Join us on a thrilling journey as we delve into the world of Matt and Amy, the duo behind the renowned YouTube channel, Sailing Yacht Florence. After completing a remarkable six-year global circumnavigation in their beloved 37ft monohull, Florence, covering thousands of miles and multiple oceans, they set their sights on a new adventure: sailing around the stunning coastline of the United Kingdom.
We caught up with Matt and Amy as they share their experiences, challenges, and highlights throughout their UK circumnavigation so far. From navigating treacherous tidal currents to discovering hidden gems along the British coast, we’ll explore their unique perspective on this exciting adventure.
1. What made you decide to circumnavigate the UK for your next adventure?
After our long winter refit of Florence, we wanted to make sure all the maintenance and upgrades we did were working well before heading further north into the Arctic circle. Also, the fact that we only spent 2 weeks cruising in the UK before we set off for our world circumnavigation, meant we wanted to see more of our home coastline especially the Scottish islands.
2. The UK coastline is incredibly diverse, with everything from dramatic cliffs to stunning wildlife. What has been the highlight so far and what are you most looking forward to later?
The highlight has to be the wildlife and in particular the puffins, they are amazing creatures with personality, and we were blown away by how close we could get to them, no zoom lens needed here. The landscape of the west coast of Scotland is also spectacular, but what has surprised us is how few boats sail to the more remote anchorages, we have often had whole islands to ourselves. Ahead we are looking forward to visiting Ireland, despite it being so close neither of us have ever been there.
3. How would you compare sailing around the UK compared to sailing in other regions across the world?
As this is our home country it has been much easier to communicate and not having to worry about how long we can stay on a visa has been a relief. There is also a much bigger safety net available to sailors in the UK (Coastguard/RNLI) which although we hope not to use, makes us feel much more secure should something go wrong. It is impossible to compare sailing here to the rest of the world as the rest of the world is so vast and varied.
4. Have there been any specific challenges you’ve faced while sailing around the UK, compared to your global circumnavigation?
No, however, here we have been sailing much shorter distances with no ocean crossings, so we have needed to spend a lot more time planning routes and anchorages. The weather has also been more changeable than the mostly trade wind sailing that we have experienced over the last 7 years, so we have found our plans changing daily to conform with the changing weather forecasts.
5. How do you navigate the complex tidal currents, strong winds and unpredictable weather that can be prevalent in UK waters?
We have more information in the form of pilot guides for sailing around the UK than we had (or were available) for our entire Pacific crossing. The guides have at times frightened us with descriptions of terrible tidal over falls and we have taken these points seriously, but so far, we have managed to time the tides correctly and therefore have not experienced any seriously rough conditions. The strong winds have certainly been a challenge this summer when finding somewhere to shelter from 40 plus knot gusts every few days has been our focus more than exploring, here the wealth of information on available anchorages has been hugely helpful.
6. What are the daily routines and challenges of living aboard a sailboat while circumnavigating the UK? How do you balance relaxation with exploration?
As was the same in the rest of the world our daily routine starts with the weather forecast as this drives everything, beyond that we don’t have a fixed routine. We probably don’t do very well at balancing relaxation and exploration. If the weather is good, we try to maximise what we can explore and film until we are exhausted. Then we use the time sheltering from bad weather on board to work on editing footage, planning our route, and sharing the adventure. With the changing weather life onboard can be chaotic, we try to have a plan for the next day before we go to bed, but this is always subject to change when we look at the latest weather forecast in the morning.
7. Given your extensive sailing experience, has sailing around the UK impacted on your personal growth and development? Have you learnt anything new about Florence or picked up any new skills etc?
We are always learning, learning how to get the best out of our new Rolly Tasker furling staysail and how to use our new B&G radar are just two examples.
Getting ashore in some rocky anchorages has been a challenge, in the tropics we would have just gone ashore in swimwear and dried out in the sun. Here we have taken to using our Gill drysuits and an inflatable kayak to get ashore dry to explore, when landing by dinghy would be difficult or impossible. We think this will be a very useful technique as we head to colder waters.
8. What Gill products have you found most useful on your adventure so far?
Definitely the OS1 foul weather gear, the weather has been terrible, and this has kept us warm and dry in all conditions so far. Beyond that we both reach for our Fitzroy jackets all the time, as a wind stopping layer when sailing and easily packed up into a rucksack for exploring ashore. The British summer has allowed us to appreciate all of our Gill gear (including thermals), we would have been utterly miserable without the right kit to keep us warm and dry.
9. What are your long-term sailing goals? Do you have any plans for future adventures after you complete your UK circumnavigation?
To take Florence into the Arctic circle. This UK circumnavigation is a shakedown cruise to ensure Florence and our equipment is ready to sail to the Arctic in 2025. Our sail to the Arctic will help determine what we do beyond that. If we love it then there are lots of higher latitude options, either way, there is a huge amount of the world that we have yet to see by boat.
10. Looking back on your experiences, what advice would you give to someone who dreams of sailing around the UK or the world but feels daunted by the prospect? Â
Go for it, it can be tough, but it is very rewarding. Break the challenge down into smaller sections to make it manageable and easier to get your head around. Don’t feel like you have to plan it all in detail before you start. We planned ocean by ocean on our circumnavigation and planned week by week sailing around Britain. If you can, find someone who has done it and have a beer with them, we were lucky to have friends who had circumnavigated 10 years before us and their advice was invaluable. Set a date to start, the only real difference between a dream and a plan is a date.