The 2011 season begins

Actually, we haven't really stopped since last season, with the boat staying afloat all through the winter. We haven't managed a huge amount of winter sailing this time, for one reason or another, but have steadily completed all the maintenance jobs (engine servicing, winch re-greasing, general cleaning, etc).

One new job was to fit a second, flexible, water tank into an empty space behind the forward heads moulding. This provides a separate 50-litre source of fresh water, hand-pumped, in the unlikely event of a problem with the main 300-litre tank or pressurised pump. With a deft bit of re-using old kit, we employed one of the original cockpit dodgers from our first keelboat, Osiris (a Parker 21) as a sort of protective hammock for the tank to make sure it doesn't abrade as the boat heels.


In mid-April we were blessed with lovely weather for the annual antifouling chore. Once again, we used the Dartmouth scrubbing grid to pressure-wash the hull of its layer of slime and weed before applying two coats of antifouling paint between tides on the Saturday and Sunday.

All went well and we were able to complete everything, including replacing anodes, servicing and greasing the feathering propellor and polishing the hull on time.

Dartmouth Regatta 2010

We've been joined by Goddaughters Amy and Laura for this year's Regatta and they arrived, by rail, at Totnes on Monday afternoon. We motored Maunie up river on a rising tide (running aground, briefly, only once in the shallow upper sections of the Dart) to pick them up from the Steamer Quay before returning downstream under sail. Very entertaining.

The forecast for the middle of the week was pretty dreadful but we spotted a short window of opportunity so on Tuesday sailed round to Salcombe in a steady Force 6. 2 reefs in the main and yankee saw us beating at around 6.5 knots so it was an excellent passage. Arriving at the visitors' pontoon we met several yachts who'd been trapped there for 4 or 5 days due to the high winds. The girls went ashore for showers whilst Graham stayed on board for a spot of maintenance.



Wednesday's forecast was really poor - heavy rain and Force 8 later - but with an early calm before the storm. So we left at 6.00am for a really pleasant F4 reach and were back on our mooring by 10.00am. Shortly after this the rain arrived and it poured down all day - no point in trying to go ashore so we resorted to card games and, even, Scrabble. One winch was also serviced to make us feel that we'd achieved something! The evening's scheduled Battle of Britain memorial flight display was cancelled due to the weather.





Thursday dawned a bit brighter - cloudy but no rain - so we went out for a day-sail to watch the racing. A slightly depleted fleet compared to previous years, we thought, but still around 150 boats on three courses. The evening improved so after a terribly healthy roast butternut squash and spinach supper, we enjoyed the first of the fireworks displays.

By Friday, the weather was really making amends for the earlier rain so we had another great daysail, then lunch in the cockpit after 'dressing ship' (hoisting every available flag).





There followed a fantastic Red Arrows display and a really delicious meal at the Spice Bazaar in Dartmouth.







On Saturday we decided on a day off sailing, so instead walked from Kingswear along the coastal path and out to Froward Point where there's a National Coastwatch Institute lookout, run by volunteers. We had a good chat to the Station Manager and it's good to know that they are there 365 days a year. We returned from the 6-mile, walk hungry and thirsty, for a great round of sandwiches at the Ship Inn in Kinsgwear then returned to Maunie for showers and an excellent supper. The finale of the Regatta week was the firework display - absolutely fantastic.








Today (Sunday) we're going to go out for a final mini-cruise, hoping to get to the Yealm and back before we return home on Tuesday. A great week!

The final day of the voyage

We had a gentle end to our cruise - a 35 mile mile passage from Fowey back to Dartmouth that began at a reasonably sociable hour, for once. There wasn't a lot of wind so we motored for some of it but this gave us the chance to complete some on-deck maintenance jobs. Graham scrubbed the teak capping on the toe-rail with some magic chemical and Di took a toothbrush to the crevices around the hatches.




It's great that the boat is looking better at the end of the cruise than at the beginning; ongoing maintenance is so much less of a chore in the sunshine, with the scenery moving!

The log for the trip tells us that we've done 726 nautical miles and we've enjoyed it all. This trip has confirmed to use that Maunie is just a brilliant cruising yacht and we can't wait to take her even further.

Photos from Scilly to Fowey

It was a real wrench to leave Scilly, particularly in the fantastic weather. We rigged the hammock under the spinnaker pole on Wednesday afternoon to take full advantage of the setting.


The beat to Cornwall on Friday kept us both busy on the helm, with plenty of winching exercise as we tacked to make the best of the wind and tide.




Our Friday night anchorage just off St Micheal's Mount was very special. It's only in winds from the East or North-East that this spot is tenable and so we felt very lucky to have this view from the boat:


Once into Fowey on Saturday, we picked up a mooring and watched the evening race of just 4 boats ghosting out in a gentle breeze:

Scilly to St Michael's Mount to Fowey

We had glorious sailing conditions on Thursday - bright sunshine and Force 5. Only one tiny snag: it was blowing from the east which meant a long beat across to Cornwall. I got my tidal calculations a bit wrong, to add additional adversity, so it took a long time to get past Lands' End.

Still, we had beef pasties baked that morning at the tiny shop on Bryher (possibly the best ever tasted) and enjoyed the sailing, with lots of reefing and unreefing to keep us active. We got into Mounts Bay just as the light was failing and decided to anchor in the shelter of St Michael's Mount - supper was at 10.30pm and we slept well.

Today, by contrast, saw little wind so we motored the 8 hours to Fowey but again in brilliant sunshine. Suddenly there are yachts everywhere and Fowey is heaving with holiday makers. We're eating aboard tonight.

Photos to be added when we get to a better area for signal.

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A few photos from the passage from Ireland

The (only)benefit of a 5.00am start - sunrise at Crookhaven lighthouse.


Mist around the coast of Clear Island as we leave Ireland


The spinnaker set, before the wind got up!


We really go in there?! No wind but the large sea-swell churns the water at the entrance to New Grimbsby Sound, Scilly, into a foam


The view of the New Grimsby Sound visitors' moorings from Bryher, looking towards Tresco

We'd love to stay, particulalrly in this weather, but we'll probably head on for Falmouth tomorrow (another early start to catch the tide, of course!)

Crookhaven to Scilly

Well the wind turned up as forecast - a Force 4-5 from the NE so we had a belting spinnaker run out into the Irish Sea. After about 6 hours it all began to get a little too exciting, with big surfs down 2.5 metre waves (top speed 8.8 knots), so we packed the spinni away and poled out the yankee (foresail).

Unfortunately, also as forecast, the wind dropped in the night, leaving us rolling in the swell, so we had to motor from about 9.30pm until we arrived in New Grimsby Sound at 8.00 this morning.  We both managed some sleep in our 4-hour off watches so don't feel too bad this morning. We've had showers aboard, inflated the dinghy and are ready to hit Tresco in the sunshine!

Graham Keating

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