THE ACCIDENTAL TOURISTS

Kelston and Jackie Tobin didn’t intend to circumnavigate Britain, but after cruising from Kent to the Solent they decided to keep on going

- Kelston and Jackie Tobin

Since Jackie and I bought our 1990 Broom, 37 Boisterous Mistress, in 2004 we have never had a permanent mooring. Most winters we moored her in London, initially in Limehouse marina and later in South Dock marina, then during the summer months we cruise around the English Channel taking in everywhere from Holland in the north to the Channel Islands in the south, so we are quite used to leaving her in different marinas for a month or two. Over the last few years we discussed the idea of circumnavigating the UK and came to the conclusion that anticlockwise would be the favoured route, with a winter stop in Scotland so we would be well placed to explore the Western Isles the following season. We decided that May 2020 was going to be the start of our epic voyage. Then Covid-19 arrived and that was the end of that!

MAKING THE MOST OF LOCKDOWN

Luckily, we had decided not to leave the boat in London the previous year so it had spent the winter at The Boat Yard on the River Stour in Kent. As this is close to our home, we had access to our boat during lockdown and managed to complete a lot of repairs and improvements. By the time July arrived and marinas were open again, we could not wait to get out on the water.

Having managed to arrange a berth on the Itchen for a couple of months, and with Boisterous Mistress fuelled and ready to go, we just had to wait for the right weather and tide.