West coast of England Scotland and Wales

[Hampus]

We're leaving from Sweden for the Caribbean in 1.5 months. The route from Denmark or Norway to Inverness through the Caledonian Canal and down the west coast to the Isles of Scilly is an option to the Kiel canal and the English channel.

What is the west coast of England and Wales like? The Irish sea? The east coast of Ireland? Anchorages? Marina fees? Nice coast to sail along? We'll be doing as much day sailing as possible that early on the trip.

BRG Hampus

 

[Ubergeekian]

We're leaving from Sweden for the Caribbean in 1.5 months. The route from Denmark or Norway to Inverness through the Caledonian Canal and down the west coast to the Isles of Scilly is an option to the Kiel canal and the English channel.

What is the west coast of England and Wales like? The Irish sea? The east coast of Ireland? Anchorages? Marina fees? Nice coast to sail along? We'll be doing as much day sailing as possible that early on the trip.

The Irish Sea is pretty boring on both sides. Why not go down the west coast of Ireland? Much more interesting.

 

[colvic987]

It depends on the timescale you have to get to the scilly isles, but once you leave the caledonian canal on the west coast at corpach, i would take the coast down to say gigha then go across to northern ireland, ballycastle, and take the coast down to arklow then straight down to the scilly isles. going down the east coast of ireland you will have plenty of places to day sail to. If you have time dont miss strangford lough, portaferry, quoile, killealeagh, ringahaddy and down lightship, are a must.
Costs of marina/harbour dues have increased in recent years, and i dont know of the appropriate mooring fees but am sure someone should be along soon who will know.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

The west coast of Scotland is superb - the best sailing area in terms of scenery in the UK. If coming out of the Caledonian Canal you head south you will miss some of the Scottish west coast, but you will still have plenty to see.

The west coast of England between Scotland and Wales is not so good. You have to go quite far east to get there and then out again, and when you are there it is somewhat industrial and not too scenic.

The cost of Wales is scenic, but less easy to stop as many of the places are drying or have tide limited access. Not impossible though. You should still be able to day sail between places.

The east coast of Ireland is reasonably scenic, but has the advantage of Dublin as a good place to visit.

Marina prices will increase as you get further south in the UK, but as our currency is weak they may seem cheap compared to Sweden. I'm sure others can post up to date marina prices if you say what boat you have.

The Irish Sea is particularly tidal which may not be what you are used to in Scandinavia. There are big ranges and big flows in many places. Tide needs to be taken into account not only for progress but also because of its effect on sea state, especially in constrictions like the North Channel.

Having done both routes, I would choose the Irish Sea option. If you can spare the time I would visit both sides - Scottish west coast, then over to Ireland taking in Dublin, then back over to Wales and on to the Scillies. You can cross the Irish Sea in daylight in summer if you choose your crossing points...

From the Caledonian Canal down the Scottish Coast to Stranraer
Then over to Northern Ireland and down the Irish Coast to Dublin
Then back over to North Wales and down the Welsh coast.
Then go for the Scillies as there are not many places to stop on the southern side of the Bristol Channel

This route rather than the UK south coast route you see some of the best scenery in the UK, avoid the overcrowding and rip-off south coast, and get to visit another country (Ireland) and its capital city on the way.

We're leaving from Sweden for the Caribbean in 1.5 months. The route from Denmark or Norway to Inverness through the Caledonian Canal and down the west coast to the Isles of Scilly is an option to the Kiel canal and the English channel.

What is the west coast of England and Wales like? The Irish sea? The east coast of Ireland? Anchorages? Marina fees? Nice coast to sail along? We'll be doing as much day sailing as possible that early on the trip.

BRG Hampus

 

[Quandary]

Plenty of conflicting information on favourite harbours on recent threads on the reverse passage. I can see no advantage in going across tide from Gigha or Craighouse etc. to Ballycastle when the 12 continuous hours of favourable south going tide can take you well past Belfast Lough. The recommendation to go south down the right round the west coast of Ireland against the prevailing winds to the Scillies also seems perverse, even if you want to go to West Cork (recommended) it would still be easier to go down the east coast of Ireland which unlike the other side of the Irish Sea has plenty of accessible deep harbours.

 

[Ubergeekian]

The recommendation to go south down the right round the west coast of Ireland against the prevailing winds to the Scillies also seems perverse, even if you want to go to West Cork (recommended) it would still be easier to...

I assumed he'd go down the west of Ireland and then south from there. You're right - doubling back to the Scillies would be odd.

 

[Hampus]

Wow! Lots of answers in a short time. Thanks!

The intended route, and this is from a quick glance in Reed's Nautical Almanac and no deeper studies, would be: Denmark - Inverness - Caledonian Canal - Down the coast and a short jump to Northern Ireland - down the coast - Dublin of course and I also have relatives in Wicklow who I'd like to visit. From there on down the coast again and at some point back to England. We'd prefer to leave the Scillies before mid August for a nice slow trip down the Portuguese coast before jumping to the Canaries in late October. If we have to, we can wait for good weather for two months on the scillies, but we're less likely to find it the longer we wait. We're leaving Sweden early in July by the way.

We've sailed in tidal waters before so the tides are more of a nuisance than a problem

/Hampus

 

[[448]]

Don't forget the Isle of Man. There are are plenty of Viking connections here. Peel would be an ideal stop off point, staying afloat in the inner harbour.
Dave

 

[dt4134]

If you have spare time Strangford Lough is a nice place to visit. A bit like the East Coast of Sweden but with tides.

Peel has a good new marina with a flap gate. It's an alternative to Ardglass. It's a reasonable hop from both to the Dublin area.

Dublin has three big marinas, but you'll probably find them pretty expensive. You could also try the clubs in Dun Laoghaire which have a few pontoons. You could easily get the train down to Wicklow from Dun Laoghaire if you don't get to visit Wicklow harbour itself.

Arklow or Kilmore Quay are good hoping off points for the Scillies. You could go around to Milford Haven but that's a little out of the way. If you fancy a break before the last leg to the Scillies going up to Waterford is also an option.

Obvious advice is to get a good chart of the Scillies. If it is too rough there, Falmouth is very well sheltered.

 

[dansaskip]

Irish Sea boring - never

The Irish Sea is pretty boring on both sides. Why not go down the west coast of Ireland? Much more interesting.

Pretty sweeping statement that and one that i and many others would totally disagree with. There are loads of interesting places to visit and stay at and some pretty exciting sailing to.
I might add that i have sailed round West coast of Ireland too.

 

[SABREMAN]

Eastern Irish Sea

Don't forget two of the better marinas that are well worth a visit. Whitehaven gives close access to the lake district and has an excellent marina with very good facilitie. Also a bit further down is Fleetwood if a visit to Blackpool was on the cards. Access to the marina is through lock gates but I had my last boat there for a couple of happy years and you soon get used to sailing `tidal`.

 

[Quandary]

Wow! Lots of answers in a short time. Thanks!

We've sailed in tidal waters before so the tides are more of a nuisance than a problem

/Hampus

The tides for a large part of your journey south are anything but a nuisance, time it right and you can add 2kts. to your average speed. if you ignore them, of course, a sailing passage can take twice as long. To take advantage you need a good tidal atlas though, so that you can plan to be at major turning points like the Mull of Kintyre at the best time. I accept that tide does reduce accessibilty of many harbours on the west coast of England and Wales. The accepted route for your passage from the Caledonian Canal if you want to limit passages to around 12 hours or so might be Corpach to Oban or Crinan, then to Bangor, then Howth or Dun Laoghaire, (for Dublin) then Dunmore East. However there are lots of interesting stops like Strangford and Carlingford Loughs, Isle of Man, Arklow or Wicklow. Its also a shame to pass by without exploring Mull, Jura or Islay or almost any island.