Novice(ish) sailing to the Isles of Scilly

Samosun said:
I just can't wait to leave in just under 3 weeks!!!! Anyone else here planning on heading out there or who will be there late to mid June?
Click to expand...
I'm sure you'll work it out by the time you get there! We sailed our current 27ft'er for the first time from Elmsworth round to Milford Haven. We nearly went to the Isles of Scilly by mistake! :)
We're planning on leaving Wales around the 19th/20th June, weather dependent, to sail there - let's hope the weather plays ball! It's a relatively short passage from Lands End. We may very well end up "around the corner" at Penzance waiting for better weather. Just as an aside, I got a 15kg Kobra a couple of years ago, and it's been great - IMHO an 8kg would be fine for your boat.
Good luck! :encouragement:
 
I'm reading this with interest, lots of good advice. I'm doing much the same, but in little bites - I'm only as far as Torquay at the moment (from Poole) and heading a bit further along next week. My boat is a similar size too at 25' and likewise I'm doing mine solo. It sounds like you are comfortably on track and considering all the right things - I agree with the previous comments that you certainly won't want to hand steer these long legs, so yes, a tillerpilot will be super useful, other options work too though - I've added a small Windpilot which, though I'm still getting used to it, is great to have and there's also something extra pleasing about the silent steering and not relying on electrical power. Have you come accros Fooloish Mews / Andrew Evans? There's his free to download book stuffed full of great tips and advice on solo sailing which if you haven't already discovered I think you might like and find useful.
I won't get down as far as the Scilly Isles until probably July so you'll be passing me soon I guess, have a great adventure.
 
What's been said plus:

keep an eye on the weather for where you want to be if it blows. Lots of good anchorage but most get uncomfortable when wind into them. St Mary's are very helpful with local knowledge.

I usually stock up before as everything is imported to the isles and therefore pricey.

You'll be able to get water and fuel before others as they will have to wait for the tide ��
 
Loads of great advice here, thanks!

Zoidberg , Nice photo's I'm definitely up for a night at anchor on St Agnes! I've walked along that beach a few times...pub's a bonus too!

Radar reflector seems sensible, I've done some research and it seems like the tube ones are pretty much useless. Without going too off topic as I know this has been covered but would an Octohedral one be good enough? I've spent a lot of cash this year so am trying to save where i can. An Echomax or similar is just another £100, and although I've actually done a bit of night sailing I'm not intending on doing any intentionally. Will also be trying to avoid fog if possible :ambivalence:

mattonthesea said:
I usually stock up before as everything is imported to the isles and therefore pricey.
Click to expand...
I'll be sure to stock up on plenty of supplies before I leave! Although it's a small boat I've got a lot of storage space.

Rocksteadee said:
Sound like we could be having a YBW get together there
Click to expand...

I'm game for a pint or two over there. Also if anyone else is planning on heading over mid June it would be nice to have company. I have no set plans time wise, Just planning on going where the wind takes me...literally :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Samosun said:
Loads of great advice here, thanks!

Zoidberg , Nice photo's I'm definitely up for a night

Radar reflector seems sensible, I've done some research and it seems like the tube ones are pretty much useless. Without going too off topic as I know this has been covered but would an Octohedral one be good enough? I've spent a lot of cash this year so am trying to save where i can. An Echomax or similar is just another £100, and although I've actually done a bit of night sailing I'm not intending on doing any intentionally. Will also be trying to avoid fog if possible :ambivalence:
Click to expand...

Making a recommendation for anything on here just invites a wheen of trolls and a down-spiralling argument that just goes on, goes on, goes on - like Mrs Doyle.

However, I'll make an exception for this purpose.

I've been in enough dense fog, by the ends of TSS various AND within them, and with multiple lumps of steel charging past almost but not quite unseen, to counsel emphatically.....

You and I need a big, fat, reliable radar reflector for those late afternoons and nights when you can't see the other traffic passing at speed ahead and astern of you, but you can hear it.
:05.18-flustered:
The tube reflectors are functionally useless. So also are yotties' octohedrals. That has been well proven by definitive research done by Qinetiq, reported by our host magazines time and again, yet the 'old wives tale' persists. And there will some 'old wives' mashing their toothless gums just waiting to chime in with 'I know better'......

I understand your fiscal predicament. So here's a solution. It's the one I chose for myself, so I put my money and my soft pink bod where my mouf is.

Go get yourself an Echomax E230i inflatable. Go here https://www.echomax.co.uk/new-seconds.html as I did, and fork out £55 for a tested effective device. They are not at all 'sub standard' - one had been shown at a Boat Show, another had a couple of marker pen lines. I nabbed those! Speak to John Simpson there, mention me, and perhaps he'll do you an even better deal. He's the absolute industry expert, an old-style radar nerd, but straight as a die.

Get in before the rest of the herd!

Sure, you need to inflate the thing when needed, and hoist it on a signal halyard - but that's exactly what you need, and exactly what I do. Get in quick
 
Last edited:
I did Chichester to Scillies and back on my own last year (albeit in a 29 footer). It's obviously a bit easier if you break it into day sails (e.g. behind Keyhaven, Studland, Starehole bay, Cawsand bay, Falmouth / Newlyn and then onto the Scillies.

I got caught out on the way back across the Irish sea where it was blowing F6 with a pretty rough sea (neither of which were forecast), which resulted in a pretty miserable 5 hours until I got into the shelter of the mainland.

Take fuel, take your time, take lots of photos.

IMG_3719a.jpg
 
Hi Samosun, I was amazed to read your thread because I too own an Invader 22. I'm on the hard at the moment finishing a lengthy refit, mostly cosmetic thankfully. New mast head lights and Windex was the hardest task.
I too, plan a decent voyage this year, hopefully casting off around June/July. i have sights set on the Canaries with the slight possibility of a Caribbean venture but that's only a pipe dream at the moment.
You appear to have everything in order, take note from the good advice given here and let the lines go and Bon Voyage
 
ref radar reflectors - I'm sure you've probably already got something that you're happy with, but I was/am sceptical as to the performance of just about any reflector that might sensibly fit on the little mast of my small boat, so instead I have fitted a dual band echomax on a pole at the stern - it certainly alerts me to plenty of ship radar hits, and I am assuming therefore that these same are getting a decent signal returned, having AIS is also great and it's good knowing that this is adding to our visibility with all others who are using it (and yes - I don't assume that every boat has it or has it switched on, word is that plenty of fishing boats hide themselves by turning it off? But I've seen plenty of them with it on too.)
 
zoidberg said:
Go get yourself an Echomax E230i inflatable.
Click to expand...
Cheers, I will call him today. I’d not really considered a radar reflector if I’m honest. I’ve crossed quite a few shipping channels, especially in the Solent and never saw what the fuss was about. Never really considered fog on what could be a 10 hour crossing. I’d imaging it would be scary as hell in a shipping channel in fog! £55 is not a lot to pay to protect my “soft pink bod” :eek:

Wansworth said:
It’s impossible to get all the required safety equipment on your boat......get a 30 footer........joking
Click to expand...
Haha, yeah one day. But hey, ‘small boat, small problem’ as they say. That said my experience so far has been Small boat, dozens of small problems. ;) or at least lots lots of small jobs/changes. Still I’m learning a lot.

RobF said:
Take fuel, take your time, take lots of photos.
View attachment 77877
Click to expand...
Will do, I’ll be taking plenty of spare petrol, not that my lovely shiny 6hp outboard does anything but sip the fuel. Hull speed is about 1/3 throttle! Hopefully I’ll be able to avoid any Force 6 winds though!

Oletimer said:
Hi Samosun, I was amazed to read your thread because I too own an Invader 22. I'm on the hard at the moment finishing a lengthy refit, mostly cosmetic thankfully. New mast head lights and Windex was the hardest task.
Click to expand...
Nice, I’d like to here more about your refit. Got any good pictures? I’m fitting new LED Nav lights tomorrow as mine don’t work or aren’t fitted. I also need to find out why my anchor light doesn’t work….I was planning on just hoisting a battery powered one on a halyard if I’m on anchor. I’ve got a bright IP68 rechargeable lantern that will easily last a few nights. I assume you dropped the mast? One thing I look forward to about a bigger boat is being able to climb the mast. I think my bulk at the top of my little mast may be a bit much for her!

Also Oletimer…What is extra ironic is my first boat was called ‘Old Timer’! ha!


Phildorset said:
so instead I have fitted a dual band echomax on a pole at the
Click to expand...
Definitely something to consider in the future… they do cost more than I paid for my boat though! Expensive this boat malarkey!! :rolleyes: That said if I was doing anything more than coast hopping it’s a small price for peace of mind!
 
Last edited:
Samosun said:
.......

Definitely something to consider in the future… they do cost more than I paid for my boat though! Expensive this boat malarkey!! :rolleyes: That said if I was doing anything more than coast hopping it’s a small price for peace of mind!
Click to expand...



Yes, a lot of things are cheap enough but you can't buy it all, do your best as you see it, and crack on.

There is a traffic separation scheme which needs a bit of thinking about because you encounter it at the worst possible orientation. As you skirt the southern edge ships will be entering at all sorts of angles and the same for ships making their exits. This is a good enough reason to avoid the trip if there is any talk of fog in the forecast.
 
An ideal alternative harbour to wait for weather to make the crossing would be mousehole turn to port on entry and tie up alongside the wall. Definitely better than being in Penzance or on a buoy outside the harbour. Difference between heading for Scilly or newlyn after rounding the lizard from Falmouth or helford is only a few hours more. On the way out do the long stint from Falmouth or helford in one go so you don’t waste a decent weather window. For the return you can break that down to two shorter hops with a stop in mousehole that way you can time your runs to the lizard with more confidence and catch the tide bang on slack or turning in your favour, especially handy in a small slow boat. Pick neaps if it fits with your plans
 
Samosun said:
CI’d not really considered a radar reflector if I’m honest. I’ve crossed quite a few shipping channels, especially in the Solent and never saw what the fuss was about. Never really considered fog on what could be a 10 hour crossing. I’d imaging it would be scary as hell in a shipping channel in fog! £55 is not a lot to pay to protect my “soft pink bod” :eek:
Click to expand...

On the way back from Alderney last year I suddenly found myself enveloped by thick fog which hadn't been forecast. Visibility was down to about 50 metres and it would have been very scary if I hadn't got my AIS reciever as there would have been no time to take avoiding action if something big had appeared out of the fog.

I was near the end of the eastbound TSS and the AIS showed several ships heading in my direction one of which was on a collision course or very close to it. I tried calling it on VHF just to check whether it could see me on it's radar but got no reply. When it got closer I was going to turn to port to pass behind it, but just as I was about to turn it changed course itself to miss me so I must have shown up on it's radar. I have a basic 16" octahedral reflector which must have been doing something, although the sea was calm which probably helped.
 
I'll see what I can do about the pictures, I do have a fair few but mostly about repairing my outboard - she was built with an inboard but a prior owner didn't like diesel.
Now that's what I'd call a coincidence, noting the variation in spelling, of course (haha)
Didn't want to say anything about 'old' because Father Time is my younger brother...
Looking forward to relaunch - should be all done in a fortnight, be nice to meet you somewhere and compare 'babies'. Seems we have something in common. Till then, Bon Voyage.
 
Elbows said:
I was near the end of the eastbound TSS and the AIS showed several ships heading in my direction one of which was on a collision course or very close to it. I tried calling it on VHF just to check whether it could see me on it's radar but got no reply. When it got closer I was going to turn to port to pass behind it, but just as I was about to turn it changed course itself to miss me so I must have shown up on it's radar. I have a basic 16" octahedral reflector which must have been doing something, although the sea was calm which probably helped.
Click to expand...

Similarly, one trip on way back from Scilly (don't say Scillies to the Islanders) I got caught in low vis in the N/S TSS east of islands. Charter school boat with no electronic aids. I hung about in the central reservation until it cleared. In conversation with my YMO examiner he said keep straight course and they will avoid you. Change course and they don't know what to do. Since then, over many 1000s of miles, I have kept to his advice. Always, about a mile away, ships have altered course to miss me. And I've always been scared! In shipping lanes they are more likely to be watching carefully; it's out in mid Atlantic when they are probably watching a dvd that worry me more.
And I now have AIS!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

A
Finding crew
Replies
2
Views
243
Phil_boat
P
W
Summer at the bottom of the world
Replies
3
Views
215
Chiara’s slave
Chiara’s slave
S
Single handing locks
Replies
7
Views
1K
StevieH
S

Share this page

Top