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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Bear Haven to Crookhaven - a near sinking averted (not us!)

It just rained and rained last evening so we didn't move from the visitors' buoy in Bear Haven after all.

This morning we left at 6.00am to gain the favourable tide south round Mizzen point (where the flow can reach 4 knots). A Force 4-5 Easterly meant we charged southwards at a great rate, though the tidal flows remain a mystery - we had adverse tide for most of the trip then a favourable shove off Mizzen Head. No that we saw the Head - dense mist made our circle of visibility less than half a mile for most of the way.


We came into Crookhaven and picked up a mooring buoy close to the pub! The visibility closed in further so we've decided that we won't be going on to Baltimore this afternoon - too many rocks and small islands to avoid. Anyway, there was an exciting boat rescue mission to accomplish.

We noticed a motor boat moored alongside the pontoon - it didn't look too happy and, as we watched, it was visibly sinking.


We were about to phone the pub to get someone to go and check it when the ownwer and his friend arrived, armed with a bucket. Once we launched our dinghy, I took our emergency 12v bilge pump across to them and we managed to raise the waterline enough to be able to get it onto the trailer. Owner Andrew was less than impressed with his U-boat, especially after texting the dealer later to be told that there was a known design-flaw in the Warrier 175!

Anyway, boat saved, Dianne and I made it to the pub to log into to their free WiFi and Andrew insisted on buying us a very good seafood chowder each (plus associated Murphy's) as a token of thanks.

The forecast still looks favourable for the Irish Sea tomorrow so we'll have a relaxing afternoon aboard and will leave early in the morning. It'll be a shame to leave Ireland.

Final note for Steve - the dinghy repair was a success! Many thanks.