Solent to Penzance (and back)

Judders

Judders

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Sat around in the saloon with an old salt and some friends on Sunday afternoon, thoughts inevitably turned to this years summer cruise. Last year's aborted due to gear failure, but this year with a bigger boat and more holiday, I'd really like to take the boat home to Penzance.

It's a long old way to acheive comfortably in a fotnight, especially if one hopes to have the time to enjoy a few days down there. One option, I thought, might be to do the delivery on preceeding weekends, taking a train back from Weymouth, Torquay or Plymouth. It is worth bearing in mind that I have minimal experience west of Portland.

What do people rec?
 
yep, the trick is finding and using that easterly. Early season, april, may can be good times for this.

Other option is to use inshore route (and maybe engines) if any north in the wind.
 
We delivered our boat from Hamble to Fleetwood (North West) in 10 days quite comfortably.

If I recall, the route was:

Hamble - Poole (1 Day)
Poole - Dartmouth (1 long Day)
Dartmouth - Falmouth (1 Day)

If you split this up a bit more, say Poole, Weymouth, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Falmouth, Penzance - then you would have lots of nice day sails and could do it a return trip in 2 weeks quite easily - provided you didn't have bad weather.

The good news is there are plenty of places to leave the boat on the way back if the weather turns sour.

Good luck with it

Jonny
 
I did Chichester to Falmouth last year. Went Chi - Yarmouth - Weymouth - Brixham - Plymouth - Falmouth. Same route coming back except I did Brixham to Chichester in one go. Single handed as well.

So it took 5 days to get down to Falmouth. I allowed 3 weeks for the trip and used nearly all of the time due to bad weather. I was stuck in Falmouth for 4 days and Brixham for 4 days.

If you can only afford 2 weeks then I would suggest getting the boat to Plymouth or Brixham first.
 
I would go for Plymouth, Salcombe or Dartmouth in that order and start my cruise from there, you should be able to make from the eastern solent to any of these in about a day or less and at the risk of offending anyone the cruising from Start Point onwards is better. If you really wish to visit ports within Lyme Bay do it on the return journey. Penzance is reachable in a day from any of the above but stop off in Falmouth and or the Helford and on the return journey try Fowey, Polperro or Looe ending up in Dartmouth or Salcombe if tides are OK for the return leg across Lyme Bay.

Good trip
 
Hi

We did Scillies and back from Portsmouth in a fortnight back in 2006, during a period of pretty good weather. Day sailing on the way out: Portsmouth > Weymouth > Salcombe > Fowey > Helford > Scillies.

On the way back, we did Scillies > Falmouth > Dartmouth > Portsmouth. Only the last leg involved overnight - we left Dartmouth at midnight and arrived back in Gosport at dinner time, but with the short nights in the summer, that meant only three or so hours of darkness. So easy sailing, just two of us on board (except for one leg).

We were lucky with the weather. Some squalls and thunderstorms but nothing that kept us trapped in harbour. If you lose a couple of days to bad weather, a fortnight can get compressed pretty quickly.

I'd be tempted to go for it in the fortnight and if the worst comes to the worst and you run out of time because of weather, leave the boat somewhere like Plymouth (plenty of well-sheltered marinas, good transport links) - you've then a ready-made excuse for a follow-up trip.
 
Depends on your boat and crew. And tide times if you mostly want tosail by day.
solent-weymouth-dartmouth (Brixham as fall back in light/adverse wind)-fowey-falmouth/helford-Penzance=5 days each way. So a fortnight is tight. Depends how sure you want to be of reaching Penzance. If you have a full crew, then its not so hard to shorten this a lot, maybe best to do this nearer neap tides?
I've often kept the idea of leaving the boat down west rather than battling home against an easterly in reserve, since sitting in QAB in F6 E for 3 days, when I had a light 28' boat.
 
We got as far as Plymouth 2 years ago from Chichester and back in 10 days in a mainly lightwind period in our 25 ft. My advise is make sure you have a reliable Autohelm, we did it without, but went cross channel with one this year and it made a huge difference, particularly when motoring (outboard) in light / no wind.
 
It's an excellent plan and I've done something similar in the past but you'll be paying for a week's mooring at visitors' rates somewhere. It would be worth seeking in advance somewhere safe & reasonably priced, though as it's not my area I'm not qualified to advise.
 
Very do-able, as long as the conditions allow. I did Portsmouth to Fowey a number of years ago in my Westerly 22 with a single stop in Salcombe. Was a long night across Lyme bay but with two of us on board it was not too bad.

I now, an would do in the future, go Solent, Weymouth, Dartmouth/Salcombe, Plymouth.

Stopping in Weymouth allows you to plan Portland with a bit more accuracy and get a tide push across the bay. If conditions are OK you could miss the Dart and do Portland in a day quite easily, but you would be missing the opportunity for a night at anchor right up the Dart, a wonderful place.

To be quite honest, I would miss out Torquay. We went there from Weymouth a few years back only because we did Lyme bay in a SW5-6 and we could lay Torquay in one. Dartmouth is no further and much nicer.

I am hoping to go down west this year again and we may also do the west-slog beforehand also as SWIMBO does not like that part.

Cheers

Wayne
 
Back in the days of third-boat sailing I did the following legs (with distances in NM)...

Gosport to Poole 46
Poole to Weymouth 23
Weymouth to Brixham 62
Brixham to Salcombe 21
Salcombe to Plymouth 23
Plymouth to Falmouth 53
Falmouth to Penzance 35

So sailing daytime only that could be reduced to 4-5 days each way. With inevitable days lost for weather that doesn't leave much time spare to spend when there.

Since I've grown a couple of extra hulls I often pop round the corner from Pwllheli to places like Dublin or Campbletown now in one go. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
We used to do
Gosport Weymouth or Portland
Weymouth or Portland to Fowey
Fowey to Helford
Helford to Falmouth and Fal
Fal to Fowey
Fowey to Salcombe
Salcombe to Brixham
Brixham to Weymouth
Weymouth to Gosport

Now we live down in Devon /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Its a long way in a fortnight partic with the inevitable westerly on the way there and easterly on the way back!

I've taken 3 days to get from the Solent to Torquay when battering against f5/6 westerlies, and then I single handed from Torquay to FAlmouth in a oner (took me about 20 hrs). FAlmouth to Penzance is also a fair trip.

So in a perfect life

Solent to Weymouth 1 DAy
Weymouth to Dartmouth 1 DAy (inside around Portland)
Dartmouth to Newton Ferrers 1 Day
Newton Ferrers to Falmouth 1 Day
Falmouth to Penzance 1 Day
way back
Penzance to Helford 1 Day
Helford to Fowey 1 DAy
Fowey to Salcombe 1 DAy
Salcombe to Brixham 1 DAy
Brixham to Studland 1 DAy
Studland to Solent 1 DAy

So 11 days sailing and none of them terribly short hops
 
In 2006 we went from Chichester to Weymouth in one hop - south of the Isle of Wight and on to Weymouth. With an early start - assuming the right (west going)tide - either via Bembridge Ledge (preferrd)or through the Needles is certainly doable. We then went from Weymouth to Dartmouth and onward to Fowey and Falmouth, before crossing to the Scillies. A long trip which we had time to be able to break up with a few "lay overs" but if the weather is fair it is certainly possible in day sails - or motoring.
 
What about:

36 hours - Solent to L'Aberwrac'h

Gather wits for Chenal du Four.

L'Aberwrac'h - Camaret/Rade de Brest. Once your past Ile Vierge the whole of Brittany is your moule, so to speak.

That's what SWMBO and I did last summer. Shame the weather was pants. We both agreed it was better being weather bound in The Rade de Brest than being ripped off in Devon.
 
I think you should aim to get west (to Falmouth for example) in one hop. Years ago when we kept our boat (29') on the east coast my wife and I used to start our holiday at Woolverstone (r. Orwell) and go direct to Dartmouth, usually towards the end of July: Dungeness, Beachy Head, St Catherines and then to Start Point passing 10miles south of Portland. It always took 52 hours, never more nor less. always some calm, some wind against and some favourable. We went to the Scillies quite often. Single handed I did it one year in hops of upto about 20 hours, including Swanage - Salcombe one day and Salcombe - Falmouth the next.

Passage making is SO much less tiring like this imho, so much so that now we have umpteen children (and a bigger boat) we do all passages over 5 hours at night so we all arrive rested and not fractious or bored.

Hovever the slightly smug smile implied by the above was invariably wiped off my face by the return trip! Starting east at the end of August we inevitably faced day after day of easterlies, one year it was F7/8 E for 6 weeks running and we ended up wintering in Dartmouth! So start home before the end of August!
 
Personally, I'd avoid being suckered into the 'day trip' scenario unless the weather is so contrary that that's all you want to do - it really is the slowest way to get anywhere if you want time to relax and potter when you get to your chosen area. If you have fair wind and amenable crew, I'd at least try to get west of Lyme Bay from the Solent in one hit if you can, then you're cruising. OK we're a little larger and therefore possibly a little faster, but working the tides we'd usually reckon Needles to Dartmouth in comfortably under 12 hours unless it's a beat. Stopping at Weymouth always seems to take so much extra time! Once across Lyme bay, you can more or less plan your stops as the mood takes you.

If you spot a weather window in preceding weekends, I'd try to reach Plymouth; plenty of places to leave the boat and easy links home.

We used to cruise to the West Country for a fortnight (from Poole) in a 27 footer - hope the weather's kind to you!
 
Rather than worry about trains, when I've done a similar trip I usually hire a car on a one way trip from wherever I end up. If there's 2 or 3 of you it might even be cheaper and you can carry much more gear in a car, and your not limited to stop at places with stations.
 
Done the trip a number of times. A fortnight should be sufficient to go there and back, have a few days in Penzance (an odd ambition!) and still allow for a day or two avoiding nasty weather. Its about 200 NM so you need to be doing 50 mile days, or 12 hours - which might be a bit much for a family crew. Depends really whether their definition of a holiday is time at sea or pottering round the shops on shore.

With that objective there is also a danger that the trip turns into a series of big marina visits.

So maybe it would be best to deliver the boat to somewhere like Dartmouth the weekend before.

Dont miss Newton Ferrars.

/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
We're also fans of the get there as quick as possible approach.

Our plan - for a 2 weeks cruise -

Day 1 Get to boat by lunchtime - load - sail to western solent.
Day 2 Solent - Dartmouth - 12-15 hours.
Day 3 Dartmouth to Falmouth - poss break at Plymouth / fowey if bored.
Then cruise East in easy day sails.

Coming back
Depart from Dartmouth / Torbay - Studland bay
Studland bay - Solent - allowing accurate timing of needles.

Dartmouth to Plymouth is easy day sail and as other have said - excellent transport so if family don;t like longish trips could make Plymouth from solent or vice versa over a long weekend.

You should be able to carry the tide from the needles to portland bill - the direct route takes you well clear of PB anyway - then just tuck up into lyme bay a little where the tide is weaker when it turns against you
 
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