Falmouth to Oban as quickly as possible

Did Falmouth to Oban for the famous malts last year. We werent in a hurry nor in a boat that goes to windward that well so we stopped several times en route. We were aground in Portpatrick and we draw 1.8 - if memory serves it was an hour and a bit either side of LW neaps. Not a particularly charming place and they are keen on charging dues even though they offer nothing other than a bollard or two.

On a previous trip we stayed in the IoM and that was a good stop over with friendly hospitality from the yacht club.

If you are well crewed and the weather is good, I'd be tempted to do it in one. If lightly crewed then I'd go for Penzance, Milford, IoM, and then anchorages.
 
Strangford is a holiday or cruising destination ( have spent time in it twice ), not a passage port - its off the track, also totally tide flow dependent. Timing is critical. Ardglass is the ideal stopping off point.

We have done Falmouth / Howth ( 37 hours ) and then Howth / Ardglass / Lamlash many times. Seems to work well. Tide planning is key, but pretty straight forward, with the exception of the Howth / Ardglass leg.

Circumnavigation of Ireland 2009 - http://www.maloyachts.se/Default.aspx?tabid=251
 
If you are trying to get to Scotland as quickly as possible you do not need to go to Glenarm.( you are wasting good tide by going too far north) but it is a good route in strong weather as it put you further off the Mull Of Kintyre. Leaving Belfast lough at around or after high water the ebb will take you to the Mull in five to six hours. Unless it is quite windy steer straight for the lighthouse. If you are too early you will make slow progress to N of Macrahanish where the strength decreases. The leg from there to Gigha takes longer mainly because the tide weakens as you go North. But the passage takes 10- 11 hours.
From Glenarm you can opt for Craighouse instead of Gigha. Gigha can be very uncomfortable in easterlies. However if you are not wanting to waste time you can keep going up the Sound of Jura and Sound of Luing using the tide without much discomfort in most weather. Our normal passage from Carrickfergus was two days to Oban or even to Tobermory with a family crew and one stopover at either Gigha, Craighouse or Crinan.
You are wasting time getting to and through the Crinan Canal, Ardrishaig is thirteen hours from Belfast Lough with little tidal assist N. of Campbeltown. The canal needs most of a day (min. 4 1/2 hrs if well organized and lucky with traffic), and you may need to wait for tide at Crinan.
 
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Ubergeekian said:
Not if the alternative is waiting for nasty westerlies to subside ...
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Living by the Crinan Canal but belonging to a sailing club in N. Ireland where most summer cruises are to the West Coast of Scotland, I tend to mentally record all the Irish boats that pass. They are now remarkably few compared to in the past when most cruising boats tended to be much smaller. Most boats leaving Belfast Lough these days head straight for the Sound of Jura.
I suspect this reflects the poor state of the Canal and also the much lower proportion of family crews these days.
 
If heading north from Belfast Loch area, and the wind is stuck in the NW, go via Crinan Canal. The tide in the North Channel is strong. The ebb runs north, and if it's into a NW wind, the sea is horrendous.
 
Why Plan To Stop If You Want To Get There ASAP

I have sailed Falmouth to Clyde and Clyde to Oban lots of times. Always non stop.

I am with Quandary, forget about the Clyde (even if your draft permitted a canal transit).

As for tides and weather stay in the middle and leave the IOM to starboard. The North Channel can be rough but short of a full blown Westerly Gale its manageable if you stay in the middle of the gap. If you don't like the wind and sea you have Red Bay in Northern Ireland for a wait either at anchor or along side. Carry your passports though as I will guarantee that you will be questioned in Red Bay.

Motor to keep the speed up if the wind drops. For this sort of trip I prefer 4 hour watches with 2 x 2 hour dog watches in the afternoon. Prepare all your meals to be heated in the oven and carry a couple of big stainless vacuum flasks for night watches.

You will be surprised at how fast the miles burn up. You need to plan in detail a stop up at the Sound of Luing / Loch Shuna area in case you arrive at the wrong time for the tides. By that time you will be tired and you don't want to start diking about with pilotage planning. Its all deep water but there are a few reefs in the deep water to catch the tired and unprepared I would suggest Craobh Haven is a good marina to wait on a tidal gate.

I would advise a non stop dash is the best way.
 
Quandary said:
Living by the Crinan Canal but belonging to a sailing club in N. Ireland where most summer cruises are to the West Coast of Scotland, I tend to mentally record all the Irish boats that pass. They are now remarkably few compared to in the past when most cruising boats tended to be much smaller.
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I wonder if that's because they head up the outside or because the reputation of the state of the canal is such that in bad weather they just don't come at all, or delay coming up the outside until better weather.?
 
Draught

While not advocating the Crinan Canal, the 2m. draught limit was temporary while they fixed the big leak, which they are working on now, scheduled for completion by 15 th. March. In practice if you draught was more, up to about 2.5m. last year, they just ran some extra water down to accommodate you.
 
Strangford is lovely but remember if you are going north the tide does not change to let you out for two hours after HW so you lose two hours of tidal flow up the coast - and it is difficult to push against it. If you are in the vacinity it is better to stay in Ardglass and leave well before HW to get the most advantage from the flow North.
If you are doing it in legs the tide will take you to Glenarm where you can visit the pubs and wait for the tide change to take you to Gigha.
Please visit Strangford on the way South when the tides are much more favourable for you. There is a marina at Portaferry and dozens of lovely anchorages throughout the lough. ;)
 
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Dun Laoghaire is a good alternative to Howth if you're stopping off in the Dublin area. It'll be a better place for stocking up, but both are fine for getting the DART into the city.

I'd not recommend Strangford. Or rather I'd really recommend Strangford Lough as a cruising destination, just not as a passage port. Ardglass is roughly an hour south of the entrance to the Lough and has 24 hour access (except maybe not at LWS if you've a deep draught) and is not out of your way. Small village but they have a small supermarket, a few pubs and a good chip shop.

Bangor marina is in the town so again close to the supermarkets for stocking up and not too difficult to get to one of the airports for flights. It's only a little out of the way but Donaghdee Sound can take longer than you'd expect in adverse tides.
 
JCP said:
Dun Laoghaire is a good alternative to Howth if you're stopping off in the Dublin area. It'll be a better place for stocking up, but both are fine for getting the DART into the city.
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Any feelings about Dublin City Moorings? One potential crew member for my own Great Trek North is Irish, and rather fancies staying so close to the fleshpots of Dublin.
 
Ubergeekian said:
Any feelings about Dublin City Moorings? One potential crew member for my own Great Trek North is Irish, and rather fancies staying so close to the fleshpots of Dublin.
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They were closed whilst that new bridge was being put in across the Liffey. I'm not sure when they're going to be re-opened, I had a vague idea it would be March but I've just done a web search and only found a reference to sometime in 2010.

There's a small marina at Poolbeg but getting into the city from there is a hassle so you'd be better off just getting the DART in from Dun Laoghaire. The DART station is pretty close to the marina entrance (although I maybe can't say the same about the visitor's pontoons - bit of a trek from there to the exit since they extended the marina.)

And of course you don't have to go into the marina. The clubs have pontoons and will take visitors if you talk to them nicely.
 
JCP said:
They were closed whilst that new bridge was being put in across the Liffey. I'm not sure when they're going to be re-opened, I had a vague idea it would be March but I've just done a web search and only found a reference to sometime in 2010.

There's a small marina at Poolbeg but getting into the city from there is a hassle so you'd be better off just getting the DART in from Dun Laoghaire. The DART station is pretty close to the marina entrance (although I maybe can't say the same about the visitor's pontoons - bit of a trek from there to the exit since they extended the marina.)

And of course you don't have to go into the marina. The clubs have pontoons and will take visitors if you talk to them nicely.
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Thanks, much obliged. A former colleague of mine lives near Dun Laoghaire, so that would suit me better anyway.
 
Don't do what we did....................arrive in Dublin on Good Friday, 2nd April this year, not a good day at all, no alcohol sold in the Republic, not even with a meal.
 
If you can, or unless time is not an issue and/or there are places you want to visit, I'd try to do it in one - particularly if you have a bit of flexibility on the timing. Picking a suitable window (SE5 in our case) our 27ft LWL MAB covered Chichester to Troon in 3 days 18 hrs. Southbound and in lighter airs the time was 70hrs Troon to alongside in Falmouth. It's the diverting from direct track to make port that seems to take the most time!
 
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