North Foreland to Hoo + Passage Stats

Three cheees; I got a break from the wind. Shortly after publishing the previous post. It backed further southwestwards and we were able to sail after all. A glorious sail too along the North Kent coast. Close hauled on flat water skirting the mud banks to leeward we headed for the Medway approach channel making between 4 and 6 knots as the wind fluctuated. With luck we'll be able to carry the tide all the way to Hoo but will probably have to motor up the river to do so.

It's 1040 and we're just crossing the outer mouth of the Swale. It's clouded over now and the wind has increased slightly and has a chillier feel to it. Progress remains good with us making 5-6 knots over the ground.

1130 and it's started raining. Still sailing well though. 6 miles to Garrison Point at the mouth of the Medway. If we maintain our present 6-7 knots we'll be there within the hour.

We did. Great sail beating up the river to Hoo with the tide under us.

Picked up my mooring at 1430.

Hoo from Bonny on her mooring

Bernie came off scrubbing dock a few minutes later and rafted up for a natter and late brunch!

Passage Stats:

* 256 miles in total

* Average speed over ground = 4.6 knots

* 36 hours under power

* 20 hours saling

Bonny's home!

AND I got back in time for our 34th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday!

Beachy Head to North Foreland (Margate)

North Foreland from the North after rounding.

Well, the wind didn't arrive at 2100 nor at 0300 either. In fact it didn't arrive until just before we rounded North Foreland and when it did arrive it was more West than South West and so of course once we rounded the Foreland (at about 0730) it was on the nose. So, we've had to motor ever since Beachy Head. Whilst its a beautiful day now (coming up to 0800) with a flat sea, I now just want to get back and so rather than beating we are continuing to motor.

Margate this morning.

The good news is that I managed to carry the tide all the way from Beachy Head to North Foreland AND very soon the flood tide will be making into the Medway. That all means that we should get in this afternoon after all.

The passage from Beachy Head was uneventful motoring. A couple of ferries were going in and out of Dover when we passed but all we had to do was slow down and then speed up for a while.

The charging of the domestic batteries from the alternator continues to be a problem. I think they may need replacing too - they are losing their charge too quickly. After a full day's sun, they went down to 11.9 volts over night.

St Catherine's Point to Beachy Head

The Isle of White was shrouded in cloud as we passed but the day gradually brightened up and by midday the sun was out and we were sailing well at 6+ knots over a sunny flat sea.

By 1230 we were halfway along the Windfarm off Brighton...

Progress will slow in an hour or when the tide changes but hopefully the wind will hold and enable us to keep sailing.

It's been an absutely gorgeous afternoon. Could have done with a bit more wind but what the heck, I'm not complaining. I've been in shorts and a light shirt since 1300 and even now at nearly 1700 I'm soaking up the late afternoon sun in the cockpit. 

We have continued sailing albeit that now, at the height of the foul tide, with Beachy Head 6 miles off, our speed over the ground is down to 2 knots. The tide will lessen over the next hour or so and the wind is due to pick up tonight and so at present, I have no concerns about making it back to Hoo on Saturday. Indeed there is every chance, barring, 'events', that we should make the Medway tomorrow evening.

All good things come to an end though and by 1800 with Beach Head bearing 65° and 4 miles off, the breeze was not sufficient to drive us against the tidal stream and so I furled the Genoa and started motoring at 1500 revs, enough to give us 2.5 knots against the tide. 

As the day draws to a close....

.. we finally round Beachy Head at 1930 shortly after sunset..

Beachy Head Light House bearing 000°

Hhmm! Just done some quick sums and I don't think there's much chance of getting in tomorrow evening after all. It's about 110 miles and we'd need to average over 5 knots from now. Doesn't look like the wind is going to be strong/reliable enough for that. But just in case, I've just (1900) increased the engine revs to 2300 - cruising speed. That's pushing us along at 3.8 knots against a still foul tide. That's due to change at 2100 and we should also start getting the wind back then. However, it will probably be around 0300 before we get decent wind again!

Salcombe to off St Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight.

After crossing the bar we turned Eastwards and remained under power. Encountered some lump water for an hour or so off Prawle Point and Start Point. Series of showers came through but nothing lasted for too long. Averaging about 5 knots at cruising revs of 2,300 but have the tide with us. Will probably reduce to 3 knots when it turns over the next hour (1230). Still heading for St Catherine's. At 1230 distance to run to there is 75 miles.

Weather has brightened somewhat with the sun breaking through now and again.

Around 1340 some wind from the South. Motor sailing at 1800 revs, 3 knots against foul tide. Sun's out! Engine off.

1410 - Engine on! Wind died.

Around 1830 with 56 miles to go to St Cats, the breeze increased and veered further to the West. "Great" I thought, this must be it - the South West wind has arrived. 

I had a spag bol on the go, minus the spag, but plus spuds in the same pot to conserve on the washing up and so I let that simmer while I rigged the pole to gooswing the Genoa. I was beginning to get the hang of doing it too. I only had to get it down once to sort out the placement of the guys' (the bits of rope attached to the pole) snap shackles before it was up and raring to go!

I soon had the Genoa drawing and the engine off. We were making 3 knots against a foul tide which would rurn within the hour. Good enough.

Downed the bol and spuds. Two portions left for the rest of the trip.

1910 - wind died - enginw back on - bugger! 5 knots at 1800 revs which would increase to 7+ later as the tidal stream strengthened.

2000 - started single handed watch system - rest/sleep for 30 minutes then check AIS and outside; repeat. 

AIS CPA ("AIS" = Automatic Identifcation System; "CPA" = Closest Point of Approach) alarm set for 1 mile also.  I have two AIS receivers one incorporated into the VHF and which enables me to call up 'target' vessels at the push of a button and one also trasmits my position. It's just as well I have two because not only do they have slightly different features, but they also seem to pick up a different mix of vessels. With both I'm reasonably confident I can 'see' whatever's out there. Of course, only if whatever is out there, is transmitting on AIS! Commercial vessels are required to by law and increasingly, pleasure craft now have them installed too.

When I poked my head outside at 2200, I couldn't see a bloody thing apart from the light of the navigation and steaming lights reflected back by the FOG! 

Bugger, I hate the fog. Ever since nearly being run down in thick fog back in 1970 something when crossing the Channel on my Dad's converted ship's lifeboat, 'Chlamys', it's given me the willies. Of course there was no AIS or radar for pleasure craft in those days, nor did we have a VHF, which was the new gizzmo on the market then.

I debated whether to use the radar as well as the AIS but it uses a lot of power and the batteries were a bit low and for some reason were only being charged very slowly by the alternator - this happened on the crossing from the Azores too. Plus the chartplotter that displays the radar overlay is outside in the wet fog and I hadn't practiced using it recently. All in all I decided my stress levels would be less without it.

I had to alter course twice during the night in the fog to avoid shipping but we got through the night unscathed and without incident.

By 0700 a breeze came up from the south and the fog cleared and by 0740 we were sailing making 6+ knots with a fair tide and we had passed St Catherine's.

Goodbye Salcombe

Crossed the bar at 0735 and turned left. Plan to head directly to St Catherine's (south tip of IOW) under power for now. If winds allow sailing in more or less the right direction or motoring too uncomfortable then will amend.

Rain coming soon!

Knats, a rogue windlass, oars and old friends

Well, the cunning plan worked pretty well. There were only a few score of knat corpses in the cockpit and on the decks this morning and so my laziness was not punished.

However, when the harbour chappie came to collect the rent around 0900 he suggested I move anyway because a strong Easterly blow was expected later and my spot at the mouth of a side creek, going off to the East was a bit exposed. So I did move, not far - just a hundred metres or so to get in the Lee of the nearby woods. The tide was ebbing at the time. Now, at nearly 1900 it's flooding and sitting in the cockpit writing this I realise that we have swung in the opposite direction and am once again exposed to the wind which has indeed got up a bit. Never mind, it's not even choppy and when the tide starts to ebb again in an hour or so, we'll be in the Lee of the woods once again.

The manouvering also did me a favour, although I did not think so at the time. Just before I was due to leave the boat to go ashore and meet Neal an old school pal and Trina his wife, who live in Plymouth, I decided to shorten the anchor chain a little to avoid getting too close to a nearby boat on a mooring when the tide dropped (boats on moorings typically have shorter chains than those at anchor and so a boat at anchor will move more than one on a mooring when the tide changes). I operated the electric Windlass as usual by pressing the button set into the anchor well and released it when I had taken in sufficient chain. However, the windlass didn't stop and so the chain kept coming up! Bugger. I eased off the clutch to disengage the drive from the gypsy (the notched wheel that the chain runs in) and turned off the engine battery that powers the Windlass. The dam thing kept going! Next i tried to remove the fuse but in my flustered state, only removed the cover without realising it and so of course the Windlass kept going! What the 'F***' I thought. Finally, I turned the master isolator switch and that did the trick.

By now I was late for my meet-up with Neal and Trina and so left the boat in something of a rush. Halfway to Salcombe I realised I'd left my hat which I try to wear whenever out, to prevent sunburn. As I got near the town pontoon, I realised I'd left the bloody dinghy oars on the boat! If the outboard engine dies, I'd be at the mercy of the tide and wind. Dam and triple Dam! Nothing I could do now (except perhaps buy some more oars) so I tried to forget about it.

I met Neal and Trina and we had a most enjoyable lunch and caught up with news of our respective families. I last saw them in 2019, on my way back from the Jester Baltimore Challenge on Arctic Smoke.

After lunch I had a shower (which I had planned on having first) and did a little last minute provisioning and then headed back to the boat to do battle with the Windlass.

First I took the switch appart but that made no difference. Then I stuck my head in the anchor locker and saw that the wires from the switch went into a control unit which was VERY inaccessible. I reasoned there must be a short circuit in it/its wiring. I would have to remove two heavy duty cables to get it out and I could see that would be a battle and half and could easily wreck my plans for an early departure tomorrow. I could though just reach the connections and was able to remove the wires coming from the switch. I then squirted everything with libral doses of WD40, crossed my fingers and connected everything back up. To my intense relief and considerable surprise, it worked!

Next I had to get the outboard motor off the dinghy and stow the dinghy on the foredeck. A bit of a battle on my own, made more so by the strong tide that was running, but eventually all was done and the boat made ready for departure early tomorrow morning.

I anticipate a day of motoring in light winds tomorrow and should get across Lime Bay. Decent sailing winds from the South are forcast ti kick in on Thursday sround 0600, and these are due to gradually go round to the South West. I should therefore be able to get back to the Medway by Saturday and be home in time for our 34th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday!

'The Bag', a Plague and a cunning plan!

Zoom in to witness the full horror of the plague that beset me at 'The Bag' last night. More gorey details can be seen here..

But in fact these two photos, that I took from the companionway this morning, do not, capture any where near the magnitude of the millions of knats that invaded the boat last night. On exiting the cabin I could see that over 70% of the cockpit, cockpit superstructure and the cabin top AND the dinghy, were covered with their corpses (though some were still alive). The previous night was bad enough but this was horrendous. It took me 3 hours to remove most of the dead bodies. They were horribly sticky, so neither sweeping them or swilling them with seawater alone, was enough. I had to scrub all surfaces viguoursly with seawater to get rid of the blasted things.

I thought about moving the boat down the river to the town away from the woods on the nearby shore, but two things mitigated against that. One was that this is such a beautiful, quiet spot that I was reluctant to give it up. Second my natural laziness - I didn't want the hassle of moving. What's more I had a cunning plan.

The Anchor Light on Bonny is low down on the cockpit superstructure and is VERY bright. I saw the wretched creatures swarming around it last night. I therefore figured that a light high up in the rigging would attract the bastards up there and would hopefully keep them off the boat. So I invested in 4 new durecell 'D' batteries whilst in Salcombe, for the LED lantern and hoisted it up the mast. Will it work? I'll let you know in the next post.

In other news.... whilst I was scrubbing the waterline from the dinghy, a couple came over and introduced themselves, Barbara and Mike were OCC members and their boat, Salsa and home mooring, were just across the creek from me. They had spotted our OCC house flag (thanks to Mick) and came to say hello. My, they had a tale to tell, including being struck by lightning in Panama, and abandoning ship mid Atlantic in stormy weather with the keel working lose! The bolts had  probably been damaged by the lightening strike.

After lunch I took the dinghy into Salcome and wandered around...

The views are delightful and the town was certainly more vibrant than Kingsbridge.

On the way I noticed another sailing aquaintance had just arrived. John Ashbrook in his smart Achilles 9 metre. I met John in 2019 on the Jester Baltimore Challenge. This time he was nearing the end of a round Britain cruise that he started in April!

I had a pint and then some fish and chips, which were, I am sad to say, rather disappointing. Then back to the boat to set my knat trap before it got dark!

Kingsbridge

Quite possibly the Town's most redeeming feature!

On Sunday I launched the dinghy for the first time since we left the Algarve. Sounds a simple enough operation but first I had to retrieve all the various bits from multiple locations. It took me ages to find the wretched pump. Finally, I remembered that I had only recently used it as packing for the now empty large propane cylinder stowed under the cockpit sole!

Once I had everything, it was a reasonably straightforward job to unpack the dinghy from its bag, fit the floor, inflate the dinghy and launch it, but even that probably took the best part of an hour.

Next the outboard (it's a couple of miles to Kingsbridge from our Anchorage and I didn't fancy rowing, even making use of the tides). It too had not been used since the Algarve and had a fair bit of the Atlantic tipped over it. Much to my relief it started on the second pull. I set off at about 1530 and the trip took about half an hour. The dinghy has an inflatable keel and will plane with enough power. However, 2.5 hp is not enough and so my trip was quite liesurely.

"Oh dear, oh dear..." though, it was hardly worth the effort. Perhaps it was because it was Sunday but the town felt rather like the weather, grey, damp and very quiet. I walked up the main street - almost everything was closed and it was practically deserted. A couple of pubs were open but they didn't look particularly attractive. I was looking forward to indulging my recently re-kindled taste for CreamTea but the only Cafe open (and there were only a few anyway) was one of the big chains and I refused to enter. I almost headed back to the dinghy after only 20 minutes, but then remembered I had passed a pub on the water side on the way in and so headed for that - about a 10 minute walk.

'Kingsbridge' by the way seems to be a bit of a misnomer to me. There is no bridge that I could see and no river either. The inlet just comes to a halt at what was once presumably, the town quay.

The pub was fine and I enjoyed a real ale outside overlooking the inlet as I chatted to Howard on the phone. After that I returned to the dinghy, collected the fuel can and headed to the co-op fuel station come shop and bought a few provisions and petrol for the outboard. Then back to the boat for around 1900, by which time it had got decidely chilly!

Dinner was left over chicken curry and rice after which I indulged myself by streaming the second episode of 'Vigil'.

Plymouth to Salcombe

The Mewstone off Plymouth Sound at dawn on Saturday 4th September.

Despite repeated trips to the Loo (the most annoying consequence of advancing years) during the night, following the meet-up with George the previous evening, I got up as soon as the alarm went off at 0500. 

A quick look at the weather on the 'Windy' App, confirmed no change in the previous day's forecast - i.e. North Easterlies then veering East around midday. Salcombe was therefore doable if I got my skates on and made the most of the North Easterlies. I should be able to get a few miles South of Bolt Head on one tack before commencing a beat into Salcombe.

I said a quick goodbye to George who was up and very pleased with himself having succeeded in getting doggie to poo on a section of astro turf acquired especially for the purpose and headed down the Cattwater. George had to call after me to turn my navigation lights on - LOL!

Apart from a gentle short day trip down the Algarve coast last year, this was my first opportunity to sail Bonny on my own. Having had various pairs of hands helping manage the boat over the last 3 months, I was a little apprehensive about how I would manage. Although only 3 feet longer than Arctic Smoke, she feels a lot bigger.  However, I soon got into the swing of things. We left George and 'Good Report' in a flat calm, but within 40 minutes and still inside the outer breakwater, we were sailing in a strengthening North Easterly breeze, in a generally, South Easterly direction. We continued close hauled on the Starboard tack on a heading of around 140° making good progress at around 5 knots until about 0930 when after 15 miles and about 6 miles South South West, of Bolt Head, we commenced our beat towards the mouth of Salcombe Harbour. Progress towards our destination was now drastically curtailed - despite still sailing 4-5 knots over the ground (against a foul tide) our average 'velocity made good' (progress towards the destination) was probably down to an average of 2 knots. It was 1250 before we made the bar at the Harbour entrance and commenced motoring up the harbour. The tide was now flooding and pushing us in. We had plenty of water over the bar and there was no sign of the viscious seas that can build up when the wind is against an ebbing tide.

We continued up the harbour. The Harbour Master (or one of his team) came over in a launch to ask if we wanted a mooring. I didn't. I wanted to Anchor and he confirmed that was OK in the upper reaches of the harbour.

I let go the Anchor at 1330. A very pleasant spot...

The town in the distance is Kingsbridge.  It's possible to get up there by boat at high water, but at low water, between our position and there is mud or very shallow water at best.

Plymouth

On our arrival at Plymouth on Thursday morning, we fueled up at Mayflower Marina and then took a temporary berth there to await the arrival of Rayelle and Sharon. Nefore they arrived we went shopping for supplies.

This time Sharon travelled by train but she still had a troublsome and delayed journey due to a death on the line! 

We had both on board by 1600 or so and headed up the River Tamar. We all enjoyed the short time we had together....

We even did some gentle sailing under Genoa alone. Our destination was Cargreen, a lovely spot where we would spend the night on a borrowed buoy. 

Coincidentally, Arctic Smoke is now moored at Cargreen and so we couldn't resist going over to check her out. All seemed fine but there was no one on board...

Mick Cooked a delicious dinner which was followed by strawberries and cream. We had a delightful evening catching up with eachothers' news and sharing plans and dreams for the future.  

The following morning it was back to Mayflower Marina, to discharge the crew. Rayelle's visit was a flying one and it was good to see her after many months. It was the second time I said goodbye to Sharon within a few days and Mick and I had been on board together since June 8th!

After they had left, I headed for the Cattwater for my raft-up meet with George, whom I met on the Jester Baltimore Challenge in 2019.  He sailed the Jester Azores Challenge (JAC) this year and we very nearly met up there, but in the end the closest we got was passing eachother at about a quarter of a mile, going in opposite directions between the islands!

We had a great evening swapping stories but George's far outdid mine. He towed a fellow participant in the JAC for hundreds of miles and endured some very rough weather in the process.

George brought a companion with him....

She's very cute and is in training to confirm her status on his crew list.

We retired around 2300 with my tentative plan, to get up at 0500 to take advantage of the least worst winds and head for Salcome, 20 miles up the coast.

 

Enroute to Plymouth

The alarm went off at 0600 and we dropped the bouy at about 0620 and motored down the river and then headed East for Plymouth. By 0710 there was enough wind for us to sail close hauled in roughly the right direction but we will have to tack or motor to get into Plymouth sound. 

The plan is to meet Sharon and Rayelle at Mayflower Marina around 1430-1500 and then head up the Tamar to Cargreen and spend the night there at anchor or on a mooring before returning to Mayflower tomorrow morning for the rest of the crew to depart. 

I am due to meet up with my pal George tomorrow evening. The plan being to raft up on his mooring on the Cattwater. George sailed the Jester Azores Challenge earlier this year and towed a fellow participant, whose boat lost its rudder, for a few hundred miles. Unfortunately, the closest we got to eachother whilst both in the Azores, was about a quarter of a mile, whilst traveling in opposite directions between Santa Maria and Sao Miguel! I'm looking forward to hear his first hand account of all the Jesters' 'goings on'!

The wind is easing off and progress has slowed and the entrance to Plymouth is about 5 miles upwind and so we're probably going to start motoring soon!

A family visit and an Ocean Cruising Club Gathering

The bank holiday weekend was one long treat.

To start with; Sharon, Stephen, Ines and Baby Amara, drove down drom London to spend the weekend with us.

It was also the weekend of the Ocean Cruising Club's ' West Country Meet', which comprised dinner at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club on the Saturday night, followed by a lunch time raft up on the Fal River on Sunday and then dinner at the Helford River Sailing Club on the Monday night. 

Sharon and Co stayed until Monday lunchtime when we returned to Falmouth and had a goodbye lunch. After their departure, we sailed the few miles round to the Helford for the dinner which was excellent. It was followed by a spot of Magic laid on by John, one of the local OCC members. He performed a most entertaining and convincing Levitation trick, of which alas, I have no photograpic evidence.

On Tuesday it was back round to Falmouth to get Agustin on his train to London and then Stanstead. It turned out he had a very disrupted journey but he did make his flight and is now safely back in Gran Canaria.

That evening, Mick had a most enjoyable time with an American couple Reinhart and Melinda; OCC members whom we had met briefly at the Sunday raft-up. They are exploring Northern Europe by boat and are well into their second year here. They re-kindled my interest in the possibility of cruising the Eastern seaboard of the USA and Canada.

Falmouth to Fowye (1/9/21) -Probably the slowest 20 miles in the World!

Our track from Falmouth to Fowye. We actually travelled 35 miles over the ground - getting on for twice the actual distance!

We left Falmouth Haven Marina at 0830 and picked up a mooring at Fowye at 1800. It was only 20 miles but we had a fresh headwind requiring one reef, for the first two thirds of the day and then worse - light headwinds for the last third. We motored the last couple of hours as a consequence.

Local boats racing in Fowye.

Tomorrow afternoon we have a rendezvous in Plymouth with Sharon and our good friend Rayelle, so I'm going to have to get up early!

Mick is cooking spaghetti carbonara tonight because I am too lazy to go ashore!

Goodbye Falmouth

We're heading for Fowye shortly. A write up of our further stay in Falmouth will follow.