Rae Tong

A wet start, but two seals, one asleep on the nearby rubbish pontoon, and one swimming by to wave us off on our final leg lifted the gloom. Outside Dartmouth fog threatened, but the fresh westerly gusting at times up to 18kts cleared that away, and with the wind on our quarter we had a great last sail under full sail up to Exmouth. The skies slowly cleared and by the time we were dropping sails and motoring up the estuary the sun was out. Six weeks since we were last on our mooring, it was nice to be home, but also sad that this adventure has drawn to a close. We've managed to do all we had hoped, an overnight sail direct to Roscoff, and then some time in southern Brittany. The Channel Islands were a lovely stepping stone back to England, and the pause in Dartmouth a perfect stop to gather ourselves before the short sail home today. All our work over the summer has paid off. Hopefully there is time for a little more sailing before we turn our attention to next winter's job list.... that Rae has been busy drawing up...!

Sad to be coming to the end of our summer of sailing, but what a great sail back across the channel! After a relaxing day yesterday with breakfast at Christies and a lovely walk along the coast to Fermain bay for a swim we set off rhis morning in light winds that were forecast to increase as we headed north. To begin with we couldn't quite make our calcukated CTS but as the wind backed and strengthened we were soon making haste to Dartmouth. The TSS was quite busy - with radio calls to captains to make sure they had seen us and were happy for us to proceed ahead of them, but the biggest obstacle was a French trawler, IN the west bound channel going back and forth in front of us as we tried to judge our timing to pass behind a large tanker! Once passed that, the wind continued to build with steady F4 now gusting 5 and even with a reef in the main we were making over 7kts through the water. The dolphins were clearly impressed as they kept coming to play pretty much all the way across. By now the sea was pretty lively too and we decided to hove to for 5 minutes- just so we could use the toilet without being thrown around! As we approached Dartmouth the light was fading, along with the breeze and we shook out the reef for the last hour or so, arriving in Dartmouth at 9. A quiet motor up the river in the dark to pick up.a mooring in tranquil, peaceful Dittisham. Looking forward to a rest tomorrow before heading back to SYC.

After a lovely stay on Jersey, with a spectacular walk along the north coast it was an early departure this morning to catch the tide across the s coast and then up to St Peter Port before the forecast strong winds tonight and tomorrow. Forecasts suggest Tuesday will be the best day for heading back across 'La Manche' and this will be the best place shelter and then depart from. It was a great sail over rhis morning, quite a bit of swell left over from previous couple of days (Rae said 5m, but about 1.5!) With strong winds forecast we started with a reef in main and genoa. Despite this we were still making over 6kts through the water, and occasionally 7! A Dutch couple left at the same time in their HR 36 and kindly took some photos of Peggy and sent them to Rae. They went past us as we had to tack past Corbiere point having taken a line too close in, but we managed to keep up with them as we both headed up to Guernsey. Lovely aftrrnoon here now, and we were joined for our lunch by what we think is a Meadow Pippit!

A day of changes... We left in beautiful calm conditions thinking we were heading for St Aubyn on Jersey. As we made our way down the estuary we checked forecasts and realised that was untennable due to being open to strong easterlies, and decided we would need to be in St Helier marina. By the time we were at the mouth of the river we had checked out anchorages on N coast and changed the plan to head round to a quiet N coast anchorage. Rae, our resident wildlife spotter saw splashes near by, which turned out to be not the normal dolphons - but jumping Tuna! The plan was to clear Plateau de Barnouic and then calculate a Course to Steer for the west edge of Jersey. However... we couldn't clear without tacking, and when we did the tide was so strong we started going backwards! Decision.... either sail west around, or put the engine on and motor round... which we did. A bit frustrating, but problem solved. After that we calculted our CTS and made for the west end of Jersey. However, as we approach the wind gradually shifted from 100 degrees to 50, not what was forecast, and not allowing us to make our waypoint! We tacked, and shortly after came a strong wind warning over the radio from Jersey Coastguard for 35kts east and north east soon. That explained the wind shift, and confirmed a north facing anchorage may not be such a good idea! Time to change plans again and make for the marina! As we did the wind picked up, gusting up to 15kts and although it was now raining with claps of thunder and lightening we were flying.... and then as we rounded La Corbiere it dropped to 2kts! We resigned ourselves to the engine for the last hour, and were grateful to arrive in the marina. Overall a great day sailing, but a long one!

We ended up staying an extra day with Linda and Roy due to the strong easterlies yesterday, but today it was time to restock the fridge, top up diesel and water and start heading east. The forecasts for the next few days are very unsettled and mixed, so it's a case of one day at a time and keep checking updated forecasts. Today we had pretty calm conditions so had to motor most of the day, although we did have some respite sailing as we passed The Sept Iles. Rounding Ile de Brehat we had strong tidal currents against us at some points, but the journey up.the river in late evening light was lovely. On the waiting pontoon as we were last year, and also like last year, we shall be off in the mornong before the marina opens and sends anyone to collect coins!

Yesterday we were on rhe Pte de Sein watching yachts heading through the Raz. We had caught a bus out there in order to walk back along the coast path to Audierne, but also scope out timings for the passage north. The issue was we ideally wanted a southerly wind with the flood tide, but we are in a period of consistent northerlies, so needed to avoid the spring flood running against the north wind- how early could we be through the raz to make sure we avoided wind over tide, without having too much of the ebb against us? Having watched a dozen yachts pass through about an hour ahead of schedule, and managing to make way against the ebb we planned to be there around 12 today rather than 13:30 as would be normal. It was reassuring that we had several other boats with us leaving Audierne, although with a steady F4 on the beam and a following tide we had to put in 2 reefs to slow us down so we didn't arrive too early. As we approached the Raz the sky cleared, and we shook out both reefs so we could make better headway as we tacked up past La Vielle light under full sail with only a slight tide against us in bright sunshine. Glorious. Once through we were on a lovely reach across to Morgat, the only mishap being my hat flying overboard in the strengthening wind, gusting 18kts at times. Anchored in the bay, where we will stay for a few days and meet up with family once again. Great day.

Hot all day, but the winds less constant. A mixture of reaching, Cruising chute, poled out genoa and intermittent use of engine to slowly glide north with the tide to Audierne, jumping off point for northward passage through the Raz. Not tomorrow though, instead we are getting a bis out to Pointe de Sein and walking the coast path back to Audierne. Fairly busy at anchorage, with quite a few British boats either getting ready for the jump north or pausing having come south. Great spot to experience the eclipse.

The plan was to set the alarm for 0530 so we could take an early morning paddle up to Quimper before the tide became too strong.... the problem was I plugged my phone in to the mains charging point rather than 12V, so overnight my phone died, no alarm went off, and instead we woke at 0715 with the tide already ebbing quite strongly! Nevertheless, we got in the kayaks and headed up river, spotting the brilliant blue flash of a Kingfisher as we left our tributary. We paddled up stream for half an hour or so against the current before turning and heading back to Peggy. A short trip, but beautiful in the early morning light. We headed off promptly, keen to make the most of the ebb, and were making 7kts SOG at times with the engine in little more than tick over! A short hop over to anchor off Loctudy in crystal clear seas. A complete contrast to our venture inland, what a great place to explore.

After a leisurely morning with fresh coffee and French pastries we left Concarneau in dead calm conditions. We have really enjoyed our stopover here, lovely feel to the place and really friendly. Had a good chat with a guy on his way home after 7 years in the Caribbean, he highly recommended the west caribbean, especially Columbia, Guatemala and Honduras! Inspiring. For now though we were headed up the Odet, and faced with a lovely F4, flat sea and sunshine we chose to beat our way over rather than motor directly, fantastic sailing, even though it meant we would be punching the tide up the river later. Benodet at the mouth of the river was a hive of activity, but we decided there was enough room to sail through until the breeze finally died and the tide was pushing us back down the river! Motoring up in the evening sunshine was stunning. The confluence to the tributary where we were due to anchor was tiny, but opened up to a gloriously secluded bay where two other yachts were already at anchor. What a stunning place to spend the night.

A few days ago we cycled to Concarneau from Port Menac'h, and today we returned in Peggy. First though we had to sort the heads pump... for a 3rd time in 3 days.... this time we think (hope) we have it sorted!! After that, a beautiful sail for an hour or so, but once we tacked the wind died and we were keen to get to the supermarche before it closed at 1pm, so engine on. Spectacular ramparts on arrival, very friendly and well run marina. An intereating walk around the old walled city, glad we stopped off here.