Has anyone got the time to check my passage plan?

Allan

Allan

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I am planning the biggest trip I have ever done and would be happy to hear comments. My boat, Chausey, is a Westerly 33 based in Cardiff. I normally passage plan at 5kts and am prepared to use the engine to keep on schedule. SWMBO is quite capable of sailing alone if required (she has her day skipper)but, unlike me, is not good at sleeping on a passage. We hope to be in Dartmouth to meet friends for a crossing to Guensey on 1st July.
Plan:-
26th June
09-00hrs lock out of Cardiff, single handed (high tide 10-20hrs)
Head for Clovelly, (if required Ilfracombe is available)
20-00hrs arrive Clovelly, (access from 19-30hrs)
Pick-up SWBO and head for Hartland point (HW 21-30hrs)
Take inshore route at HW slack.
Head down the coast with me getting 3-4 hours sleep.
Decide on watch system, depending on how we each feel.
Pass Trevose point approx 06-00hrs 27th (Padstow available if required.
Monitor weather and decide on inshore or offshore passage around Longships/Lands End.
Arrive Runnel stone approx 15-00hrs
Go with the tide across Mounts bay (Newlyn available if required)
Round Lizard and the Manacles giving them plenty of space due to long trip so far.
22-00hrs arrive Helford river, pick up a mooring and sleep.
I know the weather will probably change the plan but it is a start.
Allan
 
Hi Allan, I'm still a novice at this but here is my initial take on your times. The run from Trevose Point to the Runnel Stone might be pushing it in your allowed time of 9 hrs
In a straight line it's around 47nm and even with your engine on if you have a head wind? and I reckon you would have around 4 hrs of tide against, if you leave Trevose Head at 0600. Varing from 0.5 to 1kt
We came from Falmouth at Easter taking a boat up to Anglesey and on our first attempt our calculated average of 5kts was down to between 2 and 3 with the wind and waves not helping. So back into Falmouth! and up The Fal for the night. My first thoughts would be approach the Botallack Head area about 1030 go around Lands end with the tide then sail into Mounts Bay to avoid some of the foul tide and pace your self to go around The Lizard about 1830 when the tide turns NE. You've got until 0000 before the tide at The Lizard turns SW again which by then I hope your tucked up in your bunk in The Helford.

You can always slow down to hit the Tidal gates at the right time.


The tide turns at Lands End and goes S around 1021 on the 27th June
HW Cherbourg being 1221 BST I use the Yachtsman's Manual of Tides hence Cherbourg HW.

Hope this helps, I always ask somebody else to check my figures!! better safe than sorry. I'll look forward to comments from others to see if I've made a complete cock up.
You did want to go to Kinsale!!! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Many thanks for your input, I'm far too far down the bottle to digest it, I will look in the morning and think about it. One thought is that if I'm not at Trevose on, or ahead of time, I will go to padstow and think about it.
Many thanks,
Allan
 
hi allan i have made the run from bristol to south coast numerous times both under power and sail, usually 2 adults and 2 kids (und 10) and used to make similar plans. generally speaking if you stay far enough off shore you will avoid all the tidal races, yes you'll suffer foul tides but thats inevitable. Stay about 5 miles out and keep going, change watches when you feel able, pick a weather window that gives you decent weather for 2/3 days and go.

pm me if you want any more advice
 
Most of the harbours along your way have tidal limitations so it would be a good idea to make a note of the times in advance. At the point where you need a port of refuge you may be too tired to calculate accurately. |Putting into Padstow at the wrong time could put you deep in the brown stuff.

My preference would be to make only an outline plan and re-plan as you go along. That way, you avoid the mistake of pushing your luck to try to keep to the plan when a change would be more seamanlike.

Go through the almanac with care as hazards can lurk in the small print. For example I was tempted to head for Perros Guirec until, buried in the port information, I saw that the lock gate is a metre narrower than my beam!
 
' For example I was tempted to head for Perros Guirec until, buried in the port information, I saw that the lock gate is a metre narrower than my beam! '

Yes, I spotted that just in time too!
 
[ QUOTE ]
My preference would be to make only an outline plan and re-plan as you go along. That way, you avoid the mistake of pushing your luck to try to keep to the plan when a change would be more seamanlike.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is very good advice. As my username suggests, I work on Antarctica, and before going South, we have a week long briefing. One of the topics is safety! And the number one take away message from the safety briefing is that more people have been killed by sticking to plans that have become inappropriate than almost any other cause. It is remarkably difficult for someone who is tired, cold or otherwise at the end of their tether to make sensible decisions about what to do next. There is a strong psychological urge to stick to plans, even if they are no longer safe or sensible. For example, there are circumstances where the sensible action is "get sea room and ride it out". Unfortunately, the lure of a safe mooring, hot showers and a welcoming pub tend to mean that people will take risks that they should not! This has killed many people in Antarctica; people who stuck to a plan to return to a main base when they should have stayed where they were.
 
Many thanks for all of your input and points all taken. When I started the planning process I realised that, at a little less than 5kts, most of the ports will be available to me. Each of the headlands will be a time for me to look at how things are going and decide whether to carry on with the plan.
Allan
 
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