Late starter advice please...

[goeasy123]

This is what me and the wife did. Would something like this work for you?

.... A week skippered charter in the Ionian followed by a 1 week flotilla and then 1 week bare boat with close support from the charter company. Then a Day Skipper course in the Solent. To get experience in the places you want to sail (and a ton of advice) use the Cruising Association's crewing service.

After that (about 10 weeks in total) we bought a boat in Lymington, retired and headed off down the EU Atlantic coast for the Med. Before we left we did a few trips up and down the Solent to get to know the boat . That was in March 2019. We're now in Sant Carles, Spain.

If you want to sail in the Med don't go for a long keel. You need something that goes backwards easily.

 

[fifer]

Totally agree with the responses here that say that you should try and get as much experience as possible before making any financial commitments. You'll learn your limits, see a range of boats, experience a variety of sea conditions and see how different skippers 'think and do' on a boat.

If you do decide to go cruising in the med, I strongly suspect a Catamaran such as a Hirondelle 23 might be just the ticket for you. Little heel, manageable sail plan, plenty of space to work on deck if you need to and more living accom than a boat of similar length. And they come in a similar price bracket to good examples of the boats you mentioned.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Neuroma

It might help us advise if we knew more about your mobility issues. Balance? Stiffness? Effects of Age etc. Certainly its a greater problem single handed

I have some mobility issues with most of limbs suffering from unfortunate collisions with cars, cliffs and icy things etc, indeed I sit here with broken forearm from last fortnight skiing. But and its a big but, my awkwardness/stiffness has increased gradually over my 36 years yacht ownership so I have techniques and practices many of which are semi-unconscious.

I have copious handholds on our cabin roof, and have added such and safety jackstays and netting to all our recent boats. I am not embarrassed to crawl along decks if needing to attend foredeck in bad weather - yes I get wetter but I am more stable.

As Fifer said a cat might suit better if your issues are severe, though marina fees would be much higher. Like others I would say that club pontoons (such as at Cardiff), or Marinas, are the only way to go.

And though you want to sail far afield, it might take you ten years to get experience to make such trips and if you are anything as old as myself such a slow learning curve might put it out of your reach. Plenty of fun to be had round or near Britain

Milford, Plymouth for more open waters, Swansea or Cardiff for Bristol Channel.

Many boats will be available for day charter with skipper on board to enable you to feel what it is like to sail a yacht and indeed I did this in 1984 in Weymouth when transitioning from dinghies

 

[WoodyP]

Milford fails the one hour from Bristol brief from Neuroma, but it will provide sheltered sailing for a start, with the option to travel further as experience and confidence is gained. With smaller boats comes less stability, but easier handling.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Milford fails the one hour from Bristol brief from Neuroma, but it will provide sheltered sailing for a start, with the option to travel further as experience and confidence is gained. With smaller boats comes less stability, but easier handling.

I think most suitable places will fail the one hour mark as even Cardiff is on the cusp of both criteria. It is just not that easy from Bristol.

I think Plymouth with its great enclosed waters plus nearby pleasing ports is better than Milford

 

[WoodyP]

I think most suitable places will fail the one hour mark as even Cardiff is on the cusp of both criteria. It is just not that easy from Bristol.

I think Plymouth with its great enclosed waters plus nearby pleasing ports is better than Milford

I think that you may be correct.

 

[Gwylan]

The Haven can be fine. But you sail up and then down. Or down then up. Great for an afternoon or similar, but could become tedious.
Milford gates can be a timing challenge. Certainly impose time limits on any outing from there.
Neyland is nice. Cannot remember what access is like to the inner basin.

The speed of the tide out of or into the Haven can dictate when you can go anywhere further afield.

Weymouth might be worth considering. Though the centre has rather lost its charm recently.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

------ Weymouth might be worth considering. Though the centre has rather lost its charm recently.

Having a hut on Portland I can assure you that the journey to Weymouth is an absolute pain from Bristol. Quicker, pleasanter to go to Plymouth/East Cornwall. And the sailing is better in or from The Sound.

 

[Neuroma]

Thanks for all the input, it has been very helpful. I'll try and respond to suggestions and queries now (apologies if I missed anyone).

My physical limitations, are:

• Primarily, balance. This is the greatest issue for me, and won't be safe on deck without a clipped on harness. Elsewhere I would be fine. So I would be looking to run sheets and halyards back to the cockpit, try and deal with anything forward only where unavoidable. Wide sidedecks, and hard rails everywhere will help, and as suggested earlier, not at all concerned about getting on my hands and knees.
• I also have hearing loss on one side, and my hearing aids aren't waterproof. I don't anticipate this will be an issue, but will be interesting to see how I get on with the VHF course, as intelligibility can be difficult.
• Generally overweight, unfit and knackered. I'm rather hoping sailing will help me address this, as well as improve my sanity.

As for the med, I lived in Spain for a number of years, too hot and humid in the summer for me. Nice in spring and autumn. And I would like to get down to Greece at some point. I am far more interested in Scandinavia, and Iceland/Greenland (not Europe though).

Boat choice, this is a tough one, but my heart is set on a seakindly boat, so long keel and heavy seems to fit the bill, although I do recognise that they are a PITA in marinas. I am currently looking at Rival 32's and they feel just about right to me, although a little longer than I had initially been considering. The suggestion for a Cat was a good one, however I think they aren't so seakind, but I love the greater speed/space, especially to get out of the way of trouble. Mooring costs are a concern too.

Then as for home base, I am having a rethink, and currently looking a Milford, Plymouth, Weymouth and Poole and possibly Cardiff Bay. I feel that coping with the Bristol Channel, is probably something to be left for a year or two down the line. Club facilities, and mooring options/cost will influence this heavily

So, my plans from here are to:

• Get my VHF licence
• Get training (probably Day Skipper)
• Find a base club
• Buy a boat
• Address any works needed/desired
• Get out there, and start learning and exploring.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

A good plan Neuroma, though a heavy bilge keeler is also pretty sea kindly. Our old Westerly Pentland was definitely less tender than our present long keeler for instance. Within reason no boat is too large at sea, though 32ft is possibly the limit for singlehanded ease in a marina. It stopping the thing without ramming something when there is all that inertia.

Time being trained under power in confined spaces, is well spent

 

[goeasy123]

Standalone the VHF is useless with my hearing loss. However, a simple solution for you might be to connect a cheapie Bluetooth transmitter to the RCA audio-out of the VHF. You could have this driving a full over-ear noise-cancelling headset.... or some lesser technology, depending on your needs.

 

[mattonthesea]

Rival 32 is a fantastic boat; wide decks, very comfortable in heavy weather and easy to sail single-handed. I've sailed approaching 15k NM on one. You could run the lines back to the cockpit but be aware that they are quite narrow towards the stern and space is competed for around the companion way opening. If you do follow, advice on general forums here and keep the friction to absolute minimum. If you put a hard sprayhood on her and keep the coach roof clear then you would have a very stable set of handholds to get out of the cockpit, plus a large wide space over the roof right to the mast.

They are, however, approaching 50 years old. Yours will have been altered several times by the different owners and the result can be quite a mess to sort out. Ask me how I know! Just as an indication: in the nearly seven years that I have owned my present R32 I have rewired her, replace all the lights (nav and interior), re-rigged her, rebuilt and installed the fridge, re-jigged the forepeak, replaced the windlass, anchor and chain, replaced almost all the plumbing and fittings, replaced the prop, the list goes on. And I'm not unusual except for that we live and cruise on her for three months every year. That's partly because getting in and out of Bristol takes a week so short jaunts just aren't worth it. Boat is now in Kent ready for a hopeful trip to Baltic.

Good luck whatever you do

M

 

[Dellquay13]

The Haven can be fine. But you sail up and then down. Or down then up. Great for an afternoon or similar, but could become tedious.
Milford gates can be a timing challenge. Certainly impose time limits on any outing from there.
Neyland is nice. Cannot remember what access is like to the inner basin.

The speed of the tide out of or into the Haven can dictate when you can go anywhere further afield.

Weymouth might be worth considering. Though the centre has rather lost its charm recently.

Re the Milford Haven, Spring tides are on the ebb in the morning, so you follow it down and out of the headlands to sea and follow the flood back in, in the afternoon. neap tides are more awkward times but easier to fight.
The gates at Milford marina are much more frequent since the new ones were fitted some years ago. They are now nominally full tidal cycle 24/7.
There is a waiting list for the upper basin at Neyland, and it is over a tidal cill.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Verging on thread drift: We were based at Neyland for 2 summers to give us access to Skomer, Ramsey and S Ireland (and the Gryphon at Dale and that pub up the hill at Solva).

The area outside Milford Sound is limited for a novice. Certainly Jack Sound and the Bitches are a challenge in timing, and if the OP has a Rival then Solva not so easy and no simple access to Dale. As for the tidal problems off St Govans ...

Great once the OP gets his hand in but maybe not where to start.

Also further from Bristol than Plymouth with worse roads in part

 

[Dellquay13]

Verging on thread drift: We were based at Neyland for 2 summers to give us access to Skomer, Ramsey and S Ireland (and the Gryphon at Dale and that pub up the hill at Solva).

The area outside Milford Sound is limited for a novice. Certainly Jack Sound and the Bitches are a challenge in timing, and if the OP has a Rival then Solva not so easy and no simple access to Dale. As for the tidal problems off St Govans ...

Great once the OP gets his hand in but maybe not where to start.

Also further from Bristol than Plymouth with worse roads in part

More drift..
I'm learning to sail at Milford, after buying my first yacht last year, and think it's an ideal place to do it.
I've had my 18' Shetland mobo in the marina since 2002 before crossing over to the slow side, and I would regularly get to Fishguard, Solva or the Smalls lighthouse.
As for the roads, the St Clears to Pembroke section is being upgraded. I'm in Chesterfield 288miles from Milford and it takes 4hr45m without speeding

 

[RobWard]

We started sailing from Cardiff Bay - we took our time about it but still had a lot of fun, and I still think it's great, even though we've now moved away. 1) CBYC is very friendly, with lots of facilities and plenty of advice to be had. 2) For days when you just want to 'practice', then the Bay is a very safe, useful stretch of water, with real destinations if you want simple overnights - Graving Dock and Mermaid Quay. 3) Once out of the barrage, (which is manned 24/7,) there are really attractive destinations within a day's sail - Portishead, Bristol, Porlock Weir (though we've not anchored there), Combe Martin... and in Wales there's Swansea, Gower, Tenby, and that's all before you go beyond to Padstow, Lundy, Milford, Fishguard...

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Unless you can anchor then get in dinghy easily and row ashore, the english side is rubbish except for watchet (and thats a pain except from Barry), right down to st ives. Not much good for someone with mobility issues who wants to avoid foredeck work.

On the welsh side, the only port of refuge after cardiff/barry is Swansea. I miss the Bristol Channel but boy oh boy do I enjoy destinations within a few hours sail down in cornwall. And water taxis in some ports even if shoreside berthing not available

 

[bitbaltic]

Thanks for all the input, it has been very helpful. I'll try and respond to suggestions and queries now (apologies if I missed anyone).

My physical limitations, are:

• Primarily, balance. This is the greatest issue for me, and won't be safe on deck without a clipped on harness. Elsewhere I would be fine. So I would be looking to run sheets and halyards back to the cockpit, try and deal with anything forward only where unavoidable. Wide sidedecks, and hard rails everywhere will help, and as suggested earlier, not at all concerned about getting on my hands and knees.
• I also have hearing loss on one side, and my hearing aids aren't waterproof. I don't anticipate this will be an issue, but will be interesting to see how I get on with the VHF course, as intelligibility can be difficult.
• Generally overweight, unfit and knackered. I'm rather hoping sailing will help me address this, as well as improve my sanity.

As for the med, I lived in Spain for a number of years, too hot and humid in the summer for me. Nice in spring and autumn. And I would like to get down to Greece at some point. I am far more interested in Scandinavia, and Iceland/Greenland (not Europe though).

Boat choice, this is a tough one, but my heart is set on a seakindly boat, so long keel and heavy seems to fit the bill, although I do recognise that they are a PITA in marinas. I am currently looking at Rival 32's and they feel just about right to me, although a little longer than I had initially been considering. The suggestion for a Cat was a good one, however I think they aren't so seakind, but I love the greater speed/space, especially to get out of the way of trouble. Mooring costs are a concern too.

Then as for home base, I am having a rethink, and currently looking a Milford, Plymouth, Weymouth and Poole and possibly Cardiff Bay. I feel that coping with the Bristol Channel, is probably something to be left for a year or two down the line. Club facilities, and mooring options/cost will influence this heavily

So, my plans from here are to:

• Get my VHF licence
• Get training (probably Day Skipper)
• Find a base club
• Buy a boat
• Address any works needed/desired
• Get out there, and start learning and exploring.

Minor point but the rival is a long fin boat not a long keel boat. There is quite a bit of difference in handling. If you are looking at long fins you are looking at less ‘niche’ boats than true long keel boats of equivalent length.