Nichola / Dry, no wind
18/06/2013, River Fal, Cornwall

A trio of Cornish loveliness

17th June
We were up early having planned for a morning departure from Plymouth to hopefully miss some of the heavy rain forecast for the afternoon. We checked the inshore waters and shipping forecast to find that there was a gale 8 warning in place for the whole of the channel. Eeeek where had that come from?!?! Seemed a bit odd, so checked some other weather sites and looked at the pressure charts. No other site had winds that strong forecast and the charts looked ok. Very odd, but better to be safe than sorry. The gale warning had been issued at 3am so we decided to wait a couple of hours for it to pass. So we waited away, checking weather observation web sites but no sign of the gale and still no other forecasts showing such strong winds, so by 11am we decided to go.

We waited for a light rain shower to pass and off we went. It was a good job we'd already experienced the Monday 11:30am nuclear accident alarm test at Devonport as it would have been a bit of a shocker otherwise, with it going off just as we were passing a submarine at the navy docks! The winds were light as we headed out of the river but picked up to an easterly F5 as we crossed Plymouth bay. Should be good for sailing to Falmouth we thought.

Out past Rame Head and the swell increased, maybe up to 2m (not good at judging distance but seemed big) and the wind dropped to a F4. We attempted to sail for an hour but the winds decreased though the swell didn't and the rolling was knocking what little wind there was out of the sails (we don't have any light wind sails). We were going so slow it would have been dark before we got to Falmouth and having had one pot stuck round prop incident we didn't want another, so we gave up and motor sailed with main up to reduce the rolly-rolly.

So, the wind forecast was wrong (xcweather was the closest with F3 gusting F5, but we didn't get any gusts) and happily, the rain forecast was wrong too. There was supposed to be heavy rain all afternoon but we stayed completely dry (hurrah!), the sun even came out for a while and it was warmer than expected leading to a TMCO (Too Many Clothes On) situation having donned salopettes and oilies against the expected wind and rain.

It was quite a dull journey, being too far out in the bay to see the land that well in the haze. Our only excitement was hearing a warship announce it was due to start firing practise a few miles from where we were. Colin didn't find it dull, just me, but then I was also suffering the jet lag effect of having taken Stugeron for sea sickness. I take them the night before so that the sleepy effect isn't too bad but it still puts me out of sorts. I thought it a good idea to take some having shared my ginger biscuits with the fishies when we crossed Lyme Bay with a similar forecast, but hadn't taken any pills then.

When we got to Falmouth Bay there was barely any wind, the swell was just a gentle roll and we were glad we'd motored to arrive in daylight as even in those benign conditions the pot buoys were hard to see. Every time we've arrived at Falmouth previously, the bay was teeming with yachts but now there were just 3 others.

Up the river, round to Turnaware to find it empty, perfect! About an hour later the rain arrived. Heavy enough overnight too to block the GPS signal and cause our GPS unit to squawk. Unfortunately the 'no fix' alarm is the same as the anchor alarm that we set on the GPS and at 1am to hear it got us out of bed sharpish! But a relief to find it was the no fix causing the alarm rather than us having dragged.

Oh, yes, to explain the title of this blog. In May 2011 we left Falmouth, having wintered there, to sail up the west coast to the Orkneys, then down the east coast to winter in the river Crouch in Essex. Although in previously trips we'd covered the ground from Brighton to Falmouth and Brighton to the Crouch, those trips weren't in consecutive order. Well now we've sailed the Crouch to Falmouth so we reckon that's our UK circumnavigation completed!

2013: In search of warmer climes

Comments [1] | | More

Nichola/ Rain and gales
16/06/2013, River Lynher, near Plymouth, UK

We've spent the last week opposite Jupiter Point on the river Lynher with a training navy ship for company for Emerald. The ship provided entertainment watching trainees jump off the side in their immersion suits.

The weather has been a constant westerly, with gales at times, not giving us a chance to move on. The weather has been quite wet too so trips ashore wouldn't have been very pleasant but we did get a day out in Plymouth and yesterday visited Saltash regatta.

Plymouth has a lot of sea faring history being the place where Sir Francis Drake played bowls when he got news of the Armada and in 1620 where the pilgrims boarded the Mayflower to set sail to America. We wandered around the Barbican, an area of 16th century houses and narrow cobbled streets with cafes and specialist shops. Colin's favourite shop was the Plymouth gin distillery, I preferred the chocolate and cake shop next door (the yellow building in the photo below) which had a huge selection of yummy looking cakes that were just too tempting, so we had to have a slice (huge) each. They tasted yummy too! The Elizabethan garden is a pleasant space for a rest where a courtyard has been restored to how it would have been in those times.


A happy chappie at the Plymouth Gin distillery

At the harbour's edge we stood in the approximate location where the pilgrims had their last step in Britain, then walked around to the Hoe where Smeaton's Tower stands. This was the third lighthouse that stood on the Eddystone rock from 1759 to 1877 when it was dismantled and rebuilt on the shore as a memorial to its designer, John Smeaton. It was removed when it was discovered that the rocks under it were being eroded. The weather was clear enough that we could see out to Eddystone and could just about make out the base of Smeaton's light next to the current lighthouse.


Smeaton's Tower on Plymouth Hoe

15th June
We walked to Saltash and down to the foreshore under the Tamar road and rail bridges where the Saltash regatta was taking place. The sun was shining and we were sheltered from the strong westerlies so it was quite pleasant watching gig racing, live bands and winning a bottle of wine.


Gig racing under the Tamar bridges

2013: In search of warmer climes

Comments [0] | | More

Nichola / Cloudy then sunny
09/06/2013, River Lynher, near Plymouth, UK

Our view from the cockpit in Dartmouth

We left the Dartmouth pontoon at 8am feeling a little sad to leave as we really like it here. We've had around 3 weeks here over 2 visits and the weather was great both times so maybe that's why we like it so much! There are also loads of places to walk and visit and getting ashore is easy with dedicated visitor dinghy pontoons in Dartmouth and Dittisham.  

Once we left the shelter of the river, we were met with a swell rolling in which made getting the main up fun. The wind was from the east and we were able to sail towards Start Point on  a broad reach with winds gusting F5. A big, dark cloud was lurking out to sea and the edges of it rolled in to block the sun but it stayed dry. The swell got worse with up to 2m rollers picking us up and surfing us briefly along.  

Past Start Point the seas eased a lot and the winds too. We hand steered trying to keep up a downwind course until we cleared Bolt Head and could point towards Plymouth and a better wind angle.  

We bimbled across Bigbury Bay, the sun out now and the wind dropped to F3. With tide with us we were still moving along ok, although the wind was fluttering around a fair bit which meant keeping the sails full at times was tricky. We tried goose winging (main out one side, genny out the other to capture more wind) for a while but was difficult to keep going with the slight swell from behind.  

A few miles from Plymouth breakwater the wind went more south easterly and increased, doubling our speed from 3 knots to over 6 knots so it was a romp into the harbour, passing Fort Bovisand where I stayed years ago when I was diving and then into the eastern entrance to the harbour. Dropped the main and motored  around Drake Island rather than through the Bridge as there didn't seem much in it distance wise.  

There was some exciting swirly and choppy water at the entrance to the Hamoaze and then the jaws of death ferries to get through. After this the river traffic quietened off as we headed for the Lynher. Was quite surprised how many yachts were anchored there.  

It's very pleasant sailing along the coastline here as it is very scenic with high cliffs, little coves and green and yellow countryside. Most enjoyable sail of the season so far, mainly as it was warm enough to take my woolly hat off! We'd expected to have to motor half the way here with the forecast wind decrease but managed to sail from Dartmouth entrance all the way to Plymouth harbour, averaging 5 knots. We could have sailed up the river but the prospect was just a bit too exciting in narrow areas and with lots of other traffic.  

I think we're in Cornwall now......  


The Tamar road and rail bridges - I remember crossing this on the train on family holidays to Cornwall

2013: In search of warmer climes

Comments [0] | | More

Nichola / Sunny
08/06/2013, Dartmoor, Devon, UK

The start of the walk - lunch was at the pimple on the horizon just to the right of centre

5th June
With legs still creaking slighly from Monday's walk, we headed off for an early bus to Ivybridge for a walk on the southern edge of Dartmoor. This seemed to be the most accessible point for us from Dartmouth using public transport, but still involved two buses and nearly one and a half hours traveling each way.

Arriving at Ivybridge we succumbed to the powers of advertising at a Tesco local for 3 for 2 pastries - well it was now a while since breakfast and we did need some extra energy for our walk! Leaving the river behind, the walk stared by heading up a short (but steep) section of road before reaching a sign for the edge of Dartmoor National Park. Then a short bit of lane before turning off onto track that is the Two Moors Way. Up the stony track with high banks on either side to start with so we couldn't see much of the view. Though the sides of the track were carpeted with bluebells to make up for the lack of view. Through a gate and we were now in open countryside at the bottom of a grassy slope heading up to the moors and a perfect place for eating our pastries.


Dartmoor National Park

We cut across the hill, passing shaggy haired cows until joining the stone track that is a former railway that used to serve china clay works further into the moors. The track wound along the contours of the hills and was straight forward to follow. We passed more cows, some sheep and Dartmoor ponies down at the bottom of the hill.

A man on a mountain bike who I reckoned was in his late 60's stopped by us for a rest and a quick chat. He said he used to be able to cycle up without stopping but had to have a rest now - it was still very impressive to have got to where he was.

There is lots of evidence of prehistoric settlement in this area, although you have to be a good spotter to see the objects. Stone rows were visible along our route, the occasional stone still standing tall but many had disappeared, either sunk into the peat, grown over or pilfered away.


A section of stone row

We arrived at Sharp Tor, our turning round point, much quicker than expected, and headed off the track towards the rocky outcrop. We found a perfect lunch stop tucked behind the rocks out of the wind with a cracking view of the river Erme winding it's way from the moors down to the sea. Bliss.


Lunch stop

Unfortunately time marched on very quickly and it was soon time to turn back if we didn't want to miss our bus. We backtracked along the Two Moors Way a little and had a bit of a problem identifying the bridleway that would take us down to Harford; there are no signposts and the tracks can be hard to spot being just slighly trampled versions of the surrounding moorland.


Conquering our first tor

Off the moors and onto the lanes through Harford, crossing the the river Erme at Harford Bridge before a footpath led us back down to the banks of the Erme. The river burbled it's way down the valley, looking quite benign. However, the large trees that had fallen across the river where the river banks had been washed away, told of fiercer flows in the recent past. The first section of river path was narrow with sections where we had to clamber over tree roots and side streams. As the path opened out into a wide, easy track, the river did the opposite as it surged and twisted over rocks, through gullies and narrows. We passed a few deep pools that looked inviting to swim in on a hot summers day.

We didn't really have time to linger if we wanted to get the bus, which is a shame as it was a very scenic river to walk along. We made it back to the bus stoo with 10 minutes to spare (although the bus was then 15 minutes late!).

We saw only 4 other people whilst out on the moors; 2 on bikes and 2 walkers way ahead of us. The walk was about 10 miles and gave us a bit of everything Dartmoor has to offer: wide open moorland, a bit of history, rugged tors and the wooded river valley. And some Dartmoor ponies! The weather was sunny and warm, with a cooling breeze up on the tops. Couldn't have asked for more - except for buses that run later in the evening!


Baaaaaaaah!

2013: In search of warmer climes

Comments [0] | | More