Round Britain and Ireland for a novice: Realistic?

dunedin said:
So to go round the UK and Ireland sounds like a real adventure. To cut through the Irish Sea and the Caledonian Canal would completely change the nature of this to a fairly lengthy but relatively routine trip.

A bit like going to the Lake District and just doing the lowland walks round the various lakes/meres without actually walking up any of the hills. Very nice if you like that sort of thing but not the real deal.
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For a newcomer to navigation and to sailing a yacht as opposed to a dinghy I would have thought the "short" route would offer plenty of adventure. Additionally, given that he has time constraints, it offers a better chance to smell the roses en route.
 
dunedin said:
So to go round the UK and Ireland sounds like a real adventure. To cut through the Irish Sea and the Caledonian Canal would completely change the nature of this to a fairly lengthy but relatively routine trip.

A bit like going to the Lake District and just doing the lowland walks round the various lakes/meres without actually walking up any of the hills. Very nice if you like that sort of thing but not the real deal.
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This is of course just a personal opinion: Falmouth, Kinsale, Dingle, Galway Bay, the Donegal coast, Islay, Jura, Isle of Mull, Kirkwall...

Mind if somebody wanted to do the other half I certainly wouldn't argue :cool:
 
Putting myself in your shoes I would say your challenge is very do-able if you get properly prepared. But you admit a lack of experience on bigger boat sailing. My advice would be to listen to those here as they are very knowledgeable from hard won experience. They are you maybe 20 or 30 years older than you but they can think like you. If they say get the right boat I really would listen. You will learn so much on the journey the details don't matter which route. But starting with the right tool will make such a huge difference to your safety and pleasure!
 
bitbaltic said:
Agree. If I (and the missus) ever get the time to do it via the Irish Sea and Cally, we would consider it a real achievement.

Would love to do the Irish west coast too but that brings a whole other dimension to the challenge.
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I had intended to do that the second time round. However, going the same route removed 70% of the " stress factor" & it was so much more enjoyable going where I had been before.

But i did do the Channel islands on the way -- well it was warmer & Guernsey & Jersey are great places , especially st Peter Port. I went up the south side of the English Channel for interest as I can drive to Southampton etc any time. So to Dundin I say "I did do the mileage"
 
Twister_Ken said:
I think most of you must have skipped the OP's first sentence...

"I'm planning to buy a boat of up to 25 feet and a bit lively. "

Suggesting he does it a brick-built sh*thouse isn't very helpful.
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Anything smaller than a battleship can be a tad lively off Cape Wrath.
 
As others have said there is a big difference between a 21 and 26ft boat both in sea keeping, accommodation and storage capability. A bigger boat will also be much less tiring on the longer legs and make the whole experience more enjoyable rather than a test of stamina/endurance. You will probably find the voyage challenging enough even in a larger boat. Enjoy.
 
This is an interesting post as I own a 24 ft minitonner and have ambition to do a Round Britain and Ireland but not a novice as considerable experience in larger boats .I have rejected my current boat on three counts.If more than two up it is very crowded and wearing for more than a few days with sitting headroom if there is proper weather out there.A short waterline length gives poor VMG to windward with adverse tide this can mean 6 hours in 12 not making much progress to destination and fairly frequently on west coast of Ireland 70 miles between safe havens will be the required.I have been happy with the boat in conditions up to force 7 but can be much worse in wind over tide .Having raced against a couple of First 21.7 in Dartmouth regatta I thought they were a more tender boat than mine and did poorly to windward in winds in excess of 25 it's but fine downwind in these conditions.
My choice of boat would be an ex cruiser racer of the order of 30 ft to give you good speed to windward because when your destination is 50 miles to windward and the wind goes from a pleasant 4-5 to a 6-7 a bilge kneeler does not hack it unless you return from where you came.There are numbers of these boat out there and as said some need work and expense others nearly ready to go.Shamrocks,Nicholson 30,Scampi,Ballads,Sadlers 26 or 29,will all achieve the goal and get you there if weather cuts up rough.The chosen months in the North West can be very rough at timesMid May to Mid August would be my choice. Weather and the acquired skill of the OP will determine the success of the project.
Two successful circumnavigations in small boats include the Trafford brothers who put a scoop on a J24 to do aRound Britain Race ie outside Ireland and if I recall survived a Force 10 approaching the Hebrides.Also last year a Wayfarer dinghy did a Round Britain inside Ireland ,Hebrides,Orknies ,and Shetland in less than 50 days.A diary of this trip is on the net.The wayfarer trip had a lot of breaks with weather but the J24 had serious weather,both crews were very experienced race crews.Take plenty of spares,get experience of night sailing because stuff happens that you do not get to your chosen port in daylight not so easy when it is likely that most harbours will be new to you.
 
C08 said:
As others have said there is a big difference between a 21 and 26ft boat both in sea keeping, accommodation and storage capability.
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I had a 21 ft boat in which I would in my young and enthusiastic days have done it like a shot. I now have a 26 ft boat, in which I hope to do a circumnavigation to celebrate my retirement in 2019. I am sure it will be more comfortable than doing it in my old boat would have been, but I suspect it won't be quite as much fun.

Here's a picture of someone going round Britain in a 21 ft boat.

060804_0180_01.jpg
 
I have been reading this thread since it started, but feel I should contribute.

It is my intention to do the circumnavigation singlehanded in a couple of years time. I certainly would never consider doing the trip in a small 20 footer, especially with a crew with little experience. The advice of around 30 foot is good and will mean a much better ride for speed and comfort. The advice of a racing cruiser is also very sound. My tip would be to buy an older racing boat from the IOR era as they have a comfortable ride. My choice for the journey is a Westerly Fulmar, which I am currently renovating. At 32ft and about 5½ tons laden, ex racing and sail training boat, it is suitable for all weathers and easy to sail well in both fin and bilge versions. There are certainly other boats up to 34ft that will certainly meet the OP's requirements and be within his budget. A comfortable and happy crew will certainly be more likely in a larger yacht and the OP should be more able to enjoy and complete the journey.
 
Theres a couple of legs on the trip you'd want to be sure of the weather in a small boat, one is the trip round Lands End to either Padstow, Milford Haven or Ireland.

The other area is down the East Coast, I draw 6'6" and just waited for an appropriate weather window and went straight from Inverness to Ipswich. Even if you stop there will be long legs on the east coast, the other bit I found hard work was from Ipswich to the Solent (which we did in a oner) which was blinkin hard work with a F5/6 /7bang on the nose.. that was actually the most unpleasant bit of the trip. Apart from these everything else ican be done as relatively easy day sails.

I left the boat in HAmilton Dock in Belfast (cheap and good communication links via City Airport) and in Inverness (good airport and freshwater in the canal marina which stops fouling)
 
Knightrider said:
I'm planning to buy a boat of up to 25 feet and a bit lively. I intend to sail two-up over 2-3 months around Britain and Ireland (the long way), treating the whole thing as a series of day sails ... waiting out the bad weather. I grew up sailing dinghies, did my comp crew 10 years ago, moved to London, stopped sailing, and now I want to get going again. I have a motley crew of mountain climbers and sea kayakers who each want do one week stints, but they have a combined total of 2 hours sailing experience (on a Hobie Cat with me as the instructor!!)

I could really use your help with some questions: where do I begin? Is my plan feasible? How to get qualified and build up experience? What boats do you recommend (creature comforts not necessary - I'm thinking Beneteau First 21.7)? And most importantly: which way round???

All advice greatly appreciated :-)

P.s. I'm thirty years old, I have a boat budget of £15k-£30k and I've got three months off work from July to September 2016. I'm a very experienced sea kayaker, fit and healthy, have a lot of enthusiasm and a healthy respect for the sea!
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Having tried it in 2005 in an Achilles 24 I can say that 3 months and day sailing will not 'cut the mustard'

I made a rule of not setting sail if there was F6 or more forecast. Learned that the Met Office are pessimists and we lost many days to 'bad weather' which was not that bad. In addition we scared the living daylights out of ourselves at othertimes. Things looked up when we started using accuweather - then in its infancy.

The challenge of constantly making progress can take the edge off the fun. Also getting crew to crew change points can also be a bit demmanding.

Buy good thermals, waterproofs and resign yourself to some long sails to get the distance covered.
 
There are different ways of achieving this 'round UK' ambition, as we have read above.

My best pal completed the Pennine Way this year, with a 40yr gap between Part 1 and Part 2.

So let me throw in this idea for the OP to chew on. Make enjoyment of the trip the No1 priority, make completion of the trip No2. When the 3 months is up, have someone join the boat and 'deliver' it home for you.

OP is a young guy, he has a lifetime to complete the trip. Maybe in further increments?
 
I seem to remember hearing about an alternative route via west coast of Ireland, north of Scotland then back via Caledonian Canal and Irish Sea to miss out the boring bit.
 
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