Cruising England & Scotland

[buenavista]

Hi All,

We will be shipping our boat to the UK early next year (from Australia) for cruising around the UK and then on to the Mediterranean. Can anyone here recommend some good Cruising Guides or Almanacs for the UK, must not miss places and any other tid bits of information that may be useful. By the way, although now an Aussie I was born and educated in England, so know my way around a bit.

Cheers
Brownie

[little boy blue]

.....for cruising around the UK .......

hi, and welcome to the forum.
do you intend to circumnavigate the uk or just cruise around a particular part of the uk ?

[buenavista]

Wouldn't mind circumnavigating but not sure yet how feasible that is until I have done some research. I have booked my boat on a ship leaving in February and was headed for the Mediterranean but have talked my partner around to doing UK first, so I have to learn fast!!

Cheers
Brownie

[Booby Trapper]

Hi All,

I was born and educated in England, so know my way around a bit.

Cheers
Brownie

Well no need to do that bit again . head up to the west coast of Scotland, sample some of the best cruising grounds in the uk and when the summer draws to an end which is usually around the first week in July head south to the Med.

[little boy blue]

the east coasts of scotland and england are, shall we say, the least attractive sailing areas in the uk. basically you leave port, turn up or down, depending on your direction of travel, and sail along the coast to the next port.
the south coast of england is a bit like that as well since there is only one island worth talking about - think solent / isle of wight. however a very popular sailing area.
if you want a decent bit of sailing, scenery, decent drink and slightly cheaper facilities come to the west of scotland.
at which port does your boat disembark ?

[buenavista]

The boat arrives in Ipswich. So far the West Coast of Scotland seems to get a vote, which is good because Scotland was where we really wanted to go. Is there a decent cruising guide to the area? Any suggestions for a cruising route from Ipswich to the West Coast? It seems a similar distance either way, so it seems a question of what is the best cruising route?

[Gardenshed]

Start with these:

http://www.clyde.org/index.php/content/view/47/49/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and "Imray" publish similar pilots.

To get a flavour of the west coast, "The Scottish Islands" by a Gentleman called Hamish Haswell-Smith is a great book. As the name may suggest, it doesn't do anywhere on the mainland, but the illustrations and sketches give a great foretaste of what you'll experience.

All available through Amazon, and if you click to Amazon from this forum, a few pennies go to the gent who set up and runs this resource. Bear that in mind when splashing your cash!

How you go about your odessy, depends on the size of your boat, the time that you have, your sense of adventure & your experience so gives us a few hints about those and sit back and the advice will flow in.

If you search previous posts on this and other UK forums, you'll find that a similar question has been asked and answered many times.

have fun & bring midge repellent

[buenavista]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback so far, I will check out the recommendations on books. Details of the boat etc are as follows;

* Boat is a ocean going motor yacht 65' LOA, so the boat is good for long range (2500nm) and rough seas (the skipper and first mate are no so keen on rough weather these days though!!). Yes I know a stink boat uurrghh ....... but we were sailors until 18 months ago and we have done many passages in exposed areas like Tasmania as well as the Australian coastline and the South Pacific.

* The boat will probably arrive in Ipswich about March I guess, I don't have the ETA yet and time is not really an issue for us, we don't need to be anywhere at any specific time. After UK, which may extend to more than one season, we will move on to the Med.

* In terms of things we would like to see, Devon/Cornwall looks great from the land, but not sure what it is like for cruising/anchorages/marinas etc. By the way, we are more into anchoring than marinas, except for keeping the grog cabinet stocked!! Isle of Man, Ireland, Wales all look good but again have no information on what are the "must not miss" bits yet and not sure how much we can do in a season without rushing, I am hoping we can get some advice here

I hope this gives a bit more information on our plans, although the plan whenever we are cruising is not to have a plan if you get my drift!!

Great site by the way, so much response in so little time, this has all happened in a day so far with an 11 hour time difference. By the way, sorry about the cricket so far, I hope you won't hold it against me, but still a long way to go!!

[Nick]

* In terms of things we would like to see, Devon/Cornwall looks great from the land, but not sure what it is like for cruising/anchorages/marinas etc. By the way, we are more into anchoring than marinas, except for keeping the grog cabinet stocked!! Isle of Man, Ireland, Wales all look good but again have no information on what are the "must not miss" bits yet and not sure how much we can do in a season without rushing, I am hoping we can get some advice here

The S & W coasts of Ireland are fantastic, but could really do with a season on their own to do them justice. As you have a big and presumably fast boat though you could come up to Scotland via the West coast of Ireland. Must-stop places: Dingle, Aran Islands, Inishbofin, Tory Island. From Tory Island a brave jump up to Castlebay puts you at the bottom of the Outer Hebrides, an island chain well worth spending some time exploring. Make sure you get out to St Kilda if you get a weather window.

Then if there's any time left just chill exploring the rest of the NW coast and the inner Hebrides. You might want to spend more than a season however.

[Mark]

Clearly the West Coast of Scotland is the UK's best Cruising ground, and where you need to spend the bulk of your time.

However given where you're starting from you could consider a trip up to London by sea to do the tourist bit and maybe read AC Stock "High Adventure on a Small Budget" (Which covers the East Coast in some Detail) for a few East Coast ideas to kill a week or so before going on to better places.

I think a short time in the Solent might be nice just to say you've done it. Maybe check out the Naval Museum at Portsmouth.

All my own opinion, of course.

[buenavista]

More good info, thanks. BTW, no my boat is definitely not fast, it is a trawler design and we only go along at about 8 knots.

[Nick]

More good info, thanks. BTW, no my boat is definitely not fast, it is a trawler design and we only go along at about 8 knots.

We passage plan at 4.5 knots, so 8 knots is pretty fast!

[Ocklepoint]

Just to be different you could depart Ipswich, turn left, north, and steam up the east coast of England, nothing much to see there: up the east coast of Scotland, with a stop in Edinburgh, perhaps the finest city in the Western European Archipelago, on up the east coast either turning left to Inverness and through the Caledonian Canal or straight on up the east coast to the Orkney Islands. These islands are well worth an extended visit.

From there keep turning left and you will soon be on the west coast of Scotland, considered by many (most) the finest cruising in these islands. It rains a bit, can be a windy, has annoying insects but we think its worth it.

Then straight on south, keeping to the right, down the outside of Ireland, follow it round till you are close to (Eng) Lands End, swing south of that, then Cornwall, Devon and maybe the Solent.

After that I'd go to France

Skip the Irish Sea.

[little boy blue]

..............Skip the Irish Sea.

i`d agree with most of that post, but not the last sentence.
the isle of man is in the irish sea and well worth a visit, imho.
i`d recommend peel as your port of call. easy to get around the island on the bus and narrow guage railway. lots to see and do on the island.

[buenavista]

One thing that occurs to me, in deciding which way to go round from Ipswich to West Coast Scotland, is there a preferred way in the spring, e.g. do prevailing winds change with the season? I am used to trade wind sailing so you try not to head south in winter or north in summer.