2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 42 Salcombe to Portland

Force 6 winds had disappeared from the forecasts the previous evening and I left at 05:40 with light winds increasing to fresh as I approached Start Point, it was then mainly NNW F4/5 until I was south of Portland but varying from N to NW so I was frequently changing sail, varying from two reefs in both sails to one reef in the main and full headsail, it is a good job both systems work without too much effort!

A 400 metre container ship east of Start Point heading towards
Brixham to pick up a Pilot, one of her sister ships was heading
to the same point from Portland.

The first challenge was a 400 metre container ship on a converging course. AIS showed a Closest Point of Approach (CPA) of about a mile, although that varied down to almost nothing as the wind was gusty changing my course and speed. It took some time to establish, by checking the ships bearing from AIS, that it was passing astern, not my favourite as I would be crossing her bow leaving me vulnerable if there was a sudden problem, so care was needed. 

The wind increased but I did not want to lose speed whilst I reefed so pressed on rather overpowered but making good speed. Ducking behind was of course an option but it was a big ship and a way off. In the event I crossed her bow by over 2 miles and she passed a mile astern of me.

A further complication was a French yacht, I was again stand on vessel
but he was having control problems running with a small boomed
out jib the boat was unbalanced and broached a few times. Half an hour
later the skipper gave up and headed up to a broad reach.

I had timed my departure well, helped by a calm sea and offshore wind making the Salcombe Bar a non-issue I had left just after low water and the tide turned favourable as I passed Prawle Point with the fresh wind I made excellent time and carried the tide to south of Portland averaging a fraction under 6 knots over the ground.

The final part of this leg was annoying, as I headed up to pass east of the Shambles Bank the wind suddenly gusted and veered from NW to NE, fast enough that the SeaFeather wind vane steering almost lost the plot only just avoiding having the boat flat aback with too much sail up. I had hoped to get further under sail but the tide was turning against me at a little over a knot but in a couple of hours would be much stronger and sailing I would not make any progress and could be going backwards towards the Portland Race so on went the engine. 

The new plan was to motor to the East Shambles Buoy then I should be able to sail to Portland Harbour. That did not pan out as the wind went back to the NW, dead on the nose so I ended up motoring the rest of the way. With a strong west going tide largely helping once I was past the buoy and the rough water just north of the bank at least it was quick.

Track from Salcombe to Portland, I went well south so that when
I headed up the tide would not push me into the notorious Portland Race.

70 miles in less than 14 hours.

To Studland and Hamble.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Days 38 & 41 To Fowey, Plymouth and Salcombe

To Fowey

The beat to Fowey was comfortable on starboard tack but 'orrible on port with a small, short sea stopping the boat in F2 -3 winds, I was making c 2 knots on port and 4.5 knots on starboard. I was very glad that the majority of the trip was on starboard.

For once the short term visitors berth had room for me so I initially stopped off there and went for a shower and did some shopping. The tide was still going out, so I then went up to the fuel berth for some diesel - single handed getting on down tide is not on and the approach from up river is tricky whilst going up against the tide it is easy and puts the fuel filler on the pontoon side for easier access. With the fenders already out I opted for one of the midstream pontoons off the top of the town rather than a buoy.

It was very wet on Tuesday, so I stayed put.

One of 3 "Tall Ships" in Fowey when I left.

25 miles in six and a half hours.

To Plymouth

A pleasant sail to Plymouth in 10 - 20 knots of northerly wind which ran out a mile or so short of Rame Head. Shortly before I got there, I had a briefly unnerving experience when both of my depth alarms went off and then a message came up on the plotter saying I was in less than a metre of water which made even less sense as the boat draws 1.7m. Then it became clear that the cause was a dolphin swimming just under the transducer.

Cawsand Bay looked calm but when I stopped the boat it was
rolling quite badly from a short swell from the east.

I checked out Cawsand Bay but it would have been uncomfortable with swell coming in from the SE so I moved to Jennycliff Bay on the east side of the sound by which time a moderate south-westerly had set in only to go back to the Northerly during the evening.

23 miles in five and a quarter hours.

To Salcombe

I woke earlier than planned and decided to move out with the option of stopping at Salcombe or continuing across Lyme Bay depending on the updated forecast, F6 has been mentioned on a couple of recent ones but the direction was uncertain, either northerly or north-westerly, the latter at F6 would not really be an issue, at least until Portland Bill, the former could be uncomfortable. Both however, together with likely north-easterly or easterly winds setting in after the weekend put paid to a visit to Teignmouth, I did not fancy a long beat to get there and then potentially to the Solent. I also decided not to head to the Channel Isles, NE winds make Braye harbour untenable, and it would be a long haul back.

In the event I put into Salcombe to avoid a forecast F6 and to take advantage of reasonable tides and promised sun on Friday.

Approaching Salcombe town.

21 miles in five hours.

On to Portland.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 35 - 37 To St Mawes

Finally, the wind started to abate on Friday and although it was still quite blustery I headed down river to anchor at St Mawes, if that was too exposed plan B was to move to Penarrow Point. At one point I thought plan B might have to be taken as the wind turned out to be westerly rather than the north westerly as it was in the Truro River but things turned out Ok

The King Harry ferry started to move as I approached and with the
strong following wind, I had to do a 360-degree turn to stay clear.

Passing Falmouth I had to do a double take as there appeared to be an Isle of Wight ferry coming towards me and indeed it was.

A Wightlink ferry in bound to Falmouth, presumably for maintenance.
That may have been an interesting passage in rough weather,
especially off Portland.

Threatening sky over St Mawes on Friday evening.

St Mawes was surprisingly empty, only two of us at anchor overnight and half a dozen boats on visitor's moorings, probably down to the wind still gusting to 20 knots, but there was just enough shelter from the land so that there was only the smallest of waves and the strong wind kept the boat pointing into them rather than swinging with the tide so the motion was minimal. With plenty of space I found one of the deeper spots with about 4 metres at low tide, a necessary precaution as the weekend's spring tide will be very low essentially to LAT (Lowest Astronomical Tide) and a rise of more than 5 metres so I had 40 metres of chain out.

Sancerre on Saturday morning as I came back from shopping.

Saturday dawned with no wind and clear skies and contrary to the previous days forecast turned into a lovely day, the latest forecasts (Saturday) is also better for Monday through Wednesday although winds are likely to be contrary. I suspect Polkerris may be too exposed on Sunday and Monday so I may stay here on Sunday night and move direct to Fowey on Tuesday for fuel, water and some shelter if it does blow overnight. Longer term plans are even more up in the air with the possibility of north easterly winds which puts a hoped for excursion to the Channel Islands into doubt.

Not impresses with the skipper of Bessie Ellen, I told her she
 had parked too close with a backing wind and all she did was let
out a bit more chain rather than move further into St Mawes where
there was more water. This pic was before we came even closer as the
tide dropped next morning and I had to move to avoid the bow sprit
hitting my rigging - by that time I was over her chain which would
have stopped her moving or leaving.

8 miles in an hour and a half.

On to Fowey, Plymouth and Salcombe.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 31 - 34 Stuck in the Truro River

 The weather and the forecast remain pretty awful.

Rainstorm on Monday the 5th, just after the thunder and lightning had passed.
Wind was forecast to be gusting in excess of 40 knots but it was not quite that
strong in the sheltered Truro River. Its much the same as I write.

At the time of writing (Tuesday morning, day 31) strong winds and rain are forecast to persist until at least Friday with thunderstorms today and tomorrow - it is tipping down at the moment in a thunder storm and I would need a light on to read. Not as bad as the last few days but bad enough with the ECMWF & UKMO models showing gusts of 30 knots or more every day and the American GFS slightly less (unusual over the last couple of weeks) but still over 25 knots. Winds on Saturday looks OK but seas, forecast to be rough or very rough over the next coupe of days, will take some time to moderate. Then to rub salt in the wounds there may be easterly head winds.

So, I am here for a while, the pontoon is costing £18 per day, is secure and in deep water (the pontoon is attached to two large buoys that in days gone by were used for large mothballed ships) but the only facility provided is rubbish disposal which I could still use if at anchor close by. So I thought to move to the anchorage.

The anchorage below maggoty Bank, the harbour masters launch
right coming down for money. Annoyingly I now find a 10 day ticket
is available for the price of 8 individual days. 

 The shallow areas were last
surveyed 25 years ago so may
not be accurate,

Whilst restowing the bunk to be used for seating I got out one of my 10 Kg kedge anchors that was in the locker under and set it up ready to back up the bower anchor (I run it down the chain on a carabiner to help keep the pull on the anchor near horizontal and to provide additional weight, there is a long piece on anchoring I wrote for the Achilles site here).

Then did what I should have done first, checking the tide tables.

It turns out that this weekend has particularly big spring tides, with low water down to only 10cm above the Lowest Astronomical Tide (LAT), that restricts the area available to anchor a boat drawing 1.7 metres. Check the section of chart to the right, the actual depths at low water will be close to those shown before allowing for waves and wash which means I would have to be in the section with depths shown as 3.4m and 3.6m, as are the boats in the picture above.

To anchor there in a strong wind and tide I would need to let out a lot of chain. At least four times the maximum depth which equals 4 x (5.5m [rise in tide] + 3.4 [depth at LW] + freeboard) = c 40 metres.

That introduces another problem, with all my 42 metres of chain out (the next 40 metres of the rode is nylon), at low water the boat could swing at least 35 metres in any direction with the keel about 5 metres beyond that; that could take me onto a drying bank. 

The obvious answer would be to anchor fore and aft using my back up bower / #1 Kedge, a 24 Lb CQR with 10 metres of chain and 80 metres of 14mm nylon and I should be secure enough and although I had the dinghy out it could be done from the boat by dropping back the full length of my 90 metres of chain and nylon on the Bower before dropping the stern anchor and then hauling forward; but getting the kedge up later would be a pain in the back and if one anchor did drag at low water I could quickly be aground so I decided against that.

There is more room to anchor further upriver but there were some boats there a couple of days ago and similar issues may well apply, and I could loose my place on the pontoon so I'll pay up with gritted teeth and stay here.

The pontoon just about filled, "Maybe" the large Gaff Cutter was anchored in
the anchorage discussed above the day before yesterday but overnight dragged
her anchor and ended up on Maggoty Bank floating off yesterday morning.
I boat like that is not going to come to any harm there, the same may not apply
to a fin keeled yacht stranded on the bank would be on it is side, and if on an
adverse slope might flood when the tide came in.

I imagine the crew are even less happy with the weather than me - they have paid
£1.5k for a seven day cruise to the Isles of Scilly and are stuck here for most of it
with no refund as the itinerary is weather dependant.

On to St Mawes.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Day 30 By dinghy to Truro

With high tide at 11:00 and no rain it was a good day for a late morning shopping trip to Truro, 3 miles up river on the last of the flood and back on the ebb. Conveniently there is a set of steps from the river right next to a large Tesco's who even have signage just for water users. 

Warning: I am advised by a local that it is advisable to lock the dinghy too something if possible and the engine to the dinghy.

A day off of a neap tide I might have made it close to low tide but especially in an inflatable it is best to be on the safe side, some abandoned metal work could easily cause a lot of damage and a helpful tidal stream is usually to be welcomed. 

The red circle bottom right marks Sancerre on
the pontoon.

It was sad to see a lot of abandoned and neglected boats on the river approaching Truro, I guess the moorings are free or cheap or they would most likely have been moved, it is surprising to some how many boats can be had, if you have the contacts, around the Solent for £1 to get them off the owner's hands saving mooring or storage costs, when I was ashore at Deacon's in July there were at least two such boats undergoing restoration by their new owners.

Tesco's on the left, landing steps opposite the motor boat
which is moored by the Harbour Master's office.

I almost made it back in one, but ran out of fuel about 300 yards short, necessitating a quick refill from the can and I made it back before the rain came again. Quite a long trip in the dinghy which did my arthritis no good, but I was now well supplied with fresh food, so it was curry night with fresh ingredients.

The slide show covers the trip there and back.

c 6 miles in a couple of hours.

Stuck in the Truro River.

2022 Celtic Circuit, Days 28 - 29 St Mary's to The Truro River

All of the available forecasts and models showed strong winds on Saturday from the south and perhaps stronger on Monday, Newlyn would likely be uncomfortable and possibly the pontoon would be full even arriving early, so it would be necessary to raft onto a fishing boat in the commercial part of the harbour which might move out at any time and be even more uncomfortable, so I decided to head directly to the Fal. I wanted to be well upriver before the gales arrived, but St Mawes was a possibility for a night before moving upriver and might give a chance for some resupply. 

So, I had an early night and set the alarm for 03:30 for an early start with good tides probably to well east of Lands End and an outside chance of a good tide past the Lizard. As often happens I woke before the alarm, in this case not long after 02:00 but the wind was favourable and likely to run out at lunch time, so I got up and weighed at 02:45.

A clear sky but a very dark night with no moon but I made it out safely and was soon sailing in a F4 from the NNE and making 4 - 5.5 knots and I was almost at the Wolf Rock before the wind died at 0730 rather earlier than forecast the previous evening. On went the engine and apart from an hour or so north of the Manacles it stayed on. 

Dolphins at 5.5 knots east of Wolf Rock. 

I was well ahead of a mass exodus from the Islands, from a couple
of snap shots at least 40 boats (with AIS) left ahead of the weather
or perhaps to get back to work on Monday. I am just off The Lizard
(the purple boat with a blue one to the north) when I captured this.

I managed to get past the Lizard before the tide turned and only had 1 - 1.5 knots adverse going up the east side of the peninsular. 

Passing the Lizard, quite close in as the tide was almost slack
but favourable and the wind light or non-existent.

It was late in the afternoon when I got into the Fal and with rain threatening I decided not to divert into St Mawes for shopping and headed up river.

A small super yacht (by some standards!) on a buoy off St Just in
Roseland.

And a nice gaff cutter nearby, much prettier to my eyes.

The Fal river goes east just south
of the red position marker.

Rain set in just after the above pictures were taken and I got rather wet - I first thought it would be a light shower and being rather busy I just put on my jacket, then the rain came down hard so I put my fisherman's trousers over the top - not a good idea in normal circumstances as the rain runs down and inside of them.

I could not make up my mind if I should anchor or go to one of the pontoons that I would have to pay for. It was low tide so I explored the swinging room at several places, my initial target above Turnaware Point had much less space than expected with additional moorings eating into the anchorage. 

I went further up, there looked to be a suitable place just below "Magotty Bank" on the Truro River. The rain had stopped for a while but more threatened and I was concerned about strong southerly winds opposing a strong ebb tide creating waves or the flood and tide acting together creating problems. So to be on the safe side I went to the visitor's pontoon just down from there and above the confluence of the rivers Fal and Truro.

That was probably the best bet, the 24 metre Gaff Ketch "Maybe" dragged and went aground backwards onto Magotty Bank one night but floated off without trouble on the tide next morning (there is a picture of her on the pontoon in a later post), being fin keeled Sancerre might not have been as fortunate.  Also, there was a small social scene on the pontoon or on other people's boats when it was raining.

Safe on the pontoon. The Fal river goes east behind the headland
right of Sancerre's mast. Before the wind returned the silence
was complete and rather eery.

The direct route (blue) and track (red)

66 miles in 15 hours.

A shopping trip up river.