That Riviera Touch

25Sep13

With a steady east wind in the forecast a couple of tacks would take us around Start Point and onwards to Torbay. A misty and murky start, some fog patches but land was always just in sight; a strong tide with wind against was not the challenge it would at first seem and overall we had a good sail.

At Torquay we took the cheaper option and moored up at the town quay in the knowledge that we may have to stay for a while waiting for a more favourable wind: tacking into an east wind to avoid the race at Portland Bill would be awkward with the limited daylight hours remaining.

Torquay is not quite The English Riviera it once was in the days of Morecambe & Wise but its Guest House Community still manages to survive during these more austere times along with Paignton and Brixham. Throughout the duration of our stay the mist and fog would be dominant with only the occasional ray of brightness to pierce the grey.

Anyone seen Salcombe?

21Sep13

A week of friends and family events; a location with diverse areas of lifestyle and entertainment; a week at an excellent marina with very helpful staff; a low water departure with an accompanyment of cannon fire from the local Navy celebrations.

Slipping lines after the Cremyll Ferry [which has linked Devon and Cornwall for more than 1000 years] left for its half-hourly crossing of the River Tamar we set passage for Salcombe. The approaching Autumn Equinox and a strong Spring tide decided our departure time to clear Salcombe's sand bar but the current high pressure system just brought poor visibility and a constant mizzle. The forecast wind never built and the mizzle soon turned into fog as we left the breakwater; less than 100m visibility at times. Fortunately, it was only a five-hour passage and despite seeing many targets on our power-hungry radar – some of which were fishing pot markers which could be clearly identified in the slight sea state – the surrounding traffic was easily avoided though never seen.

The GPS guided our turn into Salcombe though we still buoy hopped for extra security of our position. With a 2kt stream following us in we declined the mooring buoys, which have no pickup lines, and headed up river to the pontoon at 'The Bag'. The omnipresent Harbour Master piloted us to our berth and we were soon moored up with the kettle on for a good old cuppa.

Hey Hoe

14-21Sep13

The weather began to brighten as we left Fowey with a destination of Plymouth and Mayflower Marina. Throughout, the wind was a little unpredictable in strength and the sails were up and down again on numerous occasions. Rounding Penlee Point a mass exodus as high water approached; dozens of local sailboats were heading out for the weekend making our entrance similar to a slalom event as we motored directly into the wind constantly ceding our route to the approaching stand-on vessels. The Hoe looked glorious in the sunshine and the breakwater protecting Plymouth was soon behind us as we passed behind Drake's Island up to Mayflower where we would be based for a week.

Pilgrimage

12Sep13

Our shortest hop so far we left the Helford River and headed up the River Fal for Mylor Yacht Club. Mylor has become an unofficial pilgrimage for Crossbows: Adamastor, Riduna and now Arbalest. Only 23 hulls were molded but in their building and finishing these three boats are similar but also very different. After talking numbers, fittings and characteristics and swapping notes, we put away our 'Anoraks' and Arbalest left the party for our next destination: the River Fowey. A misty start with light winds we managed to sail most of the way before picking up a mooring buoy; there were plenty to choose from, another sign of the impending season's end.

As the weather closed in we were joined by our passage friends on 'Silent Wings' who, during their passage, had to answer a call for help from a stranded powerboat which they managed to tow successfully back into Mevagissey.

Pitch Black

09Sep13

We had been to the Helford River before which had previously been our furthest point west, as such, this kind of marked the completion of our circumnavigation. However, we are going to maintain Lymington as our 'end' point. We bought Arbalest there and that is where our adventures began so celebrations will be put on hold. A true circumnavigation of the UK had never been our actual goal it has been the journey and experiences that have been important to us. Some people 'must do' a lap of the country and some achieve this at great speed, whilst we can acknowledge and appreciate their achievements our intention was always to enjoy the passage and see our own home ground which we all sometimes take for granted.

Previously, a brief trip to the Ferry Inn was all we had achieved – more impressive was the fact we made it back! On this occasion we ventured to the south bank and into Helford itself. There we walked around the tranquil lanes which are quite isolated and very picturesque, down Frenchman's Creek made famous by Daphne du Maurier before spending another pitch-black night back on our mooring buoy – apparently the Summer had been very busy with all buoys regularly taken with up to three boats on each.

Helford is very popular with walkers as it forms part of the South West Coast Path – not so popular is the price of the ferry across the river; a necessary crossing if the walk is to be continued.

Still having problems with the software and currently cannot upload any pics.

Blog Software Problems

Having problems with Blogger software and logins so will post as and when...

Pirates in Penzance

08Sep13

Penzance Bay with Mousehole, Newlyn, Penzance and St Michael's Mount piercing the coastline to the east is a fine introduction to the southwest and the flavour of South Cornwall. Once around Land's End a total contrast and a new vista meets the weary traveller; a corner of England unlike any other; a corner where some arrive to be forgotten – evidence all around of inspired, yet abandoned projects; people no longer wishing to go back home; Cornish smugglers; pirates; a land at the end of the road; a land where the world might be flat.

A brief stay and we were off again. An early start would see us around the infamous Lizard Point with favourable tide and perfect wind. Not quite so. Thankfully, the Lizard was sleeping as we struggled by in fading winds but we had made enough ground making the turn towards Falmouth relatively easy despite pushing a little tide. We searched in vain for another view of a basking shark the first of which we had seen rounding Longships but not so – the nearest repeat being a black fin-like shape off Newlyn the day before which turned out to have two legs and scuba gear! The traffic exiting the English Channel was now in evidence as huge container ships and town-sized cruiseliners made passage west into the gloom of the chasing squalls and the number of leisure yachts had increased at least 10-fold.

The Helford River was to be our next point of call, just before Falmouth it is an idyllic place to grab a mooring buoy and simply chill taking in the glorious scenery where people picnic, play cricket on the flats and enjoy a leisurely pub meal in the late Summer sunshine.

Ghostly Torpedoes

07Sep13

Another milestone and another coastline. As we crossed the main channel to leave Milford Haven we found ourselves head-to-head with a massive LNG tanker being gracefully guided by five tugs onto the South Hook Terminal. Thankfully, we made it to the safe area just outside the main channel before the Port 'Police' had chance to bark at us over the radio to make way and get out of Dodge. These tankers bring liquified natural gas all the way from Qatar before it is pumped out into our national grid system – around 30% comes in this way – possibly because the 345m of 'Lijmiliya' was just arriving, the Castlemartin range was quiet so no historical incidents [see Safe Haven] to worry about. Exiting the channel we were briefly contacted by our friends on 'Silent Wings' [we had met earlier on the way up to Shetland] who had just arrived at Dale after spending some time out in Shetland – according to them Summer was 'officially' and definitely over up there.

With a steady following wind we were hoping for a good journey south to wind away the 24hr passage. Up went the sails, down came the sails: once again chug, chug, chug. The promised wind was not as forecast and it was again time to burn some diesel – at least we would have hot water and fully-charged batteries.

Not long after sunset and in the realms of astronomical twilight we were delighted to be joined by a huge pod of common dolphins. A feeding frenzy began on shoals of small fish, about the size of whitebait, which were being driven out of the water and into the waiting mouths of their leaping predators. Our navigation lights on the bow cast an erie light on the water and along with the phosphorescence from the dolphins' trails they appeared around us like ghostly torpedoes darting along our sides and under our hull. During daylight only their dorsal fin and a brief glimpse of their flanks can usually be seen when they swim but in the dark…they were lit up as if adorned in thousands of LEDs, a magnificent sight. They stayed with us for about eight hours, we 'think' our phosphorescent trail was maybe attracting the fish or they were using us to trap the shoals in our wake after being driven to the surface. The pod came and went a couple of times more during the early morning but not in the same numbers and tended to keep us on the edge of their feeding circle.

We were a little late to risk a detour into Padstow and navigate over the sand bar for the depth of water we needed so we pressed on as planned. There had been some lightning in the west during the night and a lot of heavy showers skirted around us borne out of heavy towering clouds. The one place which had consistent blue sky and sunshine was St Ives – a popular holiday destination for one of our readers who always reports good weather there.

Land's End was soon in view. We chose the outside route past Longships lighthouse as the inside route looked quite mixed up through binoculars which meant pushing the end of a strong Spring tide. It was slow progress but gave us time to reflect on the time we stood on the shore three years earlier looking out to sea at the lighthouse wondering if we would ever see it from the other side.

Approaching Penzance the wind picked up and the heavens opened dumping all that rain intended for St Ives. Welcome to the South, welcome to Cornwall.

Safe Haven

04Sep13

Admiral Lord Nelson cited the 22 miles of the Milford Haven Waterway as 'one of the greatest harbours in the world' for its depth of water and protection from the weather. It has seen many invading fleets over the centuries either taking cover or preparing for battle. Today, it is a home to the oil and LNG industries with 20% of the UK's energy supplies passing through the port; the fishing, coal, grain and mineral fleets have all but gone. Even with the adornements of refinery chimneys and heavy industry it is still an attractive area as is the whole of Pembrokeshire – However. The wealth, or lack of it, in the adjoining towns and villages does not reflect the vast economy of the energy business. Milford Haven, along with the majority of places we have visited on our journey is far from heading out of recession or even coming close.

Adjacent to Milford Haven is the Castlemartin firing range. Primarily a tank excercise area it is very disconcerting to hear and feel the earth-shaking percussion from shells booming around the haven throughout some days, and nights – when we leave we shall certainly be looking over our shoulders claiming 'right of passage' though I seem to recall even that failed to work for The General Belgrano!

During our stay here we have enjoyed the end of the Summer sunshine whilst awaiting a favourable change in the wind direction for our next stop: Penzance, around Land's End and onto the south coast.