Out of the Doldrums



Engine in bits &
saloon table covered in parts

I’m in the winter doldrums: The sails ashore, the engine in bits and the saloon table covered in wiring diagrams and battery management black boxes that need fitting. There’s plenty to do aboard- but no prospect of sailing. The certainty of no sailing is somehow far worse than a possibility of sailing which, in the end, doesn’t materialise. The weather’s too stormy this weekend for sailing I tell myself. I scroll through the Navtex messages that glow a thin wan electronic yellow on the chestnut of the bulkhead. Thin and wan like my mood. “Thames, Dover, Wight. W 6 to Gale 8 Perhaps Severe Gale 9.”  Definitely no sailing even if the boat wasn’t in bits. The doldrums feeling is still with me though.

Tempting Pilot Book Titles

 Maybe I’ve got sailing withdrawal symptoms? I brew a coffee, sit down and let my eyes roam around the saloon: the blue of the cushions, the white of the deck head. I try to turn the scene into white cliffs rising out of a blue sea. The chestnut of the bulkheads doesn’t fit into that mental picture though and nor do the bright colours of the pilot books lining the bookshelf.  My mind sharpens a little; I read the pilot book titles in a daydream soft focus: Isles of Scilly, Atlantic France, Anchorages of Brittany and The West Country. My eyes settle on The UK and Ireland Circumnavigator’s Guide and focus sharply of their own accord.

Charts, pilot Books: Limitless
 Potential

Suddenly I’m on my feet, charged with a purpose. The diagrams and components have disappeared from the saloon table, swept back into the odd bits locker. My listless mood has disappeared with them. The table is spread with open pilot books, charts, scribbled notes and a glowing i-phone with the Tide Table app working overtime. Before me, in my mind’s eye and on the saloon table, lies a limitless potential to make new landfalls, to open myself to new experiences and to yarn about it all with old friends and new friends yet to be met. This year I really do have limitless potential too. I’m free for the whole summer for the first time in my adult life.

Lost in a dream of cruising possibilities...

Soon I’m lost in the Circumnavigator’s Guide. A circumnavigation sounds purposeful, has a goal, an outcome. The wild Celtic anchorages of West Coast Scotland sound like my ideal cruising ground. I love the cragginess of Cornwall and North Brittany. There are the midges though. Reading the Blogs great play seems to be made of sunny days and fair breezes too – as if this is a rare and noteworthy combination. Another thing: those Blogs tend to be very quiet on the delights of the East Coast, North Sea run back - half the trip. Well maybe the answer is to stick the West coast then? Head North via Scilly and the Welsh Coast and back via the Irish coast. We’re still heading North away from the sun and the West coast is a lee shore for the prevailing wind though. Do I want a purpose other than to enjoy the cruise for the experiences it brings? And isn’t the art of cruising to keep your options open, make the best use of whatever the weather serves up? The answer to that last question is a Yes for me. Yes: it’s the whole point.  So a Circumnavigation is too constraining, too driven, too much like working life.

Dittisham,on the Dart, our first intended port of call
 & an old favourite

I must visit Scilly though - I’ve always wanted to. I’ve never had the time before to wait for suitable weather. On a two or three week break my whole precious holiday could have been eaten up waiting patiently in Helford, Falmouth or Penzance for the weather to visit Scilly and never getting there. I’ve met skippers alongside in Fowey and Falmouth for whom it’s an annual pilgrimage; waiting for the miracle of the perfect weather falling on their holiday dates. That’s the first anchor point of the cruise settled then: We’re going to Scilly. Let’s check the westbound tides from Poole: I’ll want a High Water Dover around 06.00 for a nice tidal lift out of Poole, past The Bill and into Dartmouth by nightfall. It looks as if the choices are: middle of April, end of April or middle of May. That’s our second cruise anchor point settled: our departure date. Let the weather decide the best pick of the three.

Craggy & Celtic

Where after Scilly? We’re looking for somewhere Craggy, Celtic, yet to cruised by me and with good prospects of fair weather: sun and breeze? I love the North Brittany Ports. I’ve explored from St Malo to L’Aber Wrac’h aboard Stargazer and her flightier predecessor Goblin. The weather’s always better than in the UK down there. Where’s like that? I know: Biscay, South Brittany! It’s about 100 nautical miles from Scilly to L’Aber Wrac’h. So that’s 18-20 hours for Stargazer depending on the breeze and how well I work out the course across the tides to keep distance sailed to a minimum. That’s just about doable for a well-rested single hander. I’ve got the time to rest up and pick my weather too.

That’s the third anchor point of the cruise settled: cross either from Scilly or Falmouth to L’Aber Wrac’h then head round the corner. Sail down through the Chenal du Four, dally in Morgat or Douarnenez maybe, on through the Raz de Sein and into a whole new cruising ground: Iles de Glenans, Belle Ile, Golfe de Morbihan, the turreted harbour of La Rochelle, Bordeaux and seemingly a thousand ports and anchorages in between. That’s it!

To
Summer Cruising: Fair Winds!

The Cruise plan is settled: Head west in early May (give or take a fortnight) and stooge in Helford or explore the Fal until there’s a weather window for Scilly. Explore Scilly: walk, swim, snorkel and row – drink it all in. Then we head South to L’Aber Wrac’h or, if weather and provisioning dictate, head east for Falmouth or Penzance and then South to L’Aber Wrac’h. Depending on weather we then either scoot through the Chenal and Raz in one go or visit Camaret or Morgat between short hops. After that we meander down to La Rochelle or Bordeaux  via the Golfe de Morbihan before returning and visiting the ports and anchorages we missed on the way South. Return to Poole via the Chanel Islands somewhere around the end of August beginning of September. That will do me!

Two days later the engine is rebuilt and the black boxes are fitted. I’m out of the winter doldrums, spring is in the air, and Stargazer and I have got a tide to catch!