Rae Tong

Unfortunately not as much wind as we had hoped for, so motor sailed most of the way, with a bit of slow gentle sailing as a break from the engine..... a small pod of dolphins who came to play also helped. Beautiful afternoon sunshine, just good to be out on the water again.

We decided to maximise the good weather in the Scillies and do the sail home in one push. 0600 departure to reach the Lizard on the turn of the tide. No wind so had to motor. A glassy smooth sea but dolphins seals and numerous birds for company, including a lone puffin and a large flock of Sherwaters. Once we made the Cornish coast the wind filled in from the West and we managed to run wing on wing with genoa poled out all the way through the rest of the day and night until we turned Berry Head the following morning. The night passages were challenging, with a moderate following sea the autohelm struggled to hold a good course so a lot of hand steering with not much light to orientate ourselves. Rae was joined on her watch by an exhausted pigeon who hitched a ride on our solar panel, and was still there when I came on watch at 0100, and finally left us about 0600 when he had recovered enough to fly! We had to put the engine on for the last hour to make sure we got to the mouth of the Exe before the ebb fjlly emptied the river. As it was we were punching up against 3kts of Spring tide. Slow going but made it to the mooring with 50cm to spare! Great end to a great trip, we will definitely be returning to the Scillies!

A lovely morning walk around Gugh while the tide came up and then a beautiful broad reach up St Mary's Sound and in to the stunning New Grimsby to anchor alongside Thalmia in preparation for our departure back east on Saturday. Currently enjoying a cold beer at The Ruined cafe overlooking yet more azure sea and golden sands...😀

Once we had enough water under the keel we motored carefully out of New Grimsby sound and across to Porth Conger between St Agnes and Gugh where we anchored deep in on the port side. The forecast was for fog in the afternoon so as soon as we were secure at anchor we headed ahore to walk around St Agnes- via Troy Town farm and its ice cream! We just made it back to Peggy before the fog enveloped us for the rest of the afternoon. We did venture out for dinner at The Turks Head though! Very friendly and good food.

After a rolly night we were ready to leave Porthcressa. We had 20+ knotts of wind as we headed up St Mary's road and through the channel markers in to Appletree Bay. We anchored close to the slipway on the 1m contour and were just about settled when a man in a high vis jacket waved and ahouted at us from the shore and asked us to move down the beach, we think because we were in line with the helipad? Anyway, easy to move and happily dug in before heading off to enjoy the Abbey gardens and Cromwell and Charles' castles and a swim. Stunning evening and sunset, great day!

A 0200 departure to make the most of the tides around the Lizard meant only 3 hours sleep... However, winds were better than forecast and we were sailing as soon as we were out of Port Pendennis. And the northerly F3 continued most of the day, with only a brief period when they died away and we had to motor for 30 minutes. Unfortunately the cloud also remained, the sun threatening - but never quite managing to break through. Once again joined by plenty of dolphins to escort us on our way. Very tired after 3 long days, and very grateful to have Rae with me to share the watches so I could get some sleep! Now anchored in Porth Cressa with a much needed G&T. Exploring can wait until tomorrow!

After watching a luxury French Cruise ship come in and moor off Dartmouth town pier while we had breakfast we headed out in sunshine and light winds. 2.5kts was just enough to fly the kite and we had a lovely slow sail back to Exmouth in the sun, passing Derek in Thalmia as he headed west- very jealous! Despite the leisurely pace we still arrived at Exmouth Clear water buoy too early with not enough water to make our mooring, so we put the kettle on and headed up towards Budleigh in the sun. However, still arrived back at the mooring a little early, running aground 5m from our mooring! 10 minutes was enough to float us on. A great end to a lovely 3 days away.

After drying out in Dartmouth and completing a few fettling jobs we had a lovely afternoon zig zagging around between Dartmouth and Salcombe practicing MOB with our new Ocean Safety Danbuoy. Happy with our refined plan after numerous practices assuming just one of us left on board, but the most important rule- din't fall in!

A nice sail in a good breeze which was better than forecast, although rain was as wet as expected! Still, a good sail and hopefully drier for next two days.