Poole to Brixham/Dartmouth/Plymouth
Posted at 12:03 AM, Jul. 6, 2005
The big debate the previous night on where to next evaporated as we headed out of Poole late morning after repairing a mainsheet batten pocket which had "popped" with some kiwi ingenuity but not quite no 8 wire!! The result was a late departure for the expected 110 mile sail to Dartmouth. W\e started started with a lay through more or less but as the wind veered to the west we could not lay Dartmouth and about midnight dropped anchor under a cliff at Brixham a few miles to the west of Dartmouth in the bay of Torbay (where Torquay is located). Apart from the fact it ended up being a 12 hour sail, but fast as we are getting used to, we struck rain, heavy fog and a wind range that sat between 19.5 and 22.5 knots all day, suprisingly steady in strength and direction. Quite unlike we would get in NZ. The radar proved deceptively helpful as we located any number of fishing trawlers that were right in our path and did not see but got a major blast on the foghorn from a ship that passed about a mile away but sight unseen. The positive of that was that they obviously picked us up on radar so the echomax is doing its job.
The following day we motored around to Dartmouth, part the castle at the entrance to the river, and into what has been the most attractive anchorage we have stopped in to date. The entrance is flanked by hills rising to about 1600 feet and the river widens after the entrance opening up to various ferry crossings, marinas and pubs and houses right on the waters edge. After tying up on the visitors berths at one of the marinas we went exploring around the town and ended up at the Royal Dart Yacht Club for a beer or two with the very hospitable members present. We also did the tourist thing and took the steam train (160 years it has been running) to Paignton and while the 70 minute return trip was good fun Paigton was everything that the English beach holiday posters portray - dreadful!
So finally on Sunday we sailed from Dartmouth to Plymouth - we were actually aiming for Falmouth but the persistant south-westerly weather pattern is very unhelpful so to avoid tacking we laid through to Plymouth where we remain at present (Tuesday night, the 5th). The weather here has not been good, we have managed a high of 17 and with gale warnings around us it is even rough in the marina. The weather map shows a big high coming in from the Atlantric which our Navtex reports indicate will give us a 3/4 NW window which will be great except we are still waiting. Time is spent with some maintenance on the boat, including more mainsail batten slide repairs ( the sail loft can expect a call soon), and a drive around Cornwall - we discovered some delightful unspoilt villages such as Looe and St Mawes and some very awful spoilt villages such as Polperro. Also visited the beautiful church of St Just at Roseland where a maternal great grandfather is buried.
Also caught up with Joan and Andy Thomas (Chris' mother and brother) who came down to the boat for a visit. The Royak Western Yacht Club is most hospitable and famous boasting Francis Chichester as a member and of course he set off on the famous circumnavigation from here - and Winston Churchill as the Commodore in 1950 - the honours board shows the first Commodore dates back to 1834.
So we sit patiently in wind, rain and low temps waiting for the weather window (and some mainsail parts to arrive also) so we can get some southing in to the warmer weather of Spain - hopefully tomorrow. More photographs tomorrow before we leave!!