Tonic 2024

Left at 2pm for Brixham. It was cold and a horrible lumpy sea and 13 knots of wind which we had to tack into. Most uncomfortable. We arrived in Brixham at 5pm. 12 miles in 3 hours. Not the nicest way to finish our trip but we're very thankful for safe travels and it's nice (albeit rather strange) to be back home! No nice pictures today so this is one of the sunset over Dartmouth last night. Thank you for sharing our journey and well done if you've persevered to the end, I hope it wasn't too boring for you, and a particular thank you to those who have posted comments! Sorry there's been a bit of a delay to finishing my blog but here are some final stats:
Days away: 115
Distance covered: 1,639 Nautical miles
Engine hours: 145

We needed to be over the sill before the last of the tide at 7am so we left at 6.40. The sea was a bit lumpy but we had a decent wind and switched the engine off at 7.30 once we were on our course. Sailed until noon when the wind died and we had to motor-sail for a while. We just clipped the beginning of the separation zones in the middle of the channel so it was quite entertaining working out whether we were likely to collide with any of the big ships crossing our path! A cargo ship called Happy Penguin (painted orange) clearly considered us a threat and started hooting at us so we called them up to say that we had slowed the engine down so they would pass in front. We were able to turn the engine off again at 1.30pm Arrived at Dartmouth at 6pm and tied up to our friends Stuart and Jackie's boat Salty Bear, (Tonic's twin). A nice sunny evening in Dartmouth. 71 miles in 11 ½ hours.

Pete and Tracey invited us on board Oddity for coffee and it was really interesting seeing round their boat. Not at all what I had expected, very bright and colourful and airy. And very tidy! Pete has designed it himself and it is shallow drafted and the mast can come down very easily so they can explore canals and creeks etc. Tracey designed the interior. It's very practical and robust. We spent the rest of day enjoying St. Peter Port and John had his final ice cream! In the evening we went to La Perla for an early birthday dinner for John. Very nice as always.

Today we need to take the boat out of the marina to fill up with fuel which rather messed up the day as we had to wait for ages as everyone else seemed to have the same idea, but eventually we managed it, and it was worthwhile at 91p a litre! John always has a Mr Whippy ice cream from the van at the corner of the harbour. Too creamy for me! Pete and Tracey Goss came on board for drinks and were delightful company. For non-sailors, Pete is a Devonian and a former Royal Marine, and is famous for his pioneering project Team Philips. He was invested in the Legion d'Honneur for saving fellow sailor Raphaël Dinelli in the 1996 Vendée Globe solo around the world yacht race. During a severe storm in the Southern Ocean, he turned his boat around and spent two days sailing into hurricane-force winds, finally finding Dinelli in a life-raft that had been dropped by an Australian Air Force plane shortly before the yacht had sunk. Dinelli is said to have come aboard clutching a bottle of champagne. He is very charming and unassuming and Tracey is lovely too. More about Oddity tomorrow ...

A nice sunny morning. We left at 9.30 when there was enough water over the sill. There was a nice wind and we were able to get the cruising chute up and sail straight away. However once we got round the corner of the island we were struggling to make the course to St Peter Port and by 1pm we had to put the engine on as the wind was too far behind and we needed to arrive while there was still enough water over the sill. As we were getting the cruising chute down I knelt rather heavily on the winch handle and cut my knee. Ouch! Thankfully not too much damage done. We arrived at 14.20 and were surprised at how much space there was in the marina. We discovered we were next door to Oddity which is Pete Goss's boat! In the photo you can see Tonic and Oddity just beyond her.
Lovely to be in St Peter Port! Went to the Yacht Club for afternoon tea. Nice and sunny sitting on the terrace. 28 miles in 5 hours.

A nice sunny morning. Our new friends Ken and Lyndie who we met earlier in the summer in Folleux live here and have very kindly offered to take us on a tour of the island today. They picked us up at the marina and took us all round the coast, stopping at various vantage points for us to admire the views. It was low water so we could see all the rocky reefs out to sea - a very forbidding coastline! There were remains of German fortifications everywhere and some really beautiful beaches. Then they took us back to their house for afternoon tea in the garden. What a lovely way to see the island!