Intrepid Travels

Vessel Name: Intrepid Elk
Vessel Make/Model: Outremer catamaran 51
Hailing Port: Fremantle
Crew: Robert and Revle Elks
16 May 2017
06 October 2016
30 September 2016
22 September 2016
18 September 2016
17 September 2016
14 September 2016
13 September 2016
12 September 2016
10 September 2016
04 September 2016
01 September 2016
31 August 2016
30 August 2016
27 August 2016
24 August 2016
23 August 2016
21 August 2016
19 August 2016
Recent Blog Posts
16 May 2017

Cherbourg encore

We are reunited with Intrepid Elk after a winter/summer separation and it is good to be home again. IE has had a facelift and her shiny white hulls are dazzling once more. She has a beautiful new bimini (shade cover) over the helm seat, which Robert designed and which was fabricated in Portsmouth and [...]

06 October 2016

IE preparation for winter

Our sailing days for this year are over and we are once again busy getting IE ready for a winter in the northern hemisphere. This year, she will be in the water for most of the time, with a short interlude on land in a large painting shed, where she will have her hulls painted. In order to get her into [...]

30 September 2016

Cherbourg, France

It was an inky black moonless night as we slipped out of the river and across the sand bar with fishing vessel Emma Louise behind us. Revle was on the bowsprit with a spotlight looking for hazards ahead. I was at the helm, peering at our chartplotter and concentrating on following our inward track. [...]

22 September 2016

Plymouth

We made a motoring passage of 35 miles to Plymouth Sound, then battled against strong currents up the Tamar River to an anchorage at West Mud where we spent a peaceful night. Plymouth has been a major naval base for centuries and we had some close encounters with modern navy ships in the harbour. We [...]

18 September 2016

Falmouth

Our passage to Falmouth took us past The Lizard, a projecting headland with a ferocious tidal race. We passed a little too close and got caught in the race which was too bumpy for comfort. Approaching the Falmouth harbour, we had the excitement of crossing our track from June 2015 when we made landfall [...]

17 September 2016

Newlyn

We left the Isles of Scilly early in the morning to catch a light northerly wind to Land's End and the fishing port of Newlyn, just south of Penzance. We couldn't believe our luck, having another gentle passage through one of the most treacherous and notorious waterways in northern Europe. We galloped [...]

Weymouth

25 June 2015
We reached Portland Bill mid-afternoon. At the point of intersecting tidal streams, the waters at the tip of the "Bill" are the most dangerous in the English Channel with substantial vessels known to have disappeared without trace! So we were more than a little nervous as we approached, even though we have followed the advice to pass at slack tide. There was plenty of excitement once we entered the race area with Intrepid Elk straining to hold her course as she was pushed and pulled with the currents.
Rounding the Bill we entered the 19th century Portland Harbour, which claims to be the second largest man-made harbour in the world. Christopher Wren oversaw the quarrying of six million tonnes of Portland stone used in St Paul's Cathedral and other fine buildings. Spending two nights here we were able to explore the seaside holiday town of Weymouth. For Richard's birthday we decided to do something completely different by going to the Jailhouse Café - inside a working prison with food cooked and served by the inmates! This brilliant plan started to come unstuck as the bus driver did was not local and did not know where to drop us off. We hopped off and caught a taxi up a steep hill in thick fog to arrive at a derelict and overgrown industrial area where we found a Jailhouse Café sign. We soon realised that it was closed. It was very funny and also a relief when we looked inside and saw that it was not a very inviting interior - a bit like a mining camp mess. The situation was recovered when we called a taxi and found a fabulous cosy pub on Chesil Beach. We had delicious meals and drinks at a table overlooking the sea. It was a birthday Richard is unlikely to forget.
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