28th June 2012

Fiona....
He's home...again!!
This time a special reason - Eleanor's Prom Night.
Coming home from Milford Haven is relatively straightforward so why not as from then onwards - he definitely will not be able to pop home... a wee  bit difficult from Ireland, or Anglesey,  Isle of Man or where-ever....
Sir will be writing up his latest leg from Newlyn to Milford Haven -  about 34 hours sailing - solo!
Catch you later.

26 June 2012

24 June

21 June 2012 – Newlyn

Still here!  A real blow last night and from the East so the swell came in through the harbour entrance.  The disadvantage of a working harbour is the sea gulls and their droppings.  By last night the boat had a large number of droppings; fortunately the driving rain overnight has cleaned them off.

The next leg is Milford Haven some 125 nm away, about 30 hours sailing on my own – a bit worrying. The weather looks promising from the weekend so here’s hoping.  

19 June

19 June 2012 – Falmouth to Newlyn

After the strong winds over the weekend I finally set out from Falmouth to Newlyn.  My original plan was to go to Penzance as Newlyn has a poor reputation both on the web and in the Shell Guide regarding the relationship between fishermen and Yachtsmen.  It is, after all, a working fishing harbour!

I decided, in the end, that Penzance was not viable as it has a sill and is only accessible for 3 hours each tide.  Doing the calculations indicated that I would have to hang about for several hours before I could go in and exit several hours earlier than I needed to get the correct tides for Lands End.

In the end it was “a no brainer” – it had to be Newlyn.

To get the tide around the Lizard I slipped my moorings at 05:30 in a really beautiful morning.  The sun was shining on the houses behind the harbour and there was a gentle breeze.  Y main worry was that I had miscalculated the tides but the sight of 10 other yachts heading the same way reassured me.  Unfortunately, while I had the sails up, There was insufficient wind to drive the boat at more than 1.5 knots (why is it this trip either has gales of no wind?).  So we all set out under motor – the big boys shooting ahead and the small ones dropping behind. 

The tides were exactly as I wanted them and we shot down the coast and I, being conservative, had allowed the 3nm clearance the books recommended for the Lizard.  Some of the boats started to cut across and I went with them to some extent, but when I saw them rolling about I went back to my old course. Even so I did roll about for 30 minutes.

The rest of the trip was a very pleasant motor sail.

Newlyn really is a fishing harbour.  The EU has spent a lot of money upgrading the facilities including putting in pontoons. While the fishing boats have priority they tend to moor alongside the central quay allowing yachts to use the pontoons.  When you talk to the fishermen they all seem fine – more chatty than many of the yachtees!  There are limited facilities – public loos (which are kept clean but could do with an update), showers at the Fisherman’s Mission- but a good co-op close by and some electricity on the pontoons.  At £18 a night a good deal.

6 June -13 June Summary

6 June 2012 – Plymouth to Falmouth

The weather forecast for the days immediately after Michael, Laurie and Robert was horrendous – Force 9 gales. Having experienced being in a marina during a gale and being on a train route that would get me to Temple Meads without any problems I decided to go home (as good a way to get my washing done – by me I should add; Fiona was working!).  It was also helped that Fiona was working in Exeter on Monday so volunteered to drop me back.

I have to say I am extremely glad I did.  The marina had Force 9 with gusts of 70 knots (hurricane level winds!).  A pontoon had been ripped away and a couple of boats damaged but Akira looked ok.

10 June 2012 – Plymouth to Falmouth

A nice easy start (11:00) and motored out of Plymouth on the company of 20 odd boats.  Once outside the harbour put up the sails but virtually no wind and a very uncomfortable sea running – the remains of the gales and wind over tide.  Put the motor into neutral and the speed dropped from 5 knots to 1.5 which was barely steerage way in the awkward seas so carried on under engine.

The wind ended up directly on the bow and no matter what I did I couldn’t get it to work so put the sails away and just motored to Falmouth.  As the day progressed it started to drizzle then rain so not the most pleasant trip. The best part was coming into Falmouth.  It is a beautiful location and the marina staffs are really helpful.

When getting ready to leave Plymouth I discovered some damage the gales had caused.  The screws holding the spray hood to the coach roof had been ripped out and only when I lowered it did the fitting fall off. So that will need mending along with a couple of other bits that have come loose.

11/12 June – Falmouth

Spent a couple of days sorting the boat out and doing the little repairs that need doing and waiting for Tony and Tim to come down for a few days.  By the way the weather was “average”

To repair the attachments for the spray hood involved taking some of the cabin roof lining off, drilling holes through the deck, putting sealant on, putting bolts through cutting them to length and putting it all together again.  A job Stuart can do in half a day took me a day and a half!  Fortunately there was a chandlery on the quay for all the bits I needed.

13 June 2012

Tony and Tim arrived last night.  The original plan was to meet up in Penzance and they would come with to Milford Haven (about 120 nm), but, surprise surprise; the weather had not been very good so they came to Falmouth to go round the Lizard.  In the end we decided to just explore the River Fal and spent the day sailing/ motoring to Malpas.  The notes in the Shell Guide say that it is possible to get all the way to Truro but we decided not to.

Along one of the reaches (Tolverne) there are often moored tankers and other commercial ships waiting scrapping.  When we went past the spot there was only a Ro Ro ferry and a MV called the Windsor Castle.  

The following day the weather not any better so we got the bus to Truro.  Yes it is navigable to the bus station as there were a couple of old, dilapidated yachts there but I am not sure I would want to try it. 

19 June .... on way to Newlyn Cornwall

Fiona here.
If you look at the Jubilee entry - I have added in some  data from David today - this will give you more details what went on then!

David texted me this morning  about 6am saying that he was on way from Falmouth to Newlyn.
He is planning  to go on to Milford Haven tomorrow - I think. That will be a big challenge for him - taking about 30 hours to  get there. Still Milford Haven is  a nice little area and  about 2.5 hours for us to pop down and say Hello.

16 June 2012 – Falmouth

16 June 2012 – Falmouth

I am afraid that I have not updated the blog for some time for which I am duly sorry.  I just seem to be stuck in marinas while the boat rolls about like a drunken sailor on pay night.  I don’t suffer from seasickness normally but I have found being below sitting at a computer, reading, cooking or even sleeping I have felt a bit queasy.  Indeed there have been the odd meals times which I have not bothered with. 

Fortunately over the past few weeks I have moved towards Wales so I have been able to get home when the weather looks bad for a number of days and, hopefully, over the next week I should be in Milford Haven (Cardiff adds 50 miles an already long trip!)

17 May 2012 – Brighton to Gosport

A nice easy departure at 07:00 with, once I got out of the harbour, a nice breeze just aft of the port quarter. Pulled out the foresail; switched off the engine and set off for Gosport.  Unfortunately the sea state was very confused which resulted in a very uncomfortable ride until I got round Selsey Bill but after that it was a very pleasant sail.

The Solent was very quiet so I didn’t have any problems missing tankers, container ships, warships etc.  A straight motor into Gosport Marina and I was tied up and drinking coffee by 5pm.

The next day (Friday 18 May) was spent tidying the boat and getting everything sorted out for Tim and Tony (old friends of mine) to have some where to sleep for the weekend.  While they were getting sorted out and settled in I abandoned them and went to see Laura and James for the evening (somewhat unkind of me but I enjoyed the evening)

19 May 2012 – Gosport to Yarmouth

The plan for the weekend was to meet up with a friend (Nigel) from the Isle of Wight who we had not seen for a year or so.  He arrived about 9 and, after coffee, we set off.  Unfortunately there was very little wind and what there was came straight down the Solent.  After some discussion we decide to just motor to Yarmouth so we arrived about 2pm.

At this point things became “interesting”.  Yachts from two races staying were staying overnight in Yarmouth harbour and they had arrived well before us. As a result it was full of Junior Offshore Group boats (these are big boats – anywhere from 45 to 60 feet long) all rafted up. The Berthing Master had it all under control and pointed us to a vacant area outside a 45 footer moored to the pontoon.  The only problem was there were 3 very large racing rafted up in front of our ‘target boat’ and 4 behind it!  Remembering Stuart's advice (or was it instructions?) about speed we crept in to the gap and, with the help of Tony, Tim and the crew of the boat we were going to raft up against, we manhandled the boat in without destroying any of the very expensive equipment surrounding us.

Once we were rafted alongside the skipper of the boat inside us informed me that they would have to go at 8am the next day! I decided that tomorrow could take care of its self so we headed into Yarmouth and the pub.  When we returned we found 2 additional cruising boats rafted outside us!

20 May 2012 Yarmouth to Poole

We dragged ourselves out of bed about 7am.  Our plan to sail to Poole meant we had to leave at 11 but we had to move the boat so the racing boat could get out.  There was little or no activity until 7:45 when suddenly all the racing boats exploded with activity with people attaching sail halyards, sheets and god knows what else.  The two boas outside us got away easily but for us to do the same we would have to go sideways.  Fortunately the smaller boats in front had an earlier start time so they shot off leaving us space to pull ourselves onto the pontoon.

At 8am all hell let loose – all the engines started and racing boats started to charge about.  The helmsmen only had 2 speeds – flat out or stop!  Amazingly they all vacated the harbour in 15 minutes without anybody hitting anything.

We set out at 11 so that we could get the tide through the Needles Channel.  A gentle motor out, sails up and off we went.  A really lovely day and great sailing.  The tides were just right and we shot through the Needles Channel and getting the benefit all the way to Poole.

To round the day off as we came into the Poole channel a pod of Dolphins boat. It was a wonderful sight.

I had forgotten how large Poole harbour is and, against the tide, it took us about an hour to get to the marina.  At that point it all went pear shaped. The wind was blowing the boat off the pontoon and as we came in I didn’t notice a rope had fallen into the water. Everybody knows what happened next – the rope got caught around the propeller and broke in two.  Fortunately I managed to switch the engine off before it stalled.  We moored up and got ourselves sorted out and then I spoke to Stuart.  We agreed the best thing was to get the boat out of the water and I organised this to happen through marina contacts. 

The next day (Monday) Tim and Tony helped me get the mainsail off (it was due for its Warranty service and the sail company was in Poole) before they left for home.  I was still not happy about the possibility of some of the rope still attached to the prop so the marina organised a diver to come and have a look.  It took him 30 minutes to get dressed and 10 to get the remainder of the rope off the prop.

22 May 2012 - Marina to Yard

Stuart came down to just check the prop and cutlass bearing while the boat was out of the water.  We took the boat round to the yard, hauled it out and Stuart looked it over.  Fortunately there was no damage done!

Back on the water we left the boat moored to a buoy, delivered the sail to the sail maker and went back to Chepstow.

29 May 2012 – Yard to Marina

Fiona kindly drove me back to Poole and we collected the boat to take it back to the Poole Quay Marina.  While we were in the yard I got chatting to one of the lads in the yard.  He had got a puncture in his bicycle wheel.  I offered to give him a lift into town as he would have to walk a couple of miles to get it repaired.  What I didn’t realise he was going to take the whole bicycle with him so I ended up with a mountain bike on the deck.  Fiona felt that, as he worked in the yard, he would have some experience in handling boats.  Not so - she ended up showing him what to do and how to tie knots. 

We refitted the mainsail.  Unfortunately they had missed a bit of stitching that was coming apart so I had to take it off the next day.  I took me an hour to get it off, fold it and take it to sail makers.  10 minutes to fix it and 2 hours to put it back up!

1 June 2012 – Poole to Weymouth

Robert, my ex-wife and her husband’s son arrived the previous night and we set off about 11 for Weymouth. There was little or no wind so we spent intermittent periods sailing but much of the time motoring arriving about 6:30

Friends were due to meet us there were delayed on the M25, M3 etc. so that so they didn’t arrive until later than we anticipated but we still managed a couple of beers.

2 June 2012 – Weymouth to Dartmouth

The weather was beautiful and we set out at 7:50.  As soon as we were out of the harbour we had the sails up and headed towards Portland Bill.  I had planned to pass the Bill a couple of miles offshore so that we missed the Race (which can be very rough).  However a couple of yachts left before us and went close in to the shore.  I just followed them and we zoomed round the corner with only a slight disturbance where the race is.

We then started to gybe towards Dartmouth.  Some 3 hours out we had a visitor – a homing pigeon flew into the sail and fell onto the mainsheet grabbing it and hanging on for dear life.  This was fine until we needed to gybe – as I pulled it in the pigeon ran up the mainsheet until it couldn’t keep up and fell onto the side of the cockpit.  It stayed there for quite a long time despite Robert throwing a banana skill over his shoulder into the wind which promptly came back on board and landed on the poor animal.  In the end it decided the safest place was directly behind Robert and it stayed there until it departed.

Towards the end the wind got stronger and the waves were awkward so some of the crew felt a bit under the weather.  Robert, in particular, could only say below for a very brief time.  As soon as he finished below he would bound out of the hatch and very quickly got the nickname of Tigger.

We went into Kingswear marina only to find there was a serious lack of space.  They initially put us behind another boat but our stern stuck out halfway across the channel and it was obvious we could not stay there.  After looking around for a while the berthing master moved us to the waiting pontoon by the boat lift.  This was a temporary arrangement until Monday at 08:00 when they wanted access to get a boat out for a scrub.

One of the guys (Michael - an Australian) had competed in the Sydney to Hobart race and it was a joy to see an expert sail trim in action.

His wife (Yona) had brought them all to Weymouth and then followed us in her car to Dartmouth and joined us for dinner when we arrived. 

4 June 2012 – “a day of rest”

The weather forecast (as usual) was rubbish so we decided to have a “day of rest” exploring Dartmouth and sampling a few glasses of the amber nectar.

4 June 2012 – Dartmouth to Plymouth

Monday involved a nice easy start – we didn’t need to leave until 9:30.  We gentle motored out of Dartmouth and headed out hoping for some wind.  There was a little but not enough to sail so it was motor sailing all the way to Queen Anne’s Battery Marina.

Later that evening Yona and Laurie’s wife, Christine, joined us for dinner to round off a vice couple of days.

It was great to have company for a few days and there are a couple of long sails ahead where I could do with some help.  The problem is the weather – it is very unpredictable.

Everybody departed on the Tuesday.  

10 June 2012

Fiona:
I was having a bit of a tiddy week,  where I found life at home a bit tricky. Balancing kid's demands and social life with my scatty work of which one week to the next is never the same. Having had a skype chat with David on Wednesday evening at 6pm and offloading  a few grumbles, i had a bit of a shock about 7.45 where he texted to say he is on the train home from Plymouth. The guy next door to him took him to the station and the timing was amazing. Naturally I had  a big pang of guilt  and bit of  a flap at David popping home at  a short notice. The real truth - I found out later was that the weather for Thursday and Friday was appalling and would have to stay in the Marina anyhow. On top of that he knew  I was working in Exeter Saturday and Sunday -   and thought that would be an easy lift back!!
I was grateful - boosted us all up and made us all feel that we can tackle the world again!! Eleanor with her GCSES, Fraser with his upcoming grading for TaeKwonDo and me with mountain pile of paperwork!

So..
Yesterday we drove to Plymouth really early in the morning - arrived about 8.30 to do a spot of shopping,  and check the boat over after the horrendous storms ( just in case he needed a car to get stuff from chandlery etc) I arrived to work in Exeter a bit late but the team I was working with were fine.
Today - he sailed off to Falmouth and have had a text about 30 mins ago saying he has arrived. Tomorrow will be a bit of maintenance work on the boat and some TLC!.

So...
He  is back and making his way slowly down south west. Thereafter  - i am not sure of his plans - possibily go around Lands End and in to Padstow. There he will decide taking in weather consideration and timing, this will ditate whether he will go to Cardiff, Swansea or to Milford Haven or all three!! Some people who have never sailed before may well be hoping for a wee sail to get the taste of it. Who knows.....

Jubilee weekend

Brief log:
Poole - (Robert came and joined him)
Poole - Weymouth (Laurie and Michael joined the gang)
Weymouth to Dartmouth
Dartmouth - Plymouth

Tuesday 5th:
Laurie, Michael and Robert left.