2023 8th September, A dash home, stats for 2023 and what to do in 2024.

I was all geared up for Guernsey on Thursday but the forecast was for very light winds and fog so, as mentioned in the previous post, I stayed put in Hope Cove; then just after 8 pm I got a phone call, The Lady Wife had fallen and broken her hip. 

So after a quick check of the tide atlas to make sure it was sensible to leave immediately, the anchor was weighed in about 10 minutes (when at anchor I keep the boat pretty much ready for sea with the engine ready to start in case of a dragging anchor or other emergency), it was a 20 hour motor back to the Solent. 

I was fortunate that on the neap tide I had an adverse current for only a couple of hours by which time I was almost at Start Point, thanks to the new anti-foul and a calm sea I was motoring easily at better than 6 knots, even with the dinghy in tow. I couldn't get past Portland on one tide but I did have a favourable tide past The Needles and through the Solent to be back on my mooring at 17:00.

The bad news was that most of the way, almost to The Needles Fairway buoy, there was mist and patchy fog, sometimes with visibility down to a cable or so, that meant I was on an intensive radar and visual watch all the way - very tiring.

It was too late to get home that night, even if I had not been exhausted, so after 9 hours kip I left early on Saturday morning with a long trek home by bus, hike, train and an hours walk (actually hobble is a better description) in 30 degrees because there were no taxies for at least that long. Then to cap it all the car had a puncture as I reached the hospital 

Not the end of season sail I had hoped for!

Waves, sometimes breaking, over the Shingles Bank although
there were no significant waves outside. A good reason to take
care in adverse conditions,

 

As happened on my final day of my sailing last year as I went up the Solent I was greeted by the Waverley paddle steamer (also seen in Milford Haven on my first cruise this year) and a Spitfire. 

The Paddle Steamer "Waverley" 

No mistaking the shape (or sound) of a Spitfire.

My track till midnight.

And the rest of the way to the Hamble

114 miles over the ground in 20.5 hours.

Stats for 2023

2023	Days	Hours at Sea	GPS N Miles	GPS S Miles	Days Sailing	Places Visited	Weather Bound	Marina or Buoy	At anchor
St Kilda	76	421	1,890	2,175	52	54	11	31	41
Summer	34	139	580	667	21	23	7	14	17
Total	110	561	2,470	2,842	73	77	18	45	58

33 places visited for the first time.

Stats for previous years and explanations here or from the top bar.

2024

I do like to have a "mission" or goal when I sail, next years I think will either be round Ireland or more likely Shetland by a route that will be decided depending on the weather but probably west about so as not to arrive in Orkney and Shetland too early in the year. Wind permitting Sancerre will be dried out for a scrub on March 15th and I'll leave soon thereafter.

2023 6th September, Days 31 - 32 Plymouth to The Yealm and Hope Cove

With light winds forecast for several days and the laundry done I decided to get out of the marina. First stop The Yealm. 

Mayflower Marina, a 3 room (ex bathrooms) flat in that block
will knock you back over £400k leasehold and pushing £3k a year
in fees and ground rent.

The Yealm entrance has a reputation for being difficult but in benign
conditions it requires care but is quite straightforward, except
perhaps for dodging a dozen boats leaving as I came in.

Just past the 2nd buoy marking the sand bar and about to turn
45 degrees left. More pics in the slide show below.

The Yealm is very crowded, a couple of spaces on buoys and
Pontoons were available but all would require rafting (and £) so
I did not stay and moved on to Hope Cove.

Leaving the Yealm, Bigbury Bay was very busy with a couple of
dozen boats in view, all heading east as the season drew to a close.

Hope Cove from the beach on Wednesday evening.

Thursday morning:

There is  plenty of wind at the moment but it is forecast to disappear well before I could get to Guernsey and worse there is a risk of fog around the Island tomorrow morning so I am staying put.

I went ashore for an ice cream and even went for a swim, but
not for long given how cold the water felt, perhaps its just me
getting old. Sancerre on the right.

Eighteen miles in four and a quarter hours.

Click here for a late change of plan.

2023 3rd September, Days 28 - 30 Hope Cove to Plymouth via Salcombe.

I was up early and headed to Salcombe.

Bolt Head when entering Salcombe in a vain attempt to get a
mooring without rafting up on a buoy.

Then bad news as I arrived, they were "rather busy" and only had a mooring if I rafted up on a buoy. I don't like rafting on a buoy at the best of times and certainly not in strong winds in an anchorage with a very strong tides. Of course the other boat(s) might leave, it was after all quite early in the day, but that could not be guaranteed and it was very busy with catamarans and monohulls rafted 3 to a buoy in places and more boats would likely arrive. 

So I decided to go back to Plymouth, hopefully to a marina so I could get some laundry done, with many boats about I rang ahead and reserved a berth at the Mayflower Marina for three nights. It was a very good sail back in fairly light winds that backed a few miles from the Great Mew Stone when the cruising chute went up.

Its always fun overtaking bigger boats, in this case a 15 meter
catamaran.

I did not want to risk crossing her bow in a fluky wind so had
to slow down and pass to windward.

Stonehouse barracks from Mayflower Marina.

29 miles in seven and a quarter hours.

Click here for The Yealm and back to Hope Cove.

2023 1st September, Days 26 and 27 Fowey to Cawsand and Hope Cove

The plan now was to position myself to get to the Channel Islands, probably initially Guernsey to meet up with fellow Jester John.

The first stop would be Cawsand on the west side of Plymouth Sound.

"Spirit of Adventure" about to enter Fowey for  the first time.

She is thought to be the largest ship ever to enter and
went in backwards with the help of 1 tug.

Sancerre in Cawsand Bay. I was still towing the dinghy so I went
ashore for some fresh food and an ice cream. I had thought to have
a swim but the water was so cold I chickened out.

Then Sabi arrived, now owned by fellow Jester sailor Bob,
a long chin wag and catch up ensued.

20 miles in 4 hours

To Hope Cove

With strong winds forecast in a couple of days I decided to head for Salcombe as a better start point for Guernsey and, given the likely variability of the winds direction, with better protection than the Jennycliff Bay anchorage in Plymouth Sound that had been my first thought. The next day was forecast to be decent so I initially headed for Hope Cove to anchor for the night.

A dolphin breaching, full screen will be required

to see it.

From the anchorage at Hope Cove after a pleasant sail from
Cawsand.

12 miles in 4 hours.

Click here for a good sail back to Plymouth.

2023 30th August, Days 24 - 25 Portmellon to Fowey.

 With little or no wind I motored to Fowey.

Mevagissey

A short diversion to check out Pentewan that looks very different
to when we holidayed there in our caravan over 50 years ago.

Just after I called in to get a mooring, a call came in from another
"Sancerre" wanting to pay before leaving, not a common name.

Wednesday evening racing at Fowey.

31st August:

Darn weather (forecasts)! Having given up on Ireland due to a week or more of NW winds and moving east with an eye on the Channel Islands the forecast is now for a lot of E or NE winds, quite brisk at times and NE is not a good direction to be over there. 

At least it’s meant to be sunny for a good while after the current rain moves away, also every thing could change depending on the track of the Hurricane currently in the Atlantic - not the one over the USA and a good example of why you don’t sail to the US in August or September as someone on the Achilles site was recently saying they wanted to do in an Achilles 24!.

The ECMWF chart for the North Atlantic, 31st August.

Just 8 miles in 2 hours.

Click here for Cawsand and Hope Cove

2023 29th August, Day 23 St Mawes to Goran Haven & Portmellon

A nice sailing wind but damp with Drizzle as I headed for GoranHaven.

The cruising chute as a spinnaker - I didn't want to
get the big spinnaker out and wet, also the forecast
was F3 - 5, the latter would have been well over the top.

Anchored off Goran Haven

Goran Haven, taken a few years ago on a brighter day.

At the tide turned and the wind increased a little the boat started roll,  not bad but rather than risk a bad night I moved a couple of miles further on to Portmellon which Chaple point protects a bit better where I had a quite night, except in the evening when tripper boats from Mevagissey were coming very close. 

From the Portmellon anchorage

16 miles in total mainly against the tide in five and a quarter hours.

Click here for the leg to Fowey.

2023 24th August, Days 18 - 21 Hugh Town to Coverack, the Truro River and St Mawes

An excellent first day although it was damp and cold and I was forever putting reefs in and taking them out again. Making excellent progress I decided to get east of the Lizard well ahead of approaching windy weather and chose to go into the good anchorage at Coverack rather than plug the foul tide to the Fal.

It was rather busy going round The Lizard, a lot of us trying
and failing to get round before the tide set west and loads more
rather early for their rounding (AIS boats only!)

Heading NE up the Lizard Peninsular.

Coverack from the anchorage.

After a quite night at Coverack I headed for the Fal and up to the Truro River to shelter from the approaching strongish winds and to again meet up with Roger and Ron in Rogers "Blue Magic".
 

14 miles in three and a half hours, about 50:50 motoring and under sail.

Truro River

Blue Magic ahead of Sancerre on the pontoon, the best anchorage
being taken.

The strong winds arrived along with rain so I was there fore 3 days. On the last night it became rather crowded as boats arrived for an Ocean Cruising Club rally, sadly rain put a litteral dampener on the pontoon party although I did meet up John, another Jester Sailor last seen in Baltimore and had a quick tour of Samsara.

To St Mawes

On Sunday morning we left for St Mawes, Blue Magic to continue later in the day to The Helford and me ready to head on early next morning.

Mylor Marina and moorings.

St Just in Roseland.

Castle Point, St Mawes.

Click here for Goran Haven