Plymouth to Portishead, end of month

[tatali0n]

Hi folks.

We're planning to bring our Westerly Griffon around from Plymouth back to Portishead in the Bristol Channel at the end of this month.

I have just over two weeks to do it (28/05 to 13/06). Back of the fag paper passage plan is Plymouth > Fowey> Falmouth > Newlyn > St Ives > Padstow > Ilfracombe > Cardiff > Portishead. I'm aiming to limit the legs to day sails of no more than 40nm a day where we can, although one or two of those stops are an indulgence because we have a fondness for the harbours concerned, or friends we might like to see on the way around.

My dad and I have a few thousand miles of harbour-hopping in the boat gained over the last five years or so, I'm very familiar with the waters from Plymouth to Falmouth and from Ilfracombe to Portishead. The bit in the middle is new ground for me. I tend to lean very heavily on GPS and plotters in my route planning and sailing, but have paper charts and the will to use them (if I can find my reading glasses!) if needs must And with a cruising speed of about 4 knots, we're going to be paying very close attention to the tides.

We know the boat, her characteristics and our limitations very well and if we get to the 28th and the weather forecast for the following couple of weeks looks really pants, might still decide to bail and put her on the back of a lorry to bring her back. But we'd very much like the chance to sail her around.

Has anybody got any thoughts or advice for the trip?

 

[TernVI]

Personally, I would make sure I had the pilotage infomation to stop at any viable port on the way and be more flexible about the passage plan.
Make good progress when tide and weather offer it.
Doing it as day sails, tide is everything, I'd start by sketching out when the tide is going the right way each day.
It might make a big difference if you miss out Fowey or Falmouth, or substituting Mev or Helford.
Once past Newlyn, I might prefer to be prepared to make a long leg if the forecast was telling me it was better to crack on with it.

 

[LadyInBed]

Do you use an Autopilot of any description?

 

[jwilson]

Personally, I would make sure I had the pilotage infomation to stop at any viable port on the way and be more flexible about the passage plan.
Make good progress when tide and weather offer it.
Doing it as day sails, tide is everything, I'd start by sketching out when the tide is going the right way each day.
It might make a big difference if you miss out Fowey or Falmouth, or substituting Mev or Helford.
Once past Newlyn, I might prefer to be prepared to make a long leg if the forecast was telling me it was better to crack on with it.

If you have the weather I'd go Newlyn straight up into the Bristol Channel...... St Ives not a brilliant harbour, Padstow lovely but a bit easy to get stuck in there.

 

[sailingmartin]

We did exactly the same journey (but from Southsea, rather than Plymouth) some years ago in our Westerly Centaur, so all very familiar. The places you mentioned were the same as the ones we used, apart from an unscheduled stop in Appledore (towed in courtesy of the RNLI when a leak in our oil filter drained the engine of oil). We also stoped at Penzance rather than Newlyn. As others have said, getting around Land’s End is all about the tides, but Reeds and the pilot books explain it pretty well. We had a bilge keel which helps. We left the boat at Padstow for a week, as work intervened, which was fine. From memory, Ilfracombe to Cardiff may be a bit more than 40 miles.

 

[mattonthesea]

Unless you want to go to St Ives you can miss it easily on the way to Padstow. There is a counter eddy which can give you 2 hours extra tide around Lands End up to St Ives. See Reeds. Leave Newly to be a the Southerly Cardinal at the time stated and you're round the corner quite quickly.

Again, Falmouth adds several hours to the journey. If you don't want/need to stop there and the weather is clement then you could anchor off the Lizard.

The same with Padstow; you can anchor off just north of the point (it's called something like "the donkey") to see out a tide.

I'm sure you know to, from your Ilfracombe days, be very careful of strong northerlies in the Bristol Channel.

May see you in Portishead at some point when transiting from Bristol

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

If wind not SW/NW why not leave out Fowey? Falmouth/Helford/St Mawes OK for a day sail or motor. I, too, would avoid stopping at St. Ives. Point at Padstow is "Stepper" but charter boats may be fishing where you want to anchor! I have anchored in the next bay north of Padstow to await a tide. It will be a 3 tide job from Padstow to Ilfracombe; a very long day and you need to keep the fair tide at Bull Point. A rolly anchorage off slip at Lundy may serve better than Ilfracombe in a NW wind unless you dry out in "Combe" which will cost you some favourable tide whilst you await enough water to float off. Ilfracombe( with prompt start) to Penarth/Cardiff doable in tide with fair wind.
Have a good trip!

 

[tatali0n]

Thanks for all the tips folks, it's very much appreciated.

We're kind of obliged to stop in Fowey as I've got a trophy to return (for an annual event that will be running the weekend we leave) and friends to catch up with and say goodbye to. I can see how skipping Falmouth might save some time though; I hadn't considered anchoring off the Lizard instead if the weather's fair. I shall keep that in mind. Or even Helford perhaps. I'm very fond of Helford.

Likewise with not going into Padstow. I hadn't considered it, but anchoring out to catch our breath and see out a tide rather actually than going into the harbour is rather an enticing idea.

Once we're back to ilfracombe we're back on familiar territory. I've done the run from there to Cardiff a good few times in all sorts of conditions. Lundy to Cardiff seemed a long haul though, which is why I thought Lundy > Ilfracombe > Cardiff. Plus I've always wanted to visit Lundy.

We normally take the ground at Ilfracombe; a couple of times though we've dropped the mooring as late as possible on the falling tide, then anchored off and waited for it to turn so we can use the whole of it to get up channel, rather than having to hang around for the tide to lift us off.

We tend to rely quite heavily on our Raymarine Tiller Pilot when we're underway. It's like having a third hand

Although there's two of us doing this, when we're under way I'm essentially sailing singlehanded with company. I think if Dad was left to his own devices he'd probably have got a canal boat. . I've been watching the weather with some trepidation kind of cycle between good and bad these last few weeks; if we get a string of good days, I'll be very inclined to push on, but I expect the length of any particular leg will be pretty much constrained by my own stamina.

 

[mattonthesea]

Again, unless you want to go to Cardiff, you can anchor off Minehead.

Minehead: two anchorages: Blue Anchor Bay is reported as good holding. Or, just to the west of the harbour, a small white square on the cliff by a house in the only field. Close in and not brilliant holding but very sheltered from west, even in a gale. Nine hours from Lundy. Remember to shorten chain as the tide drops or you could be uncomfortably close to the shore. Done that!

Cardiff: set off from Lundy with the last hour of fair tide and you'll get there around high tide (at 5 kts). I usually leave an hour for contingencies. If you do this route then don't go close in around the corner to Cardiff. Keep outside Sully Island as there is a counter current two hours before HW. Really useful for going the other way.

Weather looking good at the end of May. Hope so; we're coming out of Bristol early June