I spent a pleasant week in Plymouth, enjoying walking around the Barbican and the Hoe, eating out, using the laundry, and all the other comforts of a marina! Eventually, the wind showed signs of shifting to the west - but not for very long! So it was time to make the most of it.

I left Sutton Harbour at 06:20 - 20mins late! - and passed through the lock easily as it was on free flow (both gates open) for approx 3 hours either side of high water. Once out into Plymouth Sound, the wind was still at SE, not too strong, and visibility moderate to poor. I sailed south close hauled until the wind died away as it began to veer further south, and the visibility got worse as drizzle began. Inevitably, engine on. I motored around Start Point without seeing it, relying on the chart plotter, AIS and radar.

As I turned north towards Dartmouth, and passed the Skerries Bank, the sky cleared a bit and I got a few glimpses of the shore. Then there was enough wind behind me to sail the last hour or so under headsail only up into the beautiful River Dart. The picture above shows the view of Dartmouth as I approached.

I motored up the river through Dartmouth, past the marinas, up towards Dittisham. My memory of deserted river with isolated visitors' moorings is way out of date - the permanent moorings reach all the way up the river. But in Dittisham pool there were a few vacant mooring buoys. No pickup lines but nice big fixed loops on top, so I had an easy job to feed first a temporary line and later my bridle with chain in its middle through the buoy. I spent a peaceful afternoon relaxing in the sun.

Log of this passage (Sorry about missing first section - I forgot to turn on the logger!)