scillies advice

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firstascent2002

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Hi Guys,

Once again I have been hoping to get my hustler to the scillies and once again the fair weather window has closed just as the trip is due to start.

The earliest I can get away from plymouth is at the top of the tide on Saturday coming (8 pm)

As things look that is going to give a fairish wind over a muddled sea for most of the trip, aiming to get there late sunday.

Now, after that there is a fair blow coming from the west...

I am a deep fin and it is springs (ish)

Are there sheltered spots where the atlantic swell won't make me endure 3 days wishing I'd gone to a marina in the channel islands?

I really want to go but don't want to spend 3 days feeling like I'm in a washing machine!

So...Scilllies or CI's?
 
At the moment, it looks to me that you will just have the strong westerly on Monday, then a high is coming in for the following week. You will be safest on a mooring in Old Grimsby sound for the windy period. After that you can move around the various anchorages in the lee of islands, as the wind dictates.

Have a good cruise.
 
As said, Old Grimsby will give shelter - New Grimsby perhaps even better as there are more mooring buoys (and you're just that bit closer to the New Inn ;) ) There are anchorages that will provide shelter from each wind direction - you just need to be prepared to move around. I once had to stay in New Grimsby Sound for two nights due to weather - it's really tough to have to spend a day walking round Tresco - but it was so windy that we had to get the inter-island ferry to take us ashore, as there was no way the outboard would have got us back against the wind. Also, if you time your arrival correctly then sailing over Tresco Flats is one of life's greater joys - especially when you look down at low tide at them from the monument you used as a sight line on the way in.

From a personal perspective, I would rate the Isles of Scilly well above the CIs - so just for it - it is definitely worth the effort.
 
marklucas said:
.

From a personal perspective, I would rate the Isles of Scilly well above the CIs - so just for it - it is definitely worth the effort.
Click to expand...

Agreed, WELL worth the effort of getting there, and I've been to both. You could always pick your way down the coast in shorter hops and then go either from Falmouth or Penzance/Newlyn.
There's always somewhere to hide from weather in Scilly, just look at your charts and find something to hide behind. Have you got a Scilly Pilot book?

My only other advice is to stay well clear of The Lizard. If you're heading West into the weather with a West bound tide (which you should be) then even in good conditions it can be very bumpy off there with the wind against tide. I stay 2 miles off in good conditions and anything up to 7 miles off if it's not a good day. Avoid the marked overfalls on the chart and then some!
 
Disregard the merits of each location for a moment. Both have plus and minus points.

With the forecast as it stands I would skip Scilly. Beating into 2m plus seas is not my idea of fun, and that's what you will probably get if you wait till Saturday.

On the other hand, you could go to the CI and probably have the wind aft of the beam both there and back.
 
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Scillies every time for me

The forecast looks ideal for the Scillies - go for it and you'll not regret it: gentle northerlies to get you there and open up loads of anchorages (except the N side of St Martins), then nothing above F6 from the W on Monday and over night giving either a fine run back or a snug evening at anchor.

Much as I endorse the New Inn (not to mention the Turk's Head, or the 7 Stones or...), may I suggest that lunchtime is best: that way you get to the pub but there's no need to be dinghying after dark and you can find a snug anchorage for dinner watching the sun go down from your cockpit (glass in hand of course:-).

If it does come on to blow much harder, then there's still no problem. I don't much care for New Grimsby because it's crowded and there is no longer room to anchor, but Old Grimsby is great, as is St Helen's Pool. If I want a snug night completely secure from dragging in winds from any direction and with adequate swinging room that's where I go - it's never crowded and the fishing is good. The Cove between St Agnes and Gugh is also quite safe in W to NW winds, but often rather full of other boats. Watermill Cove on St Mary's is also safe SW through NW.

+1 for giving the Lizard some respect, but 7 miles is a bit far imho; it puts you right amongst the big ship traffic - and there's lots - when the overfalls don't extend much beyond 2 miles unless there's actually a full gale. You will be going W in an offshore wind according to passageweather.com, so it'll be quiet.

I'm envious - not launching 'til the next w/e.
 
Porth Cressa was ok in a W gale and easy to get in if your late.Seem to remember there were underwater cables though!!!
 
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I've never been to the Scillies, but I've heard a lot about this business of moving from anchorage to anchorage depending on the wind. It makes me wonder, though - what do the locals do?

Surely in such a place lots of people must own boats, but they can't spend all their time moving them around when they need to be going to work etc.

Is it that there is just enough all-weather shelter for local boats, and visitors have to stay outside and dance around?

Pete
 
it's a question of comfort not safety

prv said:
I've never been to the Scillies, but I've heard a lot about this business of moving from anchorage to anchorage depending on the wind. It makes me wonder, though - what do the locals do?

Surely in such a place lots of people must own boats, but they can't spend all their time moving them around when they need to be going to work etc.

Is it that there is just enough all-weather shelter for local boats, and visitors have to stay outside and dance around?

Pete
Click to expand...

I'm not local, just a frequent visitor, but I think is that it's not a question of safety but rather of comfort aboard. A stout mooring in Hughtown (St Mary's) is secure in anything, as probably are the moorings in Old or New Grimsby, certainly the half tide ones. But in the right (ie wrong) wind they'll be bouncy and uncomfortable, but not unsafe. Bit like my home mooring at Mylor in a strong Easterly really.

The other reason we visitors move around is that once in the archipelgo it's sheltered water and distances are short, and we're there because we love sailing and cruising, so why not move? The weather really has to be cataclysmic before prudence overcomes the urge to go for a short sail.

In a SW blow, sailing out of Old Grimsby into enormous swells for a run round the N side of St Martins ending up at the Cove is exhilerating and challenging but only takes the time between elevenses and pub opening. The beauty of the surf exploding over Kettle Bottom and Golden Ball, not to mention Tearing Ledges, while knowing one is in safe water although only a few meters away is the reason we sail.

And if going for a short sail, then it might as well be to the more comfortable anchorage with a good pub at the end of it.

Make sense?
 
Well if the forecast pans out as predicted then you should be fine, with the Cove and Porthcressa anchorages both being sheltered, there are plenty of others as pointed out already. There are only a small handful of visiting yachts here at present (3 or 4) so you should be able to find plenty of space to anchor or if you choose, plenty of spare moorings.
 
jdc said:
but 7 miles is a bit far imho; it puts you right amongst the big ship traffic - and there's lots - when the overfalls don't extend much beyond 2 miles unless there's actually a full gale. You will be going W in an offshore wind according to passageweather.com, so it'll be quiet.
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I did say 7 miles in bad weather and I mean BAD weather. I usually use the 2 miles but having done it in a Westerly 7 versus a spring tide I can tell you that 2 miles is not enough! I think 4 would have been better here. That was probably the most confused violent sea I've ever been in..... Only lasted a short while of course but I won't be repeating that error.
I was still finding chunks of sweetcorn in the treadmaster a couple of days later from one of the girls we had onboard throwing her guts up the whole way.

EDIT: And yes, there's lots of shipping there as well as kamikaze trawlers.....
 
G12 said:
I did say 7 miles in bad weather and I mean BAD weather. I usually use the 2 miles but having done it in a Westerly 7 versus a spring tide I can tell you that 2 miles is not enough! I think 4 would have been better here. That was probably the most confused violent sea I've ever been in..... Only lasted a short while of course but I won't be repeating that error.
I was still finding chunks of sweetcorn in the treadmaster a couple of days later from one of the girls we had onboard throwing her guts up the whole way.

EDIT: And yes, there's lots of shipping there as well as kamikaze trawlers.....
Click to expand...

Hmmm .. one rather suspects if it was that bad you should'nt have been there in the first place!
 
Well,

That is alot of good advice and I'm grateful. I think That I am going to go for it. If come Sunday mid morning off the lizard the wind has come foul earlier than expected then we can always retreat to the helford...

J
 
firstascent2002 said:
Well,

That is alot of good advice and I'm grateful. I think That I am going to go for it. If come Sunday mid morning off the lizard the wind has come foul earlier than expected then we can always retreat to the helford...

J
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don't forget that going down the Lizard its quite sheltered and once clear the weather may be a force or two stronger if there's any west in the wind.
 
Helford - Another excellent choice! Might I suggest that the visitors moorings there are fine but you can get much better locations by dropping the hook.....and not have to pay :-) The Shipwrights is a great pub by the water with good pastys and if you want to avoid paying a fortune to tie your dinghy up to the pontoon (opposite side of creek to HRSC) then you can with enough tide go right up to the pub..... Arrive on a rising tide, go ashore, eat, drink, be merry and then depart on the falling tide before the creek dries out.
The pontoon is convenient and will prolong your stay if you don't mind paying. As a local, I object to paying visitors prices for everything and do try to avoid where possible.
http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/31/31032/Shipwright_Arms/Helford_Village
 
G12 said:
Helford - Another excellent choice! Might I suggest that the visitors moorings there are fine but you can get much better locations by dropping the hook.....and not have to pay :-) The Shipwrights is a great pub by the water with good pastys
Click to expand...

Having had a summer mooring there last byear, I don't agree about the Shipwrights. Much better food at the HRSC and they are a pleasant friendly lot. The pub on the opposite bank to the HRSC ie where the ferry starts, is poor and expensive IMO.
 
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