Leg 6 Salcombe to Plymouth 19.05.11

Date:- 19.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Freddie From: Salcombe To: Plymouth Comments: Easy start rough finish

Wind Strength / direction: Westerly Force 3/4 Sea State: Slight Distance: 24.3 nautical miles Time Taken: 6hours five minutes

This seems to be becoming a repeating theme. The weather was very still to begin with but again built up to a good strong force 3 to force 4. But this time the sea was much flatter and so a really good enjoyable sail. It did however seem to be a very long day for some reason, perhaps I’m getting tired and things are taking that much more effort to achieve. Freddie was very good today curling up in the cockpit and being very calm so all in all a good day.

There was another yacht about half a mile away from us and heading in the same direction. Both yachts looked about the same size and both yachts were beating in to the prevailing westerly wind. To begin with I was tacking back and forth reasonably often, every 5 to 10 minutes the other yacht was sticking to his line for about 20 to 30 minutes before turning but Morgen was always just ahead after each couple of tacks. Which tactic was going to pay off I didn’t know. About half way to Plymouth though I hit a hole in the wind and slowed right down the other boat came in from the sea towards a headland and obviously had picked up a good bit of wind coming in close to the land. I needed to change my tactics if I were to keep a lead on them.

I tacked out to sea thinking that if the wind picked up it would pick up further out to sea. So I turned on to a slow heading out to sea. The other boat had decided to hug the coast as it seemed to be working for him. I carried on out to sea for quite a long time until the speed started to pick up and the wind had become a strong steady force 3 to force 4. I turned and headed more directly towards Plymouth but as the wind had increase it also moved slightly towards the south and I could keep on a broad reach (the fastest wind angle) I could see the other boat in the distance but I thought not quite as far ahead as it was, and bit by bit I slowly hauled him in and instead of seeing the rear of his boat I could see the side of the other boat and then the front of the other boat this means I was again ahead of him. I carried on with Morgen heeled well over and reaching 7 knots in about 13 miles of wind. I cant help being competitive. But anyway I reached Plymouth first and morgen not only proved to be a very sea worthy boat but also quite a fast boat given a decent wind.

Once in to the harbour the water became flatter as there is a huge breakwater across the width of the harbour. Once in to the final approach it was time to drop the main sail. I could see other yachts still with both sails up but I don’t know the area and being single handed means it takes me longer to do all the jobs that need to be done. So I tend to drop the main early and finish with just the jib out as I know I can pull this in quickly and have the engine running so I can avoid other boats and obstacles.

I approached my berth very slowly and I thought it was going to be a perfect stop. But just as I came in to the finger of the pontoon the wind gusted and it blew me away. So looking like a beginner I had to reverse back out and point in again for another attempt. This time though a couple from another yacht had seen me coming in and came over to catch a line and pull me in. Some people are just nice. Once moored, Freddie needs to be walked. No rest for the wicked.

Once again Freda and Alan were able to visit on the Saturday and we were able to go sailing in very nice conditions with reasonable wind. Freda is overcoming her fear of the water and the accompanying sea sickness (probably for Alan’s sake). Alan I think wanted to try his hand at sailing in a slightly stronger wind that last weekend. And to have both sails up. We had a couple of cups of tea and then started to prepare the boat for sailing, taking off sail covers attaching halyards etc. As it was a stronger wind than last week I thought we should all wear life jackets so I went to the forward locker and got three life jackets out and of course Freddies doggy life jacket. I passed them up the gangway to my sister whom I have always called by her nick name of Fred. I said heres Freddies jacket and ours or something like this. I then continued tidying things away down below. A few minutes pass and I hear my sister Freda call out how do you do the life jackets up. I said I will show them how to do this when I come up to the cockpit. When I eventually go up the stairs to the cockpit I found my sister Fred wearing Freddies life jacket and complaining it was quite tight! ‘O MY GOD’ and I’m taking her out to sea!

Salcombe 17.05.11 to 18.05.11

Date:- 18.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Freddie From: Salcombe To: Salcombe Comments: Absolutely lovely

Wind Strength / direction: Sea State: Distance: nautical miles Time Taken:

I think the pictures alone give a good account of what Salcombe is like.

Not a bad place to visit. wow!

Leg 5 Dartmouth to Salcombe 17.05.11

Date:- 17.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Freddie From: Dartmouth To: Salcombe Comments: Easy start rough finish

Wind Strength / direction: Westerly F5 Sea State: Moderate Distance:21.7 nautical miles Time Taken:5hrs 26

Start point



The start of leg 5 was calm and nice. Weather was very good and sea state was slight. At first as we left the river Dart all was fine I thought to myself that it was going to be a cruising shute day. But as we left the river mouth there was no wind and I re-thought that it wasn’t even worth putting the cruising shute up. The wind indicator showed between 4 and 7 knots of Apparent wind. But as we motored out further in to the English channel the wind increased, I put up the main sail first and then shortly after this I pulled out the Jib. We were flying along reaching 7.7knots with no reefs in the sail. Perfect. But definitely not a cruising chute day. As I came amid ships of ‘Start Point’ This is a very prominent headland with a white tower on it which can be seen for many miles out to sea, the sea state suddenly changed from a slight sea to a very choppy moderate sea. Moderate sea is between 9ft and 15ft waves.

I was very tempted to drop the main sail as I had when crossing from poole Harbour to Weymouth but the boat was handling the conditions really well and we were keeping up a good six to six and a half knots up or down the waves or even in the troughs. I had worked out my passage time from a rough 4 knots per mile at this rate I could probably knock about an hour and half to two hours off my passage time. Although this would prove to be a problem as in the entrance to Salcombe there is a bar (sand bank) and if I arrived to early there would not be enough water for me to get into the harbour! But I would consider this later.

My faith in Morgen just grows from strength to strength. Even though we were battling against the prevailing westerly wind almost head on she just kept on ploughing through everything that was thrown at her. What a great little boat. The wind and the sea made for exciting sailing for me, however Freddie felt differently about it! He couldn’t work out how to get comfortable with the boat heeled so far over and when he did get comfortable by wedging himself in to the corner of the cockpit he threw up. The first time he has been sea sick. Great. He seemed ok straight away so I found the bucket which was hidden away in the rear lazerette which has a rope attached to it, threw it over the side filling it up with clean sea water. I then went about washing the deck where he had been sick. This took quite a while to clear as the chunks of dog food wedged itself in any little nook or cranny. Job done settle back to sailing. The wind picked up and we were hammering along. Freddie was sick again. However this time I couldn’t clean it up as the sea state had become to rough. Freddie moved himself in to the cockpit floor at the doorway well away from where he had been sick and left me to stand in it for the next two hours until we were able to moor up at a vivistors pontoon. Nice !

Just before Freddie was sick. Yuk.

I had left the AICR banner tied to the forward port guard rail and at about 12.30 to 13.00 hrs it started to untie itself. I didn’t want to lose the banner over the side of the boat so there was only one thing I could do, and I needed to do it fast. I walked and crawled up on to the port deck which is no problem in itself but when the sea is lapping over the toe rail and the boat is heeled over so far, one slip and the next stop is the drink. Also the water seems to pass by the hull very very fast and all of these sensations come very prominently to the foreground of your mind. As I untie the banner it starts flapping wildly in the wind and I am hugely aware that I must not slip but I untie the banner one knot at a time. I crawl back to the cockpit and try to carry it down the cabin steps where I immediately slip and crash down the gangway yet again. I have pins and plates in my left leg from a motor vehicle accident about seven years ago and of course I land on this leg which instantly gives way and I go sprawling in to the cabin. ‘o bother’ I say to myself and the air turns blue.

After some very high westerly winds we finally reach the entrance to salcombe. I have to keep as far to the west as I dare on the entrance to the harbour. There are some daunting cliffs and I need to judge it just right as the depth gauge is showing me that the water is becoming shallower all the time. I was about an hour earlier than I had planned and as it turned out I had enough water underneath me to make it across the bar, Phew. Salcombe as you can see from the pictures is another beautiful harbour and very well protected. As you sail in you can see golden sandy beaches on both sides in little coves that make you want to get off and explore. Just then the mobile phone goes and I come back to reality and as I answer it the Harbour master comes out to direct me to a visitors pontoon. I feel like a naughty school kid caught with his mobile phone in lessons. Tut tut.

Once moored up safely around the corner from Salcombe in a place called the bag I get Freddie off the boat and take him walking and running so as to burn some energy from him. We end up going up a very steep hill which gives us great views of the estuary. A really lovely place. Salcombe however is a place for the more affluent amongst us as it is quite expensive with designer shops along its main street. But I have to say quintessentially a lovely little English sea side village. But very hilly when you have to walk a german shepherd. And very tiring.

Freddie makes friends on the Visitors Pontoon
 

Dartmouth 13.05.11 to 16th.05.11

Date:- 13.05.11 to 16.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Freddie From: Dartmouth To: N/A Comments: A lovely weekend in Dartmouth

Wind Strength / direction: force 2 Sea State:Slight Distance: Time Taken:

Lovely entrance to Dartmouth

Arrived back at the boat on Friday evening. This is after being at home for five days suffering with toothache. Not fun at sea. I have had sensitive teeth on the left side of my jaw for about a year but whilst at Poole Harbour and Weymouth the toothache really began to bother me to the point where I couldn’t eat or drink from the left side of my mouth. After visiting the emergency dentist in Kettering explaining that I need something done as I need to return to the boat in order to carry on, ‘she said to phone my dentist first thing Monday morning’ and gave me some anti-biotics. And that was it!
I phoned my dentist first thing Monday morning explaining all the ins and outs and they told me my dentist was off ill. So I made an appointment with an other dentist from the same practise. This Dentist said that she thought it was my wisdom teeth and to take some stronger tablets and make an appointment with my own dentist.Arghhhhh
The following day I phoned the dentist again as the pain was by now really bad. Holding pillows and rocking back and forth sort of pain. But finally an emergency appointment was made with my own dentist.
She immediately found the tooth that was causing all the pain and sensitivety and informed me that I would need to undergo route canal treatment and three follow up appointments. But she started it straight away. At last. After many injections and drilling she finally removed the three canals (the route) and filled the tooth with a temporary filling. This actually took nearly two hours so quite a big operation. A further appointment has been made which I will need to attend at some point when I’m home.
A bad nights sleep was to follow as the anaesthetic wore off and the pain from my jaw slowly made its presence felt. However revelation upon revelation the following morning dawned pain free. This was the first time in weeks that I did not have toothache. Yehhhhhh.

Freda and Alan enjouying the sail so far

Any way moved the boat from the Dartmouth Harbour authority moorings back to Darthaven marina so we could enjoy the facilities of a marina for the weekend. My sister and brother in law live in Corwall which is about 40 minutes away and they arranged to visit the following day. Great I rarely see Freda and Alan and this would be the first time they would see the boat.

Freda and Alan arrived Saturday morning and after a cup of tea and a good gossip where I found out that my sister is terrified of boats and gets sea sick very easily we took a chance to go out to the entrance of the bay as it was very calm and sunny. To my sisters surprise she found the boat to be very sure footed and did not feel sea sick at all. After her confidence grew we decided to put the Jib up ( the front sail) She found this fine too but I did try to explain that because the wind was with us the boat sat nice and flat but when we turn in to the wind in order to return the boat would heel over far more as we would be sailing close to the wind which would make it heel over. She was even fine with this. Surprise surprise, until Freddie decided to jump on her for some petting. This did frighten her as we were quite heeled over at the time. After much licking by Freddie we turned in to the harbour and wound the Jib back in and turned the motor on and everything settled down to a nice afternoon trip up the river Dart. This is a very beautiful part of the country and we are surrounded by woods and rolling hills and a lovely meandering river. Perfect.

Just to prove I was on the boat

Some wine and dinner and a lot of laughing and catching up and moaning about politicians etc and we all turned in for the night.

Sunday morning breakfast in the Royal Dart Hotel was a great treat and a good way of starting the day off. This is how Sundays should be. A lazy slow start. After breakfast Freda and Alan said there goodbyes so they could return home and catch up with all those weekend chores and give me Fran and Freddie a little time to ourselves before Fran would need to set off home on her four and half hour drive.

I have to say though it was a great weekend seeing my sister and spending time with both of them is quite special when we live half of the country away from them. We have always been close and it was a real boon being this close to there home whilst on my trip. I’m really glad they made it. One thing which was said whilst we had had a few drinks inside us that when I arrive in Plymouth they will visit me again which should I hope depending on weather be next weekend.

It depends on weather if I make Plymouth be the weekend as there is a Front coming in from the Atlantic which is due to hit us on Wednesday. I hope that this will be a rest day. But I will have to wait and see.

Monday 16^th May was the day I had put aside for getting on with some of the running repairs etc. Another costly trip to the chandlery. I have to replace the mains electric input connection for when you connect to shore power. The existing one is a pain in the a___ as when you are standing at the helm steering as you do for many hours on end you cannot help but stand on the protective flap. This has had the corner broken off and now does a good impression of a hacksaw cutting in to your ankles. A new flush mounted electrical connector is now in place and when you stand at the helm you can brace yourself with legs equal distance apart. The other job which I needed to do was repair the tack line for the cruising chute. I bought some rope eyes again from the chandlers and fitted them to the deck so the new tack line could run freely back to the cockpit where I can adjust the tension.

Job done!

Leg 4 Weymouth to River Dart (Lyme Bay)

Date:- 05.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), From: Weymouth To: Dartmouth Comments: The Biggest / hardest leg so far

Wind Strength / direction: Southerly Force 3 Sea State: Slight Distance: 60.7 Nautical miles Time Taken: 13 hours 15 mins

Four ‘o’clock am rise. No matter what time I leave I will have to go through two tidal gates. I chose to leave at 4:30 so that I could have the tide with me for the middle of Lyme Bay, this way I get the full five hours of tidal flow. When the alarm went off I just couldn’t get up, I think the past week is catching up with me and I feel extremely tired. I did something I never do and that was to turn over and go back to sleep for half an hour. I had set the boat up the night before so all I had to do was have a quick breakfast cereal and orange juice and then up on deck. It was still dark so I turned on the Navigation lights and cruising light. I had let the dinghy down the evening before and this was now tied to the foredeck.

Not a bad morning!
The Tide was still coming in so I released the forward spring first as I was pointing in to the oncoming tide and then sprung myself out on the stern spring so as to miss the boat in front of me and the one behind me. Successfully done I set off on the longest leg so far. I have to be honest here this was by far the biggest step I had taken so far. To say that I was a little apprehensive is an understatement. If the sea state was as bad as when I arrived at Weymouth I was in for a horrendous journey. To put Lyme bay in context, you are as far out at sea as if you had crossed the channel and I lost site of land at about 8:30am and did not see land again until 5:15pm that’s eight and three quarter hours without anything but the horizon to fix your eyes on. I was very nervous indeed.
The sea was quite choppy to begin with and as I passed Portland Bill I attached myself to a safety line. I think being single handed you very quickly realise that you have to be safe as if I went over the side there is no one to know. Fran phoned me at about 8:30 and said to make sure I attached the hand held VHF to my life jacket as at least then if I went over the side I could use the radio to contact the coastguard. Not a bad idea. Whilst on the subject of coast guards: The only radio transmissions I heard all day was from the coastguard. Mostly weather updates on channel 86 but once a call from another boat about 10 miles away from myself at about midday. The caller explained that one of the crew was having a serious asthma attack and had collapsed at the stern of the boat complaining that he could no longer feel his arms and he could barely breath with pains in his chest. The coastguard very calmly went about her business finding out the location and the extent of the illness / injuries etc and at the end of the radio broadcast which only lasted a couple of minutes explained that help was on its way. There was nothing I could do to assist so I carried on my way. After about twenty minutes to thirty minutes I heard the skipper of the vessel on the radio again asking where the casualty had been taken as he would like to visit him in the hospital when he got back to port in about four hours time. Now that’s what I call service. What an unbelievably good, fast reactive response to an obvious emergency. True professionals and there when we need them most.
As it happens the sea state turned to slight and the wind settled at a reasonable 11 knots. This caused another slight problem though. Even though it was a lovely calm sunny sailing day it meant that I wouldn’t reach Dartmouth until the following morning according to the chartplotter information on ETA. I haven’t as yet sailed through the night except once for a short leg through the solent whilst on a ‘Competent crew’ course with a yachtmaster. There was only one thing to do to increase my speed. Drop the Jib and mainsail and hoist the cruising shute. The large billowing sail that some would call a spinnaker that blows out at the front of the boat. After digging around in the Port stern Lazarett I pulled the cruising shute out and dragged it up to the bow of the boat. (glad to be harnessed on) The boat was being thrown around quite a lot and it was difficult to tie the cruising shute bag down and feed all of the control lines back to the safety of the cockpit. But once done the Shute filled up and took shape on the starboard front quarter increasing my speed from 1.2nmh to 5.6nmh and the ETA on the chart plotter came down to arriving at approx 8.30pm. I knew this would improve as at the moment the tide was against me. Once it turned my ETA dropped to approximately 5:15pm. This was good news as it meant I would be arriving whilst it was still light.

The boat ghosts along

This was quite an eye opening experience as I was worried that I may find being out at sea with no site of land for hours disorientating and frightening. But to my surprise it was actually quite relaxing and having had the experience of force five and six seas on my way to Weymouth I had a very real respect for my little boat and felt quite safe. Maybe it was the fact that the weather was so settled. But it felt good. Although I was very tired I had to keep a constant look out for other vessels. I thought to myself that I could see the horizon about a distance of 10 to 12 miles. It wasn’t until the AIS (Automatic Identification System) picked up a cargo vessel that I realised that actually my view was only two nautical miles. There was a haze over the water which made the edge of my visibility look like the horizon but in actual fact was the edge of mist on the water. This is a bit of an eye opener as my little Morgen lops along at a leisurely 6 knots and these tankers travel anything between 20 & 30 knots and can’t turn very well to avoid us. So a look out was kept. Having said this I did drift in to a very short sleep whilst sitting upright which I know I mustn’t do again. Its too dangerous.

A lot closer than I thought!

Look at the bow wave!
What a relief though to see land again. I spotted it at about 4:45pm visibility was now up to five miles and I could just see the dark outline of the hills surrounding Dartmouth. I made a quick mental note of the time and phoned home. Saying I’ve spotted dry land and everything was OK. No sooner than I had finished the phone call the cruising shute let fly. A sudden bang and then lots of noise as the Tack line which holds the bottom of the Shute to the boat snapped either from strain or from some chaffing. But it had to be brought back under control which is really difficult. I put the boat on to auto pilot and scrambled up on deck with my safety line attached although it gets in the way, its better than falling in to the briney and waving the boat goodbye as it sails itself in to the distance. I caught hold of the Clue line which is the other end of the sail and dragged as much of the sail as I could on board. Once I fastened this line I could then drop the snuffer ( A sock which engulfs the sail) effectively dowsing it. I was then able to put the sail back in to the sail bag and tidy up all the lengths of ropes which were now scattered about the deck. Although this doesn’t seem like a huge thing to do it took about an hour of constant work. By the end I was dripping with sweat and out of breath (I really wish I had got myself fitter for this adventure) I was also at the Entrance to the river Dart so needed to get all the fenders and mooring lines out and secured before I entered the harbour. So I took off my waterproofs as I was beginning to swim in my own sweat and hastened about the deck once more.

I was able to then sit back and take a few pictures of the entrance to the River dart and what a panoramic view it was. There is real drama coming in to this very picturesque place what with the two castles either side of the shipping lane. Then it opens up and you can see the houses which look like they have been painted on to the hillside, with all the colours of the rainbow. Absolutely lovely. Fantastic views.  I radioed ahead for a visitors berth for the night but got no reply so I thought I will just have to chance it and go in to the first available spot. After booking in to Dart haven marina I had found that I had infact nicked someones permanent berth and had to move Morgen to pontoon ‘A’ number 42. This done I was able to put the boat away for the night.

Some of the rocks to miss at the entrance to the River Dart

But once in ‘Majestic’

One of the castles at the entrance

Lovely
I have decided to go home on Saturday as I have only had one week at home in the past six weeks. I shopped around for the cheapest berth I could find so I could leave the boat for a week and go home and see the family. They probably don’t miss me but I miss them! Its one of the hard things for me. Being away from them, I miss Fran and even though one daughter is at university and the other is a teenager I still miss them and have at times found it very lonely and I have only just really started. Gulp. I would like to share this with them and although I have taken lots of pictures it still is not the same as having the actual experience together. I have moved the boat to the Darthaven Harbour Authority moorings thanks to a very helpful guy at the marina office who told me the cheapest solution to leaving the boat for a week was to moor up at the visitor moorings. This however still cost £100.80 and I still have an £82.00 train fare to fork out for. Arghhhh. That’s the Scotsman in me talking. But still arghhhh!!
Anyway Home sweet Home tomorrow.