Circumnavigation of Britain: Clockwise or counter clockwise?

[sailingjoy]

I live in The Netherlands and I am planning to do a small circumnavigation of Britain (through the Irish Sea and the Caledonian Canal) in june/july/august 2012. There will be two of us, and I’ve got 8 or 9 weeks. That should be long enough, shouldn’t it?
One thing I haven’t decided yet: Do I go clockwise or counter clockwise? I would like to hear from practice: What are your experiences, what are the advantages of the one or the other?
Jan Jaap

 

[alteredoutlook]

Clockwise. Anti clockwise is the devils way!

 

[dylanwinter]

I am going the wrong way

Clockwise. Anti clockwise is the devils way!

I am told that going clockwise means that you stand the best chance of tail winds when going over the top

which is the toughest part

but if you are going through the canal

I assume that this is less important

I am going anti-clockwise because of the ancestry of the slug

Dylan

 

[sarabande]

hmm 1600 miles in 9 weeks, while cruising and sight seeing ? That's going to miss a lot of exciting and interesting places.


If you are starting from Holland, then I'd avoid a flog against the prevailing wind down channel to the Scillies, so it looks as if anti-clockwise may be more convenient.

 

[reginaldon]

I am told that going clockwise means that you stand the best chance of tail winds when going over the top

which is the toughest part

but if you are going through the canal

I assume that this is less important

I am going anti-clockwise because of the ancestry of the slug

Dylan

Won't be going 'over the top'.

 

[Fascadale]

I sailed round England this year, Edinburgh to Edinburgh, anticlockwise, using the Forth Clyde Canal

I did it in six weeks. 1200+nms

It was a bit rushed. Being stormbound for four days in Pwllhelli and for five days in Grimsby made it tight timewise.

I had headwinds in the Irish Sea, fairwinds in the English Channel and no winds in the North Sea, other than the Grimsby gale.

If I had 8 or 9 weeks to sail in the UK I would go from Holland to Inverness, through the canal, up the West Coast of Scotland, round Cape Wrath to Orkney then back fairly directly down the North Sea to Holland. Just a thought but those are the best bits. Shetland is worth a visit too.

 

[lenseman]

. . . . . Do I go clockwise or counter clockwise? I would like to hear from practice: . . . . . .

If you go clockwise round, you can spend a large amount of time beating down the English Channel into the prevailing winds before you reach The Scilly Isles before turning north up the Irish Sea. This is a long sea path 550kms (300nm).

If you go anti-clockwise round, the distance around the top of Scotland is far shorter in a westerly direction before turning south along the west coast of Scotland. This is a shorter sea path 130kms (70nm)

The up and down bit, north to south and south to north should be a (broad) reach?

 

[Boo2]

One thing I haven’t decided yet: Do I go clockwise or counter clockwise? I would like to hear from practice: What are your experiences, what are the advantages of the one or the other?

I am based on the South Coast and my plan is to go anti-clockwise because it will mean getting to the Scillies at the end of summer when the weather and water will be at their warmest.

If I was starting from the Netherlands though, I might be inclined to go the other direction because if I ran out of time then cutting the East Coast of England would be possible and less of a hardship in terms of missed attractions.

Just my opinion,

Boo2

 

[dylanwinter]

you are so correct

I am based on the South Coast and my plan is to go anti-clockwise because it will mean getting to the Scillies at the end of summer when the weather and water will be at their warmest.

If I was starting from the Netherlands though, I might be inclined to go the other direction because if I ran out of time then cutting the East Coast of England would be possible and less of a hardship in terms of missed attractions.

Just my opinion,

Boo2

you are so correct

got it in one

nothing at all worth seeing on the East Coast






not for the depth challenged sailors anyway

 

[pyrojames]

Assuming that you start in April/May, then you get a higher chance of easterly air streams at the bginning of the season, which can get you down the channel quite quickly and easily, then you have a good probability of fairish winds all the way round.

 

[EdWingfield]

I am based on the South Coast and then cutting the East Coast of England would be possible and less of a hardship in terms of missed attractions.

Boo2

BooBoo, it might be an idea to cut the South Coast and do the French North Coast? in terms of attractions, cost, food and tidal streams.

Q. Do you know of the E Coast?

 

[davidej]

I think you will find that thre is a slight prevailing anticlockwise current around Britain - about 1/4 kt ie up the west coast and down the east. An effect of the Gulf stream

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

means that you stand the best chance of tail winds when going over the top

which will you choose then Dylan over the top or through the canal?... or does it depend on your mood at the time?

How many ports/harbours/marinas/ can I get into on the East coast with a draught of 1.7m.... long keeler?

 

[dylanwinter]

almost everywhere

which will you choose then Dylan over the top or through the canal?... or does it depend on your mood at the time?

How many ports/harbours/marinas/ can I get into on the East coast with a draught of 1.7m.... long keeler?

the truth is that on the journey so far the only places you could not go where I have been are Blakeney, brancaster and wainfleet

all the rivers - medway, crouch, roach, blackwater, colne, backwaters, deben, orwell, stour, southwold, Great yarmouth, Wells, Wisbech would be easily doable

and I assume the Humber when I get there

however, it would more stressful and less enjoyable for the depth challenged - certainly

although your seakeeping abilities compared to the roly poly slug hull form means that your ability to deal with the rough stuff is much better than mine

there are times when I would be rather frightened if I could not take the ground secure in the knowledge that the cockpit will not flood when the water comes back

as for going over the top....

I would like to go to the Orkneys - I hva ebeen up there by ferry and it is an astonishing place. Winderful light, scenery, sailing and wildlife.

But cash flow is always a consideration - as it has been from the start.

Cash depends on the balance between real work as a hack, website subscriptions, DVD sales, petrol prices and my own health (as I am now 58 and have one broken collar bone in one arm, a torn tendon in the other, the onset of arthritis in my hands and I have inherited my father's knees.

I would also need to spend some money on the slug and safety equipment.... dry suit epirb, cockpit scuppers, decent bilge pump, a lot of money spent on the engine.

I am sure that a well maintained and fitted out Mirror Offshore is more than up to such a journey.

I think I am probably tough enough as well - provided I have enough time to wait for the right weather windows

It also seems a shame to miss out on the Canal or the North Coast so I would like to do both.

But this journey has taken four years so far - and I never really know what the future holds.

Dylan

 

[Litotes]

If I was starting from the Netherlands though, I might be inclined to go the other direction because if I ran out of time then cutting the East Coast of England would be possible and less of a hardship in terms of missed attractions.

I lent a dinghy to a Dutch sailor in Ramsgate a few years back. He sailed over here regularly and always headed for the south coast. He came on board for a drink, we got talking and he started to get interested in heading the other way this time. He didn't have a dinghy, though (always used marinas) and that's really essential for the creeks and estuaries. So we lent him ours.

When he returned the dinghy we had another few drinks and he couldn't stop telling us what a great time he had had. "How come I never knew about this before?"

We see him every year now. I don't think he's ever taken the south coast route again since discovering the east. I can't think why, though, because, as Dylan so rightly remarks, there is absolutely nothing to see, or to attract..........

 

[island163]

We are going clockwise round the UK (including the west coast of Ireland). It's taken us 3 years so far. We seem to have got stuck on the West Coast of Scotland, so much to see and so little time. In those 3 years I think we've spent about 2/3 of our time sailing and exploring and 1/3 of our time waiting for the weather to improve.

If you do it clockwise you can save Dylans favourite East Coast haunts till last -or miss them out altogether

Going clockwise also means you get all the expensive and busy bits of the UK out of the way first.

 

[Sybarite]

I live in The Netherlands and I am planning to do a small circumnavigation of Britain (through the Irish Sea and the Caledonian Canal) in june/july/august 2012. There will be two of us, and I’ve got 8 or 9 weeks. That should be long enough, shouldn’t it?
One thing I haven’t decided yet: Do I go clockwise or counter clockwise? I would like to hear from practice: What are your experiences, what are the advantages of the one or the other?
Jan Jaap

The record attempts usually go anti-clockwise because there is a greater probability of favourable winds. Think of the wind patterns related to a depression which crosses Britain.

 

[lenseman]

The record attempts usually go anti-clockwise because there is a greater probability of favourable winds. Think of the wind patterns related to a depression which crosses Britain.

I always wanted to know why Dylan Winter decided to go that way round the UK?

GO, Dylan GO!!!

 

[dylanwinter]

record attempt

I always wanted to know why Dylan Winter decided to go that way round the UK?

GO, Dylan GO!!!

I am going for the slowest

so that might take a long time


and for taking the most pictures

I have around 160 hours of film in the can

which at a frame rate of 25 per second comes out at around

14,400,000 images

I reckon I have done about a quarter or the journey

Dylan

 

[Boo2]

BooBoo, it might be an idea to cut the South Coast and do the French North Coast? in terms of attractions, cost, food and tidal streams.

Interesting thought, would leave me the SC to do as part of more "normal" cruising...

Q. Do you know of the E Coast?

No, but I went to school in Essex and had an Essex gf if that counts ?

Boo2