So, you go out and buy a boat. Then you need to sail the damned thing!
“Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit.”
Brooks Atkinson
I’ve been thinking about places to take Pamela C in the short, medium and longer-term. Short term is relatively easy, shakedown cruises of 1 hour, 5 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours are relatively easy to plan
Once we get into the 2-3 weeks and beyond, it can become a little harder to plan. At the end of the day its just water, and like any task you break it down into bite-sized chunks (how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!) but there are other things to take into consideration – primarily weather as long-range forecasts aren’t all that good
| Time / Distance | Destination | ||
| 1 hour | Lulworth Cove | ||
| 5 hours | Seaton Beach or Torquay | ||
| 10 hours | Guernsey / Jersey | ||
| 24 hours | Brighton or Falmouth | ||
| 48 hours | Padstow / Tintagel | ||
| 72 hours (3 days) | Isle of Man | ||
| 6 days | Lisbon, Portugal | ||
| 8-10 days | Gibraltar | ||
| 10-12 days | Lanzarote | ||
| 3 – 5 weeks | Puerto Rico or Bermude | ||
| 3-4 months | Bora Bora |
but you also have to consider visa requirements, food supplies (when crossing the Atlantic you can’t just pull over and find a McDonalds or a KFC. You also have to consider freshwater supplies as the boat only carries 150 litres in her tanks, and you would be surprised how quickly you get through that amount of water with showering, washing dishes and drinking cups of tea – more so when there are 2 or 3 people on board!
“In life, it’s not where you go, it’s who you travel with.”
Charles M. Schulz
Brexit has made a number of things harder too. You can’t just go and sail around the Mediterranean for a year anymore. 90 days in 180 is your limit. You can leave the boat there for 18 months, but you personally can’t physically be in the Schengen area for more than 90 days in any 180 day period. This can be problematic. I can only hope that the EU comes up with a cruising permit, similar to the ones that exist for the Bahamas/etc.
I’m going to focus on the short term for now, go explore the Jurassic Coast, go and visit mum in the Isle of Man and spend some time getting to know the boat, before I start to plan any longer journeys. I also need to find a crew to keep me company and share the duties with!
