Planning a round GB trip

Introduction

This is partly an overview page with links to more detailed advice either to relevant blog posts or pages.

First published January 2021, Major updates November / December 2021 and a few more over the years.

Anchorages and Marinas visited as at July 2024

For detailed guidance I recommend Sam Steele's UK and Ireland Circumnavigators guide (Steele, 2011) together with the appropriate pilots (see Charts and Guides). She did most of the trip two handed with some legs more fully crewed so I will expand a little to cover single handed / smaller boat issues, and add a few thoughts based on my 2020 clockwise and 2021 anticlockwise circumnavigations and trips to the Scottish Islands in 2022 & 2023 and to Orkney via Cape Wrath in 2024.

My preferred time to start is early in the season, typically April hoping for the best weather but because of covid-19 my 2020 trip started in July. With poor weather and restricted time it was rather rushed with "only" 32 days at sea. I skipped many planned stops because the weather was just too miserable to make it worth while, otherwise the legs sailed were surprisingly close to those planned except that I went up the east coast of Ireland rather than the west coast of England and Wales.  

Planning for 2021 was undertaken in January and February due to general uncertainly about the 2021 season and in particular the Jester Baltimore Challenge. (See my post "Time to revise plans for 2021?")

Contents (Below if not a link), note that "Pages" do not show up in the list of labels:

• Single handed specific issues to consider:
• Use of canals.
• General tips.
• Berthing on high & rough walls.
• Fuel, Gas, Water & Porterage.
• Which way round? (Page) 
• When to leave (Page).
• Pre planning.
• Stores and tools for extended cruising (page).
• Passage Planning
• Dover Straits - The Solent (to follow).
• The Solent - Land's End (Page).
• Land’s End to the North Channel and which side? (Page)
• Navigating the Pentland Firth (Page)
• Passage making along the East Coast (Page).
• Anchorages, marinas and harbours (Pages), regularly updated:
• Overview and index (post).
• The Solent.
• The Needles to Rame Hd (Plymouth).
• Rame Head to Lands End.
• Lands End north to Anglesey
• The Isles of Scilly and SE Ireland from Baltimore to Carnsore Point 
• The East Coast of Ireland from Carnsore Pt to Red Bay.
• Mull of Galloway to Ardnamurchan Point.
• Ardnamurchan Point to Rubha Reidh.
• The Western Isles.
• Loch Ewe to Orkney.
• Duncansby Head to The Solent.
• Charts and Guides (Page)
• US MSI Sailing Directions, list of lights etc (includes UK) free to view or download (External link),
• Anchors, drogues and emergency steering (Page).
• Some thoughts on (diesel) fuel management. (Page).
• Anchorages and Passages of Note. (wip Page)
• Eating at Sea. and  "My most frequent scratch made meals".

Single Handed Specific Issues

Canals

Many prefer to shorten their trip and to avoid Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth by using the Caledonian Canal, others use the Crinan to avoid the Mull of Kintyre. Although not recommended by someone I know who has done it, the Caledonian can be done single handed but the Crinan can not as most of the locks are unmanned. For the relatively short route help is available to hire at sensible money. See my post on my passage through in 2021.

Update: As of January 2023: Use of a "pilot" was mandatory through the Crinan canal if you are shorthanded with fewer than three aboard and recommended if:

• you are in a rush to transit
• you have never transited the canal before.

Due to Covid single handed passages through the Caledonian Canal were banned in 2021, I understand that has changed but check with the authorities.

Certainly when I went through the Crinan, some of the walls were very rough (e.g. parts of Lock 14) so take a fender board (see below). You will also need a couple of long mooring lines (20 - 25 metres) - one of them will need to run from the top of the lock wall to the bow and back to a cockpit winch. Detailed guidance can be downloaded from the Scottish Canals web site.

General tips 

Berthing on high & rough walls.

Many small harbours only have berthing available against rather high and rough walls, at low tide, assuming there is sufficient water, getting alongside and lines ashore singlehanded can be problematic. If planning to use these harbours (or a canal) take a fender board and be prepared for some gymnastics on arrival. 

On a very rough wall fenders can disappear into cracks and bulges can hit the hull, the answer is a fender board between the wall and the fenders. A single long plank with ropes attached is the normal approach, but on a small boat it is difficult to store and will usually end up on the lifelines where it gets in the way and will be bashed by the sea. I made one in two shorter sections joined by rope top and bottom so that it can be folded, it also conforms better to the curved side of an Achilles.

My articulated fender board(s), a 2.4m length of tantalized decking
board cut in two and tied together. Two fenders fit nicely under each.
Note the ropes go through the edges of the board so that they are less
likely to get damaged by the wall.

The long mooring lines needed for going through locks are also likely to be required for lying alongside in many of the working harbours.

Fuel, Gas, Water & Porterage.

Replenishing fuel and gas can be problematical around Scotland, water is usually less of a problem but all are likely to require porterage at some time or another so be prepared with plenty cans and, if there is room on the boat, a good folding hand cart, preferably metal - my plastic one failed after being used only 3 or 4 times, the bigger the wheels the easier it will roll and make sure you can stack and secure heavy awkward cans so they stay in place over rough ground, over curbs etc. Mine cost about £30 and is very robust, will carry 198 Lbs (it is claimed) and has bigger than average 150mm wheels.

Gas

In outlying areas it is likely to be expensive and, given Calor's chaotic distribution system (they supply Camping Gaz as well as Calor) availability can't be guaranteed - even on the south coast I once visited half a dozen places before I was able to buy a standard 2.7 Kg 907 bottle.

Bottles of water flying round the boat could cause a
lot of damage in the event of a knock down so I have
 removable bars to keep them in place. Pic before the
bilge and under bunk areas were repainted.

I use my oven quite a lot so have to change Camping Gaz cylinders every 5 - 8 weeks, the boat has dedicated lockers for two cylinders but fortunately the cockpit "wet" locker, which drains to the cockpit, has room for the 5 litre petrol tank required for the tender's outboard and a third Gaz cylinder as well as my normal mooring lines. 

Water

Away from marinas water is likely only to be available by portage, so some cans will be required for that. Even that may not be available and you could get weather bound for weeks on end so as my water tankage is quite limited at < 50 litres I have a 15 litre emergency supply in a can that could be heaved into the life raft given time and take a lot of bottled water which I use for drinking, generally reserving the water in the tank for washing up, cooking and coffee. 

Don't forget a good supply of water purification tablets they will be hard to find on route! And before you leave make sure your water filter element is still good.

Diesel:

Be aware that many small marinas around Scotland do not have full time staff and may, like Stromness, be looked after by volunteers, so even if Reed's says fuel is available it might only be by appointment when the volunteer can attend, perhaps during his or her's evening rounds. Self service pumps at harbours and marinas that take a normal card are rare and all but 2 in the outer Hebrides require a key fob to operate (see the CCC directions). Often it will be a hike to the local petrol station either from a marina or by dinghy. 

WIP 2023 - Having nothing better to do waiting for the 2023 season I am updating my pages on anchorages to include moorings and marinas and, where I have refuelled there, a note on how easy or difficult it is to do so.

Pre-planning

On long trips in unfamiliar areas, plan well ahead, I outlined the trip in Excel, being retired I have plenty of time during the winter (and during Covid-19 lock downs 😒) so I planned all of the route legs and many options on the computer, generating waypoints and routes to transfer to the plotter as and when required. This helps identify potential issues, best routes, timings, start dates etc. I run the route at least twice once at springs and once at neaps and usually at several different speeds to get a feel for the issues. For my first trip round and with the extended Covid shut down, I produced two complete plans, one starting at springs one at neaps. I did not bother doing that the 2nd time around (except for going through the Pentland Firth). My SeaPro software will also, in one run, give approximate route timings for the selected start time and the following 12 hours which helps:

The route from St Margret's Bay (Just S of Rosslare) to Arklow.

As well as being useful this level of planning is also a diverting and quite pleasurable exercise. 

The plan will almost certainly change but forms a good basis and with some spare days built in you might catch up with the schedule. Having gone round twice there was little to do for my trip towards St Kilda in 2022.

I'll have the pilot to hand and will usually read the appropriate section several times before starting a leg but I put key points in the comments section of my excel summary for quick reference whilst sailing, this allows for quick re-planning and to have basic information to hand and organised if on route I decide to combine two legs or take an alternate - perhaps due to bad weather when getting the information together could be challenging. These examples are far more detailed than most - a tribute to some dangerous waters requiring accurate timing and pilotage.

Into Scapa Flow from the South East. I include a note of the
route file(s) needed to be moved to the plotter (a simple job) from the
iPad on which they are stored ready - the plotter will "only" handle
100 routes and a good number are used for my "normal" trips along
the south coast.

Part of a route planned from Wick in SeaPro, this one to the
Long Hope anchorage. Red = tide race / over falls / Roost. In
the event I went direct from Peterhead to Hunda Sound in
the SE corner of the Flow.

And out through the sound of Hoy and on.

When dates are known or can reasonably be estimated I fill in the blanks or update from the navigation software.

An alternate, especially going through familiar waters, I now use is a somewhat simple approach and well suited to shorter trips, is to put the highlights in an electronic diary. I use MS Outlook so it is available on all of my devices (iPhone, iPad and PC's).

My plan for a trip from Milford Haven to Jersey and back. Note
key times at tidal gates are shown which shows at a glance the
impact of delay, or getting somewhere early. HWD = High
Water Dover. (click to enlarge).

Below is the summary of my planned trip from the Hamble round GB to the start of the 2021 Jester Baltimore Challenge, the full version is as above albeit generally with far fewer notes, I had the notes and experience from the 2020 clockwise trip, many of which work in reverse. As things turned out the trip did not turn out this way due to bad weather and I missed the cruise down the outer Isles and St Kilda and when it was clear I would not make the start of the Jester I took a diversion through the Crinan Canal.

A summary of the actual itinerary of my 2020 clockwise trip can be found here and the 2021 here.

Outline of my plan for the 2021 Trip

From	To	NM
Hamble	Downs (2 days)	122
Downs	Lowestoft (or somewhere short)	78
Rest Day
Lowestoft	Filey (or Bridlington, Scarborough or other)	132
Filey	Blyth (or anchor short or long?)	72
Rest Day
Blyth	Lindisfarne	38
Rest Day
Lindisfarne	St Andrews (or close to)	57
St Andrews	Peterhead	76
	2 days stopping off somewhere.
Rest Day
Spare day
Peterhead	Wick / Sinclair's Bay	72
	Direct?
Spare day
Wick (Sinclair's Bay)	Stromness	34
Rest Day	Consider a week extra to go to Fair Isle and The Hebrides
Rest Day
Rest Day	Or IF light wind / calm seas V early start to go round to Bray of Skaill / Scarabray for the night.
Stromness	Eriboll	49
Eriboll	Loch Ned	55
Loch Ned	Stornoway	42
Rest Day
Rest Day
Stornaway	Scalpay	27
Scalpay	Ensay (Sound of Harris)
Ensay	St Kilda (have to be lucky with the weather for this!)	54
Rest day
St Kilda	Loch Boisdale via the sound of Barra or various anchorages around the sound of Barra.	76
Alternate:
Scalpay	Loch Maddy	24
Loch Maddy	Loch Boisdale	31
Rest Day
End alternate
Loch Boisdale	Canna	30
Canna	Tobermory	34
Rest Day
Rest Day
Rest Day
Tobermory	Ardalanish via Iona	40
Cruise the area	End in time to get to  Pwllheli  for the start of the JBC assuming its on.
???	Port Ellen
Rest Day
Port Ellen	Browns Bay	50
Browns Bay	Ardglass	53
Rest Day
Rest Day
Ardglass	Dundalk Bay or Carlingford.	31
Dundalk	Dublin	44
Dublin	Wiklow	27
Wiklow	Pwllheli	70
Rest days
Jester Baltimore