The Engine - a vital component

The Engineer

Since we are led to believe that about 50 per cent of the tour will require motorised propulsion, we thought that at least one of us should know how to maintain and repair that most wonderful of inventions, the diesel engine. Guess who drew the short straw?

The Manuals

Good job too, as I don't know a big end from a gasket ...

CA House, Limehouse Basin, London

Actually he really loves engines, could spend hours with them -  so it wasn't too much trouble to persuade him to go on a Diesel Engine course, run by the RYA at Cruising Association House. 

De-winterising Follyfin

A couple of weeks ago we ventured south again to prepare the boat for sailing after the winter. She has been out of the water since October. Both above and below deck, the general mayhem was apparent.

Above deck from stern

View from cockpit

Mainsail in saloon

Chaos in saloon

Fore cabin with dinghy

Our work involved re-rigging all the lines and sails that had been removed or packed up in plastic bags back in November, as well as cleaning off bird droppings and seeds etc., flushing through drainage holes, polishing the 'silver' ware, and generally returning the boat to active duty. 

Rigging the lines

The rigger

The fore sail 'jib',  ready to hoist

Main sail in position

Putting on the 'bonnet'

Those mast steps very useful

We were prepared for cold and/or wet weather but as it turned out, we hit upon 3 of the warmest days of the year so far - distinctly reminiscent of summer indeed! This made our work all the more pleasant especially as it also included manual calibration of the 50 metres of anchor chain. A preliminary attempt was made to splice an extra 30 metres of multiplait rope to the anchor chain but as we were working from diagrams in a book, this took much longer than anticipated and did not get finished - 'work in progress' as we say.

Anchor & chain ready for calibration

White paint marks every 10 m

Rough route map

Follyfin's expected route on the UK tour

Have spent some time creating a visual aid to display the rough route. More detail can be found in the post made on 29 February entitled 'Rough route'. It starts at Eastbourne down in SE England and progresses anti-clockwise round to Whitby on NE coast. You will notice that the last 'leg' from Whitby to London is only shown as a dotted line, only because we have not yet had time (or energy) to fill in the details. This will be done in due course!

Tender transport

Yesterday we enjoyed a drive up to Finchale Abbey, just north of Durham.  It was a beautiful day and most rewarding, not least because we collected this splendid outboard motor for our tender ... 'tender' meaning dinghy rather than lovingly tender, though I suspect that I for one will recognise that emotion when faced with the choice of rowing against wind and tide or pulling the starter motor! 

    Looking a little incongruous in the North York Moors setting, it will nevertheless do the job of propelling us back and forth between Mother Ship and shore-based facilities. Essential equipment for accessing those watering holes ashore after a long day's sailing. We sourced it from eBay ... very tender indeed!  

    Also took the opportunity to investigate Hartlepool Marina where we hope to leave Follyfin for several months next winter.

Hartlepool Marina - aerial view

... and on a quiet evening

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!