solent to west country Next week

[oldmanofthehills]

Re: Resurrected thread solent to west country Next week

I know of several instances where aged gentlemen of about my years, who are thus probably as least as skilful sailors as myself or better, have managed to run into the coast due to sleeping at the tiller. Many of the deaths and accidents in fishing are from solo skippers being overwhelmed by their workload.

The round the world lot can often set a wind vane and sail on even when sleeping as there is nothing to hit. No so the coastal skipper with crab pots, headlands and big ships to avoid

 

[longjohnsilver]

Thanks for the tips! We will aim for guernsey then. Definitely don’t want to freak ourselves out as well as trying to sail!

An alternative view, I love Alderney, it’s a rugged, beautiful and largely unspoilt island. And I’ve never found the island spooky.

 

[steveeasy]

Tuesday 3rd July took inner passage round Portland Bill, Great fun, With a strong Northerly early in the morning superb sailing conditions was had by all.(Well there was allways going to be a rational reason why we were the only ones out on the water at 8am . Still all makes sense now and rather I was out not missing such great sailing conditions.than in!!. (ill be Back). Later on across Lyme Bay Direct to Dartmouth. Spinaker up, First time for everything. Lost wind completely and motored on to Dartmouth eventually heading in to Brixham at 10.30 PM. Heading in to Dartmouth For Breakfast.

Steveeasy.

 

[chrishscorp]

Breakfast in Dartmouth try Cafe Alfrescoe :encouragement: we have only just come back the other way to the Solent from Dartmouth

 

[steveeasy]

Ok thought Id finish off and round up my experiances during the week to the west country. the ending has one of those sharp learning curves that could easily have been avoided.

Having finally rounded Portland Bill we set sail across Lyme Bay for Dartmouth. A flatiish sea did mean motor sailing and again against the tide for some time meant progress was slow. we had plenty to reflect on anyway, most notably was the need to study the tidal flow charts when rounding Portland. As the light was becoming poor we decided to enter Brixham. Although Dartmouth im sure would be no problem , it seamed sensible to get in to port before dark. we had a good meal on board and Pondered what the next day might Bring.

Thursday.
We set sail again early and this time without an end destination set in stone. The wind was good and we had some fun sailing around Berry Head and on towards scabbacombe Point. the sea state was fun and really you could ask for little more. As we prepared to pass the entrance to Dartmouth, The force was strong to share the Delights of Dartmouth with my crew member. We left the sails up and sailed in to Dartmouth Harbour. After years of hard work, I finally had reached the destination of my dreams. I had waited along time to sample the delights of sailing between the steep headlands and entering Dartmouth. we sailed up to Noss and back through the Hustle and bussle of Dartmouth. the sun was bright and it did not let me down.

As we left Dartmouth, we sailed out and west along start Bay. It was time for a little fun. The spinnaker was pulled from the Bag and up it went. another first. we sailed along and round start Bay. for some time. Out to sea strong waves were breaking. the spinnaker was pulled and just in time. Boy were we in for some fun. High breaking waves pushed the bow high out of the water as we bounced up and down and rounding start point. never had we had such fun. we made steady progress on a beam reach along to Salcome. We decided to stay in Salcombe for the night rather than push on to Plymouth. Care was taken with the Bar and we followed the narrow channel in. Rafting up on a mooring bouy for the night. the tender was deployed and that little seagull that later was to prove more than an an irritation worked well. Good beer and the delightful company from the advancement boat made the stay more than perfect.

Friday.
We set a course for Falmouth. the sea was flat and we motored across the expanse of water passing Edison Lighthouse 2 miles of the starboard bow at 1pm. A pod of Dolphins joined us for 30 mins on the bow and we could hear them talking to each other as they looked up at us. another wonderful and awesome delight to our trip. Later that day we were again lucky to see a Pilot whale in the distance. As we neared Falmouth the winds picked up considerably and we tacked up in to Falmouth and round to Mylor. what a great day indeed. each day had rewarded us with more than we had dreamed of.

The meet up of Twister owners was fun and we sat talking of our plans for the future in lovely sunshine. Helix, Roquetta and scouthern looked fab sailing around the sound of Falmouth. the trip was far too short but that's life. we do what we can when we can.

Of course we were always going to get caught short by having a time constrained journey. should allway not be fixed by deadlines. third party pick ups etc. We sailed back from Falmouth to Plymouth where I was to leave Helix. the wind was strong from the North and the sail was fab. 5 to 6 knts on the Bow and rollers made for a great sail and the course was maintained well by my newly refurbished Haslar windvane. holding course perfectly the whole way. the wind blew down the channel as we entered Plymouth. I noted the entrance bouys of Plymouth. the hiden breakwater and west Lighthouse with its huge bell. we crossed the Bridge as light was falling and by the time we sailed under the Taymar Bridge it was dark. Learning from previous posts I knew we should have had our lines tied up by now. Well we hooked on to our mooring bouy far too late. past mid night. our pick up had been waiting 6 hours. on my own id have stayed on the boat. tender deployed the crappy seagull failed. ( Ibought it as I thought it would be fun and retro style for my boat. Could not start the bloody thing. Oars out. my crew was sure it would be no problem. I knew it was a waste of time and made sure we had the appropriate gear on. The ending is obvious and without too many details being provided. we were swept down with the tide, we caught a mooring bouy, tied on to it. it was not time for any further games. the boat was called dully arrived and we were put ashore. the seagull has gone. that said it was and will allways be too late for bobbing around in the dark with a fast tide. its asking for problems if there is no back up plan. you have to have one for everything !!.

What did I learn from this. it was and will be said countless times. I learnt your safer 10 miles out than close quarters. I learnt a lot about tidal flows and how easily to read them. I learnt never to to be constrained by myself or others. Don't try to do the impossible. and don't rely on a seagull.

What an awesome trip. my crew member was great. it has inspired him and indeed myself. we had so much fun. our last night we drank beer and prime steaks provided by Mylor(thank you) while falling about listening to Boney M. reminds me of an episode out of father Ted Where Graham Norton in his youth does an Irish whatever. Twisters are little more than a Sprite Caravan inside. Of course don't tell Twister owners I said that.

Really happy days.

Steveeasy

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Glad you enjoyed the trip. The story of the ending amused me and I have always said outboards were an invention of the devil just to taunt us poor sailors. Long ago I got swept down and had to grab a mooring buoy in New Grimsby sound and wait to tow from a dinghy with outboard. The Tamar is much bigger than New Grimsby and I don't like going to our mooring at Cargreen unless outboard running fine. I can do it just by working up tide along the quieter shallows then allowing to be swept down but I seen others needing rescue having gone half a mile seaward by mischance.

 

[mogmog2]

I did Dartmouth to Lymington this summer. Took 21 hours as I lost tide just about Anvil point and sailed on the spot for a few hours (about 10 nm off shore).

Going the other way, after staying out wide at the Bill (I was about 8 NM off in very settled weather) if wind is kind, you could dip into Lyme bay when the tide turns foul, as there is a lot less in there than further out.

On the way down, I did Dartmouth to Fowey in a comfortable, long day (16 hours I think).

Hello,if you did this in your Caravel and can still remember now, going westwards what passages/hops did you make from the Solent to Brixham or wherever? And how long it took? Thanks.

 

[PhillM]

I done this a few times. Going from memory now. The trip with most stops...

Hamble - Lymington ( 5 hours) - Lymington to Portland - about 12 or so hours.

Portland to Dartmouth - 16 hours (very light wind and not a lot of motering as I didnt feel like it).

Dartmouth to Fowey - about 16 hours but I did detour out to see the Eddistone, so you could perhaps cut a couple of hours off for that.

Fowey to Falmouth - about 4 hours.

Return: Falmouth to Dartmouth about 16 hours (spent a couple of hours with very foul tide at Start Point).

Dartmouth to Lymington 21 hours.

Another time: Yarmouth to Dartmouth about 26 hours. Dartmouth to Plymouth about 12 hours.

Hope that helps.

All in all, I found these to be prettry relaxed summer days with light winds and the opprtunity to build nes sun tan. As I was single handed, there was nobody to keep asking "are we nearly there yet".

 

[LittleSister]

It's a long time since I did it, but I seem to recall that if you can maintain 5 knots you can have the tide with you both out past Hurst etc. and round Portland Bill into Lyme Bay. This saves a lot of time either fighting the tide or diverting via Weymouth/Portland or wherever.

On the other hand, at this time of year it's bloody cold (or blowing a hoolie, perhaps both) and daylight hours very short, so unless your boat has an inside steering position and heating and you aren't single-handing, I'd strongly recommend doing it in shorter hops. In fact I'd recommend doing it in shorter hops, and allowing more time overall, at this time of year, full stop - both to make it a less gruelling trip, and to allow for the increased likelihood of having to wait for adverse weather to pass (you don't want to feel obliged to press on when you shouldn't).

Given the extent of hours of darkness this time of year, note also the phase and times of the moon when planning when to do the trip. Visibility is vastly better when there's a decent amount moon out, even if it's cloudy, and that in turn makes night sailing much less stressful/tiring, I find.

p.s. Watch out for frost/ice on deck! I had that several mornings after overnight stops when delivering my boat single-handed from Lymington to the Orwell one January/February. I've subsequently seen it suggested that sluicing the deck down with seawater helps get rid of it.

 

[PhillM]

It's a long time since I did it, but I seem to recall that if you can maintain 5 knots you can have the tide with you both out past Hurst etc. and round Portland Bill into Lyme Bay. This saves a lot of time either fighting the tide or diverting via Weymouth/Portland or wherever.

On the other hand, at this time of year it's bloody cold (or blowing a hoolie, perhaps both) and daylight hours very short, so unless your boat has an inside steering position and heating and you aren't single-handing, I'd strongly recommend doing it in shorter hops. In fact I'd recommend doing it in shorter hops, and allowing more time overall, at this time of year, full stop - both to make it a less gruelling trip, and to allow for the increased likelihood of having to wait for adverse weather to pass (you don't want to feel obliged to press on when you shouldn't).

Given the extent of hours of darkness this time of year, note also the phase and times of the moon when planning when to do the trip. Visibility is vastly better when there's a decent amount moon out, even if it's cloudy, and that in turn makes night sailing much less stressful/tiring, I find.

p.s. Watch out for frost/ice on deck! I had that several mornings after overnight stops when delivering my boat single-handed from Lymington to the Orwell one January/February. I've subsequently seen it suggested that sluicing the deck down with seawater helps get rid of it.

Sound advice about this time of year. With my 24 footer I was lucky if I could get 3kn VMG going west. Theirefore, I spent many happy hour sailing on the spot at all the tidal gates, as there is just no way you can plan to get round them all in one hop. If I were planning this again, I suspose that I might time my Hamble departure to get me out of the Solent and as far as Studland, then anchor for a night sleep. I would then press on taking the inshore passage round St Albans Head. That would leave me with just Portland to worry about. Although, you would want settled weather and to be sure that the inshore passage at St Albans is doable, otherwise you have to go a few miles out of your way to aviod it.

 

[steveeasy]

Did the trip twice last year, well most of it. With the tide You can get out the Needles channel and not that far short off St Albans Head before the tide turns. then a slog for a few hours and in to Portland for a good nights rest around 8ish. In the warmer months just stay out and on to Dartmouth and arrive for breakfast. I always take a very wide berth round St Albans as I get caught out each time I return regardless of tide. Ive been hit by huge rolling waves. stuck on top of the ledge while other boats 50 mtrs further out, pass me fine. Looks nice from a distance though!!.
This time of year, the thought simply would not cross my mind.
Steveesy

 

[mogmog2]

PhillM, many thanks for this. Helpful to see some information more applicable to us (Centaur, beating VMG probably not even 3kt...)