Rough route

Courtesy CA

We now have a rough idea regarding main ports of call and approximate timings. In due course we hope to present a map which will show our route as it unfolds. More detailed work with the charts is still required ...

but for now, we present our ...

Overall plan:
Month 1, May: Eastbourne to SW Scotland
Month 2, June: SW Scotland to NE Scotland & the Orkneys (hopefully)
Month 3, July: NE Scotland to Hartlepool
Months 4/5: half August & September: Hartlepool to London and back

Courtesy RYA

More detailed plan (but still rough): see below for the dates we hope to arrive in the places mentioned but of course it all depends on the weather! All these ports/harbours are on the mainland (except for Isles of Wight and Man) so should friends wish to come aboard briefly for a visit, or even join us for a few days cruising, then that should be easy to arrange. You just have to keep an eye on our progress to judge where and when you might be able to meet up with us.

NOTE FOR POTENTIAL CREW: Please let us know ASAP if you are interested in cruising with us on a particular 'leg' of the journey so we can provisionally reserve a berth for you. We can accommodate 2 comfortably, 4 is cosy.
Month 1
29 April: Embarkation day. Sail east to Eastbourne - the 'shakedown' cruise. This will give us an opportunity to correct any potential faults or failures.

1 May: Depart Eastbourne heading west.

3 May: Weymouth via Isle of Wight.

8 May: Torquay

At this point we intend to leave the boat and travel overland to the Lake District for the wedding of family friends.

Month 1 (continued)

15 May: resume voyage bound for Salcombe

17-21 May: Falmouth, Newlyn, Padstow

22 May: Milford Haven, Fishguard, Cardigan, Pwllheli

28 May: Holyhead

30 May: Whitehaven via Isle of Man

During June we want to explore the west coast of Scotland and the islands, possibly including one or two drams visits to whisky distilleries in the area.

Month 2

6 June: Oban

14 June: Mallaig

20 June: Gairloch

25 June: Scrabster

30 June: Wick via The Orkneys

Month 3

2 July: Inverness

8 July: Peterhead

13 July: Eyemouth

20 July: Hartlepool

Here we intend to leave the boat for a 2 week 'holiday' at home!

Month 4/5

6 or 13 August: Whitby

The remainder of the route awaits further research but that's enough for now!

Route planning ... continued

It has been an exhausting process ...

but we are persevering against all the odds. We have now managed to roughly plan round to the NE coast of Scotland, as far as Wick Harbour. Fiona last visited this place in 1993 when completing her Yachtmaster Offshore certificate. Seems a long time ago!


There are so many wonderful places that we could visit on the NW coast of Scotland - whisky distilleries (Islay, Skye, Campbelltown), wildlife-watching locations (Loch Spelve), remote anchorages (Loch Scavaig, Loch Eribroll), castle anchorages (Eilean Donnan, Tioram), lonely lochs (Loch Torridon), glorious gardens (Inverewe), remote hostelries (The Old Forge Pub at Inverie, only accessible by sea or after an 18-mile hike overland), not to mention historical places of interest such as Iona. To name but a few! This all makes it extremely difficult to plan an itinerary because some of them will be inaccessible in certain weathers and there wont be time to visit every one, even though we'd like to.


So we will try to predict as accurately as possible the dates by which we hope to be moored at (or within easy reach of) larger harbours or marinas where there are facilities and public transport connections. Of course unscheduled prolonged stops in sheltered havens further south, due to being storm-bound or simply needing a rest, might throw these predictions seriously off-course.


Coming soon - the draft timetable.

First Aid sussed - we hope

On Saturday we attended a one-day First Aid course at Cruising Association House at Limehouse Basin in London. The course was specifically designed for sailors.

CA House, Limehouse

Well, talk about an eye-opener! This stuff is not for the faint-hearted. At least now we are prepared to deal with assorted 'incidents' that might occur (to us or any passengers who dare to come aboard for a short while) during our 3-4 month long voyage around the UK. As well as advising on what first aid 'supplies' to include, we also learned how to deal with minor ailments such as toothache, fainting and bleeding as well as more serious conditions like sea-sickness, stroke, heart attack, head wound, fracture, shock and man overboard/drowning. Apparently the most common cause of the latter is OFS (open fly syndrome), so men: look out, especially after a few libations! Other more gruesome injuries that might occur were also dealt with, e.g. something delightfully named "de-gloving", the nature of which we will leave to your imagination. Suffice to say that all possible preventative measures will be taken, for that and all other incidents!

CPR technique was obviously practised until we were all fully au fait with it. All advice is also contained in a very useful book which will be on board Follyfin.

So now to make a list to supplement the first aid kit... Boots here we come! And then back to route planning.

Route planning begins

Spent several hours today and yesterday, poring over maps and almanacs, charts and books. But only managed to 'plan' the first 4 weeks or so of the cruise ... and only reached as far as the Crinan Canal! This period includes best part of a week on a so-called 'shakedown' cruise, sailing East from home port of Chichester to Eastbourne. Cousin Jim and wife Wendy live near there in a house built literally right next to the beach. Weather permitting we will drop anchor there and pop in for lunch! During the first 4 weeks we will also be taking 5 days 'off' to travel North overland to the Lake District to attend young James Poole's wedding. So given these distractions I suppose 4 weeks is not too bad!

Planning phase

Well hello there! This is the start, the first step towards our 2012 circumnavigation of the UK in our yacht Follyfin ... creating a blog so that (i) there is a record of this epic voyage and (ii) to keep interested parties informed of our progress, including high/low points, trials, successes and tribulations (not too many of those we hope!).

Follyfin on pontoon at Itchenor, Chichester Harbour

Under sail at the Southampton Boat Show, 2011

Having never done this before (blogging I mean), we will be learning as we go along. Please forgive beginner's faults! Within the next few days we will publish our provisional route and rough timings, 'provisional' and 'rough' being the operative words since the weather will be the commanding force that will determine exactly where we turn up and when!