Cruising the UK south Coast

BartW

BartW

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we are planning a diving holliday trip for next year from Belgium to Cornwall area,
with the boat on the trailer or when the seastate allows, with the boat by sea (and friends will take the car + trailer for backup or for the return trip)
we will stay there for a week and hopefully a daytrip to scilly islands

how long would it take to cruise the complete southcoast, from Ramsgate to Cornwall (exact destination still to decide)

do you think this is doable in two day's with a nightstop somewhere in the solent ?
 
BartW said:
we are planning a diving holliday trip for next year from Belgium to Cornwall area,
with the boat on the trailer or when the seastate allows, with the boat by sea (and friends will take the car + trailer for backup or for the return trip)
we will stay there for a week and hopefully a daytrip to scilly islands

how long would it take to cruise the complete southcoast, from Ramsgate to Cornwall (exact destination still to decide)

do you think this is doable in two day's with a nightstop somewhere in the solent ?
Click to expand...

With absolutely perfect weather you could do Ramsgate to the Solent in 1 day and maybe the Solent to Falmouth in the second day.

The chances of getting this weather when you need it though are not good.
 
jimg said:
What speed do you cruise at and what range do you have? That is two very long hops!
Click to expand...

max speed is 40kn
cruising speed is 27kn on flat sea,
on northsea avarage cruising speed 20-25 kn all depending on sea state
range is 160 nm, (with 20% spare)
 
You could do it in theory, but i'm not sure you'd want to. If your boat is trailerable then I guess it's no more than 24', and you're so unlikely to get flat calm conditions all the way, that you'll be shaken to bits after two, eight hour days. You'll need the week to receover.

There is good diving from Dorset westwards, and excellent diving in south Devon, so why not have more stops on the way.
 
I agree with Nick H - there is great diving off Dorset - so stopover in Poole and take a dive off Studland (seahorses), Swanage (wrecks) Portland etc etc. Then do the rest by road as Lyme Bay is one big expanse of boring water and the chances of getting two really fine days to make good your best cruising speed are not good.
 
strakeryrius said:
I agree with Nick H - there is great diving off Dorset - so stopover in Poole and take a dive off Studland (seahorses), Swanage (wrecks) Portland etc etc. Then do the rest by road as Lyme Bay is one big expanse of boring water and the chances of getting two really fine days to make good your best cruising speed are not good.
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Hmm, my 25 years or so of diving in Lyme Bay must be a pleasant dream..............but don't let on, some of the best diving in the UK if you know where to go.

Boring it certainly aint!!!!!
 
you need

BartW said:
we are planning a diving holliday trip for next year from Belgium to Cornwall area,
with the boat on the trailer or when the seastate allows, with the boat by sea (and friends will take the car + trailer for backup or for the return trip)
we will stay there for a week and hopefully a daytrip to scilly islands

how long would it take to cruise the complete southcoast, from Ramsgate to Cornwall (exact destination still to decide)

do you think this is doable in two day's with a nightstop somewhere in the solent ?
Click to expand...

to plan your trips by fuel stops, and or availability of retrieving boat if to tired to continue by sea, Is she petrol or diesel, you will need to check availability if petrol, you have got, Ramsgate, then Dover, then Eastbourne, then Brighton, then Solent, then Poole, then Whymouth then your over Lyme bay to Brixam area, then Dartmouth,Falmouth, can't remember after that, They all have fuel but check opening times.
 
longjohnsilver said:
Hmm, my 25 years or so of diving in Lyme Bay must be a pleasant dream..............but don't let on, some of the best diving in the UK if you know where to go.

Boring it certainly aint!!!!!
Click to expand...

I agree with you - there's lots going on underneath it, but if - like the OP - your intention is just to drive your boat the 70 odd NM straight across it to get from A to B then there ain't a lot to see.
 
It took me three summers to get to Cornwall- and in bigger boats. I think the boat is the back-up here, not the car and trailer !
We ve had one pleasant trip across Lymbe Bay.. the rest have been a slog, or worse, and the sea swell tends to build as you get further west.
Some wonderful places, but I d use that trailer, unless you get a glorious weather window.
 
The boat is a twin diesel,
length 27ft, 29ftLOA,
on trailer she's 3.5Ton, but we move her at big distances every year
(Croatia and SOF) so that's no problem

But yes I realise that the trip might be to far by boat to enjoy, unless the weather is extremely good, and that is very unlikely

Our orriginal Idea was going to scilly, but we noticed this is even more difficult to organise, and even more challenging for sea conditions. So thats why we choose Cornwall, with the Scilly's as a optional one day destination.
As we have been advised that the diving on the south coast is better the more west you go ????

sugestion to do some diving underway is tempting, but practically more difficult, as boat and stuff is differently organised during travel and during stay.

Perhaps better to arganise the trip by Car/trailer, with an option doing one leg by boat in case there is good weather condition.

How long will it take to do the trip by car+trailer from Ramsgate to Cornwall area?
For comparison to SOF (1100km) takes us 15 Hours but thats motorway all the way.

thanks for input and sugestions !!!
 
BartW said:
How long will it take to do the trip by car+trailer from Ramsgate to Cornwall area?
For comparison to SOF (1100km) takes us 15 Hours but thats motorway all the way.
Click to expand...

Its reasonably fast roads all along the South coast as far as Plymouth and a bit beyond - you should do it in 4/5 hours or so as long as you don't choose to travel on the Friday night of a Bank Holiday weekend.
 
I haven't thought this through so it may (like most of my ideas) be a load of rubbish but what about driving across to the Cherbourg peninsular and then taking your own boat across the channel. It's a longish drive but on very good roads and you get to make landfall in your own boat.

It's about 70 or 80 miles to Dartmouth so one long leg would see you in the West Country straight away and Alderney would make a stopover though I don't know how much shelter there is there.

If the weather's against you there's always the option of the ferry across to Poole and then you have Poole Harbour to play in and the Solent a very quick blast away plus the delights of Christchurch, Keyhaven and Lymington even nearer (which are all much nicer than the West Country anyway :p:p).
 
we used to tow 3.5t from Solent to Falmouth, along the coast road, early Saturday, not school hols etc. Stop for breakfast,stop for lunch, was 7 hours.
And thats with NO traffic jams.
But its an easy drive.. just trundle along. And at least if you do have a problem with the trailer there should be a garage somewhere about !
 
marina as dive base around penzance

yes, 8 hours or more sounds realistic.

Can somebody advice on a marina as a base for our diving ?
without reading the books yet, we still consider Scilly's for a day trip,
so places to stay around penzance,....
or eventually falmouth

we have everything ourselves, a compressor, tanks, etc..
but a parking place for 2 mobil homes nearby the boats would be needed
 
Bart, what sort of diving interests you most, ie wrecks, drift, scenic, fishing (scallops, crabs, lobsters etc)? Your answer has quite a bearing on where I would recommend you base yourself.
 
longjohnsilver said:
Bart, what sort of diving interests you most
Click to expand...

well, anything that's different from our ususal dives here,

that is in the Oosterschelde:
- many lobsters crabs and oysters,

or on Wreck's in the northsea:
- large crabs, anemones, cod, and many smaller fishes,

what intrest us the most is the bigger fishes or sea animals
but I guess that's the case for every diver :)
 
Take the extra hit on the road and get up to West Scotland..

Spectacular scenery, great diving in clear water with loads of sealife both big / small.... and deep sheltered sealochs for those windy days
 
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