No experience sail from Weymouth to Hull

[DignityDan]

We have just bought a 26ft Mystere Flyer long fin 9hp engine sailboat. We need to sail her back from Portland to South Ferriby on Friday 21st May. Both of us have no sailing experience. We are trying to find somebody that has experience to help sail her home but it is not looking good. Unfortunately we don't have the funds to transport her back by road and next weekend is the only weekend available for us both until end of August. We are also keen to sail her back home to gain the skills, knowledge and experience on a sort of 'crash course' so to speak.

Obviously not knowing my port from starboard any advice would be great!

(I know the situation isn't ideal or recommended but having been let down last minuet we have no other alternative. Helpful comments only please.)

Thanks

 

[Habebty]

Hmmm, "not ideal" is a little bit of an understatement, but could be fun in good sunny weather. What can you tell us about the condition of the boat, is the engine ok? vhf tested? (do you have a radio licence?) How old is the rig, How much time do you have for the trip (and in the event of strong winds etc.)
If everything on the boat is in good order, with a strong crew, and favourable tides, it could be done non-stop in 56 hours or thereabouts. I have done Weymouth to Ipswich non-stop in 36 hours in good weather 2 up.
Weather and working the tides past the IOW, Dover and North Norfolk will be key.

 

[johnalison]

I had a Mystere, but I think that sailing one all that way without experience could be something of a challenge. There is also the question of whether the insurance company is happy about it, assuming that it is insured. Essentially, if you keep England on your left you will eventually get there. This will work for much of the way but you will come to grief between Dover and Lowestoft unless you can read charts and work the tides. You should not underestimate the effort needed to stay in control of a small boat in open water under varying conditions, day and night. People have probably done it, but there really should be someone with relevant experience on board.

 

[Cantata]

Sorry to say this but in my view it's essential you have an experienced skipper on board, both to cope with the vagaries of an unknown boat (plus giving it all a heck of a good check-over before departure) and for the undoubted difficulties/challenges of the passage as hinted at by johnalison above. Don't even think of doing it without. Get someone good with you, and you will get home and learn a lot along the way.
Sorry I can't help further.

 

[Gary Fox]

Welcome, the first thing to say is that you can't just decide when you leave, it is decided by the weather, the wind speed and direction being the most important things. Fri 21st could be calm or stormy, it's too early to say.
I suggest you start paying attention to the weather forecast, there is lots of free info available. The Shipping Forecast is meant for sailors, and the Windy app. is very clear and user-friendly.
You will almost certainly need to stop en-route, lots of planning is needed.
If you aren't familiar with all this, I recommend finding someone who is used to it, and willing to mentor you, there's a lot involved, and although it's great fun there are risks involved which you might not be aware of.

 

[DignityDan]

Thanks for the responses! We have paid for an independent to check the engine, systems and also get her out of the water to check and give a clean.

So if I do a lot of planning and research for Dover to Lowestoft and Norfolk and get charts for those areas. With regards to wind we will happily run the engines to get her home ASAP, I know that that doesn't help with storms etc. I know it depends completely on the boat but what kind of distance are you getting with a 41L tank.

 

[Gwylan]

Sense a bit of a wind up. You must joking. If you genuinely have not got any sailing experience then you should reconsider your plans.

You cannot pull over into a layby when you feel like a rest.
You are at the whim of the weather and the tide table.

Honestly,totally foolish and you might end up expecting someone to take risks just to come and get you out of the shit.

 

[Gwylan]

The test of an independent is whether they are prepared to come with you.

Thanks for the responses! We have paid for an independent to check the engine, systems and also get her out of the water to check and give a clean.

So if I do a lot of planning and research for Dover to Lowestoft and Norfolk and get charts for those areas. With regards to wind we will happily run the engines to get her home ASAP, I know that that doesn't help with storms etc. I know it depends completely on the boat but what kind of distance are you getting with a 41L tank.

 

[kacecar]

Hello DignityDan, welcome to the Forum.

I'm afraid that although my reply is somewhat long-winded compared to those of the previous posters, it is going to suggest the same sort of things - don't go without experienced help and plan carefully before setting off. Personally, I feel it is unlikely you'll be ready to set off on Friday, so perhaps start thinking of an alternative approach.

Sailing a 26ft boat from Weymouth to South Ferriby is a significant trip for the huge majority of leisure sailors, let alone beginners. You say that the situation you find yourselves in is neither ideal nor recommended but that, as other posters have already said, is an enormous understatement.

Such a trip will take much longer than a single weekend (which is what your request seems to imply). My rough reckoning is that it’s a distance of about 380 nautical miles. Your Mystere, if everything is working well, will probably cover the ground at an average of five knots (possibly a high estimate) which means a non-stop journey would take you about seventy-six hours – more than three whole days. However, seeing as there would only be one person with any sailing knowledge on board (perhaps two if you have space and could get them) regular rest stops would be required – at least one, and seeing as a six hour stop will be too short and tides will probably have to be taken into account, you are looking at a stop of twelve hours. Any stop adds extra time and a few extra miles getting in and out of port - so now you are looking at about ninety hours – almost four whole days. And, just in case you are thinking “that’s do-able”, the parameters used in those calculations are optimistic - for example if your boat generally only averages four and a half knots instead of five then the ninety hours duration goes up to near one hundred.

I think that if I was doing it in my own boat, with someone with no experience so effectively single-handing, I'd do it in day sails where I could. And, if I didn’t want to put the inexperienced crew off sailing for life I’d probably do fairly short hops to start with – and they’d still be exhausted at the end of them! In practice, if the weather was good and the boat and the crew held-up (sea sickness will almost certainly be a consideration), such a trip would take at least a week, the last two days of which would be one long overnight sail.

Regarding engine usage, perhaps assume 2 litres an hour running at a cruising speed of about 5 knots through the water. Arithmetic suggests your range under engine, in still water, will be about 100 nautical miles. However, headwinds, choppy seas and adverse tidal currents could reduce that to 60 miles or even less, while tail winds, calm seas and helpful tidal currents might increase it to, say 140.

In short, with every respect and not wanting to put you off boating at all, I think you need an entirely different plan. There will be ways you can find to do this trip that will get it done enjoyably and in a way that gives you really good experience but, as others have said, do ensure you have a suitably experienced person on board, and don’t try to rush it.

 

[Ningaloo]

I was in a similar position when I bought my first boat, a 25ft MG Spring , 25 years ago, although I had years in dinghies, four years experience racing keelboats and a YM theory. Boat was sailed back from Plymouth to Chichester over Easter weekend. I invited my YM instructor (old but wise) and a dinghy instructor (young and strong) to assist. Overnight Plymouth to Poole and on to Chichester the next day. I was so glad I had experienced crew with me - the trip taught me just how little I really knew.
Your plans to do this in a small unknown boat in a single weekend are totally unrealistic.
I wonder why you have suddenly decided to take up boat ownership when you know so little and have so little spare time?
If you are determined to proceed, my advice is to find some cheap storage ashore, get some experience this summer and you might be in a position to evaluate this again next year.
However if you only have two possible weekends available to sail between now and late August I'm wondering why you are bothering.

[Edit. After I got to Chichester, I spent the rest of the season sailing between Chichester and Portsmouth - about 5 miles. By the end of the season I was able to sail to Southampton which I felt was a huge achievement. It wasn't until my second season, with considerable support and encouragement from the commodore at CYC, that I started to venture a outside the Solent, making it as far as Dartmouth and Brighton that year.]

 

[Gary Fox]

Sense a bit of a wind up....

Me too

 

[hinch]

make sure you have live insurance would be my recommendation tbh.

failing that just find someone who does yacht deliveries and pay them to ship it for you hell a boat that size would double up on a trailer be less than a grand to ship it up

if you do attempt it and don't sink half way up the east coast then i'll look out for you being stranded on one of the many many shifting sand banks in the humber.

 

[Slowboat35]

We need to sail her back from Portland to South Ferriby on Friday 21st May. Both of us have no sailing experience. We are trying to find somebody that has experience to help sail her home but it is not looking good.

Obviously not knowing my port from starboard any advice would be great!

(I know the situation isn't ideal or recommended but having been let down last minuet we have no other alternative.

Now either this is a wind-up (I sincerely hope so) or someone is campaigning as a Darwin Award candidate.
If I've been taken in so be it and you can all have a laugh, as will I.

However - if not...


DigDan, This is helpful comment, believe me.

Your post makes my hair stand on end.

You don't actually say whether you have any maritime navigational experience - just no 'sailing experience'. Even if you were an experienced coastal motorboater I'd suggest what you are proposing is - well - let's call it 'excessively adventurous'.

However from the "not knowing port from starboard" remark it seems likely to me (and sorry if I'm wrong - you didn't explain) that you are a novice to navigation at sea altogether.
The fact that you state you "have" to undertake the voyage on a particular date and "have no other alternative" is indicative of a complete lack of understanding of navigation. You simply cannot dictate dates and schedules on the sea. Every sailor knows that the weather and the sea dictate the schedule to you, not the other way around. Trying to force a schedule on a trip that long is a recipe for guaranteed trouble.
The route you have chosen is by no means a simple one, navigation across the Thames estuary is not to be undertaken lightly even by experienced sailors.
How much coastal and tidal navigation experience in tidal shoal waters do you have?

Do you have the knowlege to assess whether the boat itself is capable of the trip? Have you undertaken a shakedown trip and assessed all the boat's gear for reliability and serviceability?

If - and reading between the lines the answer is no to most of the above - and that you just have a compulsion to move a newly acquired boat on a landsman's fixed schedule then what you are proposing is downright foolhardy and dangerous.

Forgive me if I have misinterpreted your ability, but the details you gave lead to this conclusion. I'm just trying to warn you off doing something daft.

Please, do not evem dream of attempting this tripwithout a competent skipper or you'll end up a statistic on one or other of the RNLI's lists, (the happy or the sad one) and hazard their brave crews - and yours - unnecessarily to boot.

 

[Baddox]

Your plan is not recommended for all the good reasons already given and several more.
We all love an adventure though.
If you’re still keen to give it a go then you have a few days before departure to plan and read all you can about how to sail, navigate, avoid collisions, etc.
Keep a close eye on the weather forecasts and sea state (surf) reports, watching out for too much or little wind before committing. The longer range forecast for next weekend is grim and likely to keep the most hardened sailors ashore.
Portland: Marine weather forecast for Off Weymouth Portland | Marine | United Kingdom, Coastal Areas

You may need to start the journey this weekend but you have no chance of sailing the full route in only one weekend. Although, given the appalling forecast if you do start sailing this weekend you’re very likely to finish this weekend too, for one reason or another.

Before you go, have a look at Navionics – load it onto your phone and enable GPS to help with your planning and navigation. Navionics ChartViewer

Look at Free Compehensive UK Harbour Information and For Nav chartpacks : from Visit My Harbour to give you some idea of places of refuge or stop-overs.

Good luck.

 

[Gary Fox]

 

[Scotsailor]

Don’t even think about doing this trip. I recommend getting some quotes to move the boat by lorry. It won’t be as expensive as you probably think.

 

[johnalison]

View attachment 115603

A following wind! Piece of cake. Should be there in no time.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

We have just bought a 26ft Mystere Flyer long fin 9hp engine sailboat. We need to sail her back from Portland to South Ferriby on Friday 21st May. Both of us have no sailing experience. We are trying to find somebody that has experience to help sail her home but it is not looking good. Unfortunately we don't have the funds to transport her back by road and next weekend is the only weekend available for us both until end of August. We are also keen to sail her back home to gain the skills, knowledge and experience on a sort of 'crash course' so to speak.

Obviously not knowing my port from starboard any advice would be great!

(I know the situation isn't ideal or recommended but having been let down last minuet we have no other alternative. Helpful comments only please.)

Thanks

My helpful comment: Utter f***ing madness. You'll be putting other people's lives at risk to rescue you. Shameful.

 

[stranded]

My helpful comment: Utter f***ing madness. You'll be putting other people's lives at risk to rescue you. Shameful.

Harsh. If we take the OP’s situation at face value, he clearly did not understand the risks or that it is not just his/his crew’s safety at stake. I am sure he has a better idea now.

 

[Juan Twothree]

This has to be a wind-up.

Or at least, I hope it is.