Sailing course dates
Dates for 2022
Despite Covid we have had a great seasons sailing in 2021. Keeping ourselves and our students to our selves while sailing around Britain. A bit of a wild life tour as you can see. Minke whales just south of Chicken rock IOM
Dates for 2022
I am available for own boat tuition anywhere and time over the winter months. or between trips under here.
April 2022
We start again as usual with Plymouth based courses
14th – 19th. five nights. Yes that’s over Easter weekend! ( sorry now fully booked)
23rd April one day training now full
20th 27th May Seven nights. Penzance – Isles of Scilly! – Penzance. Proper offshore passage making, traffic separation scheme, hard pilotage in beautiful islands! Now full
10th – 17th June Seven nights. Milford Haven and Pembroke SW west Wales- Milford Haven. Beautiful coast, big tides ! great training. Sorry now full
8th – 15th July. Seven nights. This is the only slot before September! 4 places left
19th – 26th August Seven Nights. Penzance – Isles of Scilly – Penzance Now full
11th – 16th September five nights. Plymouth – Plymouth
25th – 30th September five nights Plymouth – Plymouth
Rolling hitch anchor bridle
Old stuff under here.
TopCat Scotland and back 2015
Great sailing, great training ! Heres a few pictures from a trip taking us from Plymouth along both south and north coasts of Cornwall, over
to Lundy thence to south Wales. Buryport, over to southern Ireland
( Arklow, Wicklow, Houth) Northern Ireland too. Annalong, Strangford lough. Over to Portpatrick on the Mull of Galoway. Into the firth of Clyde via AilsaCraig, Campbelltown on the Mull of kintyre, loch Ranza on Arran, Kyles of Bute then a crew change in largs.
That was just to get north. Heading south again took in Isle of Man, Menai Strait ( north Wales) and back via the Scilly’s. What a summer!
You get a little more with Top Cat. No we don’t swan around the Solent. These are true Cruising courses. Passage planning big time. Real passage making. Every harbour is one we have rarely or never seen before!
- proa on Scilly
- trevose LB station
- Therasa and Round island on Scilly
- the only way to travel
- Strangford tidal turbine
- North coast crew
- Seven stones LV
- Porth Clais quay, hmm?
- Mixing it with the fishermen Newquay
- Trevose hd
- Jim on lundy.
- Jack Sound in force six. gotta get the tide right!
- slowly Alan or Sharron;ll have a wet bum
- Heath and Puke. How did you keep him still that long?
- Firewaorks for us in Penzance
- No idea what there watching?!
- Doc martins house in Port Issac
- we made it ! but how do we get outa here?
- spinnaker trimmer / snoozer
- porth clais aground
- Clovelly for a pint
- Oops! Clew ring snapped
- beam anchor Porth Clais
- Annalong Ireland
2013 Spain adventure
Top Cat’s summer cruise got off to a fine start with an easy sail across the channel to L’Aberildut. I remember a right old fight getting the anchor back! tried every trick in the book and still getting nowhere. Eventually tried putting a small loop of chain around the main cable and dropping it down a tight main anchor chain. Drop the main chain and pull on the small loop. It worked! we couldn’t believe it. All stop here though as we found the starboard engine had cracked a piston? So a U turn and back over the channel via Ile de batz ( Beautiful drying anchorage in perfect shelter) Limped home, Well I call it limping, but we had sails and one engine just like half a boat!. Engine re-bored etc. Mago eventually got herself down to Northern Spain. A hard place to cruise with big swells, shallow drying entrances and harbours few and far between. Beautiful but not easy!
- Cape Penas
- San Estiban black sand from Coal
- What a lunch stop!
- Like living in a gold fish bowl
- Thanks Nick, Bowling through biscay
- Mago sandwich in the Glenans