In Falmouth: Waiting for Orders (or, more to the point, a fair breeze...)

We spent a total of 6 nights (and nigh on £200 for 5 of those at Torquay Marina!) in Torquay. We hadn't intended to be there quite so long, but the wind had other ideas! Still, it gave us time to catch up on some washing (the glamour, the glamour!) and do a bit more sight-seeing.

Remember this mum?

Jo with her, er, long flowing bluebells. Or are they brain cells escaping?!!

Torre Abbey Gardens

Stagecoach had a decent offer of a day's unlimited travel on their buses around Torbay (and a bit more) for just £5 per person, so we set the alarm for an 0730 start on the Sunday to make the most of it.

At 0730 on the Sunday, we turned the alarm off and went back to sleep.

At the much more sensible time of 0940, we caught our first bus - the number 22 - for Dawlish. It was here, in 2014, that 80 metres of railway line were washed away in a storm. Conditions were a bit better for our trip, but they weren't great. The dry weather we'd enjoyed whilst on the bus vanished the instant we got off, treating us to a good soaking! Oh well...

Railway line at Dawlish - rebuilt after the storm

Dawlish again

We spent much of our time in Dawlish looking for the bus stop we needed for the next leg of our journey to Teignmouth. Having walked some considerable distance and sought help from a traffic warden, we retraced our steps to where we'd got off our first bus. The driver of a bus waiting there kindly, and without smirking, pointed to the stop about 20 metres from where we now stood...

Teignmouth sea front

Teignmouth is famous, for me at any rate, as the place where Donald Crowhurst set off on his ill-fated bid to become the first sailor to sail around the world single handed without stopping. The story of his 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe race is well told in the moving film "Deep Water" (don't bother with the dramatised version "The Mercy") and the book "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst". I challenge anyone to read the latter without feeling sympathy for the man and, of course, his family.

Teignmouth Pier

Having sheltered from the wind and rain on the pier (which was doing great business!), walked along the beach for a bit and grabbed a coffee in Teignmouth's oldest pub, we were back on our bus and heading for Paignton. We stayed there long enough to grab a pastie (no shortage of those in this part of the world) before jumping onto a different bus bound for Brixham.

Paignton to Kingswear Steam Railway

We like Brixham, having visited before. Unlike Salcombe and Fowey (see later) it's a real town with a substantial fishing fleet as well as a holiday destination.

Traditional Brixham craft (OK, I don't know what it is...)

Brixham - A proper town

Torquay Marina is pricey and not all that comfortable - for a marina - when it's blowing a bit. The boats do tend to move about and, for those of us without mooring compensators (rubber gizmos that you incorporate into your mooring warps to introduce some stretch) this does mean some snatching and jerking as you try to sleep.

So we were pleased when, on Tuesday 16th April, we were able to get on our way again. Our destination of Salcombe required us to round Start Point - another headland that can produce a bit of a nasty sea. After the strong winds of the previous few days, however, we had very little wind and so this presented no problem to us.

Rounding Start Point

The entrance to Salcombe Harbour

Navigation lesson of the day... Keep those two posts in line and you're in safe water. Up to a point of course. You have to turn off before you hit them!!

Salcombe from our mooring...

... and on the opposite bank...

... and looking up river...

... and back towards the entrance...

... and finally up in the air. Some blue sky thinking from Jo!

A water taxi from our mooring to the town was a reasonable £3 per person return, so we went ashore to have a roam about. Cue more scenic photos...

Mill Bay (opposite Salcombe)

The entrance to Salcombe. Some of the houses here have amazing views.

A Salcombe street

Slipway

Salcombe waterfront and RNLI lifeboat

Salcombe waterfront again

Salcombe is a beautiful place as I hope the photos show. If you were designing a place from scratch, you'd be hard put to improve on its natural beauty.

Unfortunately this has made it a place of holiday homes and yachties rather than a real town. You'll have no problem topping up your wardrobe with designer sailing apparel but the weekly shop might present more of a challenge!

We only spent about half an hour ashore, plus the time it took to take a shower in the utilitarian facilities offered by the harbour master (at least there were some provided; Fowey take note!). That was long enough really. However, we enjoyed the best part of three days just watching the world go by from our orangery.

Really beautiful...

Our next port of call after Salcombe was to be Fowey. We'd considered stopping in the River Yealm, but this was Easter weekend and the forecast was for hot and sunny weather. Beautiful as the Yealm is, the berthing opportunities are limited and we didn't really fancy being packed in like sardines. So Fowey it was.

Leaving Salcombe. Note distinctive rock formations on the headland - and in the sea!

The entrance to Fowey

Fowey itself

Having lazed about on the boat for a while in Salcombe and Torquay, it was time to get some exercise! So out came our inflatable kayak and off we went - paddling north against the tide.

Paddling is a satisfying exercise - smoothly powering up the river, working those bulging muscles (or should that be wobbling fat?!). We got a bit further upstream than the clay port before returning and calling into town. That's our kayak just to the left of the walkway - the yellow and black one.

Our kayak at Fowey's Albert Quay landing

We preferred Fowey to Salcombe as it seemed a bit more 'real' but, unsurprisingly, it was teaming with tourists. I wonder what it's like in the winter?

A Fowey street. Needs widening in my opinion. Could knock down the old buildings and replace with new hi rise to give everyone a decent view...

Fowey waterfront at low water

And another Fowey street

Whilst in Fowey we identified somewhere to buy Camping Gaz.

So I returned Jo to the boat, picked up our empty cylinder, paddled back across to Fowey, picked up a new cylinder and paddled back to the boat. Phew!

Boat boy with Gaz - Just like in the Carribbean!

A final picture of Fowey - taken as we left

Now Monday 22nd April 2019 was the 50th anniversary of Sir Robin Knox Johnston crossing the finish line of the Sunday Times Golden Globe race. When he did this, he became the first man to sail solo and non stop around the world.

To mark the anniversary, Sir Robin was to re-enact his achievement by sailing across the finish line at 1525 on that day, leading a parade of sail (and a few motor boats as it happened!).

The finish line was a line between Pendennis Castle and Black Rock in the entrance to Falmouth Harbour - which just happened to be our next destination!

By a feat of great skill and planning, Robin (sans "Sir") managed to navigate Cyclone of Langstone to the correct place at the right time to join the merry throng! Our pictures aren't as good as the official ones (google them!) but then we didn't have a helicopter!

That's Suhaili, that is. With Sir Robin on board

Suhaili again! Look closely and you'll see Gipsey Moth IV (Sir Francis Chichester) and Lively Lady (Sir Alec Rose) too!

Pendennis Castle - One end of the finish line...

... and Black Rock at the other

Tuesday dawned (not that we'd know!) bright and sunny in Falmouth so we took the opportunity to have a familiarisation stroll of 7.28 miles. How do I know it was 7.28 miles? 'Cos I have an app on my phone called Komoot which, amongst other things, enables me to record our walks!

Falmouth harbour is huge and caters for proper ships as well as yachts and motorboats. The town is also large but retains plenty of charm. Our walk took us along by the water, passing marinas and docks; through a town centre with shops of all types, shapes and sizes; up to Pendennis Castle (at £24 for the 2 of us, too expensive for this tightwad) and down to sandy beaches. Plenty to see here, which might be just as well given the 50+ mph winds forecast in a couple of days! 

Falmouth waterfront

The rather grand entrance to Falmouth's shopping centre

A ship being refitted in dry dock. Where would you start?

A rocky beach and a sandy beach

Bluebells

We also passed the home of Rustler Yachts, which will mean more to Tim and Natalie than most. They've just replaced Limbo, the Samphire 26 that took them to the Carribbean, with a Rustler 31.

Limbo now lives in Falmouth and apparently got here from Southampton in 36 hours, which makes our 3 weeks look a bit pathetic by comparison!

They're recruiting Tim!

Whilst in Falmouth we have had, and will have, the pleasure of meeting up with some old friends.

Last night Robert picked us up from the marina and took us to his home in Truro. There we shared a delicious meal with his wife Louisa and family Edward, Anna and Miles. Thanks guys. It was great to see you all!

Tonight we're due to catch up with Belinda and Martyn who are in Falmouth to deliver Belinda's son to university. Looking forward to it!

After 3 weeks stuck on the boat with just a grumpy old person for company, this will no doubt have come as a great relief for one of us! But which one?? (I know what you're all thinking...).

Thanks for reading.

Slow Boat to Torquay

We planned to stay in Yarmouth Tuesday and Wednesday nights - the 2nd and 3rd April. And we did, so in a sense our plan worked.

Except we planned to leave on Thursday 4th April and so, naturally, on that day the heavens opened and the wind it did blow. Plan B then. Leave on Friday 5th April. Well the big weatherman in the sky wasn't having that either, which left Plan C. You've guessed it? Leave on Saturday 6th April. Which we did. So, once again, our plan (ahem!) worked.

Wednesday was a nice day so we went for a walk around the River Yar (for those old enough - but not too old - this has nothing to do with yuppies. OK? Ya?). It's an attractive route and I even managed to get a couple of photos without water in them to (hopefully) satisfy my mother, who has long complained that our pictures are just a bit too blue (and grey and green of course).

Howard Hayles Boatyard, Yarmouth

One for you mum. Colour and no water!

And another one mum...

Yeh, OK. This one has water but it's a river, not the sea!

Whilst Thursday was a wash out, Friday was at least dry so we embarked - or so I thought - on the Fort Victoria Country Park circular walk. Turns out I, er, didn't turn when I should have and led us half way to Ventnor on the Coastal Path before realising my mistake. Still, all those extra miles must be doing wonders for my waistline. Time for a few beers and some fish 'n' chips to celebrate, eh?!

Postman? Soldier? Whatever, he wasn't going to budge up for anyone...

Hurst Castle from the Fort Victoria Country Park Walk's highest point.

So Saturday came and we left (finally!). We completed the 40 odd miles to Weymouth more quickly than anticipated and, as our reward, managed to scrape into the marina (not literally) under the 1800 lifting bridge.

Some Jurassic Cliffs en route to Weymouth (maybe). You get Jurassic everything around here. Even Jurassic electric bikes!

Weymouth is a place of contrasts with an attractive outer harbour, a long sandy beach and a pretty run down town centre. You can get fish 'n' chips and beer at any hour - or so it seemed - and many people did! Alongside its rather tacky seaside town image, it has a certain charm and we were happy to add to that by staying a few nights.

Weymouth outer harbour. Pretty, ain't it?

And again, complete with lifting bridge that allows access to the marina

Weymouth sea front

And again. The sand's up this end. Shingle up t'other.

We got some washing and shopping done - the latter requiring a rather long walk in order to take advantage of a "£10 off a £40 shop at Lidl's" offer in the Sunday Times! I can't quite take to Lidl's. Sure, it's cheap - especially with the £10 off - but it's just so chaotic and disorganised! Aldi's the same though I suppose. Still, every man has his price and this particular one comes cheap! Hand me a voucher and I'll be your loyal customer for the day!

Still, time and tide waits for no man (or woman) and on Wednesday 10th April we set sail for Torquay. This meant passing Portland Bill with its infamous race "in which severe and very dangerous sea states occur".

Even in settled weather this should be avoided by small craft - something I recall putting to the test a few years ago... Well, there was hardly a ripple on the water as I approached the area! A mile or so further on and Cyclone was rolling as if in a washing machine, with green water flowing into the cockpit (water a couple of inches deep flooding over the sides as the decks rolled underwater). 20 or so minutes further on and order was once more restored. Lesson learned...

What causes this unholy sea state is, if I may quote from Reeds Nautical Almanac "...the confluence of two strong tidal streams which at springs run S down each side of the Isle of Portland for almost 10 hrs out of every 12 hrs. These streams meet the main E-W stream of the Channel, producing large eddies on either side of the Portland Bill and a highly confused sea state with heavy overfalls in the Race. The irregular contours of the seabed, which shoals rapidly from depths of about 100m some 2 miles S of the Bill to as little as 10m on Portland Ledge 1 mile further N, greatly contribute to the violence of the Race. Portland Ledge strongly deflects the flow of water upwards...". You get the picture! I tried it once in very calm conditions and got away with it. I'd probably have been fish food if the conditions had been foul (but, then again, I wouldn't have tried it then! There's stupid and then there's really stupid!).

You can avoid the Race by passing to seaward of it, i.e. 3-5 miles south of the Bill, or by using the inshore passage if conditions suit. This is a narrow stretch of water between about 200m and 600m off the Bill and, as we had decent conditions, we headed for it at the prescribed time relative to high water Portland. The picture below shows the result. BORING!!

Portland Bill, with no sign of the scary race (superb planning on the part of the skipper...)

Our trip to Torquay was frustrating, if uneventful. We set off with an inshore forecast, courtesy of the Met Office, of NE F4 or 5, occasionally 6 at first, veering E and decreasing 3 later. Bear in mind that we left at 1200, the forecast was for 24 hours from the same 1200, and later means more than 12 hours after the start time of the forecast.

What wind did we get? Maybe a F4 NE until about 4pm, after which it dwindled to next to nothing - maybe a few knots of W! So it was a case of 20 miles under sail and the remainder either motor sailing or just plain motoring. Booo!!

We'd expected to arrive after dark and weren't disappointed. I don't mind sailing in the dark, but prefer to do this when I'm well away from land and, specifically, pot markers.

Fishermen have to make a living and some do so by catching lobsters and crabs. For the uninitiated, they catch these by dropping baited lobster pots into the sea. Their prey happily clamber into these to take the bait before realising that they can't get out. The fishermen then lift the pot, complete with prisoner, out of the sea and voila, Lobster Thermidor!

The problem is that the fishermen can't lift the pots unless they tie a rope to them and the rope needs to be supported by a float if they're to reach it from their boats. Some fishermen use old plastic oil cans to support these ropes. More sporting ones use brightly coloured balls and some even go to the trouble of attaching a stick with a flag on it to make it more obvious. After all, it's in nobody's interest for a passing boat to run over one of these floats. The passing boat is disabled by the rope wrapping itself around its propeller - possibly even wrenching the shaft out of the boat in the process - and the fisherman potentially loses his expensive fishing gear.

Regrettably, none of the options for marking the fishing gear really work at night. As a result, some areas - including the inshore passage at Portland Bill - are definite no go areas after dark. In other areas, the risks are lower and just have to be taken on the chin.

The sun setting as we approach Torquay. I wish it wouldn't. It makes it far harder to see...

Our plan (yes another one!) was to moor, on arrival at Torquay, just inside Haldon Pier on a "96m long pontoon". The sea was rolling around quite unnecessarily as we approached land - it had been relatively smooth further out - and we looked forward to tying up in the shelter of this welcoming arm.

Yeh, right! First of all the pontoon appeared to have been left out in the rain - it was 20m max - and secondly nobody had told the sea that it was supposed to be calmed by the pier! Jo deftly stepped onto the pontoon only to be wobbled and rattled as it bucked and writhed under her feet, before a rather portly Rob added to her troubles by landing with a thump and catapulting her upwards!

But we were tired after about 9 hours sailing and so there we would stay - with all 8 fenders protecting Cyclone from that animated pontoon! An hour or so later, revitalised by a cuppa, we clung onto our berth trying determinedly to sleep as we endured a ride that could surely rival anything from Alton towers.

This berth was cheap and I'm mean but, at 0900 Thursday morning, we motored into the eye-wateringly expensive MDL Torquay Marina.

The site of our first night. The ramp wasn't there and the pontoon was only half the length it is here!

One of Jo's. Where are we again?!

Today is our first day in Torquay and so far we've only done a little exploring. I'm sure there'll be more in a later post, but here's a taster:

Another one of Jo's photos. Don't laugh. She's not very tall and the grass was long!!

Looking over the Town Dock - from a steep hill towards a steep hill.

A view from Torquay's Coast Path

And another. Glad we missed those coming in in the dark...

Thanks for reading.