Classic Yachting Stretches - Guardian July 2007

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Classic yachting stretches
Studland Bay and Poole Harbour, Dorset

Tucked into Studland Bay, you are sheltered from the prevailing west and south-west wind. There are lovely beaches, and a short walk up a glen is the Bankes Arms. To the north the huge expanse of Poole Harbour gives you any number of places to explore. Spend time on Brownsea Island or, in a boat with moderate draft, try going up the river to Wareham.

Dartmouth to Plymouth, Devon

Fine sailing round the heads of the South Devon heritage coast, with grand beaches in Start Bay in westerly winds, but with beautiful and totally sheltered places to go if it is blowing hard. First Dartmouth, where on the rising tide you can get up the Dart past Agatha Christie's old house and Dittisham up to Totnes. Then the Avon with Burgh Island at the entrance and the Yealm to Newton Ferrers, though this gets crowded in summer. Finally, you could spend a happy week just pottering round Plymouth Sound.

Falmouth and the Helford River, Cornwall

The entrance to Falmouth Harbour (Carrick Roads) is defended by Pendennis Castle to the west and St Mawes Castle to the east. To avoid the overcrowded marinas and anchorages in Carrick Roads itself, just go north to the end of the open stretch and turn into the delightful river Fal. Excursion boats go all the way up the river on the tide, past the National Trust's Trelissick Garden, to Truro.

Mount's Bay, Cornwall

Named for St Michael's Mount, only the west side of the bay from Marazion via Penzance to Mousehole is of much use, because the east side is completely exposed to the Atlantic. In a south-west gale it is fearsome. Penzance has an efficiently run dock behind gates that only open around high tide, which is one of the few places on the south coast where you can safely leave a boat unattended for long periods.

Isles of Scilly

A much underrated area for a cruising holiday. The main anchorage of Hugh Town on St Mary's is both rather crowded and very exposed. So you have to be a bit adventurous in finding different little sheltered anchorages round the other island's. For this, detailed charts are essential and having a sailing dinghy or a canoe adds to the enjoyment.

Gourock to the Mull of Kintyre, Firth of Clyde

A magnificent cruising ground right on Glasgow's doorstep. With the great Loughs Long and Fyne and several shorter ones, and the islands of Bute and Arran, there is a day's sail and a sheltered anchorage at the end of it to suit any wind.

Oban, Argyll and Bute

From Oban, the main port of the Highlands, the Firth of Lome leads south-west to Colonsay, Jura and Islay; the Sound of Mull north-west to Ardnamuchan Point, the most westerly point of the British mainland, and on past the islands of Muck, Eigg, Rum and Canna to Skye; and Lough Linnie north-east to Glencoe, Ben Nevis and the Caledonian Canal.

Roaringwater Bay, West Cork

From Baltimore in the east to Mizen Head (Ireland's Land's End) in the west is a self-contained cruising ground. To the south are the two large islands of Sherkin and Cape Clear, where transatlantic shipping made its landfall. The villages of Schull and Crookhaven provide Irish crack in the evenings.

Mizen Head to the Blasket Islands, West Cork/Kerry

Mountain ranges running northeast/south-west with general crests above 600m and peaks higher than goom produce the three great inlets of south-west Ireland: Bantry Bay, Kenmare River and Dingle Bay. A whole summer could be spent exploring these waters from the Blasket Islands in the north, to Dingle with its resident porpoise, Fungie, to the Skelligs, to Castletown Berehaven, a major Royal Navy base for 140 years.

West Mersea, Essex

The most easterly inhabited island in Britain (linked by a causeway to Essex), West Mersea is a hidden jewel. You can sail the broad reaches of the river Blackwater, under the carcass of Bradwell nuclear power station, or head round the island to the river Colne, where Pyfleet Creek offers an idyllic anchorage.

Hugh Stephenson