Small boatRound BritainWith the urge to

circumnavigate mostof the UK mainland, 16

year-old Jack Dalyfound himself a small,affordable boat, fixed

her up and got on withit - raising over £5,000for RYA sailability aiong

the way. Here he tellsthe story of his nine­

week adventure onboard Padiwak - his

21 ft Corribee.

14 Sailing Tod.y May 09

The 2008 sailing seasonisn't remembered forgood weather with

sunshine and steady breezes.Instead, strong winds batteredthe UK as one low pressuresystem followed another,bringing unpleasant andunpredictable conditions.

Consequently, it was hardlyideal for sailing singlehandcdround Britain to raise moneyfor RYA Sailability, but after1605M and 44 ports, my 21 ftConibce triumphantly returned10 Ramsgatc on 23 Seplcmber.

I staned planning some 18months before leaving. Finding

sponsorship was hard. I senthundreds of letters and cmailsoff in the hope that they wouldbring positive results. Mostdidn't, but the ones that didwere promising and as timewent on fantaslic relationshipswere built with variousorganisations supporting thechallenge. 11 wasn't onlyfinancial support Ihal sponsorsoffered, they also providedinvaluable and expert advice intheir specialist fields.

Then it was time to sortout a boat. I'd read ElIenMacArthur's book, Taking0/1 rhe World, a few years

previously and Ihen hadfollowed Katie Miller'sprogress, so the Conibee wasa possibility from the start.At the time there weren'tmany boats on the marketIlnd the ones that wereadvertised had either beensold just days before I rangor weren't suitable. Onc ofthem, however. tieked mostof the boxes. It was a gloriouswinter's day in Portsmouthwhen I saw Padiwak for Ihefirst lime. She wasn'l all shinyand new and didn'l have anamazing array of equipmenl,but just felt righl. Simple and

solid, she was the perfect boatto adapt for extended cruising.

Unlike onc of the olhers Ilooked at. she had twin keelsand though I would lose someupwind performance, for a tripround Britain where many ofthe harbours are shallow anddrying, this seemed the morc'user friendly' option.

Conditions for my first sailwere perfect: an easterly F4~5

with wall to wall sunshine. Itwas a great day IQ put the boatthrough her paces and she wasin her element reaching acrossthe Solent under full canvaswith three of us on board. The

./

Opposite pave: Inreflective mood withPad/wak In RamsgateJust before the tripactually started.Abo",e top: Crossingthe Irish Sea.Above: Padiwakaswe found her.

next day she was on a trailerfor the trip to Kent.

Just after Easter, Padiwakwas re-launched and wcmanaged to sail quite a bitexploring the East Coast.

The basic planning waschallenging - where exacllyto stop over, which way roundto go, when to go? I read asmuch as possible while askingother people for their opinionsto make the best choices.

Onc of the questions I wasmost frequently asked was:"Why go anti-clockwise?"The reason I'd chosen to gothis way was that if we had

ROUND BRITAIN

predominantly southwestcrlies,it should mcan moredownwind sailing and, onceround Land's End, il wouldbe a nice run home back 10Ramsgate. Sailing the othcrway round would entailbealing to Land's End aroundsome nasty headlands and insome of the busiest shippingareas in the world.

In the spring of 2008, mostof the sponsored equipmcnthad been reccived andinstalled. It was rathcr tightwith gcar arriving only daysbefore she was due to bere-launched and sea trialswould be needed to iron outany hiccups, bUI we did havecnough time and the thoroughplanning really paid off. Shewas relaunched on 3 May, justover a week before my firstGCSE exam. Fortunately Iwas given a period of 'studyleave', so I could go down towork on... sony, I mean stay alhome and study.

Sea trials were complctedand before I kncw it the slandate was approaching. I hadchosen 21 June because thiswas the first day after my

last exam, but I eventuallydelayed a couple of daysfor better tides across the

Thames Estuary.

11IE STARTOn 23 June thcday dawned witha fresh westerly

breeze, butsunshine bathed Ramsgate inearly morning light. We slowlymotored oul inlo a slight swellheading north into the lowerreaches of the Thames Estuary,ready for the journey ahead.

The flISt day's passage wasgreat - with the ride under uswc made good time up to thefirst planned Slop, ShotleyPoint Marina. The windaround Ihe North Foreland wasquite strong as it funnelledaround the headland, but asthe day progressed it sturted todrop, umil I started motoringjust outside Harwich. AlthoughI made good time andeverything went well I WIIS

really tired after the first day.Throughout the trip we

kepi a map of the whole ofthe UK in the support van •

•

"The motion was violellt as the seabuilt up quickly in the short fetch."

CRUISING

and after each day one of myparents would mark whereI'd come from and arrived at.After the first few days, theline slowly crept up the EastCoast, which was great, butthen I looked at what I stillhad to do and it was easy toget downhearted. Instead oflooking at the big picture, Ihad to look at what we badachieved and just concentrateon getting Padiwak tQ the next

harbour. Shalley, Lowestoftand Wclls-next-the-Sea cameand WCIll and prcny quickly.I was gelling the idea of howfantastic the trip was going10 be. I was meeting somefantastic people on the wayrOWld and, being 'all in thesame boot' so to speak, Idiscovered that sailors tend tohelp eaeh other out. A primeexample of this was when Istopped at the small port ofWells OD the north Norfolkcoast, which is often left out.

of passage plans because theentrance channel dries andyou may need to dry out whilealongside. After speaking tothe Wells Harbour Master I'dintended to leave Lowestoftat 1100 10 arrive in Wells alaround 2130, anchor outsideand wait a couple arhoursfor the midnight tide. With agood forecast of reasonablylight winds it sounded perfect,especially as the HM kindly

said that he would eomeand guide me in, as he doesfor all boats. I kept saying"but it will be midnight"and he simply replied: "Noproblem whatsoever."

So wc set off and had agreat sail round with a niceSW breeze, until we were ocrCromer, where the weatherdecided to play games. Wearrived as planned outsideWells, but instead of lightwinds wc had over 30knhowling through the rigging.

Padiwak was handling theweather with no problem andthe anchor seemed to be dugin quite well, but the motionwas fairly violent as the seawas building up very quicklyin the shon fetch it had acrossthe shallow sandbank andinto the few metres wherewe were lying. I was worriedthat the entrance wouldn't bepassable and that I would behere all night waiting for thetide the next day. Then at 2345Wells' harbour launeh radiosaid "On my way. Be with youshortly." I was amazed thatthcHM (who is also onc of thelocal RNLI coxwains) cameout in his own time on a foulnight to guide me in, but thiswas the level of kindness andgenerosity I experienced allthe time I was there. I couldn'tsay a bad word about theharbour and would defrnilelyrecommend the pon to anyonevisiting the area.

We progressct1 up the EastCoast to the panly dryingpons of Bridlington andScarborough, before missingWhitby and heading up to

Hartlepool - arriving on theeve of the Maritime Festival.Amble was to be our lastEnglish pon ofcall beforePadiwak entered Scottishwaters. We were really makingprogress, but I would haveto deal with difficult harbourentrances if the wind wentanywhere in the east, which itinevitably did.

SCOTLAND AT LASTAgain we had a good daytravelling from Amble toEyemouth in the Bordcrsregion ofSeotland. Theweather was overcast at first,but brightened up duringthe day so that we arrivedin Eyemouth in brilliantsunshine. Passing the FamcIslands and Holy Island wasgreat - it's just a shame thatI couldn't have Slopped offthere for a night The entranceto Eyemouth looks preuydaunting as you approachwith waves crashing againstlhe rocks that sWToWld theharbour entrance. As I enteredI heard a strange sound likesomeone exhaling heavily. I

spun round to be confrontedby a seal about a foot away. itslarge black eyes gazing at me.Later I discovercd the scalshad been living there for about10 years, probably feedingon the unwanted fish that thefishennen discard. Eyemouthis a beautiful harbour withmagnificent views.

My next stop was to beArbroath, straight acrossthe Firth ofForth. LeavingEyemouth's rocky entrancewas quite wonying, becauseI hadn't really seen swellsthis big before. In the Thameswe are used to a short,steep chop that can be quiteuncomfortable. but thesewaves were something else.They were very long - wesailed up, over and down them.taking a very long time. whilstperiodically losing sight ofland. I pretty soon got used tothem, however, and it certainlywouldn't be the last timc wcwere to experience swells likethem. The passage across theFirth of Forth was great withPadiwak really flying on agood NE breeze, so we made .good time to Arbroalh withoutproblems, despite somereduced visibility.

The weather wasn't too nicefor the next couple ofdays, soI made the decision to stay inArbroath. I went swimming(in the local pool not the sea)and also had a look aroundthe town. Arbroalh has a veryinteresting museum revealingmuch of its past history, whichwould nonnally go urmoticed.The town is also famous for its'Smokies' - usually smoked

Opposite pqe:Mooring on theinfamous Loch Ness- Fort Augusws.Above: Padiwakon her road trailerready for taunching,sporting hersponsors' stickers.Below: Sunrise eswe leave lymlngton.Bottom: Fame atlast. A TV new.Interview beingfilmed on my return.

haddock. Unfortunately, onesmoke house is on the harbourwall and when the wind blowsthe wrong way it filled theboat with a powerful smell ofsmoked fish.

With a beller forecastwe sailed on round toStonehaven, but. like theWells passage, the weatherwas disobeying the rules.Coming into Stonehaven withgale force gusts on the nosewasn't too pleasant and at onepoint I was really thinking"What am I doing out here?".but once inside the harbour,which is set back into thecliffs, we were welcomedby bagpipes, echoing ofT thesurrounding rock face. To behonest, I wouldn't have leftArbroath if I had known whatthe weather was really goingto be like for the passage. Idid check numerous weathersites on my laptop beforedeparting, but the weatherchanged so quickly.

Stonehaven was beautifuland, being festival time, Ididn't really want to leave,but I had to go as soon asthe weather cleared. Besides.we had a wonderful sail toPeterhead (aka the 'BlueToon') thanks to a steadySE breczc. The scenery onthe way up changed fromhigh cliffiops to the busycommercial port of Aberdeen- now onc of the biggestpons on the East Coastfor oil rig supply vessels.Peterhead Bay Marina is verycomfortable and probablythe best place to wait out theweather before going round

ROUND BRITAIN

Rattray Head, which, in !hewrong conditions, can be avery rough stretch of water- particularly in wind overtidc conditions.

We finally arrived inWhitehi1ls after being stuck inPeterhcad for four days dueto bad weather. Today it wasperfcct to get round RattrayHead and start heading intothe Moray Firth. As I left theunusually windless PeterheadI saw numerous dolphins. Isnapped away with the camera,but they seemed not to want tobe photographed, so I endedup with lots of pictures ofempty sea.

Whitehills is a lovelyharbour that was turned intoa marina a few years ago.From the sea it is quite hardto spot, but once in sight itssmall, 9m wide entrance waseasy enough to navigate. Bothassistant Harbour Mastcrswere vcry helpful, especiallyin recounting all of the localtakeaway numbers off the topsof their heads.

Another good day allowedus to reach Lossiemouth,although most of it was underengine after the wind droppedoff to nothing. The coastlineis beautiful and it would havebeen great to call in at someof the smaller harbours likePortknockie, if I'd had thctime. As I approached, I sawanother Corribec, Booflleck,sailing along parallel wi!hme. It was great to meether owners who were aspassionate as me abouttheir Corribee.

Northerly gales kept us in ,.

planning stages, allowed meto miss the start of tenn tofinish the challenge, while alsohelping in some fundraisingevents for charity.

We had fun going roundSelsey Bill, because the enginedecided to stop just as we werepassing through the overfallsin the Looe Channel. Afternotifying the Coastguard of mysituation, I tried to gel it goingagain while hanging over thestem of the pitching boat. I hadno choice but to run downwindback to Portsmouth, becausebeating to Brighton wouldhave taken too long. Luckily,after trying all possible cures,I managed to get the enginegoing again just as the windwas dropping and we motoredinto Haslar Marina.

Later, on seeing the whiteeliffs of Dover, it hit me thatwe had nearly done it.

The only thing left to do wassail the 15 miles to Ramsgateto complete the challenge.Fittingly, the final day wasfull of sunshine with a gentleeasterly breeze, allowing me tosail round the South Forelandand sight Ramsgate for thefirst time in 12 weeks.

As you can imagine, myemotions were running highas we triumphantly steamedinto the harbour, flying evcryAvailable flag from the rigging,whilc I acknowledged thecheering crowd ofsupporterswho were there to welcome usback home.

It just goes to show thatwith enough hard work anddetermination dreams reallycan come true - Padiwak haddone it. She and I had sailedan amazing I600M around thecoast of Britain.

Not once had I doubtedher ability to cope with theconditions, which were prettyawful al times. We visited44 ports, met some amazingpeople and saw some stunningplaces. Moo, in the process, wemanaged to raise over £5000for RYA Sailability - all ofwhich will go towards geningpeople out on the water.

Would I do it all again?Definitely; I'd go tomorrow!

To make donations toSailability, please visitwww.rya.org.uklsailability. •

Channel, wc had superbweather and Padiwak flew- rarely dropping below 6kn,which is no mean feat for a21 ft bilge keeler.

LANDS END ANDTHE HOME RUNFrom Fishguard wc cruisedto Milford Haven, bcforecrossing thc Bristol Channeland on to Padstow, inpreparation for roundingLand's End. Another milestonewas passed as wc rounded thisfamous landmark and headedeast for the first time. At lastit really felt as though wewere on our way home. Oncerounding the Li7.ard we hadsome good passages, but werefrequently held up by the badweather passing through everyfew days.

Entering Thc Solent afterleaving Weymouth was quitebizarre. Seeing hundreds ofboats all togcther was strange,because I had been used to notseeing another boat all day.As we reached Portsmouth thewind decided to turn easterly,which was the worst possiblething to happen. I was alreadytwo weeks late for school andI couldn't hold back, so I spentthe next few days motoringinlO a headwind.

My school, which wasexcellent throughout the

Top left: Anticlockwiseroute beginning andending at Ramsgate.Above: Dolphins atInverness. Below:Celebratory champagneon our return.

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TIle beauty of the westcoast of Scotland was quicklybecoming evident as, once outof the canal, the next stopswere Oban (and the island ofKcrrcra), Croabh Haven and anight at anchor off the islandof Gigha before running 10

Port Ellen 10 avoid a couple ofdays of bad weather. This wasanother amazing place and thesense ofcommunity there wasreally heart wanning.

ACROSS THE IRISH SEAIt was then over to NorthernIreland (losing my supportvan until I re-crossed the IrishSea), where we had somedelightful cruising, hoppingdown the ports on the castcoast. With winds from thewest we carried the tide downthe coast in the Ice of theland, reaching as far south asArkJow in County Wicklowbefore crossing the Irish Seaagain to Fishguard in Wales.Luckily, for this longish 65Mpassage and the following75M onc across the Bristol

,---- . ,- t .

-t...\-

Lossiemouth for another threedays. J heard that it was theInverness Highland Games,so rather than wait around onthe boal, I decided to go andinvestigate. iI was a brilliantspectacle and included all ofthe popular Sconish events,such as tossing the caber andhammer throwing. All CVCnlS

were completed by athletes inkilts, despite the poor weather.

AI last the sun shone andwe headed SW to transit theCaledonian Canal. The canalitself was an experience and itallowed me to have a few daysafrest, still making progress,but without having to worry somuch about the weather. Thescenery was stunning - muchbeuer 10 look at for real thanin the photos. Sailing downLoch Ness as the sun wasseuing was awe inspiring. Iwas the only boat around andI was convinced, as the mistrolled off the mountains andover the water, that I'd seena tail disappear into themurky depths ...

se sailing TodlY May 09