BLUEMOMENT

I'm doing some passage planning from Windermere to Loch Sween and I'm wondering how much of it to do on the back of a lorry. Some of it has to be but I quite like the idea of sailing a good bit of the way.

It's only £250 extra to get to a Clyde Marina on a lorry instead of just to salt water round here, but the delivery trip will be something I haven't done before so I would like to have a go.

Has anyone done somewhere like Whithaven or Glasson or Fleetwood ferinstance to the Clyde or anywhere up there. I will get a chart or somat before next spring but looking at my Collins road atlas it looks to be more than a day sail. How far is it and how long can I expect it to take?

Ta in advance.

Claymore's yer man for this - he's done it from Fleetwood a few times. How long it would take obviously depends heavily on the weather. A few years ago I had arranged to rendezvous with him on such a trip, but he was delayed by bad weather for 2 or 3 days.

IMHO the lorry option to the Clyde has a lot going for it, getting you into nice country ASAP. You then just have to decide whether to round MOK (fine in good weather, otherwise ) or go through the canal (cost about £100 and some crew / shore assistance almost essential). Either way 2 full days.

OTOH I can see the attraction, in reasonable weather, of a route via IOM and NI. That should take about 4 reasonable days.

surprised that it is as much as £250 extra as most of the cost is in the lift on/off and time at each end, not the driving distance.
You may find that John Shepherd (http://jsboattransport.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) is worth calling and you may get a better price.
There's not much to see from the Lancashire coast up to the Cyde, so I'm with DaveS on this one, i.e. get the boat launched on the Clyde/Ayrshire Coast. There are plenty of long passages to be done without and tidal restirctions on when you can leave the marina/port.

Don't know about Whithaven, Glasson or Fleetwood, other than I would expect to find decent fish suppers there. IoM to the Clyde is straightforward, and in favourable conditions, doable in a couple of days, calling in at Portpatrick;

.
I've done Whitehaven to the Clyde (and back) a few times, sometimes via Ireland but also direct. You need to get the tides in the Solway right.

Day 1 - Whitehaven to Isle of Whithorn - nice harbour, but you have to dry out against the wall.

Day 2 - I.O.W. to Portpatrick - get the tide right and take the inner passage round the Mull of Galloway if conditions permit.

Day 3 - Portpatrick to Irvine or Troon.

White Heaven to Troon is 18 hrs
Easily achievable in the day as the Muzz and I can vouch.
Portpatrick is a good halfway stop if you have had enough.

I've towed a Hunter Delta up to Kip a couple of times from just north of Preston and been launched and mast up within the day.
30 mph up the M6 etc is a bit quicker than 5kts up the Irish sea

Thanks for the info folks.

I was expecting it to be about 3 or 4 days to do it in legs. It's good to know that it's about 18 hours to Troon if it turns into a "let's get there" trip rather than a cruise.

If it was the Harrier that was moving I would go by road to Largs as we did in June, then set off from there. It's the Centaur we are moving so a bit different.

Been thinking about this post. It would not be smart to head south from the winding mere to Fleetwood as it would take just as long to get to Whitehaven and you'd be at least a day in front, probably 2 or 3 days if you went to Glasson as its a slow meandering exit out of there and only a 1hr timeslot to get out of the dock.
There is a good travelhoist in Whitehaven and you would be able to get out at any state of the tide in the Centaur.

From Whitehaven it would be best to get around the corner and get to Portpatrick rather than Whithorn - you can stick in close to the Galloway coast once past the Mull and buck the tide a bit if you need to.

If its a nice piece of weather then Strangford is a good alternative, followed by Bangor but then you are running this into an extended trip, especially if the Irish hospitality kicks in!

Claymore will be doing the trip around the 22nd April from Fleetwood.

claymore wrote:Been thinking about this post. It would not be smart to head south from the winding mere to Fleetwood as it would take just as long to get to Whitehaven and you'd be at least a day in front, probably 2 or 3 days if you went to Glasson as its a slow meandering exit out of there and only a 1hr timeslot to get out of the dock.
There is a good travelhoist in Whitehaven and you would be able to get out at any state of the tide in the Centaur.

From Whitehaven it would be best to get around the corner and get to Portpatrick rather than Whithorn - you can stick in close to the Galloway coast once past the Mull and buck the tide a bit if you need to.

If its a nice piece of weather then Strangford is a good alternative, followed by Bangor but then you are running this into an extended trip, especially if the Irish hospitality kicks in!

Claymore will be doing the trip around the 22nd April from Fleetwood.

From what's been said I was thinking Whitehaven is favourite too, it's noticably closer looking at a map. I can always set off to the IoM for a summer cruise one year when the weather will probably be warmer if nothing else. Bangor and the place I forget up by Rathlin had been noted as possible stopovers. Portpatrick and Whithorn I hadn't thought about, but I have now.

I was thinking of moving about when the mooring fee needs renewing in April, but whenever Easter is or possibly a bit later if spring is as poor as it was this year. Latest would be Spring Bank, end of May/first week in June, I want to be there then cruising but the delivery could be part of the cruise.

Have you spoken to John Shepherd yet?
Just thinking, since you're committed to road transport out of the Lakes anyway, it may not cost much more to take it to Troon rather than the borders somewhere, as I think John lives near Troon anyway.
Obviously, Girvan is a bit nearer the Mull, but I don't know if they have gear to get you from the lorry to the water, and Troon definately does.
We believe the weather in this area is traditionally quite good from mid May to end of June (other opinions are available)...but there is always the canal if conditions are too poor for MoK.

22th April is Easter, just looked it up. May Day is the following W/E so that looks a good option for a longish time off with minimal days leave.

The transport isn't a big worry just now. £300 ish local or £550 to a Clyde marina doesn't look bad. I'll contact JS to see what he is like on price.

Considering the published prices for a lift in at the other end seem to be about £130, the one price I have for lifting onto the trailer is £276, it looks like they are having a laugh, there is another option though.

I used John Shepherd to move Mistral from Kip to Ardlui, and have no complaints. The truck had to sit at Tarbet for 5 hours because the road to Ardlui was closed due to diesel spillage - no extra cost to me.

These guys,http://www.mjsboattransport.com/Default.aspx , are recommended by various marinas.

They seem to have moved on a bit since this trip,http://www.mjsboattransport.com/Gallery ... G_0345.jpg , which must have been a bit marginal on weight legality.

Ash

Hi Bob
I've done The Clyde (Ardrossan) to Castle sween and back the last 2 years both times round The Mull. If you were going by sea from Fleetwood I would say it would not be such a good idea to head into the Clyde unless you were going through the Crinan canal as you have to back track quite a bit to go round the Mull. This year I left Ardrossan at 0800 and was in Islay at 2100 Aimed to reach Sanda just as the tide turned to catch the ebb round the mull and up to Islay Around 65 miles total . From Islay to Loch Sween it's approx another 30. On the way back I stopped at Gigha it shortens the route by about 10 miles. If I was going from Fleetwood and day sailing I think I would go
Fleetwood- IOM 50 miles
IOM-Portpatrick 40 MIles
Portpatrick- Sanda 30 miles Or Portpatrick- Islay/Giha 60 miles but I think it would be better to go with one tide to Sanda Wait for the turn then head up to Gigha.
Sanda to Gigha is about 30 miles and its about 20 miles from Gigha to loch Sween so you could do that in one hop at a push. I would allow 4 days but a lot depends on weather.
For me there would not be anything to be gained time wise going through the canal.

If you're going by road the cheapest place you will find for a lift in is Clyde Marina.

Portptrick to Craighouse is also well within a day's scope

I did something similar in January - North Wales to Ardfern. It was 28 hours from Conwy to Bangor NI with the wind on the nose, passing west of IoM. Arrived Bangor 4pm and then set off again for Ardfern at 11am with the wind on the beam, arriving there at 1am. All in all in took just under 3 days with a sensible stop in Bangor for a pub meal in Pier 36, Donaghadee! The weather was unpleasant and we had spring tides, but clocked 11.7 kts max SoG to the west of the MoK which helped a lot.

Donaghadee Sound with wind against tide was a hoot.

On the way up the weather looked mainly like this!