To the scillies !?

I go that way often, albeit in a slightly larger yacht.

Portsmouth to Weymouth should be a sensible and relatively easy passage in the first hop. There are alternatives of course. Yarmouth to Weymouth shortens the jounrey and they always look after you very well. Portsmouth to Poole also works, but personally I am never that keen on Poole. Weymouth is an easy harbour in most conditions and should be no problem entering after dark if you need to. In some ways just for a night stop Portland is better. It saves the slog out of Weymouth and around Portland by quite bit, Portland is nice enough, if a little soleless. Make sure you go through the right entrance!

The Race off the head usually provokes commnent. I always favour the inner passage, which means get really close to the shore all the way around. It shelves really steeply and a few hundred feet away you will be fine. Anything less the a F6 is fine. Going around the overfalls is a long way!

Lyme Bay is a slog. Dartmouth or Brixham are your best bets. Brisham is perhaps surprisingly lovely, but expensive. Dartmouth is equally beautiful and a lot less expensive and with lots of options from anchoring, to a cosy berth for the night.

Both are fine for after dark arrivals, whereas Salcombe is more challenging at night if you are not happy with night arrivals. Salcombe is also of course amazing, if just that much further. I always think see how you go across the Bay, and then make a decision whether to push on to Salcombe, or nip into Brixham or Dartmouth.

Salcombe to Fowey is such a nice trip it is difficult to say no, but Falmouth is the obvious destination, if again a bit of a slog. There is nothing between the Helston and Falmouth, so take your pick.

Newlyn is really your last bolt hole and fine by arrangement. Obvioulsy a very busy commercial fishing harbour, so speak to the harbour master before.

I didnt make the SI last year, got as far as Salcombe. I am a little further East, and for me the trip to Dartmouth or Salcombe is just about doable in a long day in the Summer, and another long day the the SI's, but two hops are a decent passage, and if you are going to sail it in a typical SW'ly you ideally need a good wind. If you get lucky of course an Easterly is the answer, but still good passages.

Sounds wonderful and enjoy.
 
You’ll love the Scillies, but may I make a suggestion about getting there? Would it be possible for you to ’cruise’ as far as, say, Falmouth taking time to enjoy the trip and then leave the boat somewhere until you have an assured weather window to make the final trip? The trip out to the islands is easy enough, but you do need to be confident of reasonable weather. Most of the ‘aborted’ trips to the islands have been aborted, I would suggest, by people sailing to a schedule.

The West Country is fabulous cruising area (don’t tell anyone though!) so you could enjoy the area and either take the boat out to the islands before you start work or even pop back to collect it. For the final leg, if you were to leave the boat in Penzance, it would be a short walk from where the Scillonian services the islands 6 days per week.
 
richardbrennan said:
I am not sure about not making the Solent to Weymouth in one tide. I have often done Yarmouth to Weymouth with time to stop of for lunch in Lulworth Cove, and have done Weymouth to Portsmouth in one go, that's in a Westerly Ocean 33.
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On my first attempt to get the the Scillies (Hanse 385) it took us 15 hours to get from Gosport to Portland. We had a later start than desirable due to my crew arriving from France and then we had strong headwinds that gave us awful tacking angles once the tide changed against us - but we persisted and sailed the whole way, but later had to abandon the idea of the Scillies due to extreme weather forecast (late September).
The next year we set off from Gosport with slightly adverse tide which turned as we got past Cowes. Very similar wind conditions, but this time we reached Portland in 8 hours. Tide is king!

It is often (usual) to have headwinds so I would plan to do this in lots of 6-8 hour legs with brief rests between (or longer if not in a hurry) rather than pushing against the tide. My passage plan would be:
  • Portland (anchor) or if this can't be reached in a tide Swanage/Studland
  • Time departure from Portland to use inside passage off Portland Bill
  • Torbay (anchor off Torquay or Brixham)
  • Now the easy bit as you have many wonderful west country harbours to choose from: Dartmouth, Salcombe, Plymouth (a bit off track), Fowey, Falmouth.
  • Last mainland stop definitely Newlyn which, despite the previous comments, I found to be very yacht friendly, although limited in number of available pontoon berths
It's a great trip. I enjoyed two stop overs in Scillies on my way to/from Ireland in 2018.
 
Ningaloo - I couldnt agree more, tide and of course weather planning is critical. Find yourself with a good Easterly and you are in cover if you plan to go down with the tide.

PS - even from Portsmouth there is something to be said for going around the back as well for that first leg.
 
PlankWalker said:
You wont make the Solent to Waymouth in one tide, but you should make it to Chapmans Pool, just!
Leaving Chapmans Pool is great for timing your arrival at Portland Bill.
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You will if you go to Lymington / Yarmouth first. Tides are relatively weak in Weymouth bay even if you did miss it by an hour or so

Also worth thinking through that night passage along the coast. Proliferation of lobster pot markers, especially around the headlands. Ironically I'm more relaxed crossing the channel at night than sailing along the coast. Have had too many near misses in daylight! If your passage involves darkness I'd stay offshore
 
matt1 said:
Also worth thinking through that night passage along the coast. Proliferation of lobster pot markers, especially around the headlands. Ironically I'm more relaxed crossing the channel at night than sailing along the coast. Have had too many near misses in daylight! If your passage involves darkness I'd stay offshore
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You'll need only one visit to the Lifeboat House at Weymouth, and 'clock' the huge numbers of L'B Services to yachts with a crab-pot line around the rudder/prop in very dangerous places, to determine that 'offshore' is a darned sight less hazardous than close inshore. Do as much of that as you can....

'The land claims more ships than the sea'.
 
The only advice I would give is ensure you have a proper mooring strop, shackles, and eyes built in, that is at least 5 times the size you normally use. Put hose or pipe around it to prevent it wearing, and then get a spare as well.
I'd love to spend a whole season pottering around the Scillies.

Mike
 
You are very lucky getting a posting to the Scillies surgery. I can think of no more idyllic spot to work, than the building overlooking Porthcressa.
Im sure you will get a good deal from the HM but will be rafted up much of the time in the summer. Its the only place handy to St Marys where you can leave the boat safely moored while you go to work even .
It will be a nice cruise there if the wind is favourable but a slog if to windward. All the harbours along the south devon and cornwall coat are lovely but do encourage you to linger. There is an argument for keeping offshore and treating it as a delivery trip.
 
The Scillies, if I'm allowed to call them that, are magical but no harder as a destination than many other places, unless you are short of time. As far as I remember, it is about 60 miles from Falmouth/Helford, making it a long day. We have done it from there and Penzance, before Newlyn was a viable option, and the choice is purely a matter of weather and inclination. There are really no problems with either approach to St Mary's if you stick to the main channel, but we found New Grimsby Sound more restful. The beer was quite good.
 
owen said:
It will be a nice cruise there if the wind is favourable but a slog if to windward. All the harbours along the south devon and cornwall coat are lovely but do encourage you to linger. There is an argument for keeping offshore and treating it as a delivery trip.
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My inclination is certainly to do Solent-Dartmouth as one hop, it should be possible to make Portland before the tide turns and stay a few miles off
 
Birdseye said:
The key issue about your proposal is a mooring / berth in the Scillies. The islands are low lying and are exposed so for peace of mind in a blow you need to be sure of where you are parking the boat.
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+1

There is nowhere that is sheltered from all directions. I would strongly recommend you try to arrange a mooring (in St. Mary's?) in advance.
 
owen said:
You are very lucky getting a posting to the Scillies surgery. I can think of no more idyllic spot to work, than the building overlooking Porthcressa.
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Not as lucky as I was when the doctor there saw me after I broke three bones in my hand trying to moor up in St Mary’s during a bit of a blow. There is A LOT of swell there ...
 
lustyd said:
Why wouldn't you call them that, the locals do!
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I was brung up to think that ‘Scilly Isles’ or ‘Scillies’ was shamefully wrong and that I would give offence to various unnamed people if I didn’t call them the Isles of Scilly. I don’t think the locals have anything to do with it. It is ‘disgusted of Maidenhead’ that I am scared of.
 
eddystone said:
I thought Newlyn was very yacht unfriendly - i.e you’re there on sufferance and told to p**s off if a fishing boat needs the space
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I've heard this hundreds of times and wonder what people have done to get such a reaction. I've been there too many times to count, never had a seconds problem. On a delivery of a very small boat we arrived in the pub soaking wet and freezing. They stoked up the fire for us to sit in front of and put our oilies around an electric heater to dry. Another time I met the harbour master as he arrived for the night shift. When I told him I was walking to Penzance to meet my girlfriend off the train, he handed me his car keys. Another time I had just filled some cans with diesel from the truck that fills the boat and had chatted to the skipper of one of the boats. As I walk back with my sack truck, a young guy caught up with me, handed me a co-op bag with a good seabass in it and said the skipper says enjoy it.
I've never actually met anyone who has had a bad time, just loads of people who've never been.
Allan
 
Well I think the main bits of how to get here have been covered, including bring your own made up mooring strops with big shackles if you intend staying on a buoy in St Mary’s pool for a long spell.
Personally I would miss on Penzance or Newlyn as once round the lizard you may as well head straight across and a couple of extra hours will have you in the islands. From Falmouth or Helford if you have got a favourable forecast you can shorten the distance further by anchoring in church cove down near the lizard lifeboat station, tucked in nice and close it’s a good anchorage if the winds are SW to N, you can time your departure from there to perfection for the tide at the lizard, particularly useful if it’s an early morning start. No good if easterly but you won’t need it then anyway.
Enjoy the cruise west
 
The Scilly Isles is a group of 'roundabouts' near Hampton Court on the A309 and A307 junction. Over the years I think that some of the islands have been re-enginered to make it safer but originally it looked like the Scillies so I was told.

Screenshot_20210205-170810_Maps.jpg
 
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