How to sail around the UK and Ireland

Sailing around your own country and into its nooks and crannies is always an interesting endeavour. You get to know it from the seaward perspective and as sailors we get a privileged view of the UK’s many beautiful coastlines. The Jurassic Coast never fails to lift my spirits; Northumberland has long sweeping beaches with vast castles, and the Aberdeen coast is a vibrant colour combination of dark red cliffs with a green clothing of vegetation. The west coast of Scotland has deep inlets with a backdrop of spectacular hills and all the coasts of Ireland and Northern Ireland have beautiful scenery with distant hills. As a passing visitor you get acquainted with areas you never normally visit and observe the change in people’s speech and mannerisms. You can do this trip several times and it will always be different.

There are so many beautiful places it is impossible to list them all. Harwich is quaint and other-worldly, Wells-next-the-Sea is wonderful, Whitby, home to Captain James Cook and inspiration for Dracula, is vibrant. Anchoring at Lindisfarne and listening to the seals grumbling all night is an otherworldly experience. The wildlife gets better and better the further north you go and there are several large gannetries and bird reserves. The off-lying islands, such as the Farne Islands, Holy Island, the Shetlands, Orkney, St Kilda, Rathlin, Skomer, Iona, Staffa, the Shiant Islands, the Scottish sea lochs and all of the Hebrides provide