A memorable night in Mary Ann's and round the Fastnet

We had a superb meal in Mary Ann's in Castletownsend last night and it turned into a very memorable evening. We ended up in conversation with everyone in the bar and met Robert and Freda Townsend (who we met last year) again. Lots to eat and drink so we got back to the boat just after 11.00pm, feeling full.

Today has again been bright and sunny, with a sighting of a couple of basking shartks, so we had a short motor round to Lough Hyne (a tiny anchorage outside a dammed sea lough which is a marine nature reserve) for a walk ashore. After coffee back aboard, watching otters playing in the kelp, the wind had piped up enough for us to fly the asymmetric spinnaker (in Irish flag colours) past Baltimore and Cape Clear and on to the Fastnet Rock.



Once round the Rock we gybed and headed north-east to Crookhaven - a very popular anchorage that is still pretty deserted (May is regarded as very early season here). We sailed into the anchorage and onto the visitors' mooring without starting the engine.

I'm writing this at a table outside O'Sullivan's bar where we were (easily) persuaded that Cork-brewed Murphy's is better than Dublin-produced Guinness. Mind you, we've had to taste a few of each, just to be sure! Tomorrow we head north to a wild anchorage called Derrynane where there's unlikely to be any kind of signal so next post may be from Dingle.

For the younger previous crew viewers of this blog, we can confirm that the pegs have only been used for the washing - so far!

Safely into Ireland

Very little mobile reception here, hence a short update for the moment. However we arrived safely into Castletownsend at 11.00am Monday.

After a great start from Newlyn at 7.00am Sunday with a 4 hour spinnaker run, the wind died and we had to motor for 23 hours across a very smooth sea. There was a fair amount of fog and a few fishing boats to avoid but we arrived feeling only a little sleep-deprived!

We're just about to go ashore to the famous Mary Ann's pub! Cheers!
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Helford to Newlyn

Wow - what a great day (for Blackpool FC too)! Apart from the 6.00am departure, that is.

The day dawned bright and sunny with a nice following wind to blow us westwards. We had the spinnaker up for about an hour then, once past the Lizard Point, we gybed into Mount's Bay. Really great sailing - clocking over 7 knots of boat speed pretty consistently.


We anchored for an early lunch in the lee of St Micheal's Mount then sailed on to Newlyn, with a short delay to avoid a powerboat race in the bay. Newlyn is very much a fishing harbour with no special facilities for yachts but the harbourmaster was very friendly and we're snug on a pontoon mooring.

Barbara and Steve arrived by train just after 5.00pm, after a long cross-country trip from mid-Wales, so we've had a meal aboard and are just contemplating the Irish Sea crossing tomorrow (about 170 miles or 30 hours). The forecast suggests calm seas and we just hope there'll be some wind.

Next post will be from Ireland, all being well.

A gentle, sunny sail to Helford

Summer is here, for the moment! Bright sunshine and a very gentle breeze. So after showers and breakfast, Graham took part in another conference call to the Soil Association at 8.30 before we could stroll into Falmouth for some food shopping.

We left harbour at 12.30 for a very gentle sail towards the Helford River - we're talking less than 1 knot of boat speed! However we've picked up a visitors' mooring and had an lovely lunch in the cockpit. There are a few non-urgent boat jobs to be tackled sometime this afternoon, plus some navigation planning to be done. No rush, though; it's great just to relax and take in the view.



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Fowey to Falmouth

We had a really relaxing evening on the mooring in Fowey - including producing a batch of leek & potato soup for lunches over the next few days - and a quiet night (di managed 11 hours sleep!)

Today didn’t start terribly well – the turn of the key to start the engine was met with a click and then silence! However, we didn’t panic and, working through the symptoms, discovered a loose connection on the battery bank. Once tightened, the engine burst into life – much relief all round!



We relied on the engine for the whole passage today (just 20 miles) – hardly a breath of wind and a calm sea but, again, fairly poor visibility. However, it gave us the chance to practice what we’d learned in our recent Radar course and we passed this lovely old boat motoring back to its summer mooring in St Mawes – she was built in 1912! Anyway we arrived at Falmouth at 5.00 and moored in the visitors’ haven close to the town centre.

We’re eating ashore tonight for the first time on the trip and hoping that WIFI in the café will let me load this blog and photos up since my normally trusty mobile broadband dongle seems to be struggling.

Thoroughly enjoying being back in cruising mode!

The start of the summer (?) cruise

Well, were off! We left Dartmouth at lunchtime on Tuesday for a great beat out to Start Point - sunshine and a good Force 4n perfect. We also had a couple of boats to compete with and were very pleased to overtake a well-sailed Contessa 36 (a quick boat).
As we passed Salcombe, though, the wind died so we motored for about two hours toward the River Yealm. A slightly surreal hour was spent on a conference call to four other members of the Soil Association Council as we motored about 3 miles off the coast and the call ended with half a dozen dolphins arriving to play in our bow wave! 


After a very peaceful night. this morning, unfortunately, dawned drizzly and misty but we left at about 11.30 for a really good sail to Fowey. A Force 3-4 close reach, with the cockpit speakers providing music to take our minds off the drizzle. As we neared the harbour visibility reduced to less than half a mile so we crawled in under radar and GPS assistance.



A china clay carrier feels its way out of the harbour, just after we arrived.

The mobile phone signal isn't very good here so I'm hoping that this email upload to the blog works! We should be able to add pictures tomorrow.
Graham Keating
Director of Communications
Yeo Valley
T: 01761 461490
M: 07747 868832
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A short May weekend cruise

We've just returned from a really lovely 3-day cruise down to the River Yealm and then up the Taymar from Plymouth to anchor in the St German's River, close to the Navy's Juniper Point seamanship training centre.

The boat went really well, with her clean bottom and without the extra drag of Winnie's rudder - her turning circle under power is dramatically tighter too, so much so that Di nearly fell overboard during a swift change of direction!

We were able to enjoy the peace of a sheltered anchorage and some great sailing home to Dartmouth, with some time to reorganise food stowage in the galley and give the cockpit a good clean and polish. All ready for the main trip to Ireland in a couple of weeks!