6 hour drive to the boat too much ?

[Jamie Dundee]

Hmmm. Midges. Rain. Different language. Deep fried haggis?

Gotta be somewhere better on the solent.

(In the spirit of recent post about boating costs)

Day sailing in the Clyde is stunning, never the same route twice. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Probably ok for going sailing, buying a boat or meeting that girl you met on holiday .

Can't really think of any other reasons.

 

[[70521]]

I currently sail out of Plymouth, although originally from the West Highlands, we have people who have boats here who drive from Birmingham, Manchester and Chester! I put it down to the higher temperature of the rain here to Plockton.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

I currently sail out of Plymouth, although originally from the West Highlands, we have people who have boats here who drive from Birmingham, Manchester and Chester! I put it down to the higher temperature of the rain here to Plockton.

I lived in Torbay for a couple of years.
Many houses were painted white and there were lots of palm trees. Other than that, the weather was the same as everywhere else in Britain. Correction, it was damp all winter as well .

 

[25931]

A friend who lived near Manchester kept his boat in Holyhead and often found that despite the forecast ,when he arrived the weather wasn't pleasant for sailing. He sailed to the Algarve and kept his boat here and calculated that not only did he spend less time travelling but he could always enjoy a long weekend's sailing as well as a sailing holiday in the Med and his annual expenses were similar.

 

[[70521]]

I lived in Torbay for a couple of years.
Many houses were painted white and there were lots of palm trees. Other than that, the weather was the same as everywhere else in Britain. Correction, it was damp all winter as well .

My experience is different. Wet, yes, but we rarely have snow in Devon and Cornwall.

 

[roblpm]

Day sailing in the Clyde is stunning, never the same route twice. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

Yes I was only joking. My next boat will be parked on the Clyde while I learn to sail properly. Then further afield.

 

[William_H]

Obviously if the boat is 6hrs away you would start to use the boat and enjoy what boating you can in that area. Then after a while you might consider moving the boat closer to home. Variety of sailing locations being a real advantage. Experience will soon convince you to move I think. From one who has grown a bit stale of sailing location (Swan River) after 40 years but who is 3 mins walk away from boat. ol'will

 

[harvey38]

4.5-5 hour drive each way from Staffordshire to Ramsgate, we do it about once a month for a three day plus stay and don't even blink about the drive.

 

[Skylark]

A friend who lived near Manchester kept his boat in Holyhead and often found that despite the forecast ,when he arrived the weather wasn't pleasant for sailing.

I live south of Manchester and kept a boat in Holyhead for around 20 years. One year, we arrived at our boat on a Monday for a 2-week summer sail. The forecast was such that 24 hours later we changed plan and arrived in Greece. We’d lost too many holidays to bad weather so threw in the towel.

These days, now retired, my boat is in The Clyde. The journey by road, about 230 miles and is fairly easy, providing that I travel outside normal commuting times.

In winter, I visit the boat once per month by train. Booked in advance, it is very low cost and quite a relaxing and enjoyable form of transport.

 

[Blueboatman]

25 miles would be my absolute top limit
( I did try weekends @2hours each way for a year)
AND I would want it with train option
AND some ability to purchase ‘ stuff that breaks ‘ or gets forgotten ? very close by
Otherwise the journey becomes A Big Thing in itself
And , to be fair , it isn’t very eco is it ? Which is where we’re all headed

 

[harvey38]

25 miles would be my absolute top limit
( I did try weekends @2hours each way for a year)
AND I would want it with train option
AND some ability to purchase ‘ stuff that breaks ‘ or gets forgotten ? very close by
Otherwise the journey becomes A Big Thing in itself
And , to be fair , it isn’t very eco is it ? Which is where we’re all headed

Our boat is 257 miles away and has 2 x 1980's 250hp diesel engines fitted, if I wanted to be "Eco' I would have taken up knitting!

 

[Skylark]

And , to be fair , it isn’t very eco is it ? Which is where we’re all headed

Commentators say that it’s all the fault of our generation so I no longer worry about it…….may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb ??

 

[Stemar]

From NW London to Gosport was a couple of hours if the traffic was kind, which meant that a day return was doable, but short. It meant we spent weekends there, but going down on a Friday, we found that, if we didn't leave by about 3, it was smart to wait until nearly 8, the same coming back on the Sunday. When I was able to work four long days instead of five shorter ones, it worked really well, one four day weekend, one two day.

Now we're half an hour away, so a day sail - or a day working is worthwhile. No more winter nights on board - I haven't forgotten the time we woke up and it was 3 deg inside. I'm too old for that sort of thing now!

 

[Momac]

My boat is moored less than a mile from home.
That seems about right.
I am going to the boat in a while to do a spot of maintenance work for an hour or so.

 

[oldgit]

Might it also depend on what there is to actually do from your choosen base.
A decent variety of destinations is a usually a requirement for motorboaters.
Suspect that nothing nearbye would soon have a moboer moving elsewhere, whereas the sailing fraternity who appear to enjoying not going anywhere and not seeing much for long periods of time might find that location absolutely perfect.

 

[pandos]

Mine was for years an hour and a half from home. Going there was ok but when I did nothing except get engaged in tinkering or testing the kettle and toasted sandwich maker I often felt a pang of guilt and regret at the waste of the day,and waste of fuel etc.

Now it is 20 mins away, I can do some real work and then tinker and watch a bit of tv...read my book... daydream....with no pangs....

 

[awol]

It has been proved conclusively (by Lustyd, anyway) that the Solent is the best value that money can buy and if the OP is 300 miles from Largs, they must be closer than that to the Mecca of English sailing. If Largs is to be the preferred parking slot there may be difficulty in identifying 4 or 5 days acceptable weather forecast to make the journey worthwhile. Of course, Largs has a railway station and a 300 mile rail trip can be a very pleasant way to spend a day.

 

[Blueboatman]

We are the change that we wish to see ?

 

[Andy61]

I am a 290 mile traveller to my boat (North West to W o t Naze) so day trips are out of the question. The trip can be as short as 4.5hrs or as long as 9 hrs depending on traffic conditions and roadworks on A14 and M6 so I tend to visit for a week to 10 days every month. I had intended to move to Holyhead but inview of the storm in March 2018, I'm glad I didn't. Having said that, over the years I have covered a great deal of the Irish Sea and now like to go to Holland, Germany and the Baltic, places I wouldn't go to from Holyhead. As for the solent, big deal, how many explore further north, Scotland, the East Coast - there is a lot more to UK sailing than the solent.