Tom Cunliffe
Next month’s edition of ST will be majoring on cruising round Britain, so I thought I’d get in ahead. I’ve done the trip a few times, and circumnavigated Ireland once. When planning, two big questions invariably arise: which way to go and how far. For the former, you either sail clockwise or tempt the fates by trying your luck ‘widdershins’. You can get stuffed by the weather either way, but received wisdom is that clockwise is probably an easier ride. The matter of distance is decided by going inside or outside the island of Ireland and, in Scotland, whether to traverse the Caledonian Canal or wander away to the misty north.
‘We actually preferred the rough-and-tumble of the waterfront’
Whichever route you choose, a sailor can be sure of the unexpected. One time, I was unwisely travelling widdershins and opted for the Caledonian Canal, east to west. I
