The start of our summer cruise - not quite to plan!

On Saturday we started our early-summer cruise, with a plan to head for Brittany and the Channel Islands.

Saturday had winds from the south which would have meant slow beating into the wind but the forecast for Sunday was for a westerly which would be ideal. So we had a great sail down to Plymouth, anchoring in the Barn Pool just inside Drake's Island at about 6.00pm with a plan for a very early start the following morning.

We were up at 4.14am on Sunday and the wind, as forecast, had veered to the west, blowing Force 6; the forecast gave the sea state as 'moderate to rough' and we certainly had a brilliant sail, close reaching and averaging between 7 and 8 knots.



All was great until a huge rogue wave popped up and broke across the cockpit. Luckily Constance, our autopilot, was driving at the time so we were both sheltering under the sprayhood but, as Maunie shook herself upright and the water drained out of the cockpit, we had an awful realisation.

The weight of water had burst the eyelets of the cockpit dodgers, which now flapped over the side, but far worse, it had somehow dislodged the liferaft from its cradle on the transom and dropped it into the sea. In almost slow motion, we watched the liferaft canister drift away behind us until its painter pulled up short and, with a hiss and a bang, the thing inflated!


It took us about 3/4 of an hour to retrieve it back on deck, deflate it and stuff it into the cockpit locker. For a while it seemed that we'd be defeated and have to cut it loose but we were aware that this would have severe consequences - potential false alarms of lifeboat call-outs, etc. - so we were very relieved to get it back.

We decided that, even though we were almost half way to our destination (Treguier)the prudent thing would be to abort the passage and return to Dartmouth so that we could get the liferaft back to its makers for checking and re-packing. So we turned back, had a fantastic reach back into Dartmouth and, after a meal aboard, slept solidly for 12 hours!


So we're now in the process of sorting out what we do next. Will keep you posted!