Round Britain

[fishy]

I have been sailing for five or six years although not in a very ambitious way. I am now very keen to sail around the U.K.
I have a partner who is equally enthusiastic.We own a 28ft Twister.I would be able to take three monthes off next summer but not until mid June. I would be very grateful for advice on the following:
a)Is three monthes long enough to do it in a relatively relaxed manner.
b)Would we be disadvantaging ourselves weather wise by doing it mid June to mid September rather than earlier.
c)At that time of year would it be advisable to go clockwise or anti clockwise
d)Apart from Libby Purves and Jonathan Raban's books are there any good descriptions of cruising around the U.K.
e)Any other advise gratefully received.

 

[Celena]

Well, I've been meaning to ask the same questions for a while myself! Hope you get lots of replies.
Fancy sailing in company? We've a Vancouver 28...

 

[extravert]

I circumnavigated last summer. See...

http://www.xrayted.freeserve.co.uk

There is another website of a Sigma 33 that circumnavigated in 2000 at...

http://www.boozeroo.freeserve.co.uk

In answer to you questions...

a) Yes, but you will need to keep moving. It's 2000 miles excluding the Northern Scottish Isles and Ireland.

b) Probably not too much, but I would leave as soon as possible. Daylight starts getting short in September. I would not leave the North coast too late, but then the weather seems to be mucky up there at any time of year.

c) I went clockwise because Pentland Firth is described in my pilot book as easier West to East and because the prevailing wind at the top is Westerly. It also depends on where you are leaving from, because the East coast is the place to do quickly and the West coast the time to linger. In retrospect it would have been better for us to have gone anti-clockwise then we could have lingered on the best bit, the West coast of Scotland. But that would have meant tackling the Men of Mey overfalls in Pentland Firth on the west going stream. There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer to this, but every circumnavigator we met was going clockwise.

d) There is a book published by the Cruising Association by Ray Glaister, but the text is also on their website, so it is hardly worth buying the book. They did Ireland as well. See...

http://home.clara.net/rayglaister/

They also seemed to have motored a large part of it.

e) Other random thoughts...

It costs a lot in charts and pilot books
Get as many people to join you as you can.
Some of the legs on the East coast are long. Grimsby to Lowestoft for example is a long way for 2 people in busy sea with sand banks all over the place.
Know how to do tide calculations. It comes in useful in places.
A radio/casette recorder/alarm clock that records the radio at a set time was a great piece of equipment. Never missed a weather forceast.
Take plenty of tools and spares. Many minor repairs were required.
I took a print out of Boozeroo's web site which was useful. When we were planning the next few days ahead someone always asked 'What did Boozeroo do?'
It was a great experience. Just do it.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Which Twister?

Ken, Twister Indigo

 

[bedouin]

This was discussed in about February this year - do a search of the archives for "Circumnavigation" within the last 12 months and you should find the threads - IIRC it had some interesting discussions.

We were looking into this quite seriously this year - but couldn't get the time away. A couple of thoughts to add to what is above.

(i) The East Coast looks boring, and hard work. We would have liked to get that out of the way first - but also had almost decided to forego the "Round Britain" bit and concentrate on the West Coast - the East Coast added very little pleasure for a lot of work

(ii) If you want to potter - 3 months could be too short - you would end up averaging 25-30 miles a day. Many people seem to recommend taking two seasons to do it.

(iii) Check the weather off the West Coast of Scotland - I seem to recall it could get a bit rough in September

(iv) Depending what you are trying to achieve you could consider a short cut through the Caledonian (or even Forth-Clyde) canal. That cuts out the North of Scotland that has a bad reputation for gales in autumn.

 

[peterb]

How can you go "Round Britain" without rounding Muckle Flugga?

 

[andy_wilson]

Just do it!

And wave to us as you pass.

We started the week after Easter from Lymington and so far have made it to Dartmouth! Still we have lingered in just about every port and harbour we can get into and fully expect to take 3 years of long weekends and the odd week at it.

Solent to South Wales this year, Wales and West Coast Scotland next year.

Round the top and East coast the following year.

If we bother to complete the task and finish at The Solent, we will probably start on the French coast then.

 

[cgull]

Do it on the Challenge yachts next Easter.....it only takes 12-14 days.

 

[firstspirit]

Re: Just do it!

"South Wales This Year."

Not everyone recommends this part of the world for sailing but if you want to look forward to having a giggle then I can suggest you keep an eye out for Noah's Ark on your travels. I had a good look recently and well er... you either like it or.....I won't spoil it for you.

An earlier posting from a forum user mentioned it at Penarth Marina I think it was this one anyway.

 

[extravert]

The problem with going through the Caledonian or Forth-Clyde canals is you miss out a large chunk of the best bit, the West coast of Scotland. The North coast is really not that bad as long as you choose your weather. And it is the shortest coast by a long way, all over in a couple of days.