Tag: Cornwall

West Country Meanderings

This season we have managed several rallies and a long trip in the Summer. It kicked off at the end of July when Niki and I set off, accompanied with Brian of Puffin Bach, to deliver Molly to Falmouth.

I had decided that I wanted to push my envelope a bit and cross the channel again, but this time to Alderney and then make a 24-hour passage to Falmouth.

We had an easy crossing from Gosport with an 0300 start delivering us to Braye harbour at 1930. I had planned 3 nights in Braye so we would have two clear days on the island and some good sleep before the long leg to Falmouth.

We managed the former but not the latter! This summer has been dominated by Easterly winds and this is not a sheltered direction for Braye. The consequence was some of the most rolly nights afloat I’ve spent. Still, the time ashore was most interesting. Braye itself offers little apart from the harbour but there is much to see on this small island.

On the first day, we enjoyed a walk up to the pretty main town of St Anne’s, culminating in beer and local seafood in the sun. On the second day, we hired bikes and looped around the island. The castle at Longis and the lighthouse were particularly interesting, as was watching the massive tides pour through The Race.

After our third rather restless night, we departed for Falmouth. The first section was wonderful with Molly sailing beautifully past a (suitably distanced) view of the Casquets rocks and lighthouse. To the north of us were the busy shipping lanes and I had been advised to use the Separation Scheme to cross. As we approached, I felt like a mouse trying to run across a motorway, such was the speed and density of traffic. In a CSS, vessels must cross at right angles and this was impossible for us at our modest 5kt.

Watching the other yachts, several were making for the area just outside the CSS, and I realised this meant that the traffic was following a predictable track but we were not obliged to maintain a course at right angles to the shipping. This allowed us to turn and run parallel with the ships until we could turn and dash behind their stern, ahead of the next monster.

Having cleared the shipping lanes, there was far less traffic and the wind was on our nose. At dusk I put the main down and we motored on in the dark. This part was mostly rather dull, as there was nothing to see in the dark. The only excitement was an encounter with a fishing vessel which was behaving as if he could not see us and seemed to be permanently heading us off with his course changes.

After 25 hours we steamed gratefully into Falmouth and berthed at Falmouth Yacht Haven. Russell, our friend and skipper of Cornish Yawl Lucy, asked if we were in trouble, as our AIS had us at 16kt some miles off Salcombe. It was then we realised that our AIS was not transmitting properly and explained the erratic behaviour of the fishing boat! I was able to quickly rectify this when I discovered the antenna connection to the unit had worked loose.

We then left Molly on a swinging mooring in the harbour, so we could travel back to the Midlands to attend the excellent Cropredy music festival, where we bumped into some fellow Solent Gaffers. This detour was facilitated by our friend Ben who lives in Falmouth and was attending the festival with us.

On our return to Falmouth, we had some memorable days in the area, anchoring and swimming anchored at lighthouse beach and a wonderful overnight anchor at Turnaware Point.

We then began a slow meander East. The first port of call was a lunch stop at Mevagissey followed by a night at Fowey. From there we moved up to Plymouth with another swim/ice cream at Cawsand before a couple of nights in Sutton Marina.

This gave us a day in Plymouth sightseeing, including a Rolls Royce in the lido (a tribute to Keith Moon, apparently) and the fireworks championships viewed from our pontoon. We were welcomed into the marina by a fellow gaffer, Chris, owner of a a lovely Oysterman 22 .

There were very strong easterlies forecast for the next couple of days and rather than hole up in the eye wateringly expensive marina, we decided to explore the local rivers.

Passing up the lovely Tamar under the impressive bridges at Saltash and past the Lynher and Tavy, we made our way almost 10 miles inland to Calstock, once a centre of industrial activity. The river was an important route for exporting metals and stone in the 19th Century, which dwindled away at the beginning of the 20th with the coming of the railway, illustrated by the impressive viaduct over the river.

We found a vibrant village with traditional music and busy pubs. We also took a trip in the tender a couple of miles upstream to Morwellham Quay.

After two nights, we dropped down the Tamar, through Plymouth sound and into the Yealm. Conditions were very blustery and just as we passed the breakwater, there was a thunder and lightning accompanied by a squall which flipped our dinghy. Nonetheless we arrived in Noss Mayo unharmed and spent two more nights in its shelter, enjoying some lovely walks through Newton Ferrers and a loop along the coast walk.

Our next stop was Salcombe, and we were rejoined by Ben. Salcombe was buzzing and we enjoyed a few beers at the Victoria Inn before returning to Molly for dinner aboard.

The following day, the three of us set off for Dartmouth but passed straight through the town, heading for Totnes. We wound our way up the lovely Dart arriving at Baltic Wharf just at high tide. We enjoyed excellent beer and a meal at the Old Albert Inn (my favourite was RealAletivity – the pub is named after Einstein rather than Victoria’s consort).

We were awoken early next morning to be told we had moored in the wrong place, but were planning to leave on the high tide in any case. We dropped downriver to a pleasant anchorage to enjoy the sun before finding a berth in Dartmouth for the night. The town was very busy, as the annual regatta week was warming up and we had an excellent seafood meal at Rockfish. The following morning, Ben had to return home and, after early provisioning but an agonising wait for our turn on the water pontoon, we departed.

We had missed the tide, but it mattered little because the tide was not strong and there was virtually no wind so we made easy progress across Torbay, anchoring for a swim in the shelter of Anstey’s Cove whilst we waited for the tide to rise.

In the late afternoon, we made a very interesting entrance to Teignmouth. There is a very strong flow into the river mouth between the channel markers and then a hard-to-starboard ferry glide across the current to the part of the channel that loops through the town. Teignmouth is a busy town with a working commercial port and the kiss-me-quick seafront. We turned up just as a music festival was starting and it turned out the visitor berths were very close to the stage on the beach – we were just the right distance to enjoy the music. Whilst we were there, we took a tender trip across to pretty Shaldon on the opposite side of the estuary and which was having its regatta, so we were treated front row seats as the dinghies and rowing gigs raced past.

Feeling we had had full value from the bank holiday weekend, we spent a hot day anchored in Anstey’s cove again. With the weather finally due to swing round to the south west, we would be ready to leave the West Country early the next morning by rounding Portland Bill back into what we think of as “home waters”.

Installing NASA BM-1 bluetooth battery monitor

When we took on Molly at the beginning of the season, I spent some time doing a bit of winter maintenance and getting to know the systems aboard. I decided that I would not change or add anything during the first season, but would sail her and thoroughly understand how things worked before changing anything. There was one exception to this, and that was a battery monitor – I was uncomfortable not having any means of monitoring the voltage and charging of the leisure and starter batteries, particularly as the previous owner told me that the first time he came to use her, the batteries were flat and needed replacing. Rather than fit another display in the cockpit or cabin, I chose a bluetooth unit, which has been excellent. It tells me the voltages and dis/charge rates at a glance and the bluetooth range is enough for me to read when I am in the car park and Molly is on her berth!

If you’re interested in the details, have a look at this video I made of the installation: https://youtu.be/GZ07bel7T6A

Anchor angst and the Yealm

We were anchored off the beach at Cawsand. I’ve never been ashore at Cawsand, so the plan was to inflate the dinghy and explore the twin villages of Kingsand and Cawsand. Niki said “are you sure it’s safe for us to all go ashore?” Prophetic words. “It’ll be ok”, I judged.

There was a gentle onshore breeze and the three of us landed easily in the tender. The villages, separated by only a few yards, but which historically had been at loggerheads for many years, were indeed lovely, especially with the decorations up for the queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Narrow streets with jubilee decorations in Kingsand

At several points we could see Molly from afar and observed that she was still in position. As we walked along the shore, Niki said “I’m sure she’s moved”. We quickened our pace. By the time we had regained the dinghy, it was clear that the wind had increased to about F4 and Molly was dragging.

The waves on the shore were not so easy to negotiate as our arrival and it was a much more strenuous row. We agreed that as soon as we reached Molly, I would go to the bow and Ben would start the engine, whilst niki remained in the dinghy. There were a scant few metres between Molly and the shore when the engine was engaged, but the anchor was soon recovered and the only casualty was poor Niki, who not only had a good soaking in the dinghy but cut her hand into the bargain.

Niki retired below to warm up under a blanket , whilst Ben and I motored across Plymouth Sound. It was slow going, dead into the wind and we also had to contend with crossing the track of a magnificent fleet of flying offshore racers heading for Galway and thence Shetland.

Eventually we reached our planned lunch stop and dropped the plough anchor for the last time in Cellar Bay at the mouth of the Yealm. By this time I had very much decided that my plan to eventually replace it should be brought forward to a status of immediate.

Lunch in Cellar Bay at the mouth of the Yealm

We enjoyed a pleasant lunch and siesta before hosting Dermot, our friend and fellow Crabber 26 owner, who lives nearby and sailed out to see us in his Drascombe Dabber. Sadly rain prompted him to return home but we elected to motor up the Yealm despite the steady rain. It’s a most beautiful spot, even in the downpour. We motored up to Noss Mayo, though we didn’t stop for a pint!

Our return to plymouth sound was another motor session, after we had motored into a strong wind all the way to the Yealm, there was no breeze at all for our return. After that plod, we were happy to arrive at Sutton Marina. We enjoyed a meal of Morroccan Lamb with butternut squash, which Niki had prepared earlier and cooked in our Thermal Cooker.

Plymouth ho!

The first day of our journey East dawned bright and sunny. I moved Molly off her mooring in Mylor for the last time; the majority of our gear was stored in Russell’s van overnight, so the first order of the day was to fetch and stow the provisions. Meanwhile, Ben and Niki procured pasties in Falmouth and I picked them up from Custom House Quay.

The forecast was for very light and variable winds, but in general from the north. This turned out to be only partly true. I was expecting most of the passage to be motoring, but as we set off there was a light wind from the NE so we sailed out into Falmouth bay, accompanied by Russell in his Cornish Yawl, Lucy. With sufficient offing, tacked to follow the shore a mile of so off. As we watched this Cornish coast slip past, we were very happy to see the wind gradually veer to a SE, allowing us to adjust our course to make it past our first significant headland, The Dodman.

The wind dropped somewhat and so, not long before the Dodman, we fired up the engine and motored across a flat blue sea with our sails little more than decoration. After about three hours of motoring, the wind had filled to the point we were able to silence the motor and enjoy a blissful sail in the sun right up to Plymouth sound.

I have not been confident in the holding of our 12kg plough anchor, standard equipment on the Crabber, so we laid the anchor with some care in Cawsand bay. When we motored astern to dig the anchor in, there was little resistance from our ground tackle. Perhaps the anchor had landed upside down; we tried again and convinced ourselves that the anchor had dug in. The winds were light and we had lots of scope out.

We shared a lovely meal aboard, which Niki had brought pre-prepared and frozen, helping to chill the coolbox, and retired to bed early. However, the peace was shattered at about midnight by the anchor alarm. Ben and I considered our position: it was pitch dark, though we knew there were some moorings nearby, past other anchored boats. The wind had shifted to offshore and was not strong. We had not moved relative to our anchorage companions and also it was low water, so there was maximum scope.

In the end, our decision was to increase the radius of the anchor alarm and go back to bed. If we were dragging, then the alarm would wake us and we would be moving offshore. This proved to work out for us and the rest of the night passed uneventfully.

Molly moving home

I write this on a Friday having arrived at Mylor after a dash down the M5 after work. Molly has been on the Fal since she was launched in 2016 and we’ve enjoyed exploring this lovely corner of Cornwall since we took her over at the beginning of the year.

We’ve had time to get to know how to handle her and use all the systems; this week she will be moving East to her new home waters at Gosport on the Solent. I’m hoping our passage east will allow us to visit some new places, which we won’t be able to access so easily from the Solent.

Pontoon party

It has been very pleasant to spend some time with old friend and fellow sailor, Ben. We hatched a bank holiday sailing trip with two boats in company, his three sons and their dog, but the weather was rather cold and windy for much beach fun, so sailed up the Fal to Turnaware for a pontoon party.

Gulf Kilo, a Westerly GK24 which has been in use by Ben’s family for many years

The original plan was for a barbecue but the weather hadn’t seemed good enough for that, though it was very sheltered at Turnaware and we had a lovely burst of sun as it set behind the oak trees that line the river bank.

The eldest two boys took the dinghy ashore to walk the dog, whilst we cooked aboard Molly. It was a lovely evening and the first time we’d had more than two eat aboard. The galley and saloon were more than adequate for the five of us, and we had a comfortable and sociable time on what would have been a rather chilly evening.

Helford sortie

Left on my own, I decided to revisit an old haunt up the Helford river to try anchoring overnight. I’d not sailed Molly solo yet and was also not confident about being able to reef. However, the light winds provided ideal conditions to try things out – the auto helm makes everything straightforward, freeing me up to pull the string. In fact I very much enjoyed the sensation of the boat helming herself and me able to look around, move about the boat and make adjustments without going off course. I know all this is old hat, but it’s new to me!

I had a most pleasant sail across Falmouth Bay, towards Manacle Reef on full main and staysail. As the wind increased from F1 to F2, increasing weatherhelm was evident, but I decided not use the jib until I had a bit more experience handling the boat and neither was I able to get the reefing to work yet. I did not make a good job of tacking on this trip, and I kept finding myself in irons (presumably not helped by the weather helm – that’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it) and the boat kept losing way in the light airs.

When I reached the mouth of the Helford, I experienced difficulty furling the staysail again and ended up dropping it on deck. Lazy jacks for the main are also going on the To-Do list! I motored up the river, past the multitude of moorings to Tremayne Quay. This is a lovely stone jetty and boat house which was built for a visit of Queen Victoria that she never made, and is a very fondly remembered spot we visited in our previous boat, Aurora.

The chart shows green here, but there is a “hole” outside the boathouse and I calculated that there would be at least 2m of water in that spot at low tide. Low tide was also conveniently before bedtime, so I could sleep soundly afterwards, knowing that there would be no need to check the anchor was re-set at the turn of the tide. In the event, the flow was gentle enough that the light breeze kept Molly in the same spot all night.

It’s a very peaceful spot to stay, beyond most of the traffic and also easy to land, with pleasant walking in the woodland on the W shore. However, inflating the dinghy was a job for another night, I decided. Whilst in the calm I had a look at the reefing lines and decided that the difficultly in reefing was mainly down to friction in the single line system. I saw from the Crabber Club forum that I was not the first to experience this and instituted a simple change recommended there. I had bought some strong stainless rings from Trago before I left Falmouth and tied a pair of these through each of the reefing eyes. This means that the reefing line, instead of passing through the reefing eye, passes through the ring. This had the effect of swapping the reefing lines over in the cockpit, and makes it significantly easier to pull the reefs in. There is still a lot of friction for second reef and time will tell if this is a permanent change, or perhaps I will go a stage further and purchase some (much more expensive) low friction rings. In any case in the longer term I will need to make a tidier job of my current arrangement.

I was pleased to find my calculations correct; I did not touch at low tide and I spent a restful night on the river. In the morning, I made an earlyish start to leave before low – although there is enough water at low where I was anchored, I was not sure if I would get down the river at that time. Weighing anchor roughly 2hrs before LW, I weaved my way keeping to the deeper part of the channel and soon found my way to deeper water. There was almost no wind, so I motored over to St Makes. I dropped the pin in less than a metre of clear water at Cellars Beach, opposite Place House, a most elegant 16th Century manor, in which King Henry VIII had one of his multitude of marriages. I chose this spot not just for its outlook but to be out of the wash of traffic and spent most of the day working. What a great spot for an office!

In the evening I returned to Falmouth and inflated the tender for her inaugural voyage, rowing ashore for a pleasant evening with Ben.

Anchored with St Mawes in the background

Motoring to Malpas

We passed a comfortable night aboard in Falmouth Yacht Haven, but the wind had been building during the night. Blowing a F5-6 from SE made for choppy conditions in the Carrick Roads and we did not feel ready to sail in that weather, because I was not confident of being able to set reefs properly. We decided to lay in some stores and find somewhere quiet up-river again. So it was Niki and I motored up the river and found a lovely sheltered spot just down from Malpas, which is as far as low tide reaches on the Truro river.

It is an idyllic spot, with the oak trees reaching to the water’s edge. This early in the season, the oak trees have yet to burst their buds, but there is little traffic and plenty of spots on the pontoon. Within the valley and protected by the trees, we were well sheltered from the wind and passed a relaxing afternoon and evening aboard, cooking a nice meal and listening to music. We were very pleased with the luxury of our facilities compared to Aurora, our trailer sailer – a comfortable saloon, oven, heating and hot water.

Fowey

Niki having joined me again, we had decided to make our first passage in Molly, and the wind direction suggested Fowey. The weather made an un-inspiring start to the day, with drizzle and very poor visibility, so we delayed starting for an hour or two; the visibility had improved but the drizzle was annoyingly persistent.

A rather glamorous neighbour on the pontoon at Falmouth

“Andy the arm” wearing his pac-a-mac against the rain

We tacked out the the Carrick Roads and finally settled on a close-hauled course towards Dodman Point, as yet invisible in the grey. Motor sailing, we were making a comfortable 4.5kt through the water and a little more than that over the ground. We had an anniversary brunch on the move, though Niki was feeling unwell and did not enjoy hers. We continued steadily NW and I was able to ease our course a little. Niki was asleep below, so I stopped the engine when we had passed Gwineas reef (a site I know well from diving there in the past) and we only lost a little less than a knot of boat speed. There were several large sailing vessels out off Mevagissey – Bessie Ellen an early C20 115ft trading ketch, now operated as a sailing experience vessel and also Pellew, a pilot cutter freshly-built in Penryn. They made a fine sight as we made our way steadily towards the mouth of the Fowey river.

Niki picked up a mooring opposite the town, we inflated Aurelia and rowed across for dinner at the Ship Inn (a fine fish pie and some rather gritty Camel estuary mussels). Rowing back to Molly afterwards was easier than I feared – though it was mid-tide, there was not a very strong current in the river. We passed a rather rolly night – it seems in the light winds Molly kept turning across the swell. Perhaps we’ll use the pontoon next time…

In the morning, Niki and I decided to spend the day in Fowey and enjoyed a sunny morning wandering around this pretty town, busy with Easter tourists. We saw an RNLI stand which was being largely ignored, and chatted to the volunteer there. He told us there was an open evening planned for that afternoon, with the lifeboat to come up to the town quay at high tide for the public to have a look around and also that a shanty group would be performing.

So our tender Aurelia got two trips across the river that day, as we returned to Molly, prepared a beef stew in our thermal cooker, to be eaten later, had a restful afternoon and returned to the town quay in late afternoon. The performance by local shanty group, Stuns’l, was excellent. It was just as well that this was our main reason for coming, as the lifeboat was nowhere to be seen, having been called out on a shout!

The harbour was very busy, so we kept our mooring, as we could see that all the pontoon berths were taken. We enjoyed a pleasant evening aboard with our beef stew and a film.

Stuns’ls (with no lifeboat in the background!)

We set off in the morning with a lovely southerly and set a cracking pace, close hauled, expecting to bear away after the Dodman, and arrive back early enough to anchor somewhere for lunch, but the wind swung inexorably to the west and we ended up in a light air beat (with engine assistance). Sadly Niki had to return home that evening, but we were pleased with our first expedition.

First day afloat

“Are you ready?”, he asked, an hour before our launch slot. Luckily we were, and so began our adventures on Molly of Mylor. I had been spending the winter months getting to know our new-to-us Cornish Crabber 26 and learning to carry out the winter maintenance tasks while ashore in the yard at Penryn in Falmouth. We had loaded our gear the previous day, before her cradle was moved from her winter store location to a spot near the slipway. Molly was quickly and efficiently lifted off the cradle and trundled down to the water; I had to remind myself that although this was a first for us, it was very much a routine task for the crew at the yard.

Molly being moved cradle and all, from her winter spot to the slipway

The whole process was reassuringly uneventful and we warped her onto a pontoon and started the engine for the first time. Niki and I were joined by long-time boating friend and fellow Cornish Crabber owner, Russell. He was coming along to help us get used to manoeuvring Molly under engine, our previous boat being much smaller and lighter with an outboard.

The location we chose for our greenhorn boat handling were the pontoons up the Fal river past Turnaware Point. Conditions were ideal with little wind, warm sun and neap tides; it was a most enjoyable introduction to Molly. We soon reached the pontoons and both Niki and I practiced bringing Molly alongside up and down-wind. I was very pleasantly surprised with how well the Crabber 26 handles under engine both forward and astern.

It was now the time to try out the sails and we set full main, staysail and jib in the very light winds prevailing. Motor-sailing downriver, we were passed by Cornish Crabber’s owner Peter Thomas, aboard another ’26 – he took some photos of us and I was able to thank him for delivering a replacement luff spar onto the boat.

The next item to try out was the anchor, so we put into St Mawes and dropped anchor in the harbour opposite the town to munch our pasties. Not much of a test of anchor holding, but good practice deploying and retrieving the tackle.

By this time, the wind had died to nothing and our attempts to sail in the bay achieved little, so we motored in to Falmouth, took a berth in the yacht haven and retired to town for a well-earned celebratory curry.