Route planning on the south coast

[Solent sailer]

I agree Brixham is much better than Torquay, as for the in-shore passage you need good visibility and sail or flat calm and motor, there seems to be pot buoys everywhere!

With reasonable conditions Dartmouth-Poole is not to arduous you will get a better night's sleep in the harbour, you are quite shallow so blood alley or pottery pier would be ideal, south deep if sitting out a gale.

Try to make the most of the trip and if you can take longer make it a proper cruise, we had just over a week to get back from la Rochelle and should have liked to spend 3 weeks on the trip!

 

[Iliade]

And always remember Brighton's entrance is awful in a blow and the harbour is badly silted up. Shoreham is a better port of refuge than Brighton or Newhaven. Newhaven is also better than Brighton, but rougher in the offing than Shoreham.

At Shoreham just sail into the outer harbour and drop a hook near the lighthouse out of the fairway if it is low water. The mud is so soft you may float to your marks. If going up river there is a shallow bit just after the lifeboat station. Beyond that you can anchor with fewer ships passing. Don't go up as far as SYC unless you want to dry out.

Timed well it is possible to use all of the tidal gates to get from Lands End up to Dover in a hurry, done to death here before. If you aren't in that much of a rush, time rest & relaxation periods to fit around passing the tidal gates.

Personally I see little to be gained by doing a few days working up before heading east rather than just treating each headland as a working up sail. Once you are onto the east coast, there be wyrms. With all that mud there must be!

 

[Daydream believer]

Personally I see little to be gained by doing a few days working up before heading east rather than just treating each headland as a working up sail. Once you are onto the east coast, there be wyrms. With all that mud there must be!

With due respect, I tend to disagree with that one. Broken down engines on newly acquired boats is, as I understand it, a common cause of shouts for the RNLI.
If one is driven by car to the start point, where one is familiar with the staff etc.one can have all the gear ( spare tools etc) there & if it goes t.ts up one can get home from there easily to start again another day
Plus east coast mud is lovely stuff. It is what dreams are made of
We have crusty, shingly bits as well you know.
Somebody actually reported finding a rock just off Canvey Island but it was found to be a burnt out car

 

[PilotWolf]

I haven’t been there for a few years, but do Shoreham really allow anchoring in the outer harbour and river?

W.

 

[Rafiki]

When I did this trip two years ago it was Dart- Portland- Yarmouth- Eastbourne- Dover- River Orwell.
Due to tides and waiting an age for someone to spend £2,000 on fuel before I could spend £30 in Yarmouth the leg to Eastbourne took a bit too long and arrived in the dark at Eastbourne. Dover to Orwell was surprisingly easy with the right tide. Oh yes we spent two nights at Eastbourne due to the World Cup.

 

[burgundyben]

What about a diversion to Boulogne?

 

[Daydream believer]

I haven’t been there for a few years, but do Shoreham really allow anchoring in the outer harbour and river?

W.

I went there a few years ago, because the Phantom class were having their nationals there & I wanted to meet up ( I have a Phantom). Having sailed from Boulogne. I missed the lock opening & although it was quite heavy weather the harbour master told me I would have to wait outside at sea.. In the end I went back to Brighton & braved the entrance. Taxi to Shoreham sailing club!!

 

[Iliade]

I anchor in the river and the outer harbour frequently. Have done for decades and never been told not to. Only when there isn't enough water to go up river past the L/B Stn. or through the locks mind.

Perhaps a case of begging forgiveness rather than risk being denied permission.

 

[mattonthesea]

I did the opposite a few years ago when I bought my Rival 32 in Medway and sailed her back to Bristol. We set out from Ramsgate (should have over-tided at Queenborough) and then had a fantastic NE F6 for a week. In that time we called in at :
Eastbourne, Shoreham, Gosport with 3 of us.
Weymouth with 2 of us (by that time we were knackered and spent 2 nights there)
The wind then died off as we got to Exmouth (there was a reason for going there)
Three of us missed out Dartmoouth and did 24 hours to Newlyn by motor.

What I'm saying is that we did that with a good wind and good tides but and older and slower boat. I'd give your journey at least a week if you want to relax with it.

Of course our ideas of relaxation may be very different

 

[ifoxwell]

For the benefit of those that might find this thread in the future and wonder what happened. We had good westerly winds and favorable tides so made the journey in four, day long, hops

Dartmouth to Yarmouth
Yarmouth to Eastbourne
Eastbourne to Ramsgate
Ramsgate the the Medway

All the comments above were very useful in knowing what to expect, and for planning options if something didn't work out each day, but in the end it all went to plan and we got bakc in good time. Thanks for everyone's advice

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Just to observe that coming south from the Caledonian canal to East Anglia with a fin-keel yacht, you need to do at least one 24hour trip. I'm not mentioning this because it is of direct use to the OP, but because our experience was that a 24 hour passage was entirely manageable with a crew of three, none in the first flush of youth! It was important that all three of us were capable of handling the boat and navigating, though. My tiller-pilot had failed, but if that had been operational we might have managed with two; as it was, three meant one lookout and general dogbody, one helmsman and one asleep. We arrived at our destination feeling tired, but by taking turns to sleep we arrived in reasonable shape, and able to continue the following day.

 

[LadyInBed]

Nice to hear you had a good trip.
I see you didn't start with a shakedown leg.
How many were onboard?

 

[Concerto]

Well done and the long legs make it quite quick.

 

[Ian_Rob]

You'll also need to plan for a bottom clean before you set off, if the boat has been unused until the summer.
[/QUOTE

This is important. We did part of the same trip last year and were hobbled by weed growth which seemed particularly bad last season. I had never had the problem before and hadn’t appreciated how much it can effect a boat.