Quote:
Originally Posted by picklesandjesse
I was on an island near Vancouver....... same deal !!! Wanted to kill myself. Clouds were below the tree tops sometimes.Used to drive nonstop to LA, 22 hours to see the sun and humans enjoying life. |
Nowhere in Europe that I know of has that kind of climate. However, some find it wet and cold up here in Northern Europe. It doesn't bother me -- I come from the hot part of the U.S. and 25 years after leaving, I'm still grateful every day I no longer live in that climate. The UK South Coast gets a reasonable amount of sun and isn't all that wet, and is relatively warm in the
winter, with very rare and very light frosts. Palm trees grow in
Southampton. People sail year around and all facilities are open year round.
The other great thing up here is the long days in the summer time (balanced by the long nights in the winter time, but that's cozy if you have the right attitude).
But if it's too cold for you, you'll need to go down into Biscay. In any case, some kind of
heating system is essential, even in summer.
In any case, you will want, I think, to get out of the North Sea, which has the most difficult weather and the most challenging and even dangerous sea states. Not what you want in a smaller boat, and especially not with a
novice sailor new wife.
Downside of the UK South Coast is that it is very expensive in the summer time. It's very reasonable in the winter, and it's a wonderful cruising ground, but in the summer I believe it's the most expensive berthing in Europe. Across the Channel in
France is much cheaper (berthing less than half the cost), those coasts are just gorgeous -- at least as good as the UK South Coast (and that's saying something).
You might also think about the
Baltic, but only for the summer (it is too cold to sail in the winter time and all the
marinas are closed anyway; hell, the Eastern
Baltic FREEZES). It is a cruising paradise, extremely
cheap, all facilities oriented to smaller boats, with an infinite volume of things to do and see.
So one way to do it might be Baltic in the summer, and then move to the UK South Coast in the winter, which in fact is what I have been doing for the last couple of years. Moving between the Baltic and UK South coasts involves a fair bit of sailing -- about 1500 miles from the Solent to Eastern
Finland, so roughly 3000 round trip, but I consider that part of the fun. YMMV.
UK South Coast, a day sail from the Solent:
As a place for overwintering in Northern Europe, I think you couldn't find a better place than the Solent, by the way. It's relatively warm, its waters are sheltered, and there are a staggeringly huge number of interesting things to see and do. In this little bit of
water less than 20 mies long, you have all of these
ports:
Southampton, Portsmouth, Cowes, Yarmouth, Lymington, Beaulieu, Hamble . . .
It's also the world capital of the yachting industry with every conceivable
service and a thriving maritime community.
It's crowded in the summer with a huge concentration of yachts and huge fleets of aggressive racers, and people hate it for that, but it's marvelous in the winter. You can spend an entire winter cruising just the Solent and not get bored. And if you want a bit of variety, Cherbourg is just 60 miles across the Channel, from the Needles, and you can make Poole on one tide, or Weymouth if you're fast.
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