Salcombe weekend – 27 & 28 Jul

The weekend of 27 and 28 Jul was hot and sunny with light winds on both days. Leaving King Point Marina at 0900 on Saturday we caught the channel flood tide up to Salcombe, having a fair tide until the last hour or so when we were off Bolt Tail. It really made a difference and at the tide’s height, we were getting a boost of about 1.5 knots.

As expected on a hot sunny weekend at the start of holiday season, Salcombe was very busy and the moorings and anchorages off the town were all full. We continued up The Bag and eventually anchored in 5m of water off Winters Boatyard. It was a peaceful spot with good holding (lots of gloopy mud on the anchor when it came up) and lots of wildlife and passing boats to see.

Sunday morning was beautiful and with a rising tide we motored up to Kingsbridge – something of a dream for me having holidayed in the Kingsbridge area for much of my life with my parents and family. By midday it was time to start the passage back to Plymouth, making use of the ebb tide. There was very little wind, but with a preventer on the main sail and the fore sail hoisted, we made steady progress. Off Plymouth breakwater we saw two sunfish and a pod of dolphins! What a way to end a fantastic weekend!

Sailing off Cawsand – Sun 21 Jul

We were fortunate to meet up with Simon (one of our neighbours who also sails) who was out sailing his Sadler 25 ‘Chablis’ on Sun 21 Jul. Simon took this image of Chione as we were sailing off Cawsand. Despite the overcast conditions it was an excellent sailing day with NW winds between force 4 – 5, backing more SW as the afternoon wore on and easing slightly. Speeds topped out at 7.1 knots on a broad reach, which made for very enjoyable sailing.

Saturday maintenance and Sunday sailing to Cawsand

On Sat 22 Jun I spent the afternoon re-fitting the galley tap which had removed for an overhaul (the pump mechanism and seal inside the body had separated); a new bobstay was fitted between the outer end of the bowsprit and the bow at the water line; and the forepeak solar vent was replaced with a new Smart Vent 300 (identical to the old one) that I had managed to buy on-line (I think the Smart Vent 300 is now discontinued, so not readily available from chandlers).

Sunday morning dawned overcast, with mizzle, however, by mid-morning it had cleared and we decided to sail for the rest of the day. Winds were very light and from the South and misty conditions remained all afternoon; with both headsails set we made slow progress to Cawsand despite a sloppy swell and occasional wash from passing vessels. Once at Cawsand we jibed and made slow progress back past the breakwater and down the Eastern side of Drake’s Island before furling the headsails and heading back to King Point Marina.

Weekend sail – Plymouth Sound and Yealm Estuary

We intended to sail to Fowey on Sat 8 Jun, but the wind seemed to have more Westerly in it than forecast and this would have made it challenging to cover the 20 or so miles to Fowey Harbour. Instead, we sailed out to the Eddystone Lighthouse which was an enjoyable sail and afforded Chione a ‘shakedown’ sail to check that all was ok after her time ashore.

We spent the evening moored off Drake’s Island, watching the sunset and activity on the water. During Sunday, we sailed to the Yealm Estuary and up to Newton Ferrers where we turned and headed back to sea. The entrance to the estuary is amazing with the buoyed entrance channel being close-in to the land and the estuary itself looks like an interesting place to explore, but maybe out of season when it is not quite so busy!

Surprisingly, apart from the galley lever action tap (Fynspray WS62), everything worked as it should! As for the tap, once dismantled, it became apparent that the plunger tube had become disconnected from the valve body that draws and pumps the water. This should be an easy fix and I’ll put a small amount of thread lock on the plunger tube to prevent this from happening again.