Lessons Learned

It is exciting to be so close to ‘home’ after a couple of months of journeying. Tomorrow we should be able to sail back to Blackwater Sailing Club where Mark keeps our yacht, Kindred Spirit II, and from whence we began our sailing trip around the UK. We hear that many people are flying flags, buying beer, and generally getting excited but nervous about tomorrow. It is kind of everyone to be so concerned but to be honest we had hoped to keep our celebrations fairly low key. It is 10th July 2021.

This morning at the relatively civilised hour of 5am we got up and had breakfast before heading out into the tidal flow which boosted our speed towards Harwich. We were motor-sailing mostly in light winds although for a couple of hours we had some decent wind and did some pleasant sailing. We arrived off Harwich at slack water and got into the Stotley marina before the tide turned against us.We arrived off Harwich at slack water and got into the Stotley marina before the tide turned against us. The Harwich harbour is big scale and I snapped a yacht passing in front of a container ship which neatly shows the difference in scale. You have to look carefully for the yacht.

This kind of short 7 or 8 hour day, making best use of one tide, is what we perhaps should have done more of during our journey. It means that sailing day after day is manageable, and has the bonus that you actually might explore the ports that you stop over in. We have sometimes found that all we know of a small harbour town along the way is the nearest supermarket, the nearest petrol station and the harbour or marina itself. To be honest the harbour often seems to be the most interesting part of many of these towns but it would be nice to have checked that out a little bit more. We did originally plan to have almost three months to complete our journey but were delayed by events in getting the boat ready so lost three weeks or so. One lesson learned is that three months is probably a minimum for this trip. If we had gone round Cape Wrath and been able to visit southern Ireland and the Isle of Man then we would certainly have wanted more time. We were lucky with the weather and only lost 5 days to storms but in fact we sailed on some days of light winds and with more time could have waited for the wind and avoided some long and frustrating days. A figure quoted on round UK sailing trips is that the motor was used 52% of the time. Reading that before we set out, we felt we could easily come in under that figure. We will need to check back through the log to get an accurate figure but it would not surprise me if we were somewhere close to that.

The boat, a Hunter Horizon 30-foot bilge keel yacht with a draught of 1.2 metres has been great. It seems very sea-worthy, although to be honest we did not meet conditions that tested it to anywhere near its limit. It was convenient for getting into tidal or drying harbours and we have not been limited to which ports we use. We met sailors on larger yachts with fin keels and deeper draught who felt they were having to sail longer passages and miss out on many interesting stops simply be able to get in and out of harbour. Our yacht was fine for a crew of two, any more on board would have been pretty tight, although we would have welcomed someone joining us for two or three nights. We have considered a bigger boat but to be fair our relatively affordable Hunter has allowed us to complete our journey safely and in comfort and we are grateful for that.

We at out a good deal which was a treat and which we enjoyed. We are both early retired and have the fortune to have enough spare cash to afford this. On balance we should have cooked more for ourselves, if only to have a healthier diet. In Lowestoft we popped into a supermarket and bought lovely fresh food with a good bottle of cold white wine and had a pleasant and healthy meal on the boat. We have however had some fantastic seafood meals in pubs and restaurants, as well as some great Indian and Chinese meals, but too many fish and chip meals in between. We only have an insulated ‘cool’ box on board and with hindsight should have sorted out an electric cool box, if only for cold beer. The Spinnaker was fun but we only employed it on three occasions and a cruising chute might have been easier and more flexible. We found a cheap fan heater, a cheap toaster and an electric kettle to be definitely worth taking. Rather than sleeping bags we used double duvets folded in half and that worked very well. We had issues with the navigation tablet running out of battery on long days, despite being plugged in to USB charging, and had to use a phone as back-up. We bought a couple of bigger fenders half way round to help with walls and locks but we used them regularly even on pontoons. We gave the engine a full service before setting out and again half-way round. We took the oil change suction device and a full set of filters and replacement oil with us. Hot cheese and onion baguettes, made in the oven from part-baked loaves and Gouda cheese slices with red onions were a staple lunch and worked very well for us. Although a cheese toastie will not be our first choice when we get home.

It has been great, and a real privilege, well at least for me, to spend such a long adventurous time with my brother. Once you leave home and start your own lives and families, a lifetime can so easily go by without really truly knowing your siblings. An adventure, with its uncertain outcome, is a brilliant way to spend time with a brother or sister and to really connect.

We had an idea that this might be a ‘farewell tour’ because sailing round the United Kingdom might not be possible for very much longer. Inspired by the name of our boat, we wondered if we would find a ‘kindred spirit’ across the people of Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. Not forgetting the people of Cornwall, Yorkshire, Isle of Man and so many other more independent or wanna-be independent regions of the UK. Overall, we have felt very welcome in all of our ports of call. We were especially struck by the friendliness of people we met in Northern Ireland. But we do consider that we found a kindred spirit across the nations and regions that we touched upon. There is much we have in common, including perhaps our values. Maybe the biggest threat to our United Kingdom is that we, or at least the English constituencies, seem to keep voting in posh boys to rule us ideologically and idiotically from London. That seems just as much an issue in Yorkshire as it is in the highlands and islands. There is a football match tomorrow. I wonder how many of the people we met in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland will be at least wishing the England football team well, and maybe even perhaps secretly sort of supporting them? Not least because the team is so diverse and has stood up for decency and against division, through their individual; contributions fighting racism and poverty and through their united and reasonable stand on taking the knee. Do the England football team and their manager better represent our ‘kindred spirit’ more than any of the UK political parties or politicians? We think so and have carefully planned the final fling of our adventure to coincide with their moment of history-making. Lets wish them all the best for tomorrow and for future campaigns, that they show what they can do and that they will represent our island home, in all its diversity, and its kindred spirit.

Our biggest lesson of the adventure was this. If the harbour master says ‘there is not a lot of water, you will have to hurry up’ then you should either turn and sail on to the next port, or hurry up.