for this journey?Whilst I’m not looking to meander slowly along the South Coast, I don’t want to do the whole trip without stopping a couple of times, presume we will need to anyway for provisions/morale.

Lastly, and I’ve not thought huge amounts about this, crew? Instructor/skipper, myself, one or two others?

As you can tell I’m right at the beginning of planning this so any thoughts you can throw in will be helpful.

Thanks all ?
 

Bobc

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It's all do-able. Depending on when you want to bring it round, I'd be up for helping you (commercial Yachtmaster with a Bavaria 49).

Do the trip in stages of about a week or 10 days each, Wales to Cornwall, Cornwall to Solent, Solent to Essex. Get mates to come and help you.

There's not many places to stop down west Wales, so you'll probably want to go via Ireland, which could cause a few problems at the moment with Covid and quarantine stuff.
 

Gwylan

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Pace yourself and expect the unexpected. See it as an extended series of day sails with some long days.

N Wales to Fishguard. A longish stretch. Resist the temptation to stop in Aberystwyth.
Fishguard and a carefully timed sail to Milford. If you don't need supplies of any sort then stop at Dale. Otherwise you get trapped behind the lock in Milford.
Then Milford to St Ives, anchor and time departure to arrive at Brissons to get around the inside at Lands End with the tide.
Then stop Newlyn. The worst is over, in my opinion.

Now manage your journey for the significant tide gates along the way.

Next tactical decision is IoW. I favour going past St Cats not inside.
Plan you passage for passing St Cats at the right point of the tide.

Then a collection of day sails as far as Ramsgate. After that my personal experience runs out.

Long days, lots of daylight. Watch the weather and the jet stream. Be ready to say no and go back to bed.
 

Praxinoscope

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Gwylan' suggested timetable makes sense to me, but I would perhaps use Aberystwyth as an intermediary stop over, it's not the best port to enter but it does help to limit the passage times to 6 or 7 hours if you prefer shorter passage times at the start of your journey.
Lower Fishguard has few facilities, but it is a beautiful place to spend the night, Dale is great, but for deeper draft craft you need to be well off shore, If you don't mind the extra 2hours go right down to the marina at Neyland, but it does take another 2 hours to get back out to sea.
 

Bobc

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Pace yourself and expect the unexpected. See it as an extended series of day sails with some long days.

N Wales to Fishguard. A longish stretch. Resist the temptation to stop in Aberystwyth.
Fishguard and a carefully timed sail to Milford. If you don't need supplies of any sort then stop at Dale. Otherwise you get trapped behind the lock in Milford.
Then Milford to St Ives, anchor and time departure to arrive at Brissons to get around the inside at Lands End with the tide.
Then stop Newlyn. The worst is over, in my opinion.

Now manage your journey for the significant tide gates along the way.

Next tactical decision is IoW. I favour going past St Cats not inside.
Plan you passage for passing St Cats at the right point of the tide.

Then a collection of day sails as far as Ramsgate. After that my personal experience runs out.

Long days, lots of daylight. Watch the weather and the jet stream. Be ready to say no and go back to bed.
Sorry, yes. Ireland was complete nonsense. I was thinking further north.
 

johnalison

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You could do it very quickly because the tides in the Channel work in your favour when going east. However, I would only do this if I were paying someone to help because you would be missing an enjoyable cruise that you might not revisit for a while. I don’t know the Welsh bit, but the West Country is prime day-cruising country and very scenic. We collected our boat from Sweden 20 yrs ago and made the delivery trip into a holiday and had no trouble in attracting friends to come and assist.

For a first trip with little experience under your belt it may be worth seeking places where you can anchor or pick up a mooring, since this will make fewer demands on your handling skills. I was thinkping of places like Helford, Fowey and the Yealm, though availability in this odd season may need to be checked.
 

Tranona

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Really does depend on what your objectives are. If you just want the boat home then the two alternatives are road (2 days and about £2k) and she will be in your berth on the east coast. For maybe similar cost a professional delivery crew by sea, probably 10 days. Give Pete at halcyonyachts.com a call (regular poster here) for advice and a quote.

Otherwise if you want to treat the trip as a holiday and learning about your boat then lots of advice from earlier posts. However do not underestimate the time required to do it in "cruising" mode rather than delivery, nor the cost (berthing, subsistence, travel to and from if you need to leave it for a break).
 

TernVI

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Paying a delivery skipper to do it in short hops is going to cost a fortune.

I would consider alternatives such as finding some people to help for free, basing it in N Wales for a year while building experience to move it next year, moving it in a few long hops or some mixture of these options.
By the time you've had the experience of going around Land's End, you shouldn't need a pro to help you tour the South Coast.

I wouldn't rule out some 'own boat tuition' or studying theory to at least YM standard though.
Maybe then you would only need assistance with a few of the legs?

It's an opportunity to cruise a great area (two areas really, West Country and Celtic Sea) which will be much harder to access once the boat is based in Essex.
Who do you intend to sail with once it's in Essex?
 
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Wow. What a response, some awesome information from everyone here. Thank You ?

Final plan is to sail locally in Essex with my family (partner comp crew) starting with small trips etc and building up over the next 18 months.

The trip back from Wales is likely to be a step too far for them at the moment and will likely scare them off!

From what everyone has said the trip how would be epic done in “cruising” mode but I just don’t have that time to commit.

The great news is that We’re only thirties so we’ve got years to meander along the South Coast taking in the sights and sounds, I wish I could do it now but I feel like that trip deserves months not weeks and unfortunately I’m very much still working.

With that in mind it seems I’ve got two options: road or some professional help to do it quickly.

Ive had a quote for circa £2k plus lifts and mast work for road haulage but that’s far less exciting (albeit much more convenient)

If I want to enjoy the adventure (and not miss out on the learning experience) I’m thinking a delivery skipper/own boat tuition done quickly with minimum of stops based on everyone’s advice?

I’m sure after this I’ll know the boat inside out and be confident of handling her.

Sound like a plan or am I mad? Any recommendations for a pro who could help?

For those in the know what timescales or costs might that look like?

Thanks for the help and advice so far ?
 

Jungle Jim

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If you do sail it, or have a delivery skipper take her, if you need crew from the west country up as far as Chichester I volunteer. You have my favourite boat :)
YM Coastal with good experience from Weymouth to Chichester, non smoker and house trained :)
 

Tranona

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If I want to enjoy the adventure (and not miss out on the learning experience) I’m thinking a delivery skipper/own boat tuition done quickly with minimum of stops based on everyone’s advice?

I’m sure after this I’ll know the boat inside out and be confident of handling her.

Sound like a plan or am I mad? Any recommendations for a pro who could help?

For those in the know what timescales or costs might that look like?

Thanks for the help and advice so far ?
That is exactly what I did when I brought my Bavaria 37 back to the UK from Greece. I shopped around the delivery agencies to find a skipper prepared to take me along as one of the crew. Key thing (apart from availability) was finding someone I had confidence in and felt I could get along with. Worked OK although we had problems with failing autopilots and ran out of time to get round the outside so stopped in southern Spain and put the boat on a truck!

As suggested earlier try Pete at Halcyon, although there are many other reputable delivery companies and agencies. Many skippers who do deliveries are freelance and often have crew available who will come along for experience. A crew of 3 (skipper, you and one other) will enable you to do the trip non stop (weather permitting) but just you and the skipper would likely mean some stops to minimise night sails. Charges can be either daily rate or fixed price - the latter more common if the delivery is done solely by the company. Doubt it will be as expensive as truck plus lifts etc.

Presumably you have had a survey on your new purchase so unlikely to be any hidden nasties to delay you, but good idea to have although the recommendations dealt with and perhaps have a couple of trial sails to check everything out before you leave. You are right, you will learn a lot and increase your confidence in yourself and the boat and if you have the time (allow 2 weeks I would think) and enjoy the ride.
 

01_Anna

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I was going the opposite way to you, bought my much smaller (30 feet) boat in Southampton, and got it delivered to Wales. I am experienced sailor, but the boat was- by definition- new to me. After analising both the time scales/costs; the road delivery was an only viable option. As already mentioned above, it took two days, by fully insured specialist company. Including the lifts out/in; and unstepping/stepping the mast; it was still cheaper, than the-total- cost would have been, of sailing it accross.
There are hidden assumptions in the delivery trip recommendation, one: the weather is going to co-operate. Any adverse conditions, and you have to look for safe port, incl. visitor moorings (additional cost!). The other- delivery trip is seldom pure sailing, more likely motor sailing, due to time constraints.
 

Gwylan

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Wow. What a response, some awesome information from everyone here. Thank You ?

Final plan is to sail locally in Essex with my family (partner comp crew) starting with small trips etc and building up over the next 18 months.

The trip back from Wales is likely to be a step too far for them at the moment and will likely scare them off!

From what everyone has said the trip how would be epic done in “cruising” mode but I just don’t have that time to commit.

The great news is that We’re only thirties so we’ve got years to meander along the South Coast taking in the sights and sounds, I wish I could do it now but I feel like that trip deserves months not weeks and unfortunately I’m very much still working.

With that in mind it seems I’ve got two options: road or some professional help to do it quickly.

Ive had a quote for circa £2k plus lifts and mast work for road haulage but that’s far less exciting (albeit much more convenient)

If I want to enjoy the adventure (and not miss out on the learning experience) I’m thinking a delivery skipper/own boat tuition done quickly with minimum of stops based on everyone’s advice?

I’m sure after this I’ll know the boat inside out and be confident of handling her.

Sound like a plan or am I mad? Any recommendations for a pro who could help?

For those in the know what timescales or costs might that look like?

Thanks for the help and advice so far ?
At £3k put it on the truck, get it home.
You can then build your experience.

As you say, you have time. Also it is quite possible that there will be events that dilute your family's enthusiasm. Not a good start.
 

TernVI

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I was going the opposite way to you, bought my much smaller (30 feet) boat in Southampton, and got it delivered to Wales. I am experienced sailor, but the boat was- by definition- new to me. After analising both the time scales/costs; the road delivery was an only viable option. As already mentioned above, it took two days, by fully insured specialist company. Including the lifts out/in; and unstepping/stepping the mast; it was still cheaper, than the-total- cost would have been, of sailing it accross.
There are hidden assumptions in the delivery trip recommendation, one: the weather is going to co-operate. Any adverse conditions, and you have to look for safe port, incl. visitor moorings (additional cost!). The other- delivery trip is seldom pure sailing, more likely motor sailing, due to time constraints.
But the point of owning a cruising yacht is to sail it to different places?

Yacht ownership is really not about the cheapest way of gettign your boat back to its home pontoon.

I completely agree about the time and weather, the trip is not a small commitment, it's likely not going to fit into a typical 2 weeks off work.

Boats are a black hole for time as well as money.
 

01_Anna

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I would not describe my boat as a hm... a cruising one. :)
Have a look at the crew section of the forum- there are some recent photos.
Ad rem:
The OP is facing the same constraint, as I did back then: namely lack of (free) time. The cost- in my case was definitely a factor, albeit not the most important one.
If one is retired, no school age kids etc. great. I was, and still am, not not so lucky...
But I do sail... hence the prospect of -mostly- motoring trip was not an attractive one.
 
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