Plymouth, and onwards to Salcombe

This morning we walked to Plymouth Hoe where we had coffee and scones and fed the birds with our crumbs. We identified the bowling club where Drake played (J) and then continued our walk into the town to get some more supplies. We departed the marina soon after lunch, bound for Salcombe. There was little wind so we didn’t hoist the sails, but the uncomfortable swell that we experienced yesterday was still with us today as we rolled our way along the attractive coastline. We passed Hope Cove where past holidays have been spent, and on into Salcombe where we berthed alongside the town quay pontoon. Woolcool, as represented by Keith, bought dinner out in the nearby restaurant for everyone! Thank you Keith! After dinner we visited the local yacht club for a final evening drink-  and familiarisation with facilities!

Joke:

Plymouth’s a right laugh! Hoe, hoe, hoe!

Keith, with Plymouth Sound behind

Coffee and scones! Yum yum!

The birds help out with the crumbs

Err!? Where Drake used to play?

The coastline, Hope Cove towards the left of the picture

Blue Star on the town quay in Salcombe

Fowey, and on to Plymouth

We left the marina at Penmarlam at 0900 and motored the short distance to the life-boat pontoon in Fowey. After radioing the harbour master we received permission to stay a while and we walked into town and found a coffee (and croissants) shop that looked out over the river. The plan was to sail out to the Eddystone lighthouse on our way to Plymouth, but a damp heavy mist hung over Fowey so we resolved to stay a while longer, postpone the trip to Eddystone and hoped the weather might improve. A local shop selling Cornish pasties beckoned which we felt we should respond to prior to leaving Cornwall. We wondered whether we would come across border guards off the Cornwall-Devon coast? More gloom arrived in the form of a phone call about the cost of a new hot-water tank. Gulp!

After lunch we decided that things might be less grim at sea, as the sky out at sea looked brighter. Once at sea we did find a brighter sky, but the sea state was less than comfortable with a 1.5m swell rolling in on us and causing an uncomfortable motion of Blue Star. We motor-sailed for a while, then the wind dropped to near zero so we took down the sail to stop it slamming from side to side with the motion of the boat. We passed Polperro, and Looe, and eventually the sea state improved. We continued mopping the engine bilge every hour when we made a log entry and plotted our position. We spotted warships far in the distance and speculated which faint silhouette that we saw might be the Eddystone lighthouse. Eventually the murk came down again as we motored past Plymouth break-water. We passed through a lock into Sutton Harbour where we rated the facilities as 9.5/10!

Joke:

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

The marina at Penmarlam near Fowey

Pollux (quite!) was moored opposite the marina

Coffee and croissants in Fowey

Looking out at the murk whilst we had coffee

Blue Star on the pontoon in Fowey

Plymouth breakwater appears out of the mist

Blue Star in Sutton Marina, Plymouth

Boat maintenance and a trip to Fowey

Yesterday's Post

We departed Falmouth with new crew (Chris, Jean-Francois and Keith) mid-morning and motored for a while in the river whilst we identified the source of a water leak into the engine bay. After much groping around and feeling of hoses etc. we concluded that the problem lay with a leaking hot water tank. When the water was heated, by use of the engine or by immersion heater, the pressure built up and the tank leaked. Looking for the source when moored in the marina was impossible however as all seemed well and the bilge remained dry. Earlier Jean-Francois had exercised his skill with self-amalgamating tape applied around one of the electrical leads that passed through the roof at the base of the mast where another leak had manifested itself. That problem seems now to be solved; as for the water tank, we will have a new one installed as soon as we are able to, and in the meantime keep on soaking up the water with cloth!

The sea state was slight and proved comfortable, and the wind was about 10 knots as we sailed out of the Fal bound for Fowey. Several other boats accompanied us, but we couldn’t keep up with them under sail alone. Presently we rolled away the headsail and started the engine. Sandwiches were prepared for lunch. Eventually we passed Gorran Haven and Mevagissey and Charlestown, the latter being a private harbour where training is offered on square rigged vessels that have appeared on TV programmes such as Poldark and The Onedin Line. Fowey soon appeared before us and we motored past the main town into the marina at Penmarlam. J-F and I walked to the pub at the ferry crossing and watched the England. Roger was chef of the day and had prepared a delicious chicken and apricot dinner on our return.

Joke:

A police officer called the station on his radio: "An old lady has shot her husband for stepping on the floor she had just mopped". The Duty Sergeant  replied "Have you arrested her?". "Not yet - the floor's still wet!"

The troublesome hot water tank

Jean-Francois and Keith look out as we pass Gorran Haven

Entering Fowey

In Falmouth

Blue Star has had a 2 week stop over in Falmouth prior to continuing her voyage. In that time I visited with Diane. Cliff and Ash came to stay with us, and also Angie and Keith from Woolcool visited. It was rainy when Diane and I arrived but a lovely rainbow soon gave way to lots of sunny weather. We took the opportunity to explore the River Fal, the Helford River and St Mawes.

New crew arrive this weekend, but the weather forecast isn’t very encouraging! Still, only 2 more weeks of sailing and we will have crossed the finish line!

River Joke:

Mr Thick wanted to cross the river. Mr Tricky shouted to him from the other side: ‘Hey, I’ll shine this torch across the river. All you have to do is walk along the beam of light until you get to this side!’.

‘Do you think I’m thick or something?’ said Mr Thick. ‘I know full well that as soon as I’m half way across you’ll turn the torch off and I’ll fall into the river!’

Diane and the rainbow

The Helford River

Catch up post

There was no internet connection at Newlyn and Falmouth, but here are the accounts of our days sailing to those places....

Wednesday 17 August 2016 - Padstow to Newlyn

We got up at 0500. It was still dark. High water was 0520 so we needed to be out of the harbour shortly thereafter as we would exiting down the river Camel on a falling tide – any touching the bottom would result in us being stuck until the next tide at least! The wind was still blowing strong, and even in the harbour boats were being jostled around! Was it safe to go, or stupid? The forecast was for a force 6 and a moderate sea. Hmmm! Moderate enough to be comfortable or enough to make us all ill? Another yacht, Tiger Moth, was also leaving, so it must be alright mustn’t it? I checked with Roger that he was happy. ‘I think it’ll be OK’ he said. Hmmm! Soon after and we were away, following Tiger Moth down the river. We raised the mainsail in the river, like Tiger Moth, and put two reefs in. The headsail was also reefed. Away we went, down the river and out to sea. Too late to turn back now. The sea was very lumpy and the wind tended to round the boat up making it difficult to keep control. We were heeled over considerably too. After a while we took in the mainsail completely and proceeded under reefed headsail only, which was more comfortable. We headed out across the bay away from the land which slowly disappeared from view in a mist and fog that came down. Eventually the sea state improved, the wind decreased and veered and we had to use the engine to make reasonable progress. We navigated with electronics, seeing nothing of the coast, or of Land’s End, and only a fleeting glimpse of the Longships lighthouse and surrounding rocks. Eventually we neared the coast off Newlyn and could only just see our way into the harbour. There were few places and we had to raft up against another yacht that planned to depart at 0500 for Falmouth. We would have to let them out, so we decided to set off early ourselves too.

Joke:

Q. What goes 'croak croak' in mist?

A. A froghorn.

Our view of Land's End!

Thursday 18 August – Newlyn to Falmouth

At 0500 we were ready to depart Newlyn (despite the fact that our neighbour wasn’t!). We left. The fog of the previous day still prevailed and we set out into the murk to round ‘The Lizard’ on our way to Falmouth. It was a day for electronic navigation, navigation lights and radar again. We had to stand well of Lizard Point as there were large waves close in. Even two miles out we had to contend with large rollers that caused us to wallow uncomfortably. After a while we altered course to head towards Falmouth, east of The Lizard and we were able to surf down the rollers instead of wallow in them. Slowly the fog lifted and we could see the coast. There was an appearance of sun even! We checked the forecast for the following day – gales! It was clear that Falmouth would be our stopping point for this week. Everyone else obviously thought the same as all of the marinas in Falmouth were very full; we could only get a place where we had to raft up against another yacht. Never mind, at least we were in. 

Joke:

Parallel lines have so much in common. Its a shame they'll never meet. 

We could just about make out Lizard Point

Onward.......Milford Haven to Padstow

Rob (Hollins), Bob (Costello) and I boarded Blue Star late on Saturday and spent Sunday provisioning. The Tesco trolley was wheeled back to the boat and unloaded, and Bob (who comes from Liverpool) said he would take care of returning the trolley. Roger joined us aboard late on Sunday, and we departed even later – well Monday morning about 10 past midnight actually! The weather forecast did not encourage a visit to Lundy, so we headed for Padstow some 70+ miles and 14 hours away. It seemed to take an age to get out of Milford Haven, but once the sails were set and the Haven cleared we broke into a watch routine, with Bob and I on until 0330 and relief then provided by Roger and Rob. Avril’s Florentines, which she had kindly posted to us at Milford Haven, were sampled by at least one of the watches, and very yummy they were too! Thank you Avril! After initially motor-sailing we were able to proceed under sail alone. The moon lit the sky for most of the night and soon after sun-up we were joined by lots of dolphins jumping playfully alongside the boat. We saw Lundy in the distance and a several hours later Padstow Bay welcomed us. We had to pick our way carefully up the river Camel, almost running aground at one point, before we managed to enter the locked harbour where we tied up alongside the harbour wall. The place is packed with holiday-makers and our entry provided the entertainment for most of them,

We plan a day of rest in Padstow tomorrow before a start at 0545 on Wednesday bound for Newlyn.

Bob’s joke:

The police in Liverpool have found a stash of hand-guns, grenades and stolen property behind the library. Residents are absolutely shocked! They hadn’t realised that they have a library!

Bob taking care of the Tesco trolley

Avril's Florentines (yum yum!)

Sunrise in the Bristol Channel

A dolphin playing and jumping alongside the boat

Blue Star alongside in Padstow

By the way.....

Team GBchallengecrew are extremely grateful to all of the wonderful people who support us by making a donation to the CF Trust! I mention this having realised that 'Anonymous' recently made a very kind donation. Thank you Anonymous! We don't know who you are but we really appreciate your support.
A personal 'thank you' from me to all crew members who have sailed with us, or plan to, and have made a donation. It is really gratifying to see how much we have all raised together.

Much has been said on the news recently about how good the weather is going to be next week! That would be nice! However, a closer look at the weather in the Bristol Channel does not suggest a good week for the crew of Blue Star who plan to sail from Milford Haven to Padstow and beyond. We hope to dodge the lightning storms, winds of F7 and waves forecast of 2-3 meteres by carefully choosing precisely when we sail, and hopefully getting to Padstow before the worst! Then we will have to see......

Joke:
Q. Where did the weather-forecaster stop for a drink?
A. The local isoBAR!

Q. What did one raindrop say to the other?
A. Two's company, three's a cloud!

A storm at sea - hopefully not what we will see!