2024 September 6thd Days 23 - 24, To Milford Haven

WIP DRAFT 

Thursday was, as expected, very wet and the wind stronger than forecast the day before at up to F7. I spent most of the day hunkered down, some of it advising a fellow solo sailor on passage planning on  the part of his round GB trip onto the Solent a stretch he had not done before. He left early on Friday to get around the Lizard before the tide turned probably heading for St Mawes. I left a few minutes ahead of schedule at 09:50 and was sailing as soon as I had the fenders and dock lines in and stowed.

This was not the plan of the day before as the weather did not match the forecast which was no wind and rain until the evening, but was welcome and I sailed until almost at the Longships when the engine went on as the wind was almost on the nose.

The Runnel Stone East Cardinal buoy. The Long ships just to
the right of it, Gwennap Head extreme right.

Lands End

The Longships Light

Unfortunately the engine was to stay on for much of the trip because the wind stayed on the nose at 8 - 11 knots until it died to almost nothing at 21:00. At 22:00 I started to see flashes of lightning to the north, not good, I always feel very vulnerable at sea in lightning with a 40ft lightning conductor the highest thing around for miles. For the moment it stayed distant and from 01:00 I sailed for a couple of hours when the wind came in from the WSW, again not in the latest forecast models. 

Light to moderate rain started at 02:00 (and lasted till about 5:30) and the lightning drew nearer, fortunately it did not get within about five miles and most was not going to ground or rather sea. From the radar the heavy rain was also about 5 miles away by which time all of the portable electronics was inside the cooker to protect it. I learned later that the storm had kept people awake around Milford for much of the night.

Short range monitoring when below by Radar on the
iPad replicated from the plotter, longer range by AIS
on the lap top but I spent most of the time on deck
as to move back and forth would have brought a
lot of water down below.

Unusually there were very few fishing boats around but there was a fair bit of shipping and the timing was such that quite a few boats that had come out of the "Off Lands End" TSS and heading for Bristol, Milford and particularly Avonmouth were coming close, particularly three all over 250 metres long that passed within 1.5 miles on a course only 10 - 15 degrees different to mine. 

With AIS and radar I was perfectly safe, but it gets your attention when you see them 20+ miles away at which point, even when making a reasonably steady speed through the water under engine, the predicted closest point of approach varies from a few metres to a mile or so. In the event all passed ahead of me but with our courses so similar it took a long time for all three (1 leading and 2 very close together an hour behind) to clear.

With so much use of the engine and making about 5.5 knots, at a relaxed cruise in fairly calm water despite the fouled hull, I was well ahead of schedule and at daybreak I was past Turbot Bank, that did make it harder to see the channel buoys but it let me get to Milford Marina when the lock was in free flow, saving me from working through, and I was on my berth just before eight.

I had planned to start laying up on Sunday to return home by train on Monday to get the car, but with the early arrival it seemed pointless to waste the time and if I slept too much I would not sleep that night so, apart from a nap of an hour or so in the afternoon, I worked all day getting the running rigging, dodgers etc. off the boat ready to go. 

Sunday's trip home was rather frustrating, the train to Swansea was delayed because a low branch took the windscreen wiper off the front of the train, so they turned the train round and went backwards into the terminus although it was not raining and the buffers are under cover. It then went on to Newport and if they followed the same procedure would have had to turn the train around again.

As the train was being turned round, the train I was meant to be on passed. Some quick searching on the network rail journey planner found the quickest way back, instead of changing at Reading and Oxford, I would have to change at Swindon, Didcot and Oxford. The change at Didcot was very tight and the train was very crowded, I was one of the last off and did not make it, not wanting to try running, including down and up the stairs of the underpass, with a heavy bag and arthritis. 

Having left the boat at 08:45 I finally got home just before 17:00. In theory I should have had my fare refunded for the long delay but GWR refused to cough up because the delay was on the Welsh service even though I had booked through them as the main carrier.

120 miles in 22 hours and 10 minutes berth to berth/

2024 September 3rd Days 20 - 22, Turnaware to St Mawes and Newlyn.

DRAFT

To St Mawes

I left after a breakfast coffee to get off the pontoon at fairly slack water and then to carry the ebb down Carrick roads with sufficient water to be able to safety go direct, once round Turnaware Bar (following the channel) I was able to sail to the Lugo Rock south cardinal buoy and it was then half a mile to the St Mawes anchorage. With light winds I rowed ashore for a small shop and a lunch time pasty from the Bakery - much better than the one I had at Cawsand, you could see proper chunks of meat rather than a few bits of mince and it was properly seasoned.

It was quite warm in the afternoon and I had an overall wash and washed me hair in the cockpit, getting a few odd looks from passing passengers on tripper boats.

To Newlyn

A very varied trip to St Mawes, I left at 06:45 to hopefully reach The Lizard at slack water, or as slack as it gets a day before the spring tide. a gentle breeze set in as I passed St Anthony Head and the engine went off as I sailed under headsail only as it was close to a run and the mainsail would get in the way. The wind increased close to the Manacles and I put in a reef to reduce the roll and it increased further as I passed and headed up to a reach for some quick sailing..

Sailing south from the Manacles in 15 Knts.

After an hour, half way to the Lizard, the wind had dropped and I was about 45 minutes behind plan but sailing in pleasant conditions.

East of Lizard Point in fairly benign conditions.

Then things changed big time, my Facebook post on the rounding says it all: 

"Well, the Lizard gave me a right kicking, a pleasant sail down the east side of the peninsula in 15 - 20 knots of northerly wind, by the time I was east of the point the wind was down to 12 knots so rather than stay 3-4 miles out as planned I cut in to a bit over 2 miles on the eastern edge of the charted over falls - with the tide just turned to the west the over falls normally move somewhat west.

BIG MISTAKE, the wind almost immediately increased to 25 knots and with the Atlantic swell against a near spring tide and I was in an extremely rough, short sea; with the double reefed headsail and no main I was making up to 9 knots over the ground straight into the waves.

A 55 foot yacht [almost certainly in rougher water] half a mile inside me gave up and turned round, that had not occurred to me as turning in a small boat was not something I was going to do in that sea and at 8 - 9 knots it should not take too long to get out of the rough water so I bore off 10 or 15 degrees to reduce the impact of waves head on and to avoid the possibility of an accidental tack. Not long after I was out of the dangerous water."

A couple of short videos before it became to rough to do more:

Somewhat shaken up, literally,  I continued west under sail before putting on the engine to motor directly into wind to Newlyn where I had a choice of berths. Coincidentally the 3 boats on the end of the pontoon were all single handed, me heading for Milford Haven, the other two having just arrived from there, one direct and one after multiple stops around the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea. 

The weather next day (Thursday) did not look promising with strong wind and a lot of rain and it was to get worse than forecast but Friday was looking very good providing I got to Milford during the afternoon on Saturday, that was unlikely to be a problem as the wind was forecast to be light and variable with a lot of rain until evening.

35 miles in seven and a quarter hours.

To Milford Marina

2024 September 2nd. Excitement at Turnaware and I get to use my long line.

I happened to be on deck and saw a boat coming down stream making quite a lot of smoke, as they passed the end of the pontoon the engine cut out, was restarted but cut out again not far from the end of the pontoon and apparently dead up tide (see 2nd pic). I quickly changed the flip flops for proper shoes and prepared to fend off, which would not be easy as I was close to the end of the pontoon and have vulnerable self steering on the stern.

The skipper who was using a borrowed boat got the anchor out as the tide took her a couple of boat lengths from me, but there was not much chain, only a couple times the depth of water (more chain may have been in the locker but would not come out and there was no quick access) so we didn't know if it would hold (4 times the depth is “standard”, and much more in extreme conditions) against the strong tide at its peak on a spring tide. Neither did we know how long it would take to get a tow.

They did not think there was long enough lines on board so I grabbed my 100 metre "long rope" intended for the kedge, taking a line ashore in a tight anchorage or emergencies like this one, slung it in the dinghy and ran the line from their stern to the pontoon, up to a second cleat on the pontoon then out to her stem.

As the tide eased she swung in closer.

With these lines attached we could warp her onto a long space on the pontoon behind me. By now Mylor had agreed to send a work boat to haul her back so we did not attempt that but waited half an hour or so for them to arrive.

The orange buoy is about 5m from the end of the pontoon.
Off back to Mylor, this is about where the engine failed the
second time. When I was watching as she passed there was
definitely water coming out of the exhaust, when they tried
to start it later there wasn't any so almost certainly the impeller
Or water pump belt failed and the engine stopped shortly after.

T

100 metres of 12mm nylon (breaking strain over 3 tonnes)
drying out before I repack it. I also have 80 metres of 14mm
platted line for the drogue or other uses.

To St Mawes and Newlyn.

My review of anchorages and marinas around UK has been updated to August 2024.

Anchorages and Marinas covered as at July 2024

Sancerre in the anchorage at The Holy Island of
Lindisfarne, 2021, the Farne Islands and Bamburgh
Castle in the distance.  A trip line is required in
this anchorage, to see why click here.

My review of anchorages and marinas around UK has been updated with those visited through July 2024, at that point I had been to 155 different ones since getting Sancerre, almost all have at least some comments. The pages were getting over long so there are now 11 of them. 

I now include:

• Harbours and Marinas.
• Some info on fuel & gas availability but I would not have checked at many locations. 
• Cell coverage, Vodafone and O2, for those I have visited recently.

Be sure to check out Reeds  and / or the appropriate pilots for more detailed information and alternates, this is just an overview of likely candidates, but I have been to all of them over the last few years. Some notes on passage making using some of these can be found here:  "Planning a round GB trip" , a list of charts and Pilots I have used round GB can be found here: "Charts and Guides for a round GB trip"

Further updated during a boring winter 2023/4 to include some information on access to and from marinas. Done from notes but largely from memory but fortunately that is good for this sort of thing, I just wish that I always knew why I went into a room or opened a browser page 😕. See my page Marina & mooring notes (opens in a new window) for some general tips, definitions and the context (handling of my boat) in which I comment.

From 2024 I am adding videos of anchorages when weather, daylight and time permit.

Village Bay Anchorage, St Kilda

Hunda Sound anchorage looking towards Scapa Flow, Orkney at 03:30.

Note that these "Pages" do not show up under "Post Labels" (right). There will normally be more photos of each anchorage on the linked post and sometimes subsequent ones (I normally only "tag" the first post in a sequence) the associated slide show, or by clicking on the Post Label right:

Note: In other places Rame Head to Lands End is labelled Fowey to Lands End, that will be corrected in time and is due to adding Looe Bay.

• The Solent.
• The Needles to Plymouth.
• Rame Head to Lands End.
• Lands End north to Anglesey
• The Isles of Scilly and SE Ireland from Baltimore to Carnsore Point 
• The East Coast of Ireland from Carnsore Pt to Red Bay.
• Mull of Galloway to Ardnamurchan Point.
• Ardnamurchan Point to Loch Ewe.
• The Western Isles.
• Loch Ewe to Orkney.
• Duncansby Head to The Solent.

The anchorage at Canna, the Small Isles, on route from
Tobermory to S. Uist, 2022. The Isle of Rum in the distance.

2024 August 31st Days 18 - ?, weather bound again this time at St Mawes and Turnaware

The forecasts are still all over the place with  forecasts not agreeing, hardly surprising with part of a system going overhead.

UK Met Office model on Tuesday morning.

Again met Roeland in his  A24 "Hotfoot", this time not racing
with his wife aboard.

Sunday was quite a nice day and I got a small bit of topside varnishing done, it looked as though I would be OK to stay in St Mawes which is sheltered from the forecast NW wind, however on Tuesday morning I woke and checked the just issued inshore forecast:

Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Cyclonic 2 to 4, increasing 4 to 6, becoming northwest 4 or 5 later. Slight or moderate, occasionally smooth in sheltered north and rough in far west. Occasional rain or showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Northwest 3 to 5. Smooth or slight, but moderate west of the Lizard. Showers. Good.

At first this did not overly concern me but I checked out the domestic forecast, often a good idea, it's a "post code" automated forecast but the UKMO model is updated more frequently than any other, this showed

The domestic forecast for St Mawes @ 09:00, at 07:00
the wind was easterly 6 knots.

The wind strength was much lower but that is not unusual as the system allows for the wind to slow over land but it shows the wind veering from the East to the North-west rather than backing. That would make the anchorage exposed to the south-westerly, during the day a F6 should not be dangerous in St Mawes but it would certainly be uncomfortable so, although it was raining a little and misty I decided to head north for some shelter and I was away 10 minutes later.

There was a minor drama as I left, a fishing boat reporting a yacht probably aground in Bream Cove just north of the Helford river. The fishing boat could not get close enough to see what was going on or if there was any one aboard, and although I probably draw more water than his boat and am single handed, I had the dinghy in tow so could anchor and go in to investigate, as it was only 20 minutes away I started off in that direction but the coastguard, having checked their records (it took a while, probably because the name of the boat was unknown; one reason to have the boats name on the dodgers), came back on to say that the owner was aware and arranging recovery so we both went about our business.

Turnaware from the pontoon.

Fortunately there was space on the Turnaware pontoon and the tide, a couple of hours after HW on a near spring tide was not at full strength so I stopped there rather than go up to the Truro river with the tide getting stronger. If the wind does reach F6 from the SW it will be a bit exposed but not excessively so and I should have a quite night with a north-westerly and I will go back to St Mawes on Tuesday and hopefully head west on Wednesday or Thursday but its not worth thinking about where to go at the moment as the forecasts are rather different:

UK Met Office forecast for mid day Friday.

And the ECMWF for mid day Friday.

Update: Typical, 21:00 and the wind has not gone above 8 knots and hidden here it is mainly calm, now the mist has cleared it is warm and humid, what wind there is from here to Scilly is already NW so I could probably have stayed where I was. Hopefully strong winds will not be delayed too long or they could cause problems tomorrow. I have another paid for nigh here if I need it but I’ll probably go back to St Mawes tomorrow. And now the jet stream is making the forecast for the weekend, not so good and difficult to predict. 🤬🤬

Excitement at Turnaware and I get to use my long line.

2024 August 30th Days 16 - 17, Back to St Mawes having given up on the Channel Isles.

I have given up on the C.I. (again), due to a combination of strong winds, very light / adverse winds and general uncertainty with contradictory forecasts. I can’t risk not getting back to Milford in time to be lifted out. 

I have returned to St Mawes with a view to visiting the Scillies on the way back to Milford, at the moment I don't know when I will move further west, again due to uncertainty about the weather, particular the timing for the forecast easterly winds changing to the west and what strength the winds will be early next week, the forecast is changing twice a day. I will probably go to Newlyn at some point to get the laundry done and resupply although I am OK with fresh foods for a week after going ashore at St Mawes.

Being awake early I left Cawsand at 06:00 as the tide turned to the west and enjoyed some good sailing for an hour or two but the wind then died to 4 knots or less and on went the engine for a quick trip to St Mawes in otherwise lovely weather.

At 08:30 I down loaded the latest ECMWF model (I also downloaded it the previous evening but did not save it):

The NW wind on the previous download (on my last post)
is now southerly rather than north-westerly and still with
fairly strong.

Caribbean Princess off the Fal as she had been last time I arrived.
 Cost $500m 20 years ago. 290 metres long, 17 decks, 3,142 passengers
 plus 1,200 crew. A different type of cruising and defo not for me.

Entering the Fal, on a lovely day, left to right: St Mawes,
Carricknath Point, St Anthony Head.

This could be interesting, the large yacht in the centre is anchored
on the sailing club's start line and there will probably be racing over
the weekend.

A Falmouth working boat dried out in St Mawes Harbour for a
scrub at 10:00 on Sunday, they must have got up early.

I think this was her racing on Saturday.

Traditional Piper one designs and Rustler 24's a modern version
racing from St Mawes.

37 miles in seven and a quarter hours,

Update Saturday 31st.

I had thought to round the Lizard today to take advantage of todays brisk easterly, anchor off St Michaels Mount before going into Newlyn during the strong wind but with the option of anchoring in Gwavas Lake for some or all of the time. But the forecast is for the wind to turn southerly tonight before turning westerly on Sunday night, it’s not likely to be that strong but could make the anchorages uncomfortable and on a lea shore.

Instead I will stay in St Mawes tonight and probably Sunday night before, once again, going to the Truro River where I have a night left on my bulk buy last week. After that we shall see but a brisk northerly may see me back at St Mawes before an onshore wind MIGHT see me on my way.

Weather bound again, but a change of scenery.

2024 August 28th days 14 & 15, Fowey to Looe then Cawsand

DRAFT

Wednesday

I slipped at 10:15 when the weather radar and forecast showed the drizzle had passed only for the gas alarm to go off, so after turning off the gas at the bottle, pumped the bilge (gas being heavier than air will go to the bilge and the manual pump will get it out) and with the engine still running to get any gas out I returned to the pontoon. It seemed unlikely that this was really a gas leak and there was a strong smell of hot rubber down below, unfortunately the alarm kept going so I disconnected then reconnected it and it was silent, it should reset so I might need a new alarm or perhaps sensor and cable, the latter has been squashed by a floor board a few times.

I initially thought that the rubber smell was coming from the alternator belt which was being punished as the alternator was delivering almost 30 amps, it was a little slacker than I recall when I did the oil change when stuck in the Truro River but it seemed OK, however I tightened it a little started the engine and the alarm went off after a minute and again did not stop without being disconnected and reconnected.

More investigation showed the water pump belt was rather slack so I changed that and tightened it - there is little room for adjustment as the pump gets rather close to the engine mount so it gets changed  once a year - but I have done more motoring this year than normal. This time the alarm stayed silent and after letting the engine run for 10 minutes or so I set off again.

East of Fowey, the Gribbin Head day mark disappearing into
the cloud.

The drizzle and mist set in again as I turned east out of the harbour and did not clear for a couple of hours after which it was quite a pleasant sail in light winds. I was not going to make Plymouth on the tide without motoring so,  I anchored behind Looe Island to enjoy the warmest afternoon of the trip and the previous one as well.

From the anchorage

13 miles in four and a half hours.

Thursday

There was no wind when I woke or when I was ready to leave and with a forecast for light winds I left under engine, initially I thought to go to the Lynher River as the wind was forecast to be N or NE but changed my mind as I approached Cawsand, the wind is not going to be that strong, I could always move if it became uncomfortable and if I decide to abandon the Channel Islands (see below) I did not want he extra hour or so to come down river and to miss a good bit of the west going tide.

Naturally as I was anchoring a decent sailing breeze set in.

Prawl Point guarding the west side of Plymouth sound.

HMS Iron Duke (Type 23 (Duke Class) Frigate) on exercise
coming into anchor briefly before going out to sea again.
Two other T23s are also around. Picture from Cawsand

Still short of fresh meet I got the dinghy out and rowed ashore only to be disappointed, all of the meat in the small Spar shop was dated today, I generally keep to the dates not wanting to be ill at sea, I did however get a Pasty for tonight [very disappointing with very little meat] and a Pizza that when partially folded just fits in the electric cool box.

12 miles in  three and three-quarter hours.

Decision time this evening.

The weather is not looking good for the Channel Islands due to a risk of being stuck there in an expensive marina (had far too much of that this year) and more importantly not getting back to Milford by the end of September in time to go ashore which would cause all sorts of problems and put work painting work into winter - I need a spring tide of at least 6.8 metres to be lifted out, 2 - 4 days a fortnight at best and sometimes even a Spring tide is not be enough, also the lifts during the next spring tide may already be fully booked and the one after that is too low.

The forecasts have been changing constantly but are starting to come into agreement with strong winds early next week, this could shift to whole schedule by a week as light-ish winds are forecast before and after and I have no intention of motoring across the channel. I could wait until Monday to make the decision but then I would be stuck in the Plymouth area and then have head winds all the way back to Land's end.

So I will decide after I down load this evenings models, sod's law says that there may be a brief fresh easterly on Saturday so if I am going back west I want to get at least to Fowey tomorrow and perhaps St Mawes, then again shelter up the Truro River or perhaps at Newlyn.

Click here for a revised plan and my return to St Mawes.

2024 August 26th Days 12 & 13, To St Mawes and Fowey.

Draft WIP, poor internet in Fowey with all the tourists using up band width!

Finally after 8 days hiding from strong winds I was able to move on.

An unsatisfactory shower early at Malpas as I had left the shampoo there on a previous visit and someone had walked off with it so it was just a wet down. I left the pontoon a little after 9, not ideal as I would be against the tide most of the way to St Mawes but the Ocean Cruising Club were holding a rally (I had been there for last years as well) and there was little room between me and large yachts fore and aft so I needed the flood tied to go out under control heading into it. 

I motored down river to Loe Beach then sailed to St Mawes under headsail only in a W to SW F3-4. The wind was supposed to back to the south later in the day but did not do so until 07:00 next morning, fortunately the wind was generally strong enough to keep the boat head to wind and waves, when it didn't and the tide turned the boat broadside to the waves things became a little uncomfortable but less so than I anticipated.

6 miles in 1.5 hours.

Tuesday 27th.

I am actually back on to my original schedule for moving on to Fowey despite the early start. I left at 08:15 to catch the east going tide off St Anthony Head starting at 09:00 this was planned to get me to Fowey just after the ebb started, ideal conditions to get onto the short term pontoon and the fuel berth. For once things went to plan even though I was sailing from St Anthony Head to Gribbin Head just short of Fowey, and I went in at 13:15 about an hour after high water.

Dodman Head (AKA The Deadman, iirc for a coffin shaped bit
of hill) Sailing in a F4 southerly under headsail alone, the chute
would have been OK much of the time but marginal so I didn't
bother and in any case I didn't want to arrive before the ebb tide.

And miracle of miracles there was space on the short term berth, the seconded in successive visits and only the 2nd or 3rd time in many visits. Getting on was tricky, the tide was quite weak and there was a brisk wind from astern and it is the first time I have ferry glided with the engine in reverse for most of the time, once I had the angle right the tide and wind kept me straight against the prop walk and I went very slowly backwards and sideways onto the berth.

It was then a quick visit to the small convenience store for shampoo, down to the Royal Fowey YC for a proper shower, some shopping on the way back - not satisfactory, I had wanted some long dated meat but couldn't find any, decent cheese was at exorbitant prices and the queue for pasties was so long I couldn't be bothered, it was getting rather close to dinner and I would easily of overstayed my welcome on the short term pontoon. I got back in time to replenish the water then went up to the fuel berth, it would have been cheaper to get fuel in the Channel Isles but I particularly wanted to completely fill from a pump so I could check fuel consumption and I last did that at Fowey so a good check point.

I normally take a buoy at Fowey but there was one spot vacant on one of the upstream pontoons and I already had the fenders and mooring lines rigged on the correct side to I went there for the free night they owed me for the 6 previous nights.

22 miles in five and a half hours.

Click here for Looe, Cawsand and an approaching decision point.

2024 August 19th Days 5 - 11, Stuck in the Truro River. Again

Being updated as and when

It looks like I could be here for a week, a good job I left early!

The pontoon on Tuesday, wind gusting c 30 knots.
The two nearest boats appear to be here long term.

Noisy neighbour, it came back down two or three minutes later..

The forecast on Tuesday evening, I had thought of a short sail tomorrow, I think I’ll stay put.☹️

Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Westerly 5 or 6 backing southwesterly 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later in west. Slight or moderate in east, moderate or rough in west. Mainly fair. Good.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwest 5 to 7, occasionally 4 at first and again later. Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough in west. Occasional rain or drizzle. Good, falling moderate or poor for a time.

Heading to Malpas for a shower on Wednesday morning. The
calm did not last long! Sancerre on the pontoon in the centre
of the picture. I have invested in a discounted 10 day ticket so
will hopefully have a few days left for the return trip or for
next year.

ECMWF @ Wednesday morning
With this much wind on Friday the sea is likely to be pretty ugly
on Saturday so I will probably not go further than St Mawes,
if that. More likely I will hang around here till Sunday or Monday
before heading for Fowey hoping it will not be too busy on the
holiday weekend.

It doesn’t get any better, from “Weather School” (Weatherweb) Wednesday afternoon.

Be prepared for gusting winds over the coming days. Regular 50mph+ over western and southern areas (red on charts below is above 50mph).

Particularly be aware of a spell of extremely strong winds for a few hours from the early hours of Friday morning, mostly affecting Wales and southern England. During this spell gusts could breach 60mph and damage to trees, fences and tents could occur.

And the inshore forecast Wednesday evening:

Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Southwesterly, 3 to 5, increasing 6 to gale 8, veering west 4 or 5 later. Slight or moderate at first in east, otherwise moderate or rough, occasionally very rough later near Isles of Scilly. Rain or drizzle for a time. Good, occasionally poor for a time.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwest 4 or 5, increasing 6 to gale 8, veering west or northwest 4 or 5, backing southwest 3 or 4 later. Moderate or rough, occasionally very rough near Isles of Scilly, becoming slight or moderate later in east. Rain or drizzle at times. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

I had hoped to go to Tesco's in Truro but work on flood defences may make that impossible till Saturday or Sunday, I have fresh food to last me to St Mawes or Fowey but the choice at both is rather limited and at the latter expensive.

Saturday 24th, 11:00:

Still here with strong wind warnings for today and tomorrow and one heavy shower already this morning. The plan, such as it is, is to go up to the Tesco's in Truro tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to get through; work on flood defences has closed the river for navigation for the last 4 days and it was due to open this afternoon at 3 o'clock but talking to the river patrol man they found heavy silting and are arranging dredging so a new notice to mariners is being prepared keeping the river  closed to navigation but I should be OK in the dinghy providing (as always) I go and return on the tide. I have run out of all fresh food apart from one pie for dinner this evening so I hope so!

The Ocean Cruising Club will be here for a rally over the weekend, coincidentally I was also here for last years, there may be some interesting boats to ogle.

The tide on Monday and Tuesday is not that good for going to Fowey in one hop from here as I would be against the tide to St Mawes and it would be an early start, so I will probably go to St Mawes on Monday afternoon, or Sunday if the conditions look OK, then to Fowey the next day leaving between 8 and 9 for a favourable tide all the way and the ebb in Fowey for easy access to the fuel berth. 

Fortunately the fee here for a berth on the mid-water pontoon is less than a third of the price I was paying at Portland marina earlier in the year, the shower is a 10-15 minute boat ride away but I can live with that!

The weather looks reasonable for the rest of the week to amble down to Plymouth and the Salcombe area but the models differ widely a week out (not unusual) with the European ECMWF showing little or no wind to get to Guernsey and the American GFS showing fairly brisk easterlies which can be a problem at St Peter Port, but both are likely to change before then so I will have to wait and see.

Approaching Truro close to HW.

Tesco's have a direction sigh just for mariners.

On to St Mawes and Fowey
 

2024 August 18th, Day 4 , Parn Voose Cove to the Truro River.

DRAFT

I needed sleep so I did not set the alarm so when I left at 07:00 I theoretically had a maximum of an hour of north going tide, which I hoped would get me past Black Head where I know from experience the tide turns quickly, unfortunately I didn't make it and was heading into almost 2 knots of tide and narrowly missed a pot buoy that was towed under and did not have a flag. I was very lucky that a wave trough briefly exposed it dead ahead and I was able to cut the power and put the helm hard over an miss it by a few yards. I didn't see it again. 

I got the sails up at the Manacles as the wind set in from the SW so was preparing the cruising chute but as soon as I was ready to hoist the wind started to veer so I stayed with the genoa and before long was close hauled and a little over powered but I was approaching a big cruise ship anchored off Pendennis Point and unlikely to weather it so I slipped into her lea and dropped the sails to motor up to the Truro River.

I was in a bit of a hurry as I wanted to get onto on of the relatively cheap pontoons up the Truro river rather than go to an expensive marina and I did not want to risk anchoring as the strong wind was due to set in from the south, OK in St Mawes but then veer to the West which would be bad news in a Force 7. However as I passed "Cross Roads" heading for St Just Pool (it was low tide so I was following the channel) I spotted a bright yellow small boat heading towards the local clubs racing start line and went back towards Penarrow Point.

Facebook Post to the Achilles Group:

Going up past Mylor, I spied with my little eye something beginning with H (Hot Foot, an Achilles 24). Went over for a quick chat, as Roeland, having cleaned up at Falmouth week, prepared to do the same at the club. Only a short video clip as this is high res on the SLR and longer ones often gets rejected. Pics to follow.

It was a very brief chat as he had to get ready for the start.

A couple of videos and some stills of A24 Hot Foot.

On I went up the river and was surprised to find a couple of spaces on the pontoon at Turnaware, but that is rather exposed and as there were no boats following me I carried on to the more sheltered areas up river, avoiding collisions with two self drive motor boats, one of which had not seen me despite me being alongside having been slowly overtaking for at least three-quarter of a mile - people do forget to "check 6" and this "helm" did not bother to check things were clear to port before turning. The other was told by someone in the boat which way to go but pushed the tiller the wrong way.

Waiting for the King Harry Ferry to cross.

I was extremely surprised to find only half a dozen boats on the first and largest pontoon and 2 of them were short stay so I made fast there and looking at the forecast I will probably be here for the rest of the week.

Pics to follow.

21 miles in 5 hours

Sheltering in the Truro river.

2024 August 16th Days 2 & 3, Dale to Parn Voose Cove (The Lizard)

WIP - Draft 

I had woke up at about 04:45 and had the anchor up by 05:15 on a clear day with little wind. I motored out via the east channel as a light wind set in from the N and before reaching Turbot bank about nn miles from the Haven entrance  when the engine went off and the Cruising chute went up at about 08:00. The sea, as it often is around there, was fairly choppy in the strong tide, putting the chute onto the pole helped but progress was quite slow with the sea stopping the boat and knocking the wind out of the sails. 

Unfortunately the wind that had been 7 - 9 knots dropped at mid day and on went the engine for almost 3 hours before the wind returned at 9 knots from the NW and I was sailing again under "all plain sail".

It was sunny all day but not warm - I kept the fleece on all day. There were even more sightings of dolphins than usual despite being under sail - they seem to play more when you are motoring at 5 or 6 knots then when you are sailing at any speed.

Part of a large pod that came alongside when

I was sailing slowly, in fact I had to delay putting

on the engine until they moved off (abiding by

the code of practice,

By early evening I was getting worried about making the tidal gate that opened between 04:00 - 04:30 and later than 07:00 would be seriously bad news but at 21:00 the wind picked up and I had to reef for a while making 5 to 6 knots. The wind dropped to almost nothing at 02:00 and I was making less than a knot so the engine on, cruising easily at 5.5 knots. This was a bit of a surprise, confirming what I suspected going to dale against a strong headwind and sea, much of the speed lost through a dirty hull towards the end of the last cruise had returned, in fact I could now make 6.5 knots into wind with a calm sea, not far off the maximum with a clean hull.

I have no real idea why, presumably some weed, perhaps a big bit on the keel which I can't see had come off, perhaps helped by the brackish water or Mullet in Milford. It will be interesting to see what the sate of the hull is when she is lifted on October 4th.

With the high speed sailing and a couple of hours under engine I was off Cape Cornwall when the tide was still pushing north at a knot and a half but with a light wind the sea was no problem and I made good progress and made it all the way round Land's end with a favourable tide. With several hours of fair tide left I decided to go for the Lizard as to go from Newlyn would require a very early start on Sunday and with the forecast weather I could have got stuck there for days.

The tide turned adverse before I got to the lizard, I initially stayed fairly well off as there was a fairly big residual see running, south of the point I could see the state of the over-falls and how boats coming the other way were coping and I cut in closer surfing straight down the waves and making good head way despite a fairly strong tide. Not wanting to battle the tide much of the way to the Fal and being tired I decided to anchor overnight then head to the Fal in the morning, hopefully getting a pontoon berth in the Truro river before others arrived to shelter for the force 7 winds due on Monday.

There is a strong tide off Black Head south of Coverack so I went into the large bay just north of The Lizard and anchored off Parn Voose Cove at 10:15, adjacent to the Lizard lifeboat station.

Passing east of Lizard Point

The Lizard RNLI station from the anchorage

The lifeboat returning from the Coverack "Lifeboat Day"

Short but high res best full screen.

And recovering up the slip

Church Cove adjoining Parn Voose Cove.

128 nautical miles in 29 hours.

Click here fore the trip up to the Truro River