This is a plan to circumnavigate England, Wales and some of Scotland in June/July 2008, passing through the Caledonian Canal.
I plan to sail when the weather is fair and roughly in the correct direction, the emphasis is on safety and comfort rather than progress. If the 2008 Summer is as bad as the 2007 summer, and we are stuck in port for ages, I am happy to leave Serenity wherever for the year and continue in 2009, 2010..
Ideally we'll sail every other day as one leg will be a very full day. All of this is, of course, weather dependant
I hope that each leg or the route will be 60 nm or shorter so that the passage can be during daylight, tides permitting. The major desinations will be places where crew can catch a convenient train back home, with minor destinations en route. I hope to spend most nights in marinas where we might find power, internet, hot showers and food.
Serenity can sleep up to 5 people apparently, although I guess that they would have to be very friendly. I expect to either sail with one crew so that we have a cabin each, or two crew when I would choose the saloon.
I'm working on this table ( please ask me to change crew allocations ) :
| Date | Start | End | Crew | Distance | Time at 4.5kn | Chart | Notes |
| 31-5-08 | Suffolk yacht Harbour | Lowestoft | Jennifer | 45nm | 9.50 hours | ||
| 1-6-08 | Lowestoft | Wells on Sea | Jennifer | 60nm | 13.5 | ||
| 2-6-08 | Wells on Sea | Kings Lynn | Jennifer | 32nm | 6 | Train for Bernie/Jennifer | |
| 4-6-08 | Kings Lynn | Grimsby | Bernie | 60 | 12 | ||
| 5-6-08 | Grimsby | Bridlington | Bernie | 46nm | 9 | ||
| 7-6-08 | Bridington | Whitby | Paul | 42.5nm | 8 | Train connection looks ok | |
| 8-6-08 | Whitby | Blyth | Paul | 50nm | 10 | ||
| 10-6-08 | Blyth | Berwick | Paul | 50nm | 10.5 | ||
| 13-6-08 | Berwick | Arbroath | Paul | 53nm | 12 | ||
| 16-6-08 | Arbroath | Aberdeen | Paul | 44 | 9.5 | ||
| 18-6-08 | Aberdeen | Whitehills | Jennifer | 60 | 13.5 | Sleeper train | |
| 20-6-08 | Whitehills | Inverness | Jennifer | 60 | 13.5 | Sleeper train | |
| 23-6-08 | Inverness | Fort William | Jennifer | 60nm | Caledonian canal - slow with lots of Locks | ||
| 28-6-08 | Fort William | Mull | Phil R | 65nm | C64 | Anchor somewhere near to Mull | |
| 29-6-08 | Mull | Ballycastle | Phil R | 65nm | C64 | Northern Ireland | |
| 1-7-08 | Ballycastle | Belfast - Bangor Marina | Phil R | 42nm | C64 | Near to airport for transfer ( I might wander back to Cambs ) | |
| 7-7-08 | Belfast | Douglas? IOM | Phil M | 71nm | I'll get Phils advice on the best port | ||
| 9-7-08 | IOM | Holyhead | Phil M | ||||
| 11-7-08 | Holyhead | Cardigan bay | Phil M | ||||
| 13-7-08 | Cardigan bay | Milford Haven | Phil M | Find an anchorage | |||
| 15-7-08 | Milford Haven | Lundy | Jennifer | We might wander down to Cardiff if we have time | |||
| 17-7-08 | Lundy | Hayle | Jennifer | ||||
| 19-7-08 | Hayle | Scillies | Jennifer | ||||
| 21-7-08 | Scillies | Falmouth | Andy | ||||
| 23-7-08 | Falmouth | Gurnsey | Andy | ||||
| 25-7-08 | Gurnsey | Poole | Andy | Hopefull there is a good train connection here | |||
| 27-7-08 | Poole | Brighton | Billy | Or the cheaper harbour to the West | |||
| 29-7-08 | Brighton | Ramsgate | Billy | Avoiding crowds | |||
| 31-7-08 | Ramsgate | Suffolk Yacht Harbour | Billy | Home |
I am a truely appalling vegetarian cook, so be warned. Tinned veggie curry, lentils and veggie chilli, or strawberry sandwiches. I'll try and learn more culinary options. I'm not against cooking meat onboard, just don't expect me to eat it :-)
I'll supply Lifejackets unless you prefer your own. I have some spare waterproofs. Serenity is equipped with VHF DSC radio, HF, AIS and a passive radar reflector. We have an inflatable tender with 2.2hp outboard, fire extinguishers, first aid kit and probably diving kit. I may even invest in a cheap EPIRB.
The main navigation will be using a chart plotter/c-map (Mar2008). Passage planning will probably use SeaPro standard (2007), and for backup I'll have large scale paper charts ( older ) where we will plot our course.