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The End of our Sail Around Britain | Sailing Florence Ep.197
16 January 2025 · 25 min · 59K views · River Dart, Devon
Sailboat Florence sails Solent at golden hour, spinnaker full
What this video covers
Matt and Amy complete the final leg of their five-month, 2,426-mile circumnavigation of Britain aboard Florence, their Oyster Marine 37, returning to their home port at Port Solent Marina.▶ 23:13 Departing Dartmouth (Nossundart Marina), they plan a two-stage run east along the south coast, stopping at Studland Bay to thread three tidal gates — Portland Bill, St Albans Head, and Hurst Narrows — without bucking the full 3.8-knot tidal flow at any of them.▶ 8:12 Both Matt and Amy plan the leg independently, then compare notes; the process takes most of a morning of cross-referencing almanac tide times, weather, and anchorage options.▶ 9:01 They leave Dartmouth at 0930, fight the tide across Lyme Bay, and arrive at Portland Bill near slack water as planned.▶ 14:00 Strong cross-tide off St Albans Head forces them to steer nearly 90 degrees off course to reach Studland Bay, where they pick up a mooring rather than anchor because the no-anchoring zone boundary was unclear in the dark.▶ 16:27 A dawn departure the next day catches the flood through the Needles Channel — more wave action over the Shingles Bank than expected — and they sail the final miles up the Solent under spinnaker, making eight knots with the tide.▶ 20:09 A cracked cabin window, damaged by a genoa sheet during a tack, is duct-taped for the passage home rather than repaired in Dartmouth.▶ 9:29 Tidal gate timing on the south coast of England demands splitting a 100-mile leg into two days rather than forcing all three gates onto a single tide.
Boats in this video
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