Panzanella and Porpoises (or Dolphins)

On passage from Plymouth to Falmouth, we paused for lunch - a rather good panzanella knocked-up by the first mate - when we were joined by a group of aquatic mammals.  I think they were dolphins but Katie thinks they were porpoises because they were quite small. In her excitement to get a closer look - Katie managed to sit in my salad. They stayed with us for about half an hour, I managed a few snaps see below.

Plymouth Hoe

It then started to rain for the next few hours, we arrived into a very murky Falmouth with poor visibility.  It did brighten up a bit later - let's hope for improved weather.

I think it's time for laundry tomorrow.

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Leaving Dartmouth

The storm keeping us in Dartmouth passed and today we moved West; sailing to Plymouth.We left Darthaven Marina just after 9am and had the tide all the way to Plymouth.  The weather started out pretty good and we had a fine sail with 10+ knots of wind, blue sky and flat sea, then the wind dropped and we motor-sailed for a couple of hours. After lunch the wind picked up and we cut the engine and maintained a steady 5+ knots, however when Plymouth came into view the heavens opened with cold, heavy rain for the final stint.

The weather conditions improved as we prepared to tie up at the Mayflower Marina (Katie's choice - luxury bathrooms and free WiFi...) at about 3:30pm. We took a walk into town, again the rain came down and we made it back to the marina for a hot shower and Katie has just cooked an excellent spag bol.

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The forecast for tomorrow is looking better, so we're going to explore further on foot (hoping for an ice cream in the sun on the Hoe) and are planning to travel onto Falmouth on Wednesday.

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Pictures from Coleton Fishacre

We walked across the hills outside of Kingswear to the National Trust property - Coleton Fishacre, a 1920's country house from the founder to the Savoy Theatre, Savoy Hotel and the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan.

A 2.5 mile walk there and back - and no rain! But very windy.

Fantastic house and gardens, more info here: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/coleton-fishacre/history/

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View of Dartmouth

Walking to Coleton Fishacre, finally making use of National Trust membership.

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A relaxing few days in Dartmouth

We've had a good break in Dartmouth, catching up on some rest and a few more boat jobs. Today (Friday) we walked to Agatha Christie's summer house (Greenway - a National Trust property and garden), it was a reasonably strenuous 3.5 mile walk along the river, but the house, gardens and views were well worth it. We took the Ferry back!

There are gale warnings for tomorrow so it looks like we might spend another day in Dartmouth, still there are worse places to be stuck in port.

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Leaving the Solent, heading West

Monday 21st April
We had the option of a 3am start to try and make the Needles channel before the tide changed or a more leisurely start with another night in the Solent before we pushed on West. Which once do you think Katie opted for? What’s the hurry – we’ve got six months. After a hot shower and a few final boat jobs (replace the old jackstays (lifelines) and hoist the new PSYC burgee (thanks Hugh) we left Gosport to blue sky, warm sun and high spirits.

The weather was great, although not too much wind. With high optimism we decided to have a break for lunch (anchoring outside Newtown Creek) and then push on to Poole rather than stopping at Yarmouth. We made Poole as the sun was setting and thought we’d anchor in the harbour mouth rather than continuing for another hour or so to get to town quay. Possibly a mistake…initially the anchor set well and Katie fired up the oven for pasties, beans and rostie.

Both pretty tired, I slept in the saloon to keep a watch on the various anchor alarms, needless to say the alarms repeatedly went off and there was a grinding sound coming from the anchor chain. This could only mean one thing - we were no longer attached to the sea bed. So in the pitch dark, we set about re-setting the anchor, not just once, but at least three times. Further sleep on Monday night was a little fitful; Poole harbour has interesting tidal flows, which causes the boat to swing around a fair bit on anchor further increasing our nervousness.

Tuesday 22nd April
Leaving our anchorage at 7:30, to calm conditions, although cloudy and overcast we hoped to make the passage to Dartmouth, although the first mate was voting for a shorter sail to Weymouth. Conditions were initially quite good and we made good time so continued past Portland heading for Devon. At this point the wind picked-up and the visibility reduced, crossing Lyme Bay seemed to take an eternity with no sight of land and very few other vessels. The conditions were quite rough; we reefed the sails but were pounded by waves slowing our progress. Eventually, land came back into sight and conditions improved as we slipped into the Dart just before 9pm. It was a relief to tie up to a pontoon and get some hot food down us before we crashed out...

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Started...but

Boat prep completed, house vacated, said farewell to family and fiends - but we were somewhat challenged by the great British weather :-(

It's been pouring down for most of the day which made the final loading not much fun. The clouds lifted at about 5pm and we made a run for it and took Bathia up the harbour (about an hours motoring) so we can make a better getaway tomorrow.

It's good to get on the move, but a gentle remainder that we shall be weather dependant for much of the trip...

I'll have more to say when we've made better progress!

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Final checks

Life raft arrived! But what a nightmare to fit the stainless steel cradle, needing a hacksaw and much cursing. It's not quite ready yet, I need longer bolts because the rear rail (pushpit) is slightly curved, so not easy to fit. You can see in the pictures below - it's still held on with rope.

Katie loaded up the cupboards with numerous bags of pasta, tins and boil-in-the-bag rice...

Bathia was lifted about 4pm and left in the crane slings, everything looked good, I changed the anodes while Katie cleaned off some of the winter weed growth. We're back tomorrow to pack our clothes, Bathia will be re-launched in the morning and I must finish the life raft!

At the hoist bay

Lifted

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Rob's last day in the office

Last day at work today for six months. Handed back my laptop and iPhone, set my out of office and left my pass with security...no going back now.

Still, lots to do tomorrow. The new life raft should be arriving, there have been a few delays with this order,  but I'm promised it will be delivered to the marina tomorrow. I'll then need to fit it to a cradle on the rear of Bathia. We're also going to have Bathia lifted in the afternoon and held in the crane slings overnight. This is so we can check everything is OK on the underside before we set sail.  If there is time, I might also give the hull a quick polish so she is looking her best for departure.

If all goes to plan I'll attached some pictures tomorrow.

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One Week To Go

So I have said goodbye to commuting and my business attire for at least the next 6 months.  Today we are passage planning, well I say we but of course I really mean I am supervising and Rob is doing all the hard work.  I will check his work when finished...

We have a busy week ahead but are on track for departure on Sunday and the long range forecast is looking promising.  We are heading from Port Solent to Yarmouth on Sunday afternoon to be ready for a 4am start on Monday to catch the early tide through the Needles.  The plan is to get all the way to Dartmouth but if the weather is against us I expect we will stop in Weymouth for the night.

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Discipline and Focus

Two weeks to go and still a long list of things to do, the boat is ready but the home is most certainly not.

I still can't make up my mind about how many pairs of pants to take...

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