Taking your cruising ground ...... where have you not been but want to go to ?

jamie N said:
During one of our many days WOW (waiting on weather) on Helgoland, my Dutch colleague and I were wandering around near to the museum, where there's a 'Tall Boy' bomb. As we passed it, my oppo said that the UK would probably want it back if they knew it was here.
Interesting what you say about diesel being cheap. We used about 1500 litres a day on average, and found it cheaper to go back to Cuxhaven to refuel, rather than pay the local price. Our client paid our fuel, and was one of the main wind farm operators there, so I wonder whether 'visiting yotties' got a better deal?
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It's cheaper for those of us who pay tax. Because it's tax free there. For a commercial user, probably nothing special.
 
I can never get enough of sailing around the Swedish archipelago, the Åland Islands, and the Finnish archipelago. I can never see everything, even though I spend half a year there every year.
 
DangerousPirate said:
I am from Hamburg and I am not sure what you're talking about. Do you mean the Reeperbahn? That still exists. Große Freiheit, too. It's still the raunch as always.

It's Helgoland in german and Heligoland in english, for some reason. Same as München and Munich. Or Braunschweig - Brunswick.. But yes, the birds are spectacular and the red cliffs of course, too.

I've been as a kid once but don't remember too much. A friend of mine had sailed there recently and brought it back to my mind.
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OK ... but the Reeperbahn ... like Bugis Street in Singapore are nothing like before ...
 
Furthest I've been in many years of sailing is no more than up and down the Essex and Suffolk coasts and rivers.

I've had thoughts about crossing the Estuary over to the Kent side and maybe even round North Foreland and get as far west as the Dorset coast for a long time but have never managed to grow a big enough pair of cojones to leave my familiar comfort zone and actually go for it.
 
Sailing steve said:
Furthest I've been in many years of sailing is no more than up and down the Essex and Suffolk coasts and rivers.

I've had thoughts about crossing the Estuary over to the Kent side and maybe even round North Foreland and get as far west as the Dorset coast for a long time but have never managed to grow a big enough pair of cojones to leave my familiar comfort zone and actually go for it.
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I think that there can be merit in having an unobtainable dream. As I learned from the TV, Richard Feynman developed an urge to visit a far-off Soviet province that had once been a country that issued triangular stamps. I can’t remember its 4-letter name. He found out what he could about it and eventually after some years of failed contact formed a US-XXXX trade association with the sole purpose of going to a trade meeting in Scandinavia that was to become a reality. Feynman made it to the meeting and actually managed to meet the representatives of XXXX who turned out to be very friendly and arranged for the authorities to issue him an invitation. This took some time in Soviet Russia, as you would expect, and in the meantime Feynman developed cancer from which he died, the letter approving of his visit arriving one week after his death. The effort probably gave him much joy.
 
Dockhead said:
Faroes are only another 200 odd miles. No big deal. Go for it; it's worth it. Amazing place.
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For me getting to the Faroes form Oban would be fairly easy.

The problem is booking my 3 weeks off from work several months in advance then when those 3 weeks come along;

Firstly, having a suitable weather window to get there and

Secondly confidence that the weather has been settled enough that I can get back again in my allotted time off.

One day the stars will align!
 
Minerva said:
For me getting to the Faroes form Oban would be fairly easy.

The problem is booking my 3 weeks off from work several months in advance then when those 3 weeks come along;

Firstly, having a suitable weather window to get there and

Secondly confidence that the weather has been settled enough that I can get back again in my allotted time off.

One day the stars will align!
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We had three weeks booked off work, back in about 2012 when we had our Vega, and we lived in Stornoway.

We ended up going to Ireland instead. We still haven't been to Faroe!
 
Sea Change said:
We had three weeks booked off work, back in about 2012 when we had our Vega, and we lived in Stornoway.

We ended up going to Ireland instead. We still haven't been to Faroe!
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My in laws still can’t quite get their heads around the uncertainty of sailing.
“Where are you off too this year?”
*shrug* “depends on the wind direction on the first Saturday morning of the cruise”
 
Sailing steve said:
Furthest I've been in many years of sailing is no more than up and down the Essex and Suffolk coasts and rivers.

I've had thoughts about crossing the Estuary over to the Kent side and maybe even round North Foreland and get as far west as the Dorset coast for a long time but have never managed to grow a big enough pair of cojones to leave my familiar comfort zone and actually go for it.
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When my parents bought our first boat, a Kingfisher 30, in 1967 we knew nothing about sailing. That spring we went with a Nich 32 and Twister from the Medway to Brightlingsea. That summer we sailed to Torquay and back in 4 weeks. The following year we made Ostend. All the aids we had were charts, compass, echo sounder, log and a hand bearing compass.

Traversing the Thames does mean you are out of sight of many landmarks, but there are plenty of buoys to confirm your position. So be adventurous and visit the Medway. It will spur you on to going even further and exploring unknown places. Travelling westward along the south coast can be difficult with prevailing SW winds, but using the tides can assist a lot. I used to leave Sheerness at high water and take the tide to North Foreland, then the tide turned and took me down to Dover, then between Dover and Dungerness I would punch about 4 hours of tide before it would take me to either Eastbourne or Brighton. It usually took about 16 hours with about 12 hours of tidal benefit.
 
Concerto said:
When my parents bought our first boat, a Kingfisher 30, in 1967 we knew nothing about sailing. That spring we went with a Nich 32 and Twister from the Medway to Brightlingsea. That summer we sailed to Torquay and back in 4 weeks. The following year we made Ostend. All the aids we had were charts, compass, echo sounder, log and a hand bearing compass.

Traversing the Thames does mean you are out of sight of many landmarks, but there are plenty of buoys to confirm your position. So be adventurous and visit the Medway. It will spur you on to going even further and exploring unknown places. Travelling westward along the south coast can be difficult with prevailing SW winds, but using the tides can assist a lot. I used to leave Sheerness at high water and take the tide to North Foreland, then the tide turned and took me down to Dover, then between Dover and Dungerness I would punch about 4 hours of tide before it would take me to either Eastbourne or Brighton. It usually took about 16 hours with about 12 hours of tidal benefit.
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Oh yes, the medway. Old homewaters. The little forts are an interesting sight, and the birds are very lovely to watch. Chatham is a big, nice marina to visit there, too.

It is however an 8 hour detour (4 in, 4 out) and the anchoring possibilities are limited to stansgate creek.
 
Sailing steve said:
Furthest I've been in many years of sailing is no more than up and down the Essex and Suffolk coasts and rivers.

I've had thoughts about crossing the Estuary over to the Kent side and maybe even round North Foreland and get as far west as the Dorset coast for a long time but have never managed to grow a big enough pair of cojones to leave my familiar comfort zone and actually go for it.
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I have no idea of your circumstances or your boat. But if you are fit and don’t have fixed work / time commitments, I would suggest that you consider gradually expanding your ambition and cruising grounds in short daily hops. Sailing Dorset coast is no more difficult than the East coast rivers, just different.
I started yacht cruising in the Clyde. First time west of the the Mull of Kintyre was quite an adventure. Couple of years later it was round Ardnamurchan. A few years later was fantastic to each the Outer Hebrides. Orkney and the Pentland Firth were other worlds.

20 years later we nip round Ardnamurchan regularly, 6 or more times a year. Never complacent, always choosing the weather, but never fearful.
And been to Orkney and round the top of Shetland the last three seasons.
Little steps but eventually a 600 mile voyage just becomes multiple short and manageable steps.
 
johnalison said:
I think that there can be merit in having an unobtainable dream. As I learned from the TV, Richard Feynman developed an urge to visit a far-off Soviet province that had once been a country that issued triangular stamps. I can’t remember its 4-letter name. He found out what he could about it and eventually after some years of failed contact formed a US-XXXX trade association with the sole purpose of going to a trade meeting in Scandinavia that was to become a reality. Feynman made it to the meeting and actually managed to meet the representatives of XXXX who turned out to be very friendly and arranged for the authorities to issue him an invitation. This took some time in Soviet Russia, as you would expect, and in the meantime Feynman developed cancer from which he died, the letter approving of his visit arriving one week after his death. The effort probably gave him much joy.
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I like your philosophy 🙂
 
DangerousPirate said:
There was a german man with a wooden gaff that would spend every summer holiday sailing further and further away. And when it's time to return to work, he'd just leave the boat and comes back next year for it, and then cruises on.
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That's fine if you happen to finish your cruise at a port where you are happy with the facilities and can afford the prices!
 
DangerousPirate said:
I mean, he's got a whole year to plan ahead?
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The railway harbours were indeed used yachtsmen .In the time before marinas there used to be watermen or longshore men who for a sum would take care of your yacht .Places like Littlehampton,Newhaven,Weymouth Poole etc would have locals or club members who would look after your yacht.
 
johnalison said:
I think that there can be merit in having an unobtainable dream. As I learned from the TV, Richard Feynman developed an urge to visit a far-off Soviet province that had once been a country that issued triangular stamps. I can’t remember its 4-letter name. He found out what he could about it and eventually after some years of failed contact formed a US-XXXX trade association with the sole purpose of going to a trade meeting in Scandinavia that was to become a reality. Feynman made it to the meeting and actually managed to meet the representatives of XXXX who turned out to be very friendly and arranged for the authorities to issue him an invitation. This took some time in Soviet Russia, as you would expect, and in the meantime Feynman developed cancer from which he died, the letter approving of his visit arriving one week after his death. The effort probably gave him much joy.
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You're talking about Tuva.

Russia's former minister of defense and Putin's BFF is a Tuvan -- Sergei Shoigu.
 
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