Portsmouth England to Oban, Scotland - any advice?

[Quebramar]

So I’m willing to learn more and get more exposure to navigation and technical skills in open waters. So far I travelled the English Channel many times, now I just registered for a 2-week trip from Portsmouth to British Isles then up the Irish Sea to Oban.

My objective is to get a hint at multi-day sailing legs (so far always daily port-hopping). I will join the Rubicon3 team so I can learn as much as possible. It will take place in late April next year. I really look forward to this trip that I hope will give me confidence to sail through the night short-handed or even solo.

Any particular advice on this trip? Handling sleep rhythm or bad weather? And spots to see absolutely past Land’s End?

Thanks in advance!

[psk125]

Sleep rhythm issues will depend upon the watch setup. There are all sorts of watch setups, and they may vary depending upon how many people there are, how many people it takes to run things, what the distances and expected duration of the trip are, and the weather. Some skippers insist upon 4 hours on /4 hours off every time. Others have longer watches during the daylight hours and shorter ones at night, staggering the lengths so that you’re not on the 00h00-02h00 every night. We’ve used staggered staffing to keep the watch “fresh”, with a new watchstander coming on every 2 hours to join those already on deck, and one on deck going off. This method can give you long (6 or more hours) off-watch periods if there are enough crew on board. Ask your skipper what the plan is.

For bad weather, bring your foulies, boots, gloves, a hat, and dry clothes.

We put in at Man. Interesting.

[JussiM]

I made that trip this year and enjoyed it very much. The route will depend on the winds. We had northerly winds the whole time. Because having the wind on the nose makes such slow progress (VMG) we had to use the engine a lot in the Irish Sea to reach tidal gates on time, and also to escape an approaching bad weather period. I imagine that with strong westerly winds you would choose a route closer to the Irish coast, and with strong easterlies go closer to Wales.

One possibility is to go quickly to Scotland after rounding Lands End and use the rest of the available time to enjoy sailing there. Many interesting places and great scenery.

The weather can be really cold and windy up there and it may be that the heater on the boat is not available without shore power. Warm clothes and most importantly a very good sleeping bag are needed.

I tried to use my off-watch time to make sure I get enough sleep. I put ear plugs on and slept whenever I could before and after a night shift. For me that worked well when we kept on going for three days. Some others kept going with far less sleep, obviously depends on the person. The skipper likely decides which watch system to use based on the route and the crew, and the crew just accepts that.

If you can, study the Reeds Almanac and the tidal gates (All the way from West Coast to Scotland) beforehand. Practice at home making a couple of passage plans covering more than one day. Then you learn the most when the skipper makes you do the same and advises you how he would like it to be done. I can tell that the instruction (lessons) given to us was first class - how to make simple and effective plans where to go and when, given the strong tidal flows near the coasts.

[psk125]

Your focus on longer passages made me omit some of the interesting spots we visited besides the Isle of Man. Arklow, Wicklow, Howth, and Strangford Lough were all fun places to put in. Be prepared to tie up to stone quays or pilings. Fender boards were quite useful to have aboard. The seals poking their heads out of the vortices as we made our way into Strangford Lough were especially amusing. Watch the tides there. Kinsale and Crosshaven, though wonderful, would not be in the right direction for you. Ferry traffic made Rosslaire a poor choice. Howth (and the Howth YC) was especially accommodating and friendly. Dun Laoghraie/Dublin was less so.

[Quebramar]

Jussi, psk, many thanks for your hints, much appreciated. I’ll have a thorough look at the maps and pilot and make some scenarios for different weather and routes. Just happened to be at a sports shop and bought an additional set of warm underwear [emoji6]