Plymouth to BC passage plan

[seedog]

Hopefully this week will see completion of purchase of new boat which is in Plymouth. Hunter Legend 42 with theoretical hull speed of 9kts. Anyone any thoughts or experience of the passage. My initial thoughts are to depart Plymouth 2 hours before high tide and head SW with the ebb. Falmouth or the Helford river should be easily reached before the flood. If things are going well Newlyn/Penzance are reachable.

Would like to come around Lands End in daylight and my reading is that the best option is to be round at slack water and take advantage of all of the flood to come back up the north Cornwall coast. I know there have been changes to the TSS and presumably with a westerly the sensible option is to go out past the TSS and stand well off whilst heading north. If we can't make Padstow what options are there for throwing in the hook to await the next flood.

Any advice or pointers will be well received.

 

[Csail]

Not sure on s.coast but i would go Penzance, Scillys (just for the joy of it) then maybe St,Ives or Padstow,Ilfracombe then straight up with maybe a stop in anchorage on route. Really depends on weather.

 

[Allan]

Last year we brought our boat from Poole to Cardiff. We visited Falmouth and Newlyn then straight to Padstow. My boat has bilge keels but I decided to avoid St Ives etc. My boat is a 10m Westerly which does ~6knots, it took us around 14 hours. All I did was look up the opening time for Padstow and work back for a time to leave Newlyn. A lot depends on whether you wish to visit lots of nice places or want to crack on to the BC.
This year we are going to France with friends from Dartmouth, my plan is to go round in 3 or 4 passages. I may miss Padstow as the restricted opening affect the planning too much.
If you are not going to the Scilly Isles the changes to the TSS will not affect you, just stay inside.
Allan

 

[Bloater]

We did a similar journey last year when we bought our Legend 36. We went from Salcolmbe to Cardiff in one 48 hour run.

There aren't many safe havens along the north Cornwall and Devon coasts. Your biggest concern will probably be the weather and you could find a lot of the journey is to be done using the engine as you will need to go into the wind at some time going round the corner.

Heading up from Lands End to the top of the Bristol Channel you will have to face a change in tide at some stage of the journey - its just a case of picking where you want to be when this happens. We hired a skipper and a crew member so we were able to take shifts so we could do it in one go. It all depends if you have the crew and the time as to your options available.

Have fun with your new boat!

 

[Anwen]

Mrs DJ and I did this 3 years ago - Plymouth to Swansea in easy stages. We did Plymouth - Helford - Penzance - Padstow - Swansea, with a day stopover in Padstow. Took us Monday to Friday. If I was doing it again, I would try and go in to Newlyn rather than Penzance so that you get more flexibility for leaving to go round the corner. With only 2 of us on the boat, I think it was the right thing to do it in a series of day sails, and it meant it was more of a cruise than a delivery trip. I've still got my passage planning stuff somewhere. Note that there are inshore eddies around Lands End which means that you can get a longer fair going tide than 6.5 hrs. We were constrained to leaving Penzance when the gate was open which means that I don't think we got as much benefit from this as we could, but on the other hand, with a passage time of 12 - 14 hrs to Padstow, you arrive around HW. I found the Fishwick West Country Pilot very good.

 

[zlod]

We did this last year. I can't quite remember the details, but we managed to go close inshore around Lizard Point (to avoid the race) and then by the time we'd reached Gwennap Head (Chair Ladder), we had the tide going in the correct direction for rounding Lands End. We took the inshore route by Lands End (so the TSS was irrelevant), going inside Kettles Bottom and Longships. Reeds Alamanac seemed to have good information in it on when the tides are favourable for rounding Lands End.

We found some unmentioned overfalls near Pendeen (not in the position where there are mentioned overfalls!). The wind was F4/5 from the E or NE which was a little unusual.

The most frustrating thing was getting to Rhoose Point and having the tide turn against us: we made no progress against that. I guess on a long passage you just have to put up with the tide helping you some of the time and hindering you the rest of the time.

We (two of us) did the trip non-stop from Plymouth to Portishead starting at 2am on Saturday and arriving at 9am on Monday. We didn't stop anywhere as the tides were always wrong for us at ports along the way and when we got to Lundy, we wouldn't have been able to land as there was an easterly (we didn't think of anchoring round the west side of the island). It was a fantastic experience: sailing along with the dolphins, fantastic scenery etc.

I wrote an account of the passage which will hopefully inspire and have some useful info.

 

[seedog]

Never thought about going out to the Scillys but having had a look you may be right. What the hell, go for it; if the weathers right. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[seedog]

Unfortunately I need to get around asap but thank you to everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. Loads of things to think about and it has occurred to me that with a complement of four we could really go for it. I love the BC forum. Compared with other forums it is so elpful and friendly. By the way have Damo and Graham fallen asleep? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[MarkJohnson12345]

We brought a boat back from the Hamble a few years ago.

We sailed non stop, and came around Land's End during the night.

As it was my first time around there I just kept 5 miles off shore, in the inner traffic zone. Safe and as long as you keep a look out and the weather is reasonable then that easy.

Also come around from Penzance during the day, using the inner passage. Weather was calm and slightly foggy, but with radar it again was an easy passage. Just as long as you navigation is up to it.

We left from Penzance as soon as the harbour gates opened, and made for Padstow. The tide is wrong at that stage, but if you are prepared to use up a bit of extra fuel, you can reach Padstow when that gate is open.

I think if you want to optimise the tides, you need to leave Penzance at the low end of the tide, but I am unsure of the exact timings. But then you will have to wait in the Pool at Padstow.

Also rounded Lands End by going via Scillies. Great passage if you have time.

The changes to the TSS won't effect you, unless you do the Scillies trip. As far as my knowlege goes the north south TSS has been extented nortwards by several miles.

As inferred if you want to wait for a day passage, Penzance is the OK for the night. Never done Newlyn, but most speak well of it, and of course you can leave anytime. You can also anchor off Pennzance if the weather is reasonable.

Weather is the key.....

 

[Alcyone]

[ QUOTE ]
. By the way have Damo and Graham fallen asleep? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Ooh er missis. Do you have some juicy giossip on that pair then?
/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[NickiCrutchfield]

Plymouth to Newlyn is over 60 miles so you will have to manage an average of 8 knots to make it in the time you propose. If you hit the Lizard with the flood running against you and try to make for Newlyn you will have up to 4 knots of tide against you most of the way across Mount's Bay. Better off in that scenario to head offshore and aim straight for Lands End. If you want to stop at Penzance or Newlyn, go to Newlyn as you can leave at the correct time to have the tide with you as you get round Lands End. Penzance access is two hours either side of HW only. Newlyn to Hartland is just under 90 miles so you'll not do it in one tide. Just try and spend the foul tide pottering up the Cornish coast. No where to anchor. If you are at Longships at LW you will carry 9 hours favourable tide. decide what your actual speed to navigate at is (6.5 knots?) and make sure you are off Hartland Point on or just after LW. Give it a WIDE berth. Coming up the Cornish coast if you point just west of the mid point between Hartland Light and Lundy South you will be fine; make sure the tide does not shear you in towards Hartland. I would not bother with Padstow as it is a highly time consuming stop and you can only get in 2 hours either side of HW.
It is a lovely trip, and if you plan everything using the LW tide gate at Hartland you will be fine. My absolute favourite wind for this trip is a brisk easterly as it allows a glorious romp up the coast with the wind just forward of the beam. Just for refernence, I have done the trip from Newlyn to Ilfracombe solo many times in my old 29' Folkboat, with my best time being 21 hours and my worst 36.

 

[damo]

Harrumph! I've been busy making a stackpack, so no time for forum frivolities /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Regarding the passage plan, I followed that route last August, and didn't need to go near a harbour. Depends on winds of course - I had S-SW light winds until lanzend, then 30-40 kn SE all the way up the BC.

Leg 1 was Plymouth to a lovely anchorage on the Lizard, near the Bass Point LHo.

Leg 2 was leaving from there just at the turn of the tide, which took us almost to Padstow with a fair tide. If you time it right the tide turns just as you round the end and the flood takes you up the coast /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I anchored in Port Quin Bay just past Rumps Point, which is good shelter and saves the hassle of timing at Padstow.

Leg 3 was to Portishead - the tide turned just before Ilfracombe, so I anchored for 4 hours in the Range, then made it home just before HW Avonmouth (18 h from Padstow, but it was a very windy reach /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

Two and a half days in total. As zlod says, check out the eddies around lanzend to make the most of the fair tide, and watch out for the Pendeen overfalls. Believe what the almanac says about the offing you need! The Atlantic swell meets a bank, so even in mild weather it can be nasty, as I found out /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Who]

[ QUOTE ]
I've been busy making a stackpack, so no time for forum frivolities

[/ QUOTE ]

Definition:
Not been able to figure out what the instructions mean, after unpacking a box bought from Ikea?
So your left with a StackPack

 

[Alcyone]

Stackpack - I'm fairly certain he's going to keep his snifters in it. Graham's equivalent is his snackpack.

I'm getting quite good at this sailing terminology now.

 

[damo]

...and if you look closely you can see a little snifter and associated supplies poking out from it. Hic.

 

[wotayottie]

do this trip at least twice every year. with the boat you have and 4 crew you would be able to do the run in one at least as far as bull point and even further if the gods and weather are with you. we've done it two up in much less than 24 hours from penzance to cardiff admittedly with a large spring tide under us and a building sw wind. My inclination is always to go for it cos going into padstow is usually 24 hours and anchoring in the range at combe is usually uncomfortable. swansea is too far north for a passage to cardiff, but I suppose lundy isnt bad if you are too late by that point to make lavernock before the ebb. In any case I'm hooked on sailing at night.

if you start from newlyn or penzance, leave between an hour / 2 hours after the lock gates shut and you will catch the turn of the tide in the inshore passage where it happens earlier than outside by an hour or more.
Doing it this way you should be able to carry one tide to off padstow, a weak adverse tide from there to somwehere round bull and then a favourable tide from bull to cardiff. the worst tidal gate is lavernock since it seems to switch from full flood to full ebb in about 10 mins.

when its a weather shore there are lots of places to anchor from lands end up to hartland but when its a lee shore its really padstow or nothing. stay a decent distance off north cornwall and even then you will find pots approx where every village is. keep a careful eye for pots of foreland because the antisocial barsteward that lays them there doesnt flag them and they go under water at full flood / ebb