Planning for next season.

[Never Grumble]

Given all the negative comments about heading west perhaps I will head east. I never thought of Dartmouth being a difficult harbour, those that went to the college just got handed a laminated chart and told to get on with it.

 

[Hydrozoan]

My wife likes wild swimming and has never forgotten that the adhesive qualities of east coast mud in dilute suspension ruined a new swimming costume. I doubt that arguments based on grain size could convince her that the east coast possesses anything that she would deign to call ‘sand’.

 

[Cathy*]

we were originally planning this trip for 2020 but Covid stopped us in our tracks and so we are a year behind now.
i Am going to plan in Ernest and hope for the best, if not it will be another season pottering on the east coast. Nothing wrong with that though?

We planned an extended cruise from Plymouth to Portsmouth this year, planning to take 6 months. We really had had enough of Plymouth and didn't want to wait another year so left at the beginning of September and took about 6 weeks. When things calm down we might go back and do the stuff we missed.

 

[Denek]

I just hope we have another summer like the last couple of years. I am really looking forward to an extended cruise to some of the places I visited in my youth and there have been some great suggestions here so thanks for that. Currently getting the boat sorted and hope to go again over the next few days. It’s pretty miserable at the marina in the rain though. Still needs must.

 

[st599]

The Beaulieu River is unique. There was a small anchorage when we were last there, and visitor buoys, but the marina at Bucklers Hard is being transformed so that all the pontoons are walk-ashore. Plenty to do in the area. The drawback is that shopping is more limited.

Anchoring is now banned in the Beaulieu.

 

[johnalison]

Anchoring is now banned in the Beaulieu.

I always think of the Beaulieu as the poor man’s Deben, though I suppose that that should be rich man’s. It’s quite pretty, but there’s not much of it.

 

[tillergirl]

I always think of the Beaulieu as the poor man’s Deben, though I suppose that that should be rich man’s. It’s quite pretty, but there’s not much of it.

I rather think it is 'too organised' to be pretty. It's a sort of marine version of the typical biscuit tin cottage image. All sort of fake.

 

[pvb]

My wife likes wild swimming and has never forgotten that the adhesive qualities of east coast mud in dilute suspension ruined a new swimming costume.

I didn't think that "wild swimming" involved cossies...

 

[Hydrozoan]

I didn't think that "wild swimming" involved cossies...

Get a wetsuit - look like a seal!

 

[Daydream believer]

The scary thing is being able to see the bottom and not be hard aground...

Not as scary as not being able to see the bottom & being hard aground

 

[Daydream believer]

South coast berth availability is worrying.. There will be boats coming back from the med due to the 90 day visitor restrictions. There will be more boats cruising in the Uk, because of possible travel restrictions down the french west coasts. I normally head for the CIs & Camaret then return for Belgium & Holland. With the covid problem, I am no longer sure about going foreign.
Instead, this year I am planning another round Uk trip, going along the south coats instead of the French coast ( Before I have crossed to Falmouth from Guernsey) But if ports are full, it makes life difficult for a single hander, who cannot anchor. ( Makes me sea sick). The comments about stops, earlier in the thread, are interesting. Hopefully, once I turn north things will improve. Best to get the south coast over with first I think.
Going round the Uk makes sense regarding the vaccine. I wan to get away in May
The Astra Zenica one was released for use today
They announced that the second one is given 3 months after the first. Being 74, I can , hopefully, expect a jab around late march, if lucky. That means that I have to be available for the second in June. That means I have to get home easily then back to the boat. One can imagine all the hassle if I do not have the jab on the prescribed day because I am away on a boat.