Hi
After many years of planning and the last few months frantically getting the house ready for holiday lets and bringing the boat up to spec we gently slipped our mooring from Lymington at 0600 on Sunday 10 April, bound for Dartmouth. Our friend and crew Peter Fisher waved us off and took this beautiful photograph.
We saw the sunrise over Bembridge and wondered just how long it would be before Whimbrel returned to the Solent.
Our outline plan is to head West with the weather and visit the Isles of Scilly, before heading across to Eire and travelling up the East coast of Ireland, stopping in bays and anchoring where possible. Into Northern Ireland visiting Strangford Loch, Belfast and on around the coast past and maybe into Rathlin Island, which Nick has only ever seen through a periscope! At some point, with wind and tide playing fair we will head to the Outer Hebrides and return down the South West Coast of Scotland to leave the boat there for the winter. Hoping to take in the small isles and if weather doesn’t permit exploring the Inner Hebrides this year and the stunning West Coast of Scotland. As you can see our plans are fluid. We should return to the house in October and start planning our second year away!
10-16 April
After a fast run to Dartmouth testing our sails and engine and playing with various combinations, we arrived tired but exhilarated in Dartmouth at 2045. Just getting dark but between nav systems clear buoyage information and, to be a fair, a few previous entries to Dartmouth in the dark, we tied up on the deepwater pontoons – no rafting! 3mtre waves across Lyme Bay and the final 10miles in the gathering gloom under headsail and rolly polly waves we were royally entertained by the Dartmouth Dolphins. I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing these beautiful creatures in their natural environment, as they play around the bow wave seemingly intent on challenging each other to play chicken over and under the prow. I’m sure some were babies from last year and they all looked sleek and healthy.
A couple of peaceful evenings in Dittisham followed and a visit from our good friend Fiona who arrived bearing wonderful gifts of cheese and fresh veg and hot cross buns. A walk on Tuesday morning to the lovely village of Cornworthy along the Dart Valley trail and back and a meander around the village itself showed us an explosion of spring flowers and abundant blossoms on the fruit trees. Apparently, the plums from Dittisham are renowned throughout the area for making the best plum jam ever. It makes for fascinating reading digging into the history and stories behind the villages on the rivers. From being industrial boat building ports to exporters of tin and other commodities to being an exchange market for goods from and to Europe and America it seems amazing to our modern thinking of huge commercial ports and enormous cargo carriers that this sort of trade has been going on for so long – its just the quantity and type of goods that have changed.
Dartmouth Naval College
Dittisham
Spring Garden
Spring Lambs
Tides Out
More spring Lambs
An unusual cloud formation
Newton Ferrers on a misty evening
A misty view towards warren point
Cleaned and Scrubbed
Bluebell woods in Court Wood
Upper reaches of the Yealm
Whimbrel
A gentle sail from Dartmouth to Salcombe followed on Wednesday and after 2 evenings spent in this beautiful ria and a walkout to Bolt head we headed off in the mist to the River Yealm. With no wind, it was a motor all the way charging up the batteries beautifully and giving us plenty of hot water for washing and washing up. Alongside by 1245 on the pontoon and again not rafted we cleaned the teak rubbing strakes both sides and at long last began the task of scrubbing the topsides to make her look loved and cared for rather than just lived in. We met a rally of boats from Saltash sailing club a delightful group of folk with children and dogs all enjoying the freedom of the Easter Weekend.
More cleaning required on Saturday and a jaunt in the dinghy to the newly opened shower block belonging to the harbour master and a pint in the local Yealm Yacht Club and we start our planning for the next few days.
We have visited 3 yacht clubs in our first week and enjoyed the best showers ever in the Salcombe yacht club and supped beers that seemed to taste so good. We were honoured to enjoy the rare Salcombe barrel of which only 60 were brewed…..it was a fun motor back to Whimbrel.
Our track from the last week