Sailing round in circles

Can a 24ft Cornish Crabber with a lifting keel circumnavigate the island that is the south of England? This rather fanciful idea came into my head and refused to go away. Like many owners of small boats I thought I might sail round Britain one day but in the end wondered about the possibility of a more manageable project of a 900 mile journey which would begin and end in St Just in Roseland, Cornwall. Given that I was well over retirement age I thought I had better get on with it.

I began by looking at a road map of the south of England and then quickly moved onto charts, tidal streams and marinas. My next task was how to manage the vast Thames estuary, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the awe inspiring passage down the treacherous river Severn and the Bristol Channel. I had hoped to visit the Scillies on the way back to my mooring in St Just’s Creek but my crew needed to return to work, so in the end we just went round Land’s End. I did not want to do any night sailing, partly because I love looking at coastlines. In an idle moment