Circumnavigation of Britain & Ireland : 2021 to 2024

[dunedin]

It's really not too expensive to over winter the boat once you're away from the south coast.

Yes, I know of a LOT of south coast boats who have over wintered in Scotland to avoid rushing things. Some seem to stay on longer than they planned (though this “summer”s weather may change that!

 

[Bristolfashion]

Yes, I know of a LOT of south coast boats who have over wintered in Scotland to avoid rushing things. Some seem to stay on longer than they planned (though this “summer”s weather may change that!

I have heard good things about a lot of the Scottish marinas, but Ardfern really looked after us well.

 

[FairweatherDave]

I think part of my interest in your off sailing arrangements stems for following Dylan's Keep Turning Left stuff which came unstuck partly with the difficulties of regular commuting up and down to Scotland. So I am curious if you took a car load of stuff at the start of each sailing period and then park the car somewhere for months before retrieval, or use public transport and over winter left stuff on the boat, maybe in those vacuum bags?
PS your red tender sure looks small and unobtrusive, and obviously you felt it was stable enough. I like our Avon inflatable but inflating does get to be tedious.... even with an electric pump.

 

[Bristolfashion]

I think part of my interest in your off sailing arrangements stems for following Dylan's Keep Turning Left stuff which came unstuck partly with the difficulties of regular commuting up and down to Scotland. So I am curious if you took a car load of stuff at the start of each sailing period and then park the car somewhere for months before retrieval, or use public transport and over winter left stuff on the boat, maybe in those vacuum bags?

We don't have a car at the moment, so just hired (Newcastle & Ardfern) or borrowed (Cardiff) a car to do the changeover.

The extraordinarily helpful sail guy also stored our cushions in Newcastle, we took back some stuff from Ardfern, but nothing went mouldy, ditto Cardiff.

Once we were on the boat at the start of the season, we stayed on the boat for or the whole season.

Regular commuting from the south coast to Scotland sounds a pain.

 

[Bristolfashion]

PS your red tender sure looks small and unobtrusive, and obviously you felt it was stable enough. I like our Avon inflatable but inflating does get to be tedious.... even with an electric pump.

There's more of an art to using a small, potentially tippy hard tender, but it does row a lot better - I'd love a larger tender capable of more difficult conditions. We may even take both tenders in the future and use whichever is more appropriate.

 

[Skylark]

Wonderful achievement, congratulations to you both.

 

[lustyd]

Congratulations on making it around, that's got to be the most thorough circumnavigation I've ever seen!

 

[Concerto]

Congratulations in completing your circumnavigation. It was nice meeting you both in Kirkwall, Orkney and Scalloway, Shetland whilst on my much more rapid circumnavigation in 2022.

 

[Bristolfashion]

People always ask us, "where was the best place" or "where was your favourite place". Impossible questions to answer. However, on the train today, we came up with a few awards from the experience. Remember, these are just from the places we visited, are highly biased and may well depend on how we felt / the weather / the company on the day.

Awards

Most iconic location: St Katherine's Dock (on the same pontoon as the Queen's Barge)

Most personal achievement : Bristol Floating Harbour (Gert lush!)

Most surprising destination on a circumnavigation : Newry via the Newry Canal.

The “blimey did we really do that” passage : Shetland to Kinlochbervie via Papa Westray.

Most successful multi-day passage : Around Malin Head, 4 days

The “We'd really better not get this passage wrong” award. Wick to Scapa Flow.

The Nature Experience Award : Orcas in Scapa Flow. Runner up prizes for Adam's first otter at Tarbert, 200 (approx) dolphins on passage in N.W. Scotland.

Wettest day : the Crinan Canal

Best restaurant : North Harbour Bistro, Scalpay.

Best Pub food : Applecross Inn

Most welcoming marina : Bridgend, Shetland (bread, milk, cheese, apple danish and mackerel were all supplied - gratis!)

Best sail : Central Orkneys, Kirkwall to Pierowall

Best Brunch : Killybegs (sadly now gone)

Best Fish & Chips : Killybegs seafood shack

Best Village shop : Ardfern (awarded mostly for the cakes)

Best Coffee : Bristol (of course), Small St Coffee & New Cut Coffee. The Corner, Cardiff. Stein's Coffee, Padstow.

Notable Pubs : Novia Scotia, Bristol. The Old Forge, Inverie, The Butt & Oyster, Pin Mill. The Kings Head, Tollesbury. Marisco Tavern, Lundy. The Jolly Roger, Sherkin Island. The Turk's Head, St Agnes, IOS.

Notable Cafes : Stones Bakery, Falmouth. Kommüne, Totnes. Lucy's, Ardfern

Most wacky experience: Amateur Australian zoo & unlicensed* bar, Shetland. *Drinks were free - but a voluntary donation to the zoo was allowed!

Best Pizza : Scallop & Black Pudding, Lochmaddy Hotel, North Uist

Best drying anchorage : Green Bay, Bryher

Poshest bathrooms : Boatfolk, North Shields.

Best wayside food : hot sausage rolls from the cake fridge, Scalpay. Honourable mention for the lady who had raised £1000 for charity with her pink gooseberries (etc), Tollesbury.

Art & Cultural Highlights : Camera Obscura, North Uist. Live music, Dingle. Bee Gees tribute band, Weymouth, Stand up comedy at the Old Town Inn, St Mary's, IOS. Watching a ska band on Mevagissey Quay from the tiny tender.

 

[Ribtecer]

People always ask us, "where was the best place" or "where was your favourite place". Impossible questions to answer. However, on the train today, we came up with a few awards from the experience. Remember, these are just from the places we visited, are highly biased and may well depend on how we felt / the weather / the company on the day.

Awards

Most iconic location: St Katherine's Dock (on the same pontoon as the Queen's Barge)

Most personal achievement : Bristol Floating Harbour (Gert lush!)

Most surprising destination on a circumnavigation : Newry via the Newry Canal.

The “blimey did we really do that” passage : Shetland to Kinlochbervie via Papa Westray.

Most successful multi-day passage : Around Malin Head, 4 days

The “We'd really better not get this passage wrong” award. Wick to Scapa Flow.

The Nature Experience Award : Orcas in Scapa Flow. Runner up prizes for Adam's first otter at Tarbert, 200 (approx) dolphins on passage in N.W. Scotland.

Wettest day : the Crinan Canal

Best restaurant : North Harbour Bistro, Scalpay.

Best Pub food : Applecross Inn

Most welcoming marina : Bridgend, Shetland (bread, milk, cheese, apple danish and mackerel were all supplied - gratis!)

Best sail : Central Orkneys, Kirkwall to Pierowall

Best Brunch : Killybegs (sadly now gone)

Best Fish & Chips : Killybegs seafood shack

Best Village shop : Ardfern (awarded mostly for the cakes)

Best Coffee : Bristol (of course), Small St Coffee & New Cut Coffee. The Corner, Cardiff. Stein's Coffee, Padstow.

Notable Pubs : Novia Scotia, Bristol. The Old Forge, Inverie, The Butt & Oyster, Pin Mill. The Kings Head, Tollesbury. Marisco Tavern, Lundy. The Jolly Roger, Sherkin Island. The Turk's Head, St Agnes, IOS.

Notable Cafes : Stones Bakery, Falmouth. Kommüne, Totnes. Lucy's, Ardfern

Most wacky experience: Amateur Australian zoo & unlicensed* bar, Shetland. *Drinks were free - but a voluntary donation to the zoo was allowed!

Best Pizza : Scallop & Black Pudding, Lochmaddy Hotel, North Uist

Best drying anchorage : Green Bay, Bryher

Poshest bathrooms : Boatfolk, North Shields.

Best wayside food : hot sausage rolls from the cake fridge, Scalpay. Honourable mention for the lady who had raised £1000 for charity with her pink gooseberries (etc), Tollesbury.

Art & Cultural Highlights : Camera Obscura, North Uist. Live music, Dingle. Bee Gees tribute band, Weymouth, Stand up comedy at the Old Town Inn, St Mary's, IOS. Watching a ska band on Mevagissey Quay from the tiny tender.

I'm very envious, well done.

And taking a few season's to do it properly is very wise.

One day

 

[Habebty]

Nice one! It was a pleasure to meet you at Shotley.

 

[Daverw]

Very interesting thread, we’re planning to do circumnavigation next year and just starting looking at route etc. most will be single handed with starting from Hull and probably going anti clockwise as well.
Do you have your list on a spreadsheet by any chance?

 

[Bristolfashion]

Very interesting thread, we’re planning to do circumnavigation next year and just starting looking at route etc. most will be single handed with starting from Hull and probably going anti clockwise as well.
Do you have your list on a spreadsheet by any chance?

Sadly, I don't have our itinerary/ distances etc on a spreadsheet - I guess that a cut & paste from the forum with a bit of tinkering would work.

 

[Bristolfashion]

We talked to quite a lot of people doing various versions of the circumnavigation. Of course, everyone has their own opinions about places, challenges and ambitions, but there are two things that were often expressed that we didn't do / find

1. We didn't find the Easy Coast at all "boring". From London, the rivers to the south, the splendid coastal scenery further north and the Farne / Holy island area, it certainly has its attractions.

2. We fully understand why people under time pressure so often jump Lands End / Milford Haven (or vice versa), and maybe I'm hopelessly biased, but we really enjoyed both the N. and S. coasts of the Bristol channel - and, despite dire warnings about passages & tides, the trip up to Bristol and into the floating harbour is epic (ok, that bias showing, but really). Just look at the picture......

 

[dunedin]

Very interesting thread, we’re planning to do circumnavigation next year and just starting looking at route etc. most will be single handed with starting from Hull and probably going anti clockwise as well.
Do you have your list on a spreadsheet by any chance?

Doing in one season you will be quite rushed and likely not able to see more than a handful of the places BristolF visited. If you can, plan on at least 2 years to avoid becoming a "delivery trip" always rushing to make up time.

 

[Bristolfashion]

Doing in one season you will be quite rushed and likely not able to see more than a handful of the places BristolF visited. If you can, plan on at least 2 years to avoid becoming a "delivery trip" always rushing to make up time.

Our original plan excluded Orkney/Shetland and Ireland and was still 3 years!

Some people like to go round several times, picking up places they missed each time. We treated it more like a once in a lifetime thing - although, who knows?

 

[Daverw]

Sadly, I don't have our itinerary/ distances etc on a spreadsheet - I guess that a cut & paste from the forum with a bit of tinkering would work.

That’s my weekend task at PC then, you’ve done the hard work though in both ways

 

[Daverw]

Doing in one season you will be quite rushed and likely not able to see more than a handful of the places BristolF visited. If you can, plan on at least 2 years to avoid becoming a "delivery trip" always rushing to make up time.

We don’t plan as many stops but the list is a really good starting point for planning

 

[wingcommander]

Ime Green with envy as I pack my van with tools to work....I need to retire soon ......

 

[Bristolfashion]

We don’t plan as many stops but the list is a really good starting point for planning

We suffer slightly from enjoying everything from city centre industrial heritage to remote anchorages. If you can whittle your list down to what you really want to see it may get a bit shorter!