1st Leg - Scotland to Falmouth

[Chuteman]

More Great Stuff

Thanks to All for the add'l comments, ideas & suggestions.

Falmouth - sounds like it is still known as a good jumping off point with all
the services - Having never been there, I was a little concerned it would be too
crowded given it's central transit point status

Quandary & Spyro - good point - I do want to have a somewhat direct route - so I will try to avoid back tracking or wide diversions unless
I have time before I get started for day sails.

RO Ireland - Yes, American but no family ties - never been - so there is some
curiosity - Currency ...Euro would just mean getting some earlier than in Med.

Again, all good info that I'm stirring together & will use to come up with my
Nav plan.......Much Appreciated. Thanks Again!!!

 

[SHUG]

Hey haven't you double posted on the Liveaboard Forum. Naughty!!!!

 

[Gwylan]

Lots of choice
How do you ever come to be in Ardrossan - is the HM still a figment of the local imagination?
Anyway a suggestion for a route we did a few years ago in a 24' boat in a series of 'day sails'
Ardrossan
Portpatrick - for the fun of the entrance.
Strangford
Carlingford
Dun Laoghaire - get to see Dublin but do not stay long it gets expensive.
Holyhead - easy transit
Caernarvon - to see the Castle and do the entrance. Get the latest guidance of the internet! Follow the numbers of the buoys carefully and in strict order - ignore the fishing boats who do not seem to need water to float.
Aberdaron Bay
Fishguard -just to stop and wait for the tide gate. Anchor near Lower Fishguard
Milford Haven - stop at Dale. Anchor take the dinghy to the pub.
Lundy - to say you've been there
Ilfracombe - if you can dry out, otherwise steer clear. Do not think of stopping outside unless it is calm.
Or direct from Lundy to St Ives - anchor off
Penzance - go straight to Falmouth if you possibly can, or anchor off
Falmouth, there that wasn't too hard.

 

[Chuteman]

Never hid the fact

Shug - don't know if you are "pulling my sheet" or serious about the double posting. If you note the top of this thread my initial posting disclosed the
fact & I was redirected to this Forum section by a regular member.
To save you the time looking back - here's my disclosure
"P.S. Posted in Liveaboard section but member suggested this would be better"

But I did just go back to the Liveaboard Section to see if I could delete - saw Your suggestions of route/stops along the way.
Thanks very much - will add in to the mix including your point about an overnight toward the end.

 

[Chuteman]

Humm.......that's a longer story - better w/Rum

Gwylan: Let's just call it chasing the dream.......
HM - You have to explain that one - have not spent enough time there to know
any local lore.
Thanks for the "day sail" list - will dig into the Towns & add to the pot for final sorting & plan
Much appreciated

 

[Bosun Higgs]

As Penzance and Falmouth are my home turf I would add that depending on exactly how much work you need to do to your boat and crew changes etc that Falmouth is far superior and worth the extra few miles to get there.
PZ can be a cow to enter in any form of Southerly weather (go to Newlyn instead) and neither is really equipped for yacht maintenance these days, fine if you have a 60ft trawler though!. I have 1st hand experience of this last summer whilst trying to make some repairs to my own boat. I ended up going back to Falmouth for all the parts.
As has been mentioned before, you can get in and out of Falmouth at any time, there are sailmakers, chandlerys, engineers, supermarkets, a railway line to the mainline satation of Truro, bars, maritime museum.... the list is long...

Absolutely correct in all you say but Penzance is a nice "real" sort of place whereas Falmouth is getting a bit "Musto" these days. A sort of Salcombe in wait. 5 different varieties of extra virgin olive oil in the supermarkets. Even the yacht club is a Royal one.

 

[Richard10002]

Nothing wrong with Holyhead for an overnight or a few days.

Good pub, nice little shop across the road and up the hill a bit, (and another pub), excellent shelter, and ideal to time a departure with the tide for rounding South Stack.

Woulnt want to live there though;(

 

[Chuteman]

All Good

Thanks Again to All for the helpful hints, ideas & suggestions.

I'll take them all - spread out the Chart & come up with my Route with a few
alternatives & bail out ports.

Will report back on how it works out once it gets underway.

I'll also be back on ideas for Leg 2.

Appreciate Your Assistance

 

[Chuteman]

Finally Away

Thought I would report back on how I was putting all the good advice
to good (or best I can) use.
Delayed departure - stuff happens, boat prep work + Scotland weather = 'nuff said

Departed Tues 7/19 and decided to head to Bangor instead of Loch Ryan - mostly due to needing to put miles behind me & mixed comments about
LR anchorages. So off I went in what I thought would be good sailing conditions.
Be careful what you ask for = back of low provided F5 & lots of F6 when I got to North channel. Had too much sail up when starting out.....adjusted in lee of Arran - I'm singlehanding BTW - so it was taking caution into every move.
After 2x reef in main and continuing to reef down the genoa even down to a scrap in the North Channel.......the boat took off........turned into a fun
and exciting fast sail to Bangor. Only thing missing was sun & warm temps
but that would be greedy.
66 nm.....Max Instrument speed = 9.5, GPS 12.6 (surfing waves & Tidal Stream)........so I was smiling at the end of day...but tired.
Bangor Marina - very nice......weather was not that good. Two nights

OK, now onto the rest of the route
Next Leg - Bangor to Ardglass (41.6nm) - decided not to do IOM(peel) due to my draft(2m) and not wanting to play with tidal timing gate- also a boat I met said they were sitting on their keel.....Ardglass also involved timing
and being careful in channel......met couple who went just outside as they were leaving & took out their rudder just outside the channel - they were
understandably sad as the boat was hauled & waiting for surveyor - stayed one night & VERY careful leaving early on HW

Next Ardglass to Belfast - Dun Laoghaire (63.6nm) - longer story about outside recommendation......one night

Dun Laoghaire to Arklow (42.9nm) - mainly because I did not want to try for
120+ to Milford as a singlehander in water & places I had not been.
another timing entry - assigned to pontoon in channel only a few slots left.
Came in with YC racers finishing up & thankfully one Skipper (James on J/122) warned me of extremely shallow area at end of pontoon (I was going to turn around to make leaving the next am easier) - then he took a stern line and showed he how you can turn a non-dinghy boat 180 degrees in a small area.....and even invited me aboard his boat to meet his race crew & have a gin/tonic.....now that's the way to end the day.
Unfortunately, what I will remember about this place were the inconsiderate
#&%@*#$%&*!s who woke me up at 02:15 (my alarm was set for 4am) by
banging into the boat & then rafting to me......no apologizes, no requests & I was so sleepy & pissed that I could not respond the right way = hell no.
They kept saying they were leaving at 5am. Well, I could not go back to sleep - so now I'm really not a happy camper since I had 80+ nm in front of me........so at 4:45am when I was ready to go - I returned the favor because you know damned well they were not going to get up at 5am - I shared my "candid" thoughts about their inconsiderate stunt when there were lots of other options available ie; anchoring in a shallow river with no traffic or moving water - again they were no apologetic in fact could not understand why someone would be "disturbed" at a 2am surprise wake up - I shared more candid thoughts as I tossed the lines......so unlike 99% of the people & sailors I've met along the way.......maybe their youth was the source of being so clueless.
So with only 3+ hrs sleep.......off I went

Arklow to Milford Haven (89.1nm) - flat water, no or little wind, drizzle, rain, fog, overcast, hazy........started off pretty fast as I was catching some tidal stream but the 2nd half was really slow & painful. Only excitement were some playful dolphins (must like yanmar ) and the nervousness that a fast moving ferry would come flying out of the fog leaving be only a short time to react.......yes, no radar yet on this boat........Of course, I missed the Lock schedule 1530 yesterday at Milford Marina & Neyland was full. The next lock opening was 2130 (scheduled) I was really tired......but no choice - so headed off to eat dinner & get off boat after 11.5 hrs motoring
Returned to many more boats waiting for Lock......& 3 other sailboats rafted to me ....they said be back to boat at 2100......I was there earlier, puttered around but took a moment to lay down.....not sure what woke me but it was 2230, I was the only sailboat left & only 3 power boats were left & they were all moving - so sleepy - I released my lines & docked my boat in the dark - one of my better solo landings......maybe I should do them all in the dark So after a solid night of sleep......I will plan my next few legs
to Falmouth........rest, clean up the boat, etc, etc......and depart tomorrow
am weather permitting.

So You can see I'm putting some of the valuable info, advice & suggestions to use. If anyone has any questions about the route, conditions, etc - ask away.

 

[Chuteman]

Final Chapter of this 1st Leg.

Milford Haven - I got a lot done on Monday - some provisions at Tesco, laundry, ATM, Diesel (damn motoring) - nice to have a day I was not on the move.
Tuesday - Up early for 6:08 gathering for boat exits that day......off I went toward Padstow

Padstow - 77nm - of course, little wind & it was directly behind me while heading south........Missed the HW Gate closing by 1/2 hr...oouch.....options were to raft up with another sailboat (nice folks) but they were wrestling with the Life boat buoy we were directed to by Padstow Hbr and wait for the 0130 approx next opening....and with the water movement & slightly higher winds - we both decided that was not the best option. There's more to the story...including factoring in a departure the next am with the Gate...But I decided to leave the area & go to Falmouth or at least Newlyn or Penzance overnight.
I left in the dark & arrived in Falmouth around 1300........yes motoring all the way - where's the wind I had the 1st day?......give me F6 any day compared to listening to an engine for hours on end.

Falmouth - 103 nm............

More than a few lessons learned along the way especially single handing, met some good & fun people / sailors along the way and enjoyed some of the sights & sounds too...........like the 1/4 moon on my way to Falmouth.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed - I looked at the printed version everyday as I was deciding the routing or other stuff. It helped a lot.

Resting in Falmouth area............time to start planning Leg 2 - any takers?

 

[MrCramp]

Enjoyed reading your reports. It was a long way to go on your own, not sure I would have fancied that. Good luck with the rest of your voyages.

 

[Chuteman]

One Post Script Comment

MrCramp - Agreed about a long way solo - but it was that or NO GO ....so I went. Luckily I like myself & spending time alone is fine - makes meeting people even more fun........having crew in the future is something I look forward to but I will not delay or stop my plans if they do not materialize.
My crew list contains people with land commitments or limited holiday availability - so we just have not been able to coordinate just yet.

PS Comment = Padstow
After my experience & talking with several other boats/crews, I would certainly encourage others to plan their arrival carefully to make the Padstow Gate.
Because if you miss it, the alternative anchoring/ mooring options are slim. Plus depending on the weather, your Draft, Tides, Wind strength/direction etc.......those options could go to nil - or if "lucky" you would have a very stressful / uncomfortable night.
In hindsight, I should have spent more time on my planning especially having to time a departure at Milford Haven + based on what I know now - just skipped Padstow because I do not think the reward is worth the effort or the risk........
But your plans, interest and experience are certainly different than mine & I wish You well.