Once Around Britain In Bad Weather

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A bundant wildlife, gorgeous scenery, uncrowded anchorages and quirky harbours where few yachtsmen venture are not hard to find in the northern parts of the British Isles. Having enjoyed several excursions from the South Coast to these less-civilised waters, including a round-Britain circuit via the Orkneys, my wife Mary and I were drawn back to do a second circuit, though this time with short-cuts through Scotland on the Caledonian and Crinan canals.

For Mary this was a 50th anniversary, as she had made the canal transits in 1966 on her father’s motorboat, on passage from its Orkney builder to their family’s canal-side home in the Midlands. That holiday was during a wonderful fortnight of blue skies and warm sun. In 2016, however, the weather declined to cooperate; while the south of England experienced some very fine spells many north-bound yacht crews, of which we were one, struggled with wind and rain. After being delayed for several days at Bridlington, I shared grumbles with a local skipper and apologised for being a soft southerner. ‘Don’t kid yourself,’ he said. ‘The weather has been vile, and I’m a farmer, so that’s official!’

Even so, not all sailing pleasures depend on fair weather: conditions unsuitable for sunbathing can be good for satisfaction. We analysed forecasts religiously and on several unpromising days made fast, bouncing passages as a mix of careful timing and expected wind shifts hauled us around obstacles or past tidal gates. Opportunism was essential: when trapped in port we explored inland on foot, by bus and even by steam train, but we sailed whenever there was a fair slant.