Week 1. This trip leaves from Amsterdam in mid May, hopefully with a riotous last night in that special town. From there we are going to sail across the Ijsselmeer. Going through the islands and, maybe stopping if we can negotiate the mud flats. Once in open water, we will be heading to the South of Norway, Kristiansand.

Week 2. Negotiating the 150 nautical miles around the coast to Stavanger. According to the pilots this is a place of many little Islands and Fjords. It could well be the prettiest place that Whisky Mac, an old boat mainly used for fishing off Wales, has even been in. This will also be a time of transition, as we get used to sailing in foreign waters, more exposed to the North Atlantic.

Week 3 and 4: Continuing 185 nautical miles North up to Bergen, Norway. There is an inland route, hidden behind some Islands, to shield us from the North Atlantic, or the outer route, which will probably be a great taster of what is to come.

Week 5 and 6: 190 nautical miles to Shetland and 180 miles to Faroe. The seas are likely to be large and the tides around the Islands strong. On the other hand, people do it in smaller and less seaworthy boats all the time.

Week 7: Arriving in Iceland. Making landfall at Djupivogur and spending time in the “highly spectacular fjords” of Eskifjordur. Whisky Mac is not really a sailing boat, she is a motor sailer, which means she is not really designed to be taken under sail alone. However, the fuel will not last all the way to Iceland so there may be some days in the North Atlantic where we have to be content to sail along at 2 – 3 knots (about 3mph) going with the wind.

Week 8: 140 miles North up to Raufarhofn (which is 3 miles from artic circle). Summer temperatures here range from 0 – 23 degrees C. Night passages will be getting harsh, though luckily we have an antique French woodstove pumping out heat from down below.

Week 9: 170 miles to Trekyllisvik, which on the side of the Vestirdir. This place is apparently very remote, and lots of bays here are described as spectacular but deserted. This will be by far the most remote spot that the boat and the crew has ever been.

Week 10: Onwards to Vatneyri, and moving deeper closer to Greenland, with wild anchorages, clear water, and hopefully no engine problems, as help will be not to too near at hand. From this point onwards we could be seeing icebergs, glaciers and other variations of the theme which will seem extraordinarily exotic to this Brighton registered skipper and boat.

Week 11: Towards Greenland. From the tip of the West penisular it is 150 miles to Iceland, which is 30 hours on Whisky Mac under engine. But this passage is normally full of ice apparently, so I we may not be able to cross. Probably it will be a case of setting sail, and seeing how far we get before having to turn back.

Week 12: Towards Reykavik. Here we will be restocking the boat for the long trip South, possibly using the airport to change crew. After three months mainly in isolated little harbours it will be a bit of a culture shock to be in what sounds like a vibrant little capital city.

Week 13: 536 miles, to the outer Hebrides. This is beyond the range of Whisky Mac’s fuel tanks, so its going to be an excellent long sail. It will take around 7 to 10 days averaging 3 or 4 knots. This is a very long exposed passage for a 28 ft boat, but smaller boats, even open wayfarers, have done it.

Week 14 and 15: The Western Highlands of Scotland. This was the place where, with my good friend John, around 15 years ago, we first started dreaming about sailing to Northern latitudes, as we paddled our 2 person feathercraft sea-kayak around the incredible Scottish sea lochs, often in winter and comically poor weather. We will certainly be sailing slow at this point.

In the following weeks (Week 16 to Week 20) the itinerary is flexible, as Im not exactly sure whether we will leave the boat in UK, France or Holland.