Wondering the practicality og a round UK trip next year

[steveeasy]

As others have said. adapt as it suits you. If the East coast is not too appealing which I think it could be in places then dont do that bit and spend more time on the West coast. Im based on the West coast. so much to see I wonder if ill return to the Solent. What you do need is time which I dont have, but you might well have. if you have the time you should defiantly do it.

If you plan to leave your boat on route, then just takes planning like anywhere else. Transport by train is very cheap. Oban to Glasgow £28 and a very nice journey. National express coach Glasgow to Southampton. £19 return. just takes time and some planning.

Steveeasy

 

[Daydream believer]

Cheapest travel is Enterprise car hire. Leave the car where you intend to go. They will deliver to your house & you can load all your gear up & not lug it miles on trains. No sitting next to unruly snotty nosed kids spilling orange juice all over the table or just being a pain in the rear.
as for sailing distances - I did 6 legs of 100 miles plus both times.
that is 18 hours non stop sailing SH
both trips took 12 weeks not counting a mid trip break.once when I lost my rudder near Inverness due to faulty autopilot & once having been rescued by RNLI from Eyemouth when taken I’ll en route from Peterhead
I had autopilot plus aeries & think wind steering is a brilliant bit of kit whether short or long sailing trips

 

[steveeasy]

Cheapest travel is Enterprise car hire. Leave the car where you intend to go. They will deliver to your house & you can load all your gear up & not lug it miles on trains. No sitting next to unruly snotty nosed kids spilling orange juice all over the table or just being a pain in the rear.
as for sailing distances - I did 6 legs of 100 miles plus both times.
that is 18 hours non stop sailing SH
both trips took 12 weeks not counting a mid trip break.once when I lost my rudder near Inverness due to faulty autopilot & once having been rescued by RNLI from Eyemouth when taken I’ll en route from Peterhead
I had autopilot plus aeries & think wind steering is a brilliant bit of kit whether short or long sailing trips

Sounds like you’ve been on the wrong trains then. I frequently travel in to Grimsby by rail and it is delightful.
Steveeasy

 

[Daydream believer]

Sounds like you’ve been on the wrong trains then. I frequently travel in to Grimsby by rail and it is delightful.
Steveeasy

It would take ages for me just to get to a main line station. Not to mention being taken there & the persons trip home after. Plus the endless walking. I tried to book a train from home to Inverness & it involved changes & different companies. A nightmare to book online. Just rang enterprise & it took 20 mins for a car to be arranged. Drove in comfort to Inverness in one day with a boot load of gear which I could never have carried. Even with fuel it was cheaper than any option. Took car to depot at Inverness & he dropped me back to the boat afterwards. No plodding round poxy stations

 

[dunedin]

It would take ages for me just to get to a main line station. Not to mention being taken there & the persons trip home after. Plus the endless walking. I tried to book a train from home to Inverness & it involved changes & different companies. A nightmare to book online. Just rang enterprise & it took 20 mins for a car to be arranged. Drove in comfort to Inverness in one day with a boot load of gear which I could never have carried. Even with fuel it was cheaper than any option. Took car to depot at Inverness & he dropped me back to the boat afterwards. No plodding round poxy stations

You can book tickets for any UK train journey (other than specialist tourist and narrow guage lines) through an app or website like TrainLine - the number of operators doesn’t make any difference.

And while car hire can make economic sense if lots of crew members and or going to major metropolis (such as the hub City of Inverness), suspect would struggle to many of the other boating locations in Scotland - where there are either no car hire companies at all, or just small local companies with a handful of cars.
Bus is often the only option - and even then sometimes don’t run on Sundays.

 

[westhinder]

Remember that the Scottish NW and islands probably have twice the length of cruise-able coastline than the rest of the UK put together, hence needs more time to explore properly.

Absolutely. My trip round Britain took four months, of which I spent seven weeks cruising the inner and outer Hebrides. I feel I barely scratched the surface.

 

[Concerto]

My trip was completed in 54 day sails over 127 days, including some quite long distance and in rough weather. Being singlehanded, I set Force 7 as the limit in the weather forecast for sailing. Well four days it reached Force 8 and one day reached Force 9. Both Concerto and I survived all the weather could throw at us, with only a few very minor breakages. To be honest, I enjoy heavy weather sailing as you can sail faster and further.

For those who recommend having everything navigational tool onboard, I decided to use just the Cruising Association handbook and electronic charts. Other searches on my mobile or laptop were used for local information. Using Google maps in satellite view is very useful for entering harbours and seeing a marina layout. Of the 54 ports I visited, only 6 I had visited before. Being confident in berthing singlehanded is essential, but ask for assistance in strong winds and never refuse help.

 

[srm]

The west coast is far more interesting than the east, and I have sailed the full length of both.

Living in Orkney I did two singlehanded passages with a 33ft Prout catamaran (in my late 50's and 60's) between Plymouth and Stromness via Irish Sea and Hebrides. One northbound after buying and one southbound to sell her. I did not limit myself to day sailing but used radar with guard rings for watchkeeping and would only stop when tiredness or weather dictated. Nowadays I use AIS more than radar for watchkeeping. I had a few pleasant stops of two or three days in anchorages waiting for favourable winds as well as marinas.

Also, did a short singlehanded trip from Orkney to Scarborough to visit relatives, no stops heading south but a few days in Blyth and Peterhead on the way back as winds were northerly.

Its no big deal, just take it in stages and make sure that you stop before getting seriously tired to catch up on sleep. Forget shore based sleep patterns and learn to catnap whenever the opportunity presents - if I was not doing something I was resting. The Prout had the advantage that it had fairly good visibility from the cabin and a sheltered cockpit. Staying warm, dry, comfortable and well fed is important.

 

[srm]

One further thought (while walking the dogs):
Do not try to keep to a timetable or give yourself hard deadlines, as they can lead to poor judgement. Simply make use of the weather. I would wait for favourable winds, a reach or run, as beating (or motoring) to windward was too much like hard work and soon became very tiring on a long single handed coastal passage.

 

[ylop]

Related question - how hard is it to leave the boat in Scotland?

Physically or emotionally? With a small bilge keel you’ll have no issue finding a yard that can squeeze you in.

I think the harder part will be deciding you want to take the boat back south! You wouldn’t be the first person to start heading round and deciding never to leave the W of Scot!

I tried to book a train from home to Inverness & it involved changes & different companies. A nightmare to book online. Just rang enterprise & it took 20 mins for a car to be arranged.

I think you are right to highlight the possibility of one-way car hire (although not sure Enterprise will be the bargain if you are not close to one of their bases), for getting gear to/from the boat. I know someone who packed a load of stuff in boxes and had it couriered and that was also surprisingly cheap.

Booking trains is very easy, for anyone who is in the smartphone generation (the OP may not be!). It’s not particularly cheap although Pensioners Rail Card, forward planning and flexibility of the day/time and it can be quite affordable. You can usually pick a quiet coach if you want to avoid noise, but don’t be afraid to plug in some headphones and listen to the radio/podcast/film on your phone etc. that is certainly a far more relaxing journey than driving for 10hrs.

I would 100% agree with Dunedin - people sail around Britain because it’s there and easy to imagine a big circle. Most who do Sat west coast was the best and wish they had more time there.

I wonder if Mrs14K doesn’t like sailing or just doesn’t fancy the idea of the whole trip? Many people couples in their 70s will have one who would prefer to stay home but would enjoy a week or two here or there in some of the prettier places during decent weather.

If you really want to go all the way round to say you did it - great. But if you really want to do a 6 month (or 2 yr) epic of daysails between places does in need to be round something - or could it be just having fun.

Final thought, if I was doing this, I’d want a bike so that on days when sailing was poor I didn’t feel constrained and I could pick my stopping points with less focus on shops etc AND I would want some really easy way of managing a dinghy - pumping up and deflating every day would be draining!

 

[B27]

One further thought (while walking the dogs):
Do not try to keep to a timetable or give yourself hard deadlines, as they can lead to poor judgement. Simply make use of the weather. I would wait for favourable winds, a reach or run, as beating (or motoring) to windward was too much like hard work and soon became very tiring on a long single handed coastal passage.

That's easy to say, but most people seem to end up with some sort of imperative not to leave the boat in Grimsby for the winter.

 

[Wansworth]

That's easy to say, but most people seem to end up with some sort of imperative not to leave the boat in Grimsby for the winter.

Immingham could be worse

 

[fredrussell]

As an east coast sailor I find all this talk of the east coast being dull sailing-wise very insulting. We have over 10 different consistencies of mud, the sea has a wonderful spectrum that ranges from grey to brown, and the cliffs at Hemsby rise to a majestic 8 metres. There’s no pleasing some people.

 

[srm]

That's easy to say, but most people seem to end up with some sort of imperative not to leave the boat in Grimsby for the winter.

More a case of planning, to ensure that you can get to where you want to be without any time pressure.
From memory of both single handed and crewed passages it has taken me around 3 to 6 weeks from south coast England to Orkney or Shetland, so I would suggest allowing at least two summer months for that part of the trip without a hard deadline at the end.

Slightly off topic but a few years ago bad weather held up a cruise in Denmark. My wife and I spent a couple of weeks in Eggersund (Norway) waiting for weather to cross to Peterhead. Then another long wait before heading north so we got back home to Orkney mid October. We did not have a hard deadline so could wait for suitable weather.

 

[doris]

No...truthfully I don’t think you are...it’s not like going across the ocean...you will always be close to the NHS.

Now there's a brave statement!!!!

 

[Daydream believer]

I think you are right to highlight the possibility of one-way car hire (although not sure Enterprise will be the bargain if you are not close to one of their bases), for getting gear to/from the boat. I know someone who packed a load of stuff in boxes and had it couriered and that was also surprisingly cheap.

Booking trains is very easy, for anyone who is in the smartphone generation (the OP may not be!). It’s not particularly cheap although Pensioners Rail Card, forward planning and flexibility of the day/time and it can be quite affordable. You can usually pick a quiet coach if you want to avoid noise, but don’t be afraid to plug in some headphones and listen to the radio/podcast/film on your phone etc. that is certainly a far more relaxing journey than driving for 10hrs.

Final thought, if I was doing this, I’d want a bike so that on days when sailing was poor I didn’t feel constrained and I could pick my stopping points with less focus on shops etc AND I would want some really easy way of managing a dinghy - pumping up and deflating every day would be draining!

I do not even put the radio on in my car smart phone is for phone calls.assuming one can get a connection on the Dengie
as for coaches I had not had a holiday with my family for 14 years after my honeymoon. I was persuaded to meet them in Mimizam in France where they stayed for 3 weeks. I went fo 10 days. The coach journey was the most fearful thing I ever. Did in my life. I could not get my knees into the seats so bribed the 2 drivers to let me sit in the front seat. During the night the Spanish driver nodded. Off & the coach gradually drifted across 3 lanes of the motorway. His mate ran down the isle grabbed. The wheel & pulled the bus back onto the correct lane.
people complained about no amenities stop so they stopped by a big electrical generator & the ladies had to squat round the back in the night.most of the people were youngsters
the bus came in fromMalagar stopped 20 mins at Victoria & was off back again
you can stuff your coach rides

 

[Tomaret]

Cheapest travel is Enterprise car hire. Leave the car where you intend to go. They will deliver to your house & you can load all your gear up & not lug it miles on trains. No sitting next to unruly snotty nosed kids spilling orange juice all over the table or just being a pain in the rear.
as for sailing distances - I did 6 legs of 100 miles plus both times.
that is 18 hours non stop sailing SH
both trips took 12 weeks not counting a mid trip break.once when I lost my rudder near Inverness due to faulty autopilot & once having been rescued by RNLI from Eyemouth when taken I’ll en route from Peterhead
I had autopilot plus aeries & think wind steering is a brilliant bit of kit whether short or long sailing trips

and likely far from alone in thinking of this. I am in my late 70s, the boat is a 29ft bilgie and I would be single handed. Fair bit of experience but never done a long single handed trip before.

First question in my mind is the route given that I would be planning on 4.5kn average and bearing in mind my age, the ideal day is going to be something like 30nm, maybe 40 max. Is this even possible> What would be the stopping points?

Boat equipment? She currently has only a very basic fit out of ST60, plotter, radar, pilot. Liferaft too old to service. Electric windlass, avon dinghy and O/B. What else is important?

Tips and hints for single handing long term?

Or am I simply being a romantic old fool?

I’ve been contemplating something similar. I can’t afford a single block of time but could schedule 12 weeks over the season, mostly singlehanded but with crew available for some legs. We made it to the Isles of Scilly this year, from the Solent, and I got to wondering how far I could have gone by carrying on rather than coming back. I thought I’d give up my berth for next year, to finance the trip, and see how far I could go. If I’m distracted by southern Ireland, so be it. I wouldn‘t expect to get any further than the Scottish islands in 2024. If I found the travelling too much (Shropshire based) I’d come back to the Solent in 2025, but beyond that who knows? Based on Daydream’s experience I should be able to follow a fairly relaxed timetable.

I wonder whether I can persuade my wife that a wind vane is essential? I have an hydraulic autopilot which works well, but wouldn’t mind a back up.

 

[Concerto]

As an east coast sailor I find all this talk of the east coast being dull sailing-wise very insulting. We have over 10 different consistencies of mud, the sea has a wonderful spectrum that ranges from grey to brown, and the cliffs at Hemsby rise to a majestic 8 metres. There’s no pleasing some people.

You are not on the real east coast. I really enjoyed the section from Flamborough Head to Eyemouth. Sailing along the coast there was plenty to see including castles. Cannot comment about the Forth Esturary as I cut this out. Again the section from Stonehaven to Banff is interesting but sparse of harbours as Aberdeen does not have any facilities for yachts other than being harbour of respite in extreme weather. Perhaps Fred you need to sail a bit further north up the east coast.

 

[Concerto]

Final thought, if I was doing this, I’d want a bike so that on days when sailing was poor I didn’t feel constrained and I could pick my stopping points with less focus on shops etc AND I would want some really easy way of managing a dinghy - pumping up and deflating every day would be draining!

When I reached Lerwick, I saw a folding electric bike in the window of a bike shop. After some thought provoked reasoning, I decided to buy it. Having not been on a bike for over a decade, it was a big decision that I never regretted. I did visit plenty of places away from where I was berthed, but you would need shore power or a powerful inverter to charge the battery. Once I returned home I found I had done 350 miles cycling - the equivalent of Southampton to Carlisle. The big drawbacks were the cost of the bike, where to stow it and the weight to carry on and off the boat. I stored it in my quarterberth to keep it as dry as possible.

 

[Adios]

and likely far from alone in thinking of this. I am in my late 70s, the boat is a 29ft bilgie and I would be single handed. Fair bit of experience but never done a long single handed trip before.

First question in my mind is the route given that I would be planning on 4.5kn average and bearing in mind my age, the ideal day is going to be something like 30nm, maybe 40 max. Is this even possible> What would be the stopping points?

Boat equipment? She currently has only a very basic fit out of ST60, plotter, radar, pilot. Liferaft too old to service. Electric windlass, avon dinghy and O/B. What else is important?

Tips and hints for single handing long term?

Or am I simply being a romantic old fool?

Best tip probably is to not have a finishing date in mind and be prepared to leave the boat at some points on the way as required including over winter. Rough water will tire you out so wait for weather windows including taking advantage of calms and doing motoring. As you know the big limitation of being single handed is the inability to just keep going like you could if there was 2 of you. That said the last boat I bought was a little 23ft bilgie which I soloed around from the solent to north Norfolk in 2 weekend stretches. That's a fair bit of the way around. Its the going in and out of harbours that seems to interrupt progress so much but on that trip I managed to anchor at sea each over nighter (Dungeness and behind the reefs at Sea Palling, both worth making a note of imo as people don't talk of anchoring at sea very often but its perfectly doable in the right conditions) I timed to sleep the period when the tide was against me, and made very good progress. But its not a race and you have retirement to enjoy so you can make a much bigger journey by doing lots of day sails into lots of harbours.

Now you've thought of it you have to do it anyway. If something happens to your health and you miss this opportunity you'll regret it!