Advice: boat for singlehanded UK circumnavigation

[Scotty_Tradewind]

thought this may cheer up this thread for those wishing to sail around the U.K.
S.

http://s725.beta.photobucket.com/us...=3&o=0&_suid=13587852296300034431367567330506

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

keep cheerful..... this is a 'sailing' forum not a 'slagging off' forum

http://s725.beta.photobucket.com/us...t=3&o=5&_suid=1358786294924044350798939913516

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

woops another on its way......... to keep reminding us of why we do it


yer tis ........... One for the ladies?

http://s725.beta.photobucket.com/us...p4.html?&_suid=135878805856408830911637997633

 

[Slow_boat]

I happen to know where there is a very nice sadler 29 twin keel for sale that was planning on that trip....
Has a rope cutter on the shaft, too.

 

[fluffc]

Corribee.

 

[PeterR]

Don’t buy a boat specifically for doing a UK circumnavigation, buy one that will suit your sailing for the rest of the time you own it. You will only spend one season at most going round (unless your names Dylan).

Provided the boat is seaworthy in a reasonable blow just about anything will get you round and lots of suitable boats have been mentioned. Don’t get hung up about shallow draft. If that is what you need in your normal sailing grounds fine. A bilge keeler/lifting keeler will get you into some areas that are off limits to a deep finned boat. However, I and the majority of others who have done the trip have done so with deep fins and not found it a major disability.

There are plenty of deep water alternatives on the South Coast. The coast of Wales from Milford Haven to Holyhead is a no go area for a fin keeler but the Irish coast provides a pleasant alternative. Depth is not much of an issue in Scotland. The east coast doesn’t have all that many refuges and entry can be a problem to most of them in bad weather, shallow draft or not. Personnally, I would rather be stuck offshore with a big lump of lead underneath me. Draft only becomes a show stopper with no alternatives when you get down to the Wash and North Norfolk coasts. Other than that you just have to be more careful on your entry times.

 

[Boo2]

yer tis ........... One for the ladies?

http://s725.beta.photobucket.com/us...p4.html?&_suid=135878805856408830911637997633

Is it just me or do all those photobucket video links stop after 10 seconds and go to a blank page with a downloading symbol ?

Boo2

 

[tcm]

ooh interesting thread apart from seajet kicking off again ... definitely worthwhile tho i wd question the notion of any boat being such that you didn't need to worry in bad weather, obviously just a turn of phrase i suppose.

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Is it just me or do all those photobucket video links stop after 10 seconds and go to a blank page with a downloading symbol ?

Boo2

Hi Boo2
It has happened to me too when loading them on photobucket. it may be something to do with our broadband speed or just the fact that photobucket is a relatively basic form of storage ???? and therfore has its own restrictive speeds.??
Could those who are IT literate comment?
thanks
S.

http://s725.beta.photobucket.com/user/johnscottorn/media/IrishSea_zpsa1716f1d.mp4.html?sort=3&o=6

 

[billskip]

]ooh interesting thread apart from seajet kicking off again .[/B].. definitely worthwhile tho i wd question the notion of any boat being such that you didn't need to worry in bad weather, obviously just a turn of phrase i suppose.

"ooh interesting thread apart from seajet kicking off again"

Funny you should say that ^

"question the notion of any boat being such that you didn't need to worry in bad weather,"

And that^


I wonder what the definition is of "bad weather"

Makes you wonder dunnit

 

[aquaplane]

I've not been out in bad weather, been out in an inapropriate boat though

 

[charles_reed]

really interesting bit of social observation

No idea how much a new parker is....

it is a boat that is miles out of my financial comfort zone

but I am sure that the salesmen could spot some-one who could not afford to buy one and would hustle me off them off the stand pdq

similarly I am sure that I would be very much at home in a gathering of corribbee owners but maybe a bit uncomfortable at a gathering of nicholson owners

it is all about spending power


Dylan

Parkers went bust 2011 - so you'll not find a new one.

 

[charles_reed]

If the seabed onto which the boat settles has boulders or rocks then a boat whose GRP bottom gets pounded onto these may be holed. I have witnessed this in my own sailing area of the Lancashire coast and Morecambe Bay where there are many rock outcrops or "skears", sometimes covered by sand & mud sometimes not. With a bilge keeler having cast iron keels the pounding will be taken on the keels.

The 31 has a wide wing on which it sits - even the SuperSeal development had a cast-iron shoe.

Full marks for imagination, even if you are incorrect.

 

[smeaks]

Moody moody moody moody size your choice .... Will handle anything if designed by Bill Dixon

 

[Rossynant]

With a bilge keeler having cast iron keels the pounding will be taken on the keels.

Yes, it will, indeed. There was a Westerly bilgekeeler, Grifon I believe, brought into yard - she pounded in a swell they say. Keels were bent outwards a bit and loose, looked as they pulled the bolts out of the hull-mount...
Central long keel I would personally prefer for such situation.

 

[charles_reed]

My Parker 31 was the pre-production prototype. Bought new she's now 23 years old
From N Wales I used regularly go for a weekend to the Scillies and back. For a week I'd go through Longships, Chenal du Four and Raz to S Brittany.
I circumnavigated Ireland and frequently spent time along the S coast of Ireland.
During the 10 years before I retired the boat did 30,783nm.

Since I've retired the boat has been all the way around the W coast of France, the N coast of Spain, Portugal, through the Straits along the Mediterranean coast of Spain, France, the Adriatic, N Africa, round Italy and is now in Greece. Since 2000 she's only done 28,843nm.

Most of my sailing is single handed, certainly all my passage making is single-handed.

The fastest passage she's made was from Aberystwyth to Spanish Ledge at a mean speed of 11.3 knots (that did involve catching every spring tidal gate). She has once done St Evette to St David's Head in just under 42 hours.

Perhaps this will go some way to reassuring you that Parkers get around - mind you my sailing has only been for 34 years in 3 boats, my first being a 22' lift keel, hence my umbrage at platitudinous ignorance.

 

[Rossynant]

Yes, boats made such way are popular here, in Poland, and they take ground by the bulb or whatever down there, not by the hull shell. Nice fast boats they are, as any modern AWB. Only drawback in very heavy weather, as necessarily they have narrow, high aspect fin and rudder, so tend to stall and drift on huge seas. But this goes for any modern fast and light boat.
Only normal AWB on grounding will break the finkeel off...

 

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

The 31 has a wide wing on which it sits - even the SuperSeal development had a cast-iron shoe.

Full marks for imagination, even if you are incorrect.

Just had a look at the pictures on the "yachtsnet" archive, there still looks to be an awful lot of exposed hull should the obstruction not be under the keel which might concern me a little bit.

http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/parker-31/parker-31.htm

 

[JimC]

The 31 has a wide wing on which it sits - even the SuperSeal development had a cast-iron shoe.

Full marks for imagination, even if you are incorrect.

I believe that when a boat settles down on a rocky beach it's helpful if there is a good clearance between the rocks and the fragile GRP bottom. I think a bilge keeler with robust cast iron keels is an economical way of achieving this. A previous poster quoted the Griffon which isn't a good example as, like the Centaur, she was plagued with weak keel fitments and many were subsequently beefed-up by Westerlys under warranty. I will admit that some lift-keelers may be able to offer a similar degree of safety by means of shoes, wings etc.

If your second sentence is intended as sarcasm it's inappropriate in forum where people are trying to offer useful advice which will, in the nature of things, sometimes be contradicted by another's experiences. The thread seems to have deteriorated in a familiar way to become a theatre for people to sing the praises of their own type of boat.

 

[Wave22]

Some very helpful and interesting replies here - thank you very much. Particularly interested in the comments about the ability to dry out not really being necessary for UK circumnavigation, this may well change my thinking which will give me a lot more options.

I very much appreciate all of your input (well most of you anyway!), some of which has been very helpful indeed. It's particularly nice to hear from Dylan and Nathan. I've read both of your blogs for quite a while and you are both part of the inspiration behind this project so thank you. Inspired by Nathan (and Ellen), my original choice for this venture was a Corribbee (and there is a beautiful one for sale here http://www.ybw-boatsforsale.com/boat/yacht/cruising/w/uk/dorset/portland/corrie-bee-339870.html) but I just don't think I'm hardcore enough to live on one for an extended period - hats off to you Nathan.

I've now looked at a few Westerly/Sadler/Moody/Nicholson boats and whilst they would undoubtedly do the job, I'm struggling with the accommodation on those too - having been brought up on bigger, newer AWBs I'm finding them all cramped, dark and a bit too basic to spend weeks/months on. It's my own problem I know, plenty of people manage just fine but I can imagine if I get stormbound somewhere grim for a while, one of these dark and gloomy cabins might give me a touch of fever. Maybe that's all part of the game...