June Sailing – Long days of midsummer to go exploring

Why is June the best month to go sailing?

In Europe the seas are warm enough for swimming, the days are long, the plankton has bloomed and seas are rich in sea life. Enjoy a brief month of early summer bliss. As our vessels tend to seek out the more unspoilt, hard to get to sailing playgrounds, we rarely have an over crowding issue, but sailing in June is a good way of ‘wandering lonely as a cloud’ ashore. If you head for the Hebrides, Orkney, Fair Isle, Shetland, Faroes, Iceland, then its not that hard to be the only boat in the bay in June.

In Cornwall, The Isles of Scilly and the Baltic, you are more likely to find a few kindred spirits anchored in some of the most iconic Cornish coves and estuaries. We all love early summer, before the school vacations start. With a good ships tender and a willingness to substitute a marina for a beach landing we can find those pristine spots and be first to make footprints in the sand.

Inner & Outer Hebrides and St Kilda

It is impossible to do this sailing ground justice in a few words. Sea stacks of Mingulay, Puffins and sea eagles on the Shiant Islands, the white caps and fast blasts under sail in the Minches. Ruined crofts, snug pubs with whiskey, fresh langoustines from the fishermen, dramatic castles and sharp mountain peaks.

The light in Western Scotland is amazing. Weather scurries fast off the Atlantic but when high pressure dominates blue skies and heatwaves are not unknown. Its a land of struggling communities against the elements, difficult terrain ashore maintaining vast tracks of wilderness, some of the best white sand beaches in Europe and a surprising amount of flat seas as the outer islands can provide shelter from the Atlantic swell. Provident is based in Scotland and has the longest season in the Hebrides, although she is heading to the SW briefly in 2024 to celebrate her 100th birthday alongside the remaining Brixham Sailing Trawlers.

St Kilda is different. A lonely outpost that needs the right weather window to reach by sail. Scotland has few lit navigation bouys so night sailing is hazardous. Hence St Kilda trips have more chance of success when the daylight hours are long. June is also perfect to see puffins and other ocean birds coming ashore to breed.

In the Wake of the Vikings – Lands of the Midnight Sun

The old trade routes from the Mediterranean- all the way North to Iceland and the Faroes, utilise the shelter of outer island groups like Ireland, the Outer Hebrides and they hop up the island chain. Phoenicians, Romans and Vikings would have traded and raided their way through the communities in the Inner Hebrides, Orkney Archipelago, tucked away ports on the Fair Isle, and the deep sounds between the Shetland and Faroes Islands. Seabirds like skuas, gannets, puffins and shearwaters breed in their thousands on the wave washed skerries and high see cliffs.

These are ancient lands and sailing grounds for the hardy. The rewards are great and we have some ocean going sailing ships that are tough enough to provide your expedition needs, and small enough professional crews for it to be a shared adventure, at sea ashore. Tecla and Trinovante know these Northern Island Groups well and also pull in local guides to add even more local history and colour.

Isles of Scilly – Ocean Sunsets & White sand beaches

If you want a carefree life on Scilly with all facilities then book a hotel and a plane flight, not a seagoing sailing boat.

If you want a 360 degree view of the sea and ocean sunset whilst eating breakfast or dinner on deck, then join us on a 6 or 7 day sailing adventure amongst the Isles of Scilly. If we row to the pub, then we also need to get back to your bunk in the moonlight. If we sail between the islands then we need clearing bearings and accurate tidal heights. If we anchor in St Helens pool then we are committed amongst the drying sand bars, oyster catchers and seals, to stay there until the next high tide.

This is a proper remote anchorage, limited facilities wonderland. Closer to nature than hot showers. These voyages always book up fast. The sea journey around the Lizard lighthouse, Lands End and out into the Atlantic to reach the islands is nearly always challenging but scenically stunning. Dolphin sightings are common. Are you up for it? June sailings are the best in Tallulah skippers view but there are voyages in July, August and sometimes September. May if you are lucky with a weather window.

No voyage aiming for the Scillies is ever guarenteed. We do our best to select dates in summer with the best tidal combinations, but there is no single anchorage or port in the islands that is safe for changing wind directions in a gale. In those circumstances the skipper will seek out safer sailing grounds for a similar style holiday.