My name is Henry Bomby, I’m 19 years old, and on June 12th, I set off from Dartmouth to sail single handed around Britain.
My boat for the project ‘The Seahorse’ is a Contessa 26, and was brought through £2000 of my own life savings and a £7000 loan secured from local boatyard, Baltic Wharf. The loan will be paid back when I sell the boat at the end of project.
I will be starting and finishing from my home port of Dartmouth, sailing anti-clockwise, stopping off in over 40 different ports. Along the way I will also be competing in the:-
• Round the Island Race
• J80 European Championships
• Climbing the Three Peaks
Thank you for visiting my website - be sure to check back soon to catch up with my latest progress as the project develops..
I tried to leave for Loch Gairloch this morning however had to turn back for the first time this trip. I'm gutted. The big sea's and thick fog were what made me turn back, but strong Westerlies going Southwest later would mean putting a lot of load on a small boat as I would be beating the whole way, there is a long way to go on this trip still and while annoyed I had to turn back, I think I made the right decision. Anyway, hopefully I will be able to catch up with a few things onboard and upload some videos and pictures etc.
24/07/10 - Scrabster to Loch Inver via Loch Eriboll and Kindlochbervie
Sorry for the lack of updates over the last few days, I have not been able to connect to the internet in any of the places I have visited. All being loch's, quite frankly in the middle of nowhere! I have not been able to log on and update, I have a weak signal here however so will try my best!
The north coast and west coast has provided an amazing backdrop to my sailing over the last few days, when the weather is nice it's absolutely stunning, however I have learnt that up here it can change in an instant. More than once fog has come down within minutes reducing visibility to less than 100 meters, not very nice!
Anyway still ploughing on and hope to make Ben Nevis by next weekend. I am trying to upload a new video and some new pictures as I type so be sure to check out the gallery and youtube site! Bye for now!
21/07/10 - Peterhead to Scrabster via Wick
I am currently sitting in Scrabster after a bit of a mamoth leg from Peterhead. I stopped off in Wick to get some sleep and to wait for the tide and then carried on through the Pentland Firth. I arrived in Wick around 2230 and then after a small rest left at 0330 in the morning to ensure I arrived at Pentland at slack water. When I left the fog was clearing, but visbility was still bad, it got so bad I actually turned back at one point to try again in next tidal and weather window, but it then immediatly cleared so I gave it another shot.
The tide can run at over 12 knots in the Pentland Firth and I had heard a lot about its fearsome reputation so I was pretty nervous about this leg in particular. I aimed to arrive at slack water which we did, but the wind went Westerly not North Westerly as forecast meaning I had to beat all the way to Scrabster. The effect of a Force 4 occasionally 5 wind against a massive tide also resulted in pretty big overfalls, but nothing the mighty 'Seahorse' couldn't manage!
Looking ahead now I have the beautiful North West coast of Scotland and Ben Nevis! I am looking to climb on the 31st July, 1 August weekend so anyone who wants to make the trip up to join me is more than welcome so get in contact!
19/07/10 - Eyemouth to Peterhead
My 3rd night passage in a row and the 4th of the trip so far. Feeling pretty tired this morning! Had a great rest mind in Eyemouth and was feeling really charged and ready to go when I left Eyemouth late morning. It was so good to be back out on the water, and I was met with a strong force 5 occ 6 from the West meaning I power reached at 6 knots all the way to Peterhead. I had my best run of the trip so far, averaging 6 knots over a 12 hour period, awesome!
Meant I made it in before the tide turned against me at Rattery Head which was fantastic mentally, nothing I hate more than fighting the tide at snails pace for the last few miles of a trip! Off to Wick tomorrow morning, 70nm, and then the short hop round to Scrabster. My plan is to get there by Tuesday so that if the low hits I am positioned well to get out of the north of Scotland sharpish with my next weather window! As I round Cape Wrath for Scrabster I will be starting to head south again for home, a sad thought. Maybe I will have to do smaller legs to prolong my adventure a bit longer, I don't want it to end!
As many have you may of seen on the TV, the weather isn't great up here in Scotland! Just from the pictures of The Open golf tournament held just up the road at St Andrew's you get some idea of the conditions!
So I am waiting until the weather calms before pressing further north. I hope to get underway on Saturday to Stonehaven or Peterhead, and then up to Wick. So for now I will take some rest and crack on with a few job's I need to do onboard and regroup before the next stop point, Ben Nevis!
13/07/10 - Whitby to Eyemouth
I docked out at 1600 hours on the 12th from Whitby on a night passage bound for Eyemouth. I was keen to do another leg as I will now be stuck here at least until the weekend due to the low pressure system's going over here in Scotland.
Had to motor for a lot of the trip as hardly a breath, but a pod of dolphins came to see me in the middle of the night which was absolutely amazing, one of the many highlights of the trip so far.
Time to rest up now, crack on with a few boat job's and other bits to. I have got a bit behind with video's, logs and pictures to so will try and catch up loading all that up online to.
The longest leg of the trip so far and the longest solo passage I have ever done in my life. Pretty much sum's up the trip!
I felt every emotion possible on this leg, from contentness, to joy, to frustration and at times anger! The orginal plan was to go to Grimsby but I was having far to much fun and really enjoying myself so decided to carry on. I was really in the groove by then and life onboard was easy.
Those were the good times, the last few miles into Whitby however were probably the most frustrating few miles I have ever done in my life! I hadn't slept in over 36 hours, or eaten properly due to the strong upwind conditions from Flamborough Head onwards so was feeling a bit worse for wear, but then the wind went further north, exactly were I wanted to go, and the tide went against meaning I was only making 2.5 knots over the ground and just over 1 mile an hour towards Whitby! The last 11 miles took me 8 hours! I wasn't impressed! Great to be in though and the showers are awesome, always a perk!
Off to Eyemouth this evening for another night passage (100 miles) as I think I will be stuck there for a bit due to the low's going over Scotland, so I am keen to press on. It will give me a good few days rest after the East Coast slog and will enable me to catch up on a few boat jobs that need sorting to.
The Thames Estuary! Everyone was telling me that this was going to be a very challenging and tough leg for me, but the weather couldn't have been kinder. (Well maybe a bit more sun would have been nice!) The water was flat calm, allowing me to take the shortest route over Foulgers Gat, then it was up Black Deep, over the shoals and alongside at Harwich. I was surprised by how little shipping I saw too.. All in all a pretty chilled out leg, but maybe I just got lucky!
Anyway seeing family friends in Shotley tomorrow who are dropping off some things I forgot! And then it's off to Lowestoft before a big hike up to Grimsby and then Whitby. Scotland here I come!!
Probably the easiest leg so far, only a short hop with the wind dead behind. Poled out the genoa and sat catching up with my log for most of the leg! Awful amount of shipping to begin with however which kept me on my toes but all good!
Well I have made it to Dover thats the good news. I left early in the morning to give myself the chance to make Ramsgate if the wind kicked in early. However it only kicked it at about 0830 so had already motored a fair bit. When it did kick in it was a lovely southwesterly, so kite up and off we went.
The breeze was forecast to reach force 5, and I was confident I could hold the kite in those conditions so kept on going. The waves were building more and more however as the channel closes in at Dover, and I was stuck on the helm for about 10 hours, as it was a very fine line between broaching and gybing. In the end a huge wave broached the boat, breaking the spinnaker pole, so had a bit of a drama to get that down. Lessons learnt however, and thats the reason I am out here so all good experience for me. I made and posted a video of the trip which I have now posted on youtube, check it out.
The good news for the day is that I am finally on my way after the success of the J80 Europeans and the unsuccessful week I have had with problems. The last week has been incredibly frustrating, running around trying to sort autopilots and engines. The good news is the pilot is working brilliantly, and my trust is slowly being restored in my engine.
As soon as the engine is off and Seahorse digs her heels in under sail however all my worries wash away. We sailed under kite from Southampton to Chichester today and it was an absolute joy, I was in my element again. Not running around trying to troubleshoot engine issues or organise the autopilot snags while just wishing I was on the water cracking on with the trip.
I decided on doing the small hop this afternoon just to test run everything before I leave what's been invaluable shore support that I have from connections and family in Southampton. Many thanks to my Grandad for running me up to Portsmorth for the autopilot and helping me organise getting the engine fixed, life saver! Tomorrow I will leave for Brighton, then plan to go to Rye and Dover before crossing the Thames Estuary and tackling the East Coast. Back in the groove again now and hugely excited about the times ahead!
Before I left for Italy and the J80 Euro's I had been having some autopilot problems. The conclusion was that my course computer was a write off, so I had to order a new one. This was delivered in tme for my return, so I hoped it was simply a matter of fitting, sea trialling, calibrating and off I go. However I have now had new problems with the new computer which is a right bugger!
Being an '08 model, it was thought that software was the issue, however this has still not solved it. I am currently lookng at taking it to Raymarine in Portsmouth to see if they can solve directly, as well as, if I can get hold of them, getting a replacement sent our from the people I brought it from, no names!! Which ever solution is going to set me on my way is the quickest will be the one I go for, I want to leave! Lets go sailing!
29/06/10 - 5th at J80 Europeans on 'Team Baltic'
If you have been wondering why the tracker has been so stationary and the reason for the lack of updates over the last week then here is the answer!
Alongside the Round Britain Project I also skipper a J80 youth team run by my Founding Sponsors Baltic Wharf. Last year saw us achieve a 5th at Cowes week and a regatta win at Dartmouth Week which was a promising start for our young team. For this year we had to make a few changes to the team due to exams and took part in the J Cup which we managed to win. The Europeans was the big event for us this season however, and after our successful J Cup result we were being ambitious and looking for a top 10 finish.
The event started well and our consistant results meant we actually stayed well inside the top 10. Going into the last day we had worked ourselves up to a position that gave us a shot at 5th, and after a strong first race 5th was now ours to loose. An inside out last race went in our favour as other teams had other bad results to count, our worst so far was 14th, meaning we held onto our prized 5th place!
It was an amazing week for the team and we would all like to thanks Baltic Wharf for their continued support. Going forward to the Worlds in Dartmouth in 2012 we have a huge amount to work on as the Spanish really are a step ahead of us all. Finishing first non-spanish boat and first British boat however is a great achievement for our young team and I am extremely proud of them all. Many thanks to Henry Bagnall, 23, Ryan Gerrish, 22 and Ellie Mittler, 17, great job guys!
