wish me luck

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lionelz

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Well was hoping to do my trip from portsmouth to falmouth today but the weather has been blowing F5-7 so called it off. However I have a weather window tomorrow so going to leave early do a quick refuel in Weymouth and the then push on across the open seas to falmouth. This will be my longest ever trip at 170 nm so let's hope my trip is planned right. Hoping to get wind with tide most of the way but last bit it's not so. I suppose if all fails just change direction to due north and will eventually hit land☺
 
Good luck! It was certainly blowing today, even in the shelter of the tidal river and tied to the pontoon the boat was bucking around a bit.
Fingers crossed for you for tomorrow.
 
Have a great trip, Tues/Weds look much the same to me. Wind will be with tide for most of the afternoon so depart weymouth, (i think) at around noon thirty to hit slack tide at portland race and go for it!

Your contingency is dartmouth if you dont fancy Start Point, you will know when you get there....also consider Plymouth if you are tired and have had enough.

Have a great time in Falmouth :)
 
Hi
Did the same trip in July a few years ago very calm sea took 6hrs including stopping for lunch in Starhole Bay Salcombe
31 ft boat averaged about 31 knots
It was ideal conditions.Wait for the right conditions and take it carefully.
 
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Sandyman said:
OP only doing Pompey to Falmouth. It's not as if he's crossing the Atlantic.
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So how far would you suggest before bothering to consider the weather? Anything under 200 miles just set off and deal with it, over that put in some planning ?

With the exception of the Azores there is nothing between Falmouth and South America so given the steady strong Westerlies and the fact Fitzoy, Plymouth and Portland are predicting Rough becoming moderate seas as of 16.25 UTC I would give it some time. See what happens tomorrow and think about doing the run on Wednesday. You are bashing into the waves and if there's a Southerly element you can get a horrible beam swell.

I'm not as good a skipper as Sandyman so I always play it a bit safe.

Henry :)
 
lionelz said:
Well was hoping to do my trip from portsmouth to falmouth today but the weather has been blowing F5-7 so called it off. However I have a weather window tomorrow so going to leave early do a quick refuel in Weymouth and the then push on across the open seas to falmouth. This will be my longest ever trip at 170 nm so let's hope my trip is planned right. Hoping to get wind with tide most of the way but last bit it's not so. I suppose if all fails just change direction to due north and will eventually hit land☺
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It was blowing old boots today in Dartmouth, and tomorrow doesn't look much better. I have to say that it will be quite an endurance feat rather than enjoyable in a 30' boat. I'd be looking for a better weather window, which you're likely to get in the following few days as the wind backs NW.

And if it does go NW f4 or more, I'd recommend going inshore through Lyme Bay, otherwise it will be rough when you're 10 miles or so offshore. Spent thousands of hours on boats in Lyme Bay so have a pretty good idea what sea conditions are likely to be in any given winds.
 
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Good luck with your trip.

Try to time the headlands at slack water around each, or stand right off. Weymouth does add a considerable extra distance, and means you have to stay inside the Portland Race. Not a problem as the Race is clearly visible, just stay apple core throwing distance from the shore as you round the Bill, then steer up the western side 1/2 mile or so before heading off west.

Not sure I would want to do this into a south westerly swell.

Main boltholes - Poole, Weymouth, Brixham, Dartmouth, Plymouth, Fowey.

If you do call into to Weymouth ask for Andy of Quayside fuels, he will bring his bowser truck right up to the quay 01305 772318 / 07747 182181
 
sorry total newbie question - could someone very briefly explain what they are looking at to tell them Wednesday would be better than Tuesday and generally what they are looking at and where they look.

many thanks in advance
Tim
 
timv said:
sorry total newbie question - could someone very briefly explain what they are looking at to tell them Wednesday would be better than Tuesday and generally what they are looking at and where they look.

many thanks in advance
Tim
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Xcweather and windguru are the usual sites I use, but there are plenty more. They give wind speed and direction forecasts.
 
timv said:
what they are looking at and where they look.
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Hi Tim. Everyone has their favourite maritime forecast provider/web site. Most of us will admit to sometimes looking at a few until we get the answer we are looking for!! (Although I guess the core data probably comes from the same source?) In the UK I have used the following:

Met Office Inshore forecast: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/marine
PassageWeather.com: http://passageweather.com
Windfinder: https://www.windfinder.com
Metcheck: http://www.metcheck.com/HOBBIES/inshore.asp

All of the above will give expected wind strength and direction as well as predicted wave height. Always look at what the tide is doing too of course as the tide direction and strength can have a significant effect on the conditions you actually face.
 
FlowerPower said:
I would wait another day until Wednesday.
Frustrating, but ...
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+1
If you are not completely happy with the journey/conditions leave it for another day. An uncomfortable trip is one thing but worrying about mechanical problems etc and if stuff goes wrong the entire trip in another.
You do not have to go.
Its the short "easy" hops that catch people out.
Better to wish you were out there,than out there,wishing you were back here.
 
I agree with all the cautionary advice.

We are now using the Yacht Weather app and finding it to be very accurate, interestingly the gap between the swell is not looking fantastic for the Lionel but he does have loads of options before crossing Lyme Bay. Personally I would make the first leg, hold up in Portland tonight and then go again on Wednesday.

It will be interesting to hear how he gets on and how his boat handles....first time we did that trip it was in a 35' american sports cruiser and it was...fun, at least looking back on it now :) We checked the weather by getting a taxi to Portland and looking at the sea state and then rushed back to the boat - true boating pros that we were :)
 
Well I set of at about 0930 from gosport got about 15 miles towards the needles. Stopped the boat having taken it on the nose for about 45 mins, looked at SWMBO and though it's only going to get worse once we get out of the solent. So I ran for the hills, well in this case gosport marina. Discretion being the best part of valour. As was said. Always another day. Will look at the weather again and hopefully go for it tomorrow. As for why post. Its my longest ever trip where I have planned and not been with more experienced sailors. Hence the need for some encouragement and advice from more experienced people. Surley that's why we have these places. We were all relatively inexperienced at one time. Surley it's the right thing to do? Get advice!
 
Regarding all those internet weather forecasts,most cover large areas of the coast.If it all goes wrong the only forecast that the MCA are interested in,is the official inshore weather issued by the MET office.
It covers the areas in much smaller blocks and takes accounts of things such a wind speed/tidal flows round headlands etc.
I frequently use all the sites and pick the most optimistic forecast but the one that counts is what the MET office ses ..... if things go wrong.
 
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