Cardiff to Lundy and back

[Dutch01527]

I am planning a summer sail with friends who want to overnight at Lundy.

Boat is a 28 foot sailing cruiser with a reasonable speed upwind or downwind of about 6.9 knots max and a 20hp engine. I realise that real life speeds will be somewhat slower and dependant on wind. Low fin keel with beaching legs and I am not adverse to motoring / motor sailing as required.

What would be a reasonable passage plan assuming leaving high tide at Cardiff of 10.00am to 12.00am? How many days? I assume a stop off on the way down and back - 4 day trip? Not really looking ( for this trip with guests) at 16 hour days banging against the tide.

 

[bitbaltic]

Plan on a 5kn passage speed. The 6.9kn you quote will be near hull speed for the boat and you won't often do that under sail and into Bristol Channel sea states. 5kn is comfortable to achieve under motor if winds are too light to sail (probably around 2000 revs)- not too fuel hungry and not too noisy (motoring for long periods, noise becomes a factor especially if taking friends).

Back fo a fag packet calculation with Seatrak says Lundy is all bar the shouting 60Nm from Cardiff. As an example leaving at HW -2* tomorrow (9am) would be an 11 hour passage time. So I think you are on the money for splitting it into two approx 6 hour daysails and stopping off somewhere on the English coast (someone who knows those harbours better will be along to recommend but my guess is Ilfracombe is the place to go). As you say this tends to work much better with friends than battering to the destination, especially as you would have roughly as much foul tide as fair and that could influence sea state and comfort. That said if the weather is nice and the sea is flat you can always choose to push on because the English ports are all just south of the rhumb line anyhow (Of course you could be closeish to arriving in the dark if you take a mid-morning tide and then decide to do that).

*leaving at HW-2 is the usual departure time from Cardiff rather than HW when going west because the tide is mostly slack enough to punch by then and depending on when you are going it can mean getting in before LW rather than having to wait. There is also an eddy that starts up close in along the Welsh coast although going south to the English side that effect may not count for much.

 

[SteveSarabande]

Leave Cardiff at HW-2, but hug the beach and go right inside Rannie buoy. The closer you get in the bigger eddy you will get.

I used to make Ilfracombe on one tide, then push the tide to Lundy.

Or wait 6 hours in Woody bay

 

[tatali0n]

Have a couple of weeks off at the beginning of August. Dad really wants to see Padstow, I've been wanting to get to Lundy for a couple of years now and keep missing the chance.

Weather permitting, plan is Cardiff to Ilfracombe, Ilfracombe to Lundy, Lundy to Padstow, leaving Cardiff HW-3 and hugging the Welsh shore until the tide turns. Appreciate that's leaving a little early but seems the tide doesn't really bite in the Penarth Roads until you get around the corner, at which point it'll be HW-2 and slackening off.

Boat is a 26' bilge keeler, tend to reckon on 4 to 4.5 knots average when planning a passage.

Ilfracombe is a good stop for us, but we can take the ground easily. If you just want to rest at anchor then perhaps Combe Martin just a little to the east might be a good alternative? Certainly quieter than dropping the hook outside Ilfracombe, more room and less likely to get run down by a fishing boat.

If you wanted to leave Cardiff between 10am and 12am with a high tide, you're looking at sailing on a neap. Might be an idea to use a spring tide, more flow to carry you down and although you'd have to leave early in the morning you wouldn't need to arrive too late in the day. Personally, I've always preferred leaving a familiar port before the sun comes up than arriving at an unfamiliar destination after dark.

 

[DuncanHall]

You need to add in the beneficial affect of the tide. I often did Lundy in 9 or 10 hrs from Cardiff in a 31ft boat. Lock out an hour or 2 before high tide and you effectively have 6 to 7 hrs of tide in your favour. Its not so favourable coming back but that said I once sailed from Padstow to Cardiff in 18 hrs in one go. If the tide is against you stick close to the Welsh coast and take the back eddys.

If you want a stop of on the way down then anchor in Combe martin bay. One cannot get into Infracombe as its low tide when you arrive.