westhinder
Well-known member
Any idea when that week will be? So we can plan ahead ?
July and August sailing strategy
- Thread starter lustyd
- Start date
westhinder
Well-known member
As a general rule we try to cover the longest distances at the beginning of the trip so we can return at a more leisurely pace and have a couple of spare days in order not to be forced to sail in bad weather to get home in time. (No prizes for guessing how we learnt that)
In your case I’d be sorely tempted to cross to Cherbourg at the start, then go Channel Islands, Tréguier or Lezardrieux and continue west to Camaret, Douarnenez or Ouessant and from there cross to Scilly and then leisurely let yourself be blown back to the Solent.
I appreciate that Camaret-Scilly will involve an overnight trip, but the chances are you both have grown so confident that it poses no problem. Alternatively you could arrange for an experienced friend to join you for this part of the trip. We have been doing 6-7 weeks holidays for a number of years now and it is surprising how you grow as a cruising couple in such a period.
In your case I’d be sorely tempted to cross to Cherbourg at the start, then go Channel Islands, Tréguier or Lezardrieux and continue west to Camaret, Douarnenez or Ouessant and from there cross to Scilly and then leisurely let yourself be blown back to the Solent.
I appreciate that Camaret-Scilly will involve an overnight trip, but the chances are you both have grown so confident that it poses no problem. Alternatively you could arrange for an experienced friend to join you for this part of the trip. We have been doing 6-7 weeks holidays for a number of years now and it is surprising how you grow as a cruising couple in such a period.
flaming
Well-known member
In your shoes I'd have a couple of outline plans to be deployed in response to the weather at the start of the trip.
If the Breeze is resolutely Westerly, then go South to Cherbourg or CIs (depending on angle), potter for a few days, then go CI - Dartmouth/Salcombe. We did that one year, and the crossing from Alderney to Salcombe in a westerly breeze rates as one of the most pleasant channel crossings I can remember. This strategy means you make westerly progress without actually having to do any real beating, and has the bonus of channel crossings that in high summer can be done in daylight hours.
If on the other hand the wind plays ball then get West fast. You can always decide to divert south on the way back if that suits.
If the Breeze is resolutely Westerly, then go South to Cherbourg or CIs (depending on angle), potter for a few days, then go CI - Dartmouth/Salcombe. We did that one year, and the crossing from Alderney to Salcombe in a westerly breeze rates as one of the most pleasant channel crossings I can remember. This strategy means you make westerly progress without actually having to do any real beating, and has the bonus of channel crossings that in high summer can be done in daylight hours.
If on the other hand the wind plays ball then get West fast. You can always decide to divert south on the way back if that suits.
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Do not forget one has to log in & out of France with passports so it is not like a simple trip & then head for home as & when
Daydream believer
Well-known member
To log out of Camaret you have to go to customs at Brest first
sailingmartin
Active member
“Perhaps I should have mentioned I'm not planning to even take an anchor 
Really appreciate the feedback from everyone, we've never tried living aboard but this is very much practice for retiring at sea in a couple of years”
Personally, I think these two statements show a problem. Most people who live aboard for a long time are very attached to their anchor - in more ways than one. Definitely get one put aboard before you set off (plus tender and outboard) or else you will a) miss some of the loveliest places and b) not really experience what long-term living aboard is really like.
Really appreciate the feedback from everyone, we've never tried living aboard but this is very much practice for retiring at sea in a couple of years”
Personally, I think these two statements show a problem. Most people who live aboard for a long time are very attached to their anchor - in more ways than one. Definitely get one put aboard before you set off (plus tender and outboard) or else you will a) miss some of the loveliest places and b) not really experience what long-term living aboard is really like.
johnalison
Well-known member
I wouldn’t be in a hurry to stress yourselves, especially if your wife is inexperienced. You don’t say whether you are used to night sailing. This is very much part of extended cruising, so if not experienced I would be thinking of including some in you trip. This doesn’t have to be overnight. Arriving in a strange harbour in the dark is something some people worry about, and although it can present challenges it can also be satisfying.I have to admit I was expecting more disagreement. Seems most of us are in the get west fast in good weather camp which is reassuring! Perhaps I should have mentioned I'm not planning to even take an anchor
Really appreciate the feedback from everyone, we've never tried living aboard but this is very much practice for retiring at sea in a couple of years so I want to get it right or I'll be forced into buying a farm and selling the boat
As someone has said, be prepared for forced stays in harbour. The West Country has a reputation for being mild, but this chiefly comes from its mild winters. Wet and windy periods do occur. We once spent the best part of a week in the upper Fal, probably playing Scrabble and drinking with our friends. If you are of a certain age, a bus pass is worth having, and gives you access to places like the Eden Project.
TiggerToo
Well-known member
The Dart, the Tamar and the Fal are all "deep inland", and there are oodles of things to do onshore, walks, things to visit, real "hurricane holes" to stay at anchor (if you are REALLY serious about forgetting your anchor, there are plenty of marinas and moorings too). You can easily while away days if there is rubbish weather. I have no idea what sort of things you like doing, but for us this works...
TiggerToo
Well-known member
what if one has Schengen passports: does the ensign up on the stern matter?
Daydream believer
Well-known member
Definitely unwise NOT to take an anchor. That is advice from someone who has anchored less than 5 times in the last 17 years. I fully agree that it is much better to go into safe havens as stop overs. It is better for all sorts of reasons , social being one of them. Being a SH sailor I enjoy my visits to different places & go out of my way to look round & engage in conversation with the locals as well as other sailors. The majority of marinas are comfortable & most have decent amenities as well.I'm not planning to even take an anchor
What is it about pumping up dinghies lugging them over the side & messing with outboards, getting ashore, lugging the boat up the shore & then reversing the procedure, that so many sailors seem addicted to? Not to mention the work laying anchors, cleaning the mud off the decks then laying awake all night, whilst the boat rolls, worrying if the boat is dragging, or going to hit the next boat etc. ( Plus, in my case, being violently sea sick & ending up with a migraine for the trouble)
But what ever you do , that anchor & a decent rode is a must. I lost my rudder in winds less than 5 kts following the simplest of grounding. I also ran out of fuel one night after a slog back from Ostend & had to anchor until morning, when I had to sail into my berth at Bradwell. Then there was the time the impeller failed as the wind was blowing me onto a sand bank 100 yds away at night. No time to hoist sails & only just dropped the hook in time.
So one can never be certain one will not need it as much as I hate it.
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Hermit
Well-known member
Oh good lord - can no one understand a joke!Perhaps I should have mentioned I'm not planning to even take an anchor
dunedin
Well-known member
I hope that is a bizarre form of joke. As well as being entirely unseamanlike, it could significantly limit your options - especially if things are busy in July in August.Perhaps I should have mentioned I'm not planning to even take an anchor
To go to the Isles of Scilly for example without being confident when anchoring overnight would be daft, as limited number of moorings and plenty of anchorages.
And once you get in the habit, most of our best overnight stays have been on anchor (with c. 50 nights last year on anchor)
TiggerToo
Well-known member
it is
johnalison
Well-known member
Anchoring is not always a recipe for a restful night, although satisfying in terms of self-reliance, and cheap except at Salcombe. However, much of the charm of the West Country lies in its estuaries, rivers, and rias, and pottering around in a dinghy puts you down at water level and in touch with your surroundings. It would take us about twenty minutes in the dinghy to get from the anchorage or pontoon in Salcombe to the Town and although requiring some effort, it is not an experience I would have wanted to miss, as with other sites. There may be some whose only experience of the area is to go from one marina berth to the next, but I feel sorry for them, especially as many of them look to be a lot younger than we were when we sailed there, though I would guess that swinging moorings were our most frequent option.
Mudisox
Well-known member
With two months to convince SWMBO that sailing/cruising is not a big chore and nice, go South. The winds are likely to be on the beam, there are a number of options and once you get there it is lovely. France likes visitors and the bureaucracy is not onerous. Channel Isles = simple. They want you too.
Loads of lovely little ports around St Malo and up the Rance. And you can chose how you stop. Electricity for hair drier is most important for my wife.
Leave the slog West to folk who are restrained by their 2 week holiday.
Loads of lovely little ports around St Malo and up the Rance. And you can chose how you stop. Electricity for hair drier is most important for my wife.
Leave the slog West to folk who are restrained by their 2 week holiday.
TiggerToo
Well-known member
Indeed, not always. But neither is a marina or a mooring. My experience of the west country is that if you look for them, there are ALWAYS some anchorages which can give you perfect peace (especially up the aforementioned rias/rivers). I bet that some of them would be peaceful even in a storm (but it may take some looking ... or asking for advice on here). Some are famous (Dandy Hole), others less so but equally effective.
TiggerToo
Well-known member
is this is not some sort of (sexist) joke, then I thoroughly recommend one of these:
EcoFlow DELTA – The Ultimate Portable Power Station
we used it last summer to run the dehumidifier now and then to dry the cabins and make life generally very pleasant down below. At anchor.
The small portable solar panels and excess PDs accumulated by the windmill was enough to fill up the charge in 2-3 days... and I guess you will get a lot of hair drying with that.
lustyd
Well-known member
For various reasons probably 1/3 of my sailing has been at night on very long passages so I'm more than happy with it. In fact, I prefer night sailing to day sailing on passages if the conditions are reasonable.
Yes, people with Schengen passports still need to check in to France when sailing from the UK, border control can be funny like that
I'm glad someone spotted that! Yes I can confirm it was a joke based on the unusual level of agreement in the thread. As ever, mention of an anchor got everybody riled up. We actually plan to spend as many nights at anchor as possible, and I have a lovely new aluminium floor dinghy for just this reason
TiggerToo
Well-known member
Yes, people with Schengen passports still need to check in to France when sailing from the UK, border control can be funny like that
not funny at all!
your anchor joke was more effective
dslittle
Well-known member
Although I agree that a good anchor is something to have (ours is), I’m not sure that I fully agree with this statement.
We lived aboard full time for six years and since then we have spent six months a year on board. We do anchor occasionally but it suits us to spend most of our time in Marinas. Some of the loveliest places are indeed anchorages but we have found plenty of remoteness in some outlying ‘marinas’ and definitely been able to explore some great areas by foot and bike.
Long term living aboard for us does not mean giving up all of our creature comforts (yes we really are softies…)
P.S. I do agree with the posts above about either going as far West as possible earlier, then taking it easy on the way back OR going across to France via the CIs.
Either option will provide an enjoyable cruising experience (we’ve done both)
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