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

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 my hair in the cockpit, getting a few odd looks from passing passengers on tripper boats.

To Newlyn

A very varied trip to Newlyn, 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 May 2nd Day 34. Back to Newlyn.

It was still looking good for a Friday departure to Milford so I left St Mawes at 07:30 with zero wind, 10 minutes later there was a fresh northwesterly so up went the sails and I made good progress until past Coverack when the wind went light and I switched on the engine to get past the Lizard overfalls close in at slack water. The wind then filled in again but right on the nose and with a foul tide, even a day before neaps it would have taken a very long time to get to Newlyn so I continued under engine arriving at 14:30 to anchor off, now tenable with the offshore wind despite some left over waves from the SE wind that quickly dies away.

As I posted on Facebook: Lots of boats turning up at Newlyn after all the bad weather. I suspect the pontoons are full (there is reduced availability as there are still fishing boats from mousehole in). It could be quite busy at 03:30 / 04:00 tomorrow with boats heading west and north.

I was right, it was busy, I subsequently found that next morning 3 boats wanted to leave and were ready at 04:00 but boats were so crammed in that it took quite a awhile to extricate themselves having to move boats out of the way - which probably did not please the occupants.

For the 2nd evening on the trot I was able to sit out, this time for quite
 a while, one could get used to this 😀 Looking towards Penzance.

This large yacht went into the harbour but then came out to anchor
Probably not wanting to raft on a fishing boat or lie against a wall.
A good move as next morning we were the only ones to get away easily.

Another close in passage - only do this in very benign conditions
There is no “inshore route”

Caught rounding the Lizard in a very long range shot posted
To marinetraffic.com, copyright as shown.

32 miles in 7 hours.

Click here for Milford Haven.

2024 April 24th Day 26, To Newlyn Gwavas Lake and Harbour

 A 07:30 start to round the Lizard at slack tide and for favourable tide from there on. It started off quite warm with little wind but it clouded over as I reached to Manacles under engine. The wind stayed very light until 20 minutes short of Newlyn so I motored all the way, naturally the wind headwind went from 4 knots to about 7 as I went through the Lizard over-falls, with 6 knots of boat speed and 2 knots of tide, rather more than I expected even on a spring tide, there was 15 knots of cold wind over the deck and I went from shirt sleeves when I left to a fleece and a down gilets.

I had hoped to spend a night at Mullion Cove but the wind was blowing straight in and could go to Force 5 so decided against it, a shame as, along with Chapman's Pool (St Alban's Head), its one of the few recognised anchorages along this coast that I have not been too. So in the end I anchored in Gwavas Lake, close by Newlyn harbour in a gap between loads of pot buoys and at low water the clear water allowed me to plant the anchor in clean sand, missing the patches of weed.

40 pot buoys in Gwavas Lake, more to seaward.

My plan to go into the harbour on Friday remains intact although I really could do with a shower so I might change my mind in the morning.

33 nautical miles in 7.5 hours.

Update: it’s now Sunday the 28th and I and 3 other boats, all but one single handed, might get away on Tuesday.

I didn't click here for 2 steps forward and 1 back - to the Fal

2023, 17th August, Days 11 - 13 Weather bound in Newlyn

I arrived in Newlyn on Wednesday the 16th with strong winds forecast to arrive on Friday. Facebook posts by the Met Office (click for animation) and myself, reproduced below, cover the weather situation. Stuck there for 3 or 4 days I took the opportunity to go to the Laundrette in Penzance and to store the boat, except for fuel which is only available to commercial users.

Met Office animation and info about Storm Betty.

Facebook Posts:

16th August:

I think I’ll stay in Newlyn for a while.

The Uk Met Office model is now saying gusts to 60 knots, the AROME and GFS models are a bit behind at 40 - 50 knots, the ECMWF is showing “only” 30 knots, I think the ECMWF is out voted although it is my default model. Watch out for mayhem in the Isles of Scilly if the worst projections (gusts to 54 knots) come to pass on Friday evening. 

Update: The worst did not materialise but St Mary's lifeboat launched twice to 3 boats dragging anchors one of which ended up on shore and is likely to stay there until the next spring tide:

It looks like at least a 4th night in Newlyn harbour that is getting crowded, mainly with French boats. Only one berth left (small boat only) and only 1 space for a large boat to raft up on a yacht unless they raft 3 deep on the hammerhead which would be very problematic given space (blocking access to a large part of the small boat harbour) and a French 2 masted gaffer already rafted out side of a much smaller modern boat. Lots are going to be rafting on fishing boats or lying against a wall tomorrow.

Latest inshore forecast: 19:00 Lyme - Scilly

24 hour forecast: Easterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 at first in east, veering south-easterly 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later in west. Slight or moderate, occasionally rough later near the Isles of Scilly. Mainly fair then thundery showers, rain later. Moderate or good, occasionally poor.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: South-easterly 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 at first in west, veering south-westerly 6 to gale 8, perhaps severe gale 9 later. Slight at first in east, otherwise moderate or rough, occasionally very rough. Thundery rain and showers at first. Moderate or poor becoming good.

All models now showing gusts to 40 knots by mid afternoon and 50 - 60 knots this evening. And a modern French boat just left for the Scillies, not in my view a seaman like decision.

18th August

Quite bumpy in Newlyn and the wind is forecast to peak
 in a couple of hours. Latest fc is for “high” (6 - 9 m) waves
west of the Lizard.

19th August

The worst has past but it is still a bit lumpy, staying another night, I'll then either move out to anchor or, hopefully, head for Scilly. Éire is looking unlikely with north westerly winds setting in later in the week for a week or more, which is not conducive to cruising the SW coast of Ireland.

Click here for my passage to Scilly.

2023 16th August, Day 10 Portscatho to Newlyn

A pleasant trip to Newlyn albeit with light winds under the cruising chute until just short of The Lizard when I motored for an hour before sailing on a reach to Newlyn.

Rounding the Lizard, in calm conditions at the turn of the tide 
I went close in.

 

The NE wind died approaching The Lizard and the sea was dead calm (see still pic above) then a SW set in at 8 knots and in minutes the wind against tide made the going quite bumpy for a while (watch to the end).

34 miles in 10.5 hours.

Click here for weather bound in Newlyn.

2023 June 21st, Days 69 & 70 Carbis Bay to Newlyn & Gwavas Lake

Leaving Carbis Bay required care as I counted at least 30 Lobster pot markers within sight, again no wind:

No wind as I motored towards Pendeen

Pendeen, abandoned tin mines ashore and lots of dolphins offshore.
The ripples on the water are largely down to tide not wind.

Here are just 2 of several videos of Dolphins of of Pendeen, they are hosted on Flikr as it is too big for Blogger The first is almost 2 minutes long, the second 59 seconds, both will play full screen on a large screen:

Common Dolphins

 

"The Longships"

I had thought to go inside "The Longships" but the water was rather turbulent so I changed my mind and went outside, that was probably a mistake as I went east from "The Lonships" the sea looked calmer inshore. Not dangerous but uncomfortable:

Over-falls south of The Longships, with less than 5 knots of
wind, one day from a spring tide but not at it's peak.

The Scilionian on route to Hugh Town, St Mary's in calm water,
you can see the edge of the overfalls just this side of her. 

Mousehole

I went into the harbour and was lucky to find the inner berths full but several spaces on the outer fingers so there was no pressure to go and double park there which is tricky with limited space and water. Soon all of the outer berths were full and most had 3 boats in each bay but the third in "mine" being a big boat had tied up to the other boat rather than to Sancerre.

I was surprised to see another boat flying the RAFYC burgee, actually one designating one of the club officers (know as in most sailing clubs as a "Rear Admiral), chatting with them I found another boat was due in and later we all sat down for a drink. One boat was, like me, heading back to the Hamble the other heading for the Isles of Scilly. During the cruise I spoke to club members on three other boats and saw another, remarkable considering there are only a couple of hundred boats flying the club burgee.

After a shower, shopping and a visit the the laundrette in Penzance I moved out next afternoon to anchor in Gwavas Lake for another night before heading off, saving a nights berthing which is rather expensive for what you get.

Newlyn harbour from the Gwavas Lake anchorage.

That evening there was another RNLI "shout" to witness as the All Weather Lifeboat (they also have an "Atlantic" class inshore boat) went out of harbour at high speed to return fairly quickly in company with a dive boat. A diver had suffered "the bends", trained crewmen assessed him and the casualty was taken to Penzance Heliport and flow by a Coastguard helicopter to Plymouth where they have a decompression chamber.

The Penlee Severn Class Lifeboat returning from the shout, the original lifeboat house and slipway is visible by her bow from which the "Solomon Browne" launched to the aid of the "Union Star" in December 1981 - that resulted in the loss of the boat with it's entire crew and that of the ship and all on board, some of whom had made it to the lifeboat. There is an RNLI account here also an excellent BBC documentary available on YouTube here: penlee lifeboat diaster - cruel sea

32 miles in 6 hours

Click here for St Mawes

2023 April 23rd, Day 7 - 13 St Mawes to Newlyn

After the trip from Fowey this leg was a lot more civilised, a brisk wind was forecast but I was concerned about the sea, I have previously been in the area a day after strong easterlies and it was not pleasant, also the seas and over-falls off of the Lizard are not to be trifled with. I decided to head out to see what it was like with the option of returning to St Mawes or going to the Truro River if things looked grim. 

A 3 knot spring tide and a brisk wind made it advisable to give
the Lizard a wide berth.

Yet again a ship was directly on my planned track.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the sea quite acceptable, again I was under headsail only in the easterly winds but this time with the genoa, initially with one reef but that came out before I got to the Manacles.

Why you need to be careful going onto the berths behind the main
pontoon, at LWS where is barely enough water for me to get in
passing close to the fingers and clearly the port hand marks are
not a safe marker unless there is a couple of meters more water.

35 miles in six and three-quarter hours.

The weather forecast for the next few days is confused, I could be off in a day or two or here for a while.

Visiting day, Falmouth, photo by Ron Dustow by his Hustler 25

Update Wednesday: Hopefully I will be away on Friday, then it’s likely to be light winds through the weekend.

Click here for the trip to Milford Haven.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 6 & 7 Polkerris to Newlyn

Yet more hot downwind sailing 😀😀

Running with the spinnaker, the pole should be perpendicular to

the mast for maximum effective length with the sail clews level,

but the mast slider was stuck, it was freed up later with silicone spray.

A very pleasant sail, but at St Mawes there were a lot of small boats rushing about creating wake so that the boat was rocking all the time and I didn’t see that improving over the weekend so after  meeting up with a fellow Jester sailor on his newly acquired Hamatic 30 I made a quick visit to the St Mawes COOP, had a very expensive and not particularly good ice cream from another shop and was ready to head off to Newlyn the next day.

A Falmouth working boat returning from a Falmouth week race.

20 miles in five and a half hours.

Another start at a reasonable time (07:50) initially with little wind but that picked up as I passed St Anthony Head and up went the Cruising Chute only to come down 10 minutes later as the wind hit 15 knots. This pattern continued most of the way past the Lizard until it disappeared completely a few miles west of Mullion so on went the engine. 

In the benign conditions I went close into the Lizard.

As often seems to happen the wind filled in when I was a couple of miles from the destination and it was not worth turning the engine off. I arrived at 14:20 and had time to visit the larger COOP there, get a shower, pick up a couple of cans of diesel and, of course, I went to Jelbert's; possibly a unique establishment serving only ice cream, made daily in house and to misquote Henry Ford, any flavour you like providing its vanilla. But you can have a flake and / or clotted cream with it although, in my view, it does not need the lift. There was no need to go to the excellent little cheese shop next door as I was still well stocked.

In the evening, as I invariably do in Newlyn, I treated myself to a Chinese takeaway. 

Click here for the trip to Baltimore.

2022 St Kilda Day 72 Milford Haven to Newlyn

My track until midnight.

This was always going to be tricky with the tidal gate around Land's End, last year I got well ahead of myself after making 5 knots largely under sail and then got smacked about off Land's End with a freshening wind against tide. This year even with an early start I would have to make 4 - 4.5 knots to get past before the tide turned adverse.

An added complications was lack of fuel; I had not refuelled since Tobermory and had used a lot going down the Mull of Kintyre and crossing the Irish sea. 

My rule around UK, which I have never broken, is to always have sufficient diesel to reach a place of safety, and there are not many of those around the Celtic Sea / Bristol Channel, the St Ives anchorage is only tenable in good weather and the harbour is tidal so the options are to return to Milford, go to the Scillies, continue to Newlyn or head for Padstow - not the easiest place to get into in some conditions and tidal.

I had planned to refuel at the nearby marina but at the last moment I found they do not provide fuel during free flow through the lock, due mid evening on Saturday, that would mean locking through and possibly staying overnight and strong winds were forecast so I gave up on that idea.

With about 30 litres (this is the first season with a fuel gauge so I remain sceptical of readings although they do appear to be accurate), probably 20 - 25 usable depending on the sea state, and a bit more in the heater tank and can, the actual amount available, etc, I had a range of 85 miles under power with a small reserve. In practical terms that meant after clearing Milford I should not use the engine until halfway to Cape Cornwall. 

I weighed anchor at 03:10, the wind was as forecast, ENE F4-5 and the sea state reasonable and I was off to a flying start running under headsail alone. Then, when about 10 miles offshore the wind picked up to F6 and the sea turned nasty as it had when I was going the other way through this piece of water back in April. 

With a quartering sea I could go very fast surfing the waves, but it would be precarious with a serious risk of a broach, I could probably avoid that by hand steering but only for a limited time, under autohelm or the wind vane it was not safe so I reduced sail and continued at around 4 knots through much of the morning taking shelter below during rain squalls when the wind occasionally gusted to F7. 

With the strong wind the SeaFeather wind vane steering again performed better than the high-tech autopilot which, trying to predict unpredictable waves, worked hard but achieving little and was using a lot of amps that were not being replaced due to the failure of the wind generator and lack of sun for the solar panels. The SeaFeather just steered to the wind and Sancerre took care of the waves.

Some light relief was provided by a large pod of Dolphins that unusually stayed with me for about 2 hours rather then the more usual 30 - 45 minutes. They seemed to be spread over several square miles and taking it in turns to play around the boat frequently jumping out of the face of often breaking waves. Another solo sailor has experienced the same a bit further south a few weeks earlier.

The wind started to moderate mid morning and then became variable and by lunch time Southerly F3 then an hour later SW F2. With the limited "fetch" the sea quickly calmed down. At 3 o'clock with light and variable winds forecast it was clear that I would not make that evenings tide around Land's End so I decided to head for St Ives, anchor there for a few hours sleep then leave for Land's End at about 07:00.

A few showers were still about in the evening, but I didn't get wet.

Winds remains light and variable so to ensure some sleep and having fuel to reach Newlyn with a reasonable reserve I put the engine on hoping to arrive Newlyn at about 13:30 next day. By now it was a pleasantly warm evening with a bright moon. Just no wind.

At 01:08 the moon set and about 15 minutes later in pitch black, I was looking ahead to identify the anchorage when, at the edge of the pool of light from my steaming light, a lobster pot buoy (at the time I did not know for certain it marked Pots, it could have been marking a net or dead / night lines which complicated later decision making) appeared a couple of boat lengths ahead on the port bow and a Dan buoy on the starboard. There was no way to change course quickly enough to avoid them so I lunged for the power / gear leaver to at least mitigate the likely tangle of rope around the propeller and shaft. I  quickly came to a halt, anchored by the propeller or skeg to the pots or whatever, in 20 metres of water. A quick check hanging over the side with a torch and pulling on the Dan buoy showed the propeller was involved.

Fortunately the sea was smooth and the wind very light so, after alerting and consulting with the coastguard who would keep watch on my position from my AIS transmission to back up my anchor drift alarm, I decided to get some sleep and get help in the morning, it not being safe to go over the side in the dark and with the probability of the boat drifting off down wind if I cut the rope leaving me trailing on a safety rope.

Forty minutes later the anchor alarm went off and I was drifting quickly west with the tide and now in 28 metres of water, either the line had parted or the pots were dragging with some possibly suspended below the boat. Putting the anchor down was risky as, if the pots (or nets) were still attached, it could land on one or more of them or tangle with the line, further complicating things, also with a rode of 40 metres of chain and 40 of nylon it was by no means certain the anchor would hold, although I could drudge (the anchor slowing progress but not holding, a technique sometimes used to slow down in Fog but making progress). 

With essentially no wind I could not sail either - not good!

I informed the coastguard and they called the lifeboat which arrived in double quick time, very impressive given they had to launch a "D class" from the dried-out harbour to ferry the crew out to the all weather boat. Standing someway off they were able to see that the line to the pots had parted and they were able to tow me close to the harbour where I anchored. 

Crew working with the boat hook from the D class were unable to free the lines so the coxswain said he would come back out at high tide (I assume in the D class) to tow me into harbour to dry out against the wall to remove the rope at the next low tide. I agreed but said when the light improved I would dive on the boat to see if I could free it. Not wanting to keep them hanging about I said I did not need them to stay, I would be properly equipped and within easy swimming distance (at least in a wet suit) of the harbour but agreed to contact the coastguard after diving to let them know I was OK. 

RNLI Facebook post with some nice pics here.

At 05:00 I donned the wetsuit, fins & mask I have on board for the purpose, plus a water-sports crash helmet to protect me from banging my head on the hull and went for a swim with the boat hook and emergency knife. 

Once in the water I could see what needed to be done, although the buoy was hard under the boat trapped between the hull, propeller and shaft, the line was only loosely round the propeller but you had to pull the loops off in sequence, 3 short dives and I had the line free and pulled the simple buoy to the same side of the boat as the Dan buoy then swum them to nearby mooring so that the rig would not get lost, it was undamaged apart from the main line being missing, the connector or a knot had probably failed as there was no loose end of rope. I had got to the gear lever just in time and the shaft "freewheeling" had only turned a couple of times before being stopped by the rope. 

At 05:30 I called the nice lady at Falmouth Coastguard by phone (after the initial call much of our comms were on the phone keeping the airwaves clear) to let her know I was OK and free of the fishing gear and got a heads up on the weather forecast not yet on the web which was good for the morning but with F6 coming in overnight, so I decided to move on so as to be in Newlyn before it arrived. 

I was off at 06:40 and with no wind motored round Land's End, I was somewhat early for the best tide but calm seas allowed me to cut some corners although, being tired, I did not do the same as another boat that took the short cut inside the Longships. I did get some sailing in from the Runnel Stone towards Newlyn arriving at 13:30, dead on the time predicted the previous afternoon, to find a vacant berth and a shower.

Approaching Cape Cornwall a little early for the tide. A threatening
looking cloud was forming further south but did not develop further
and dissipated quickly

Approaching the Longships, the buildings on Land's End left of
centre Gwennap Head behind.

Passing the Longships, Cape Cornwall in the distance

131 miles in thirty four and a half hours.

Newlyn to St Mawes and on to a better anchorage.

2022 St Kilda Days 6 - 16 Stuck in Newlyn.

It is now Sunday, day 11 and I have been here 5 days and it looks like I will be here for a long time, I need a couple of days of clear weather and not much sea off of Lands End, at the moment there is no window apparent for at least a week. 

Todays the wind is light but its forecast to come in from the North West - dead on the nose going to the Irish coast and almost so going to Milford Haven. Increasing to Force 6 at times tomorrow and it is a very cold wind. Depending on which model you look at there could be gusts over 40 knots on Wednesday or Thursday and another band of high winds arriving next weekend.

The European Centre for Medium range Weather Forecasting
(ECMWF) forecast gust map for early Thursday.

And the ECMWF for next Sunday. 39 knots off Lands End
but 57 Knots off the coast of Ireland and that could easily
be further east.

The weather systems are complicated and the forecasts are constantly changing, even a day or two out so I can only hope they change for the better.

In the meantime, the list of odd jobs needed on the boat is already unusually short and soon there will be nothing left that I can do here, almost an unheard of situation on a boat.

Update Tuesday:

The UK Met Office inshore forecast…. here it comes.

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

24 hour forecast: West 4 to 6 backing southwest 6 or 7. Slight or moderate, becoming moderate or rough, then very rough later in far west. Rain then showers. Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwest 6 or 7, occasionally gale 8 at first, veering northwest 4 or 5, increasing 6 or 7 for a time. Moderate or rough, but very rough at first in west and slight later in lyme bay. Rain or showers. Good, occasionally poor. 

  

Lands End to St Davids Head including the Bristol Channel - Strong wind warning

24 hour forecast: Southwesterly 4 to 6, increasing 6 or 7, perhaps gale 8 later in west. Slight at first in east, otherwise moderate becoming moderate or rough, then very rough in west. Rain then showers. Good, occasionally moderate.

Outlook for the following 24 hours: Southwesterly 6 to gale 8, veering westerly or northwesterly 4 to 6, increasing 7 or gale 8 for a time. Moderate or rough, but very rough at first in west and slight later in east. Showers. Good, occasionally moderate.

A rough sea is not normally something I will set out into, especially near Lands End. Very rough does not bare thinking of in those waters.

There may be a window Friday/ Saturday to get to Milford but the models do not agree.

Update Friday 8th April

Finally I will be moving out, initially to anchor and save a days mooring fee that are now the rather expensive summer rates. Then tomorrow I will head off to Milford Haven, ideally I would go on the morning tide at 02:30 but the wind is likely to be a cold northerly and it would be wind against tide going round Lands End. So, unless the forecasts change, I'll leave at lunch time when winds will either be lighter and / or hopefully favourable and the sea will have had some time to calm down. The downside will be a long night at sea.

I had been having occasional problems with the starter motor solenoid needing several pushes of the starter button to get the starter engaged so whilst weather bound, I took the opportunity to replace the engines starter motor as described here.

Click here for the trip to Milford Haven.

2022 St Kilda, Day 5 To Newlyn.

The forecast for later this week is not looking good so that even though there was no wind in the anchorage on Tuesday, but with the promise of some to come, I left at 07:45 to catch the tide, very light airs from the north set in as I passed St Anthony Head, so I tried to sail flying the cruising chute but essentially drifting on the tide too close to the Manacles. There was a danger of losing the favourable tide so on went the engine. 

With only a knot and a half of tide, a smooth sea and no wind I cut the corner and went fairly close into the Lizard. The wind stayed very light with visibility varying from less than a mile to greater than 6 miles. A few miles out of Newlyn some wind, up to F3 filled, in from the SW before veering to the NW as it was a head wind and variable and I was less than an hour out I continued under engine getting to Newlyn at 14:45.

33 miles in 7 hours.

When I arrived on Tuesday, the forecast had not been good, Force 7 coming in on Thursday night. As I write this bit (Friday lunch time) it is blowing a very cold F5 gusting to around F7 and the boat is rocking quite a bit in the harbour. The models disagree on what is going to happen from Sunday on, some show reasonable winds to get to the Scilly Isles, but this wind is likely to remain very cold so it is not an attractive option. The models diverge even more for next week with some suggesting strong winds but not agreeing when they will come, others showing reasonable conditions. There is no point in trying to guess what will happen at least until tomorrow and probably not for 2 or 3 days.

The view from Newlyn east on Friday morning, the sea relatively
calm in the offshore wind.

Slide show of pics from Portland to Newlyn:

Click here for stuck in Newlyn for some time!

2021 Late Summer Cruise, Penlee Lifeboat Day.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster (which actually happened in December) and I guess there was a special effort for this years blessing of the lifeboat and a parade out to sea to lay wreath with lifeboats ancient and modern came to take part. Here are a few pictures.

Privately owned ex lifeboats arrive:

Tamar class lifeboats from Senan (left) and The Lizard.

Penlee's Severn Class all weather boat and Inshore B-Class
Atlantic 85, prior to the event. Both boats are berthed in Newlyn
Harbour just north of the previous boat house at Penlee point.

The Penlee boat heads out to lead the parade.

Slide show of all my pictures of the Lifeboat Day, page through by clicking the arrows or click in the centre of the pic to view from Flickr in a new window or full screen: 

Click here for the trip to Fowey.