Final preparation: 9th April -We arrived in Gosport accompanied by Patrick Anslow, who had volunteered to crew as far as Plymouth. With gear stowed we went to the Castle Tavern for refreshment and nourishment, a place where, according to Tom Cunliffe's Shell Channel Pilot, "if you sit long enough anyone who is anything in sailing will pass through".
Even at this stage the weather forecasts were casting doubts about the feasibility of our planned departure on 11th April. The first passage planned to Brixham was approximately 100 nautical miles past the infamous Portland Bill and across Lyme Bay which has very limited ports of refuge in case of emergency. We were aware that it was the first major passage of the season for all of us, sea legs (and stomachs) still needed to be found, and Noisette was relatively new to us. We needed a good forecast for at least 24 hours, but every forecast warned of winds of force 7, 8 or more, and sea state rough, very rough or high - not what we wanted. It did not matter whether Pat or David sourced the forecast from their mobile phones - various websites, the Navtex, the coast guard, the marina office or the radio - they could not find a better forecast!
10th April - We needed to fill up with diesel and buy fresh food and this, together with poring over the weather forecasts, occupied our attention for most of the day. With our previous boat we had established a reputation of consuming more red wine than diesel when on board, but having put 330.1 litres in the diesel tanks, Chris became concerned about where she could stow the equivalent number of bottles of wine. Pity we had already filled the water tanks....
We reassured Pat that Noisette was a sailing boat, the engine was to help get in and out of marinas and that amount of diesel would last all summer!
Day 1- day 8: 11th April 2013 - 18th April. The forecasts continued to include strong wind and gale warnings across both "Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis" and "Lyme Regis to Lands End". We were going nowhere in Noisette. As "cruisers" we just have to be philosophical about this sort of thing and accept that it is out of our control. Easier for some than others!
As a place to be "stuck", Gosport has easy access to Portsmouth - regular ferries 5 minutes walk from the marina - and concessionary bus fares for "pensioners" - and provided lots to occupy our time. We visited the Historic Naval Dockyard
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| Patrick showing an apprentice how to rivet in the Historic Dockyard |
and studied the transition in warships from the Mary Rose, to Nelson's HMS Victory and Warrior, the first steam warship. We took a boat trip around Portsmouth Harbour (would you credit it!), went on the bus to Lee on the Solent and uncovered the Hovercraft Museum, explored the narrow streets, wharfs and fortifications of the Camber - "Old Portsmouth", walked to Southsea and visited the castle where Henry VIII stood and watched his flagship Mary Rose sink, visited the Submarine Museum and decided we would rather be on top of the sea. We even practised flying helicopters in a simulator. Chris was the only one to be able to both take off and land.
Day 9: 19th April. David had the best birthday present - a forecast with nothing above a 6 and a sea state of only "moderate or rough". That would do us - we weren't going to be fussy! We took the evening tide rather than go in the morning, to give the sea state a little longer to settle and at 15.40 we finally slipped the mooring in Gosport Premier Marina.
As the notice said Gosport Marina had been very welcoming - it had been reluctant to let us go. Finally, we were on our way!
As is often the case with the wind - if there is not too much, there is too little, and if there's the right amount it is from the wrong direction. Normally on a cruise this wouldn't matter too much and a slow sail might be tolerated within the context of the overall passage. However, having already 'lost' 8 days of sailing time our trip had become a delivery trip rather than a leisurely cruise, and we needed to push on to keep anywhere near our schedule to be in the Isle of Man at the end of May and the Western Isles in July.
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| Passing the Camber on the way out of Portsmouth Harbour |
With the sea state still unsettled we decided to pass east and south of the Isle of Wight rather than go through the Needles Channel and we motor-sailed passed Bembridge Ledge and on to St Catherine's Point, from where we were able to fill the mainsail and get a boost of speed from the 5 to 12 knots of available wind, which together with the favourable tide helped to overcome the slowing action of the swell still coming at us from the South West.
The tide was with us until just before 01.00 and we managed to maintain a speed of between 6 and 7.5 knots over the ground. Once the tide turned this reduced to 5 or 5.5 knots.
With the three of of us on board, the watch system was slightly complicated. We'd agreed that, to get adequate rest, the off-watch period should be 3 hours. This led to us covering the 12 hours from 20.00 to 08.00 with a rotating 3 hours on 3 hours off watch, which meant that the middle hour of each on-watch period we were single handed.
The sea state for the passage proved to be as forecast, moderate - that is a wave height of 1.25 to 2.5 metres, maybe slightly higher around the major headlands of St Catherine's
and Portland Bill, despite us staying well over 3 miles off shore.
For our efforts we were rewarded with a magnificent clear sky with a large moon to guide us for the early part of the night and a wonderful unpolluted view of the stars when the moon set.
We saw the sky begin to lighten in the east at about 04.00 and by 06.00 we were treated to a clear glowing sunrise and the tide turning in our favour again.
Porridge for breakfast raised our spirits as we closed Berry Head, and by 09.30 we were inside the Breakwater, taking the sails down and were tied up in the marina by 09.45.
Trip statistics: Time - 18 hours, Log - 102 nautical miles - pontoon to pontoon.
We spent a gloriously sunny day - a good omen perhaps? - in Brixham,
which was looking pleasantly tidy and much cleaner since the last time we visited. It is good to see the locals taking the initiative and a pride in the environment. Having victualled (ie. bought pasties!) and dozed in the sun, we treated ourselves to a fish and chip supper in a new fish restaurant on the corner by the William of Orange statue on the front - Simply Fish, which was excellent - well worth a visit if you are in the area.
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| Brixham from beyond the Breakwater - can you see Auntie Jean's (our) house - the brightest blue on the skyline threequarters to the right of the picture? |
Then an early night - the forecast was favourable and we need to be up early in the morning to catch the tide.
Day 10: 21st April. We set alarms for 04.30 in order to leave at 05.30 - even at this hour David has a shower. Having left for the shower bock and returned from it separately, it was not until 05.15 that Chris and David checked whether either of them had seen Pat. Realising the answer was "no", it dawned that the unspoken assumption they had both made - that in the absence of any sound of breathing (euphemism!) Pat had gone to the shower block - may not be correct. On further investigation a deeply slumbering Pat was found, still in his bunk, having slept through his alarm. Profusely apologetic, Pat quickly dressed and prepared for sea. This was the the only minor flaw in an otherwise faultless crewing performance - you'll be welcome as crew on Noisette anytime, Pat!
We left Brixham Marina at 05.40 with only 4 or 5 knots of wind. We raised the main for stability and visibility, and started motor-sailing again. The wind was "on the nose" all the way across Start Bay. As we bore away around Start Point the wind strengthened and we expected to be able to sail on a broad reach, but the wind followed us round, and we ended up tacking along the shore past Prawle Point and on towards the entrance to Salcombe. With reducing wind strength and more and more variable direction, our sail without the engine lasted just under an hour before we started motoring again to get on with the passage.
By 12.00 we bore away again to round the Great Mewstone before the eastern entrance to Plymouth Sound. The change of direction, and the swell behind us, provided us opportunity to sail and we manageded a speed of 5.5 knots up the Sound and into the Cattewater before entering our previous home marina, Plymouth Yacht Haven.
Trip statistics: Time - 7 hours 40 mins, Log - 40.1 nautical miles
It felt really strange to have sailed into PYH on a Sunday afternoon as we have done so many times before, but not to have to pack everything up and drive back up the M5 for work on Monday morning. Are we starting to accept our new reality?
In the original plan, another former Commodore of Midland Sailing Club - Paul Leather, was to join us as crew in Salcombe and hoped to get as far as the Isles of Scilly. Unfortunately, the delay at the start of the trip and his work commitments meant that he was not be able to sail with us, and we had to remove the Scillies from the agenda. Paul, Helen, Mollie and Georgie, together with Georgie's friend joined us on board in PYH and brought the ingredients for a delicious Devon Cream Tea. It was lovely to see them again and to show them around the boat. Paul, we will reschedule a passage for you as soon as we can!
Day 11: 22nd April. The forecast continued to hold for us, and it looked as though there could be the possibility of a window to get around Lands End mid week. If we miss Padstow from the itinerary and go straight to Milford Haven we will make up the time we lost.
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| Pat's shot of us leaving PYH |
We say goodbye to number one super crew, Pat who has to return home to collect his new car from the showroom - they could not understand why he found it so difficult to get out of Gosport! At 06.40 we head out into Plymouth Sound again.
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| St. Anthony's Lighthouse - better known to some as Fraggle Rock |
Trip statistics: Time - 7 hours 20 mins, Log - 40.3 nautical miles
We have always liked this marina. It is very convenient for the town and that makes victualling easy. More than that it has the feel of a place where adventures start. It is a small marina - only 40 berths - and therefore is not packed with boats only sailed at weekends. It is full of interesting people waiting for the right window of opportunity (ie. tides and weather!) to get around The Lizard, Lands End, to the Isles of Scilly, or to Portugal as a first stop on the way to the Azores, Caribbean, or Brazil. A place for people fulfilling their dreams. We met a Canadian couple who are cruising Europe, planning their passage around the need to be out of EU waters by mid-June as they had bought new sails in the UK and this would mean they could reclaim the VAT! A group of Swiss sailors from the Cruising Club of Geneva hoping to get to the Isles of Scilly for the second year in a row. Discussion on the pontoons indicated they needed to keep trying as on average it had taken us all 15 years for the right conditions to arise! We must have been lucky - we made it on our 4th attempt. They were amused by the story behind the Midland Sailing Club burgee (for those who do not know - it has a strong resemblance to the Swiss Flag). Dave was an interesting character - he sailed in from Southern Ireland, single handed, as his wife had had a hip replacement and was not allowed on the boat for 6 months. He was heading to the Isle of Wight to see the engineer who had fitted his hybrid drive system and to get it tweaked to maximise charging the batteries when under sail. A guy single handed sailing a J90 was working his boat to Oban to participate in the 3 Peaks Yacht Race - a race involving sailing to and climbing up the highest peaks in Scotland (Ben Nevis), England (Scafell Pike) and Wales (Snowdon) - no engines allowed! He was ex-merchant navy and a radar instructor - we considered asking him aboard for a bit of tuition, but thought better of it.
Day 12: 23rd April. We still had a window in the weather - the only downside to the forecast was the visibility - moderate or poor with fog patches - despite this we decided to go. As this was our first rounding of Lands End, a notorious tidal gate, we decided to leave in the early hours of the morning in order to make the rounding in daylight. The estimated passage time was 24 hours would mean leaving and arriving in the dark. We spent the day in Falmouth preparing tidal calculations for the trip to Milford Haven before getting an early night.
Day 13 & 14: 24th & 25th April. We were up at 00.45 and slipped the mooring at 01.30 and as we passed Black Rock on our way out of Falmouth we were thankful of the AIS (Automatic Identification System) on the chart plotter to help us pick our way through the anchored tankers. Visibility was poor, that is 1000 metres to 2 nautical miles, at best estimate! The sea state was slight to moderate and winds were light, and continued to be "on the nose" so once again we were motor sailing and pushing a foul tide for the first few hours. At times we could see the light on the Lizard through the mist as we passed by just before 05.00, which was reassuring. From this point we knew we had a straight course with no known off shore dangers to the Runnel Stone
and began the short sleep watch system that we had agreed - 1 hour on, one hour off - to ensure that we maintained a reasonable level of rest through out the trip.
We both wanted to be awake to go around Lands End.
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| The Runnel Stone southerly cardinal |
We both wanted to be awake to go around Lands End.
We kept pace with the tidal strategy we had calculated and by 09.00 the tide helped to carry us past the Runnel Stone at 7 knots. We could just distinguish it through the mist. Becasue of the very poor visibility we decided not to take the inshore passage and set course for Longships. This put us slightly ahead of our tidal strategy and meant that we experienced more wind against tide effect which made the sea quite rough as we began to turn the corner after Runnel Stone. Nothing that Noisette did not take in her stride, and we were glad we were on her and not sitting in one of the small fishing boats that were bobbing up and down near the cardinal. The sky brightened momentarily and we could make out the hotel on Lands End as we passed.
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| Lands End - honest! |
We approached Longships with the tide and the wind coming round behind us and shot through at 7.7 knots. We couldn't see the Cornish coast as we left the West Country behind and began the long passage across the Bristol Channel towards Milford Haven. We maintained the watch system through the day as we knew we would need our wits about us to avoid the tankers as we entered Milford Haven. Again we were thankful of the AIS to monitor the passage of ships as they ran parallell to us in the separation zone and then broke loose to cut across us to go up the Bristol Channel. It is reassuring to know where they are even if you can't see them, and all that you need to concentrate on is any vessels that may be running without AIS.
It was a quite passage, the wind was now right behind us and not strong enough to sail. We had a few gannetts and guillimots for company. David heard a Pan Pan from a yacht - the skipper had a problem and there was also an issue with the yacht and only 1 other crew member who was inexpereinced. Falmouth Coast Guard decided to launch the Padstow lifeboat to assist. We were relieved as they were about 3 hours due South of us and it would have added greatly to our day to have been the nearest vessel able to assist.
At 18.20 David said he saw a single dolphin alongside but Chris was not sure whether he was imagining it. At about 22.30 a pod of about 7 or 8 dolphins came and kept us company, riding our bow wave and criss crossing under the boat for about an hour. Too dark to photograph them effectively on this occasion but hopefully there will be other encounters.
As we approached the Welsh coast there were a lot of large ships lying off or at anchor south of the entrance to Milford Haven. It didn't occur to us until we called port control as we entered the Eastern Channel at 01.00, that they had closed the harbour to large ships because of the poor visibility. We were greeted with a cheery "good morning" and told there was no other traffic in the entrance and to proceed as planned. This was in stark contrast to the previous time we had entered with Alan Birch in Kurrowong when we were met with a wall of lights as one or more tankers were being swung in front of us. A small blessing for nearly 24 hours of poor visibility (at best).
Careful preparation always pays and we were able to pick our way through the entrance to the Haven, light by light, with less than 1/4 mile visibility, and into Dale Roads where we planned to anchor and rest for a few hours until the free flow on the Milford Haven Marina lock started at 04.00.
As we manoeuvred the boat to drop the anchor the prop fouled. We presumed we had picked up a mooring line and it was immediately obvious that we were stuck firmly by the stern with no engine. We dropped the anchor and did what we could with the sails to turn the boat to encourage the anchor to set. We were lying across the wind a cable or two from the lee shore. We checked and rechecked our position to make sure that we were not moving, but our new Rocna anchor held firm. David called Port Control to alert them to our situation and they asked us to to call again at 07.30 in the morning to see whether they could provide a tow.
An unfortunate end to what was otherwise a great passage, and just as we were preparing to congratulate ourselves on the achievement!
A call to Port Control at 07.35 confirmed our worst fears - with improving visibility the Port was now open, and there was a backlog of ships requiring pilots, and there wasn't going to be any spare craft available to give us a tow to somewhere we could dry out and clear the prop.
We tried Milford Haven Marina, who couldn't help but suggested we call Dale Sailing, who are, confusingly, located at Neyland. The upshot was that Jim, returning from a job on a tanker 20 miles out in the Bristol Channel, gave us a tow with his 400hp RIB.
On tickover he was pulling us along at 5kts. The most interesting part of the tow was working out which way to go to avoid a tanker being swung by three tugs.
Jim cast us off to leave us to drift alongside the Dale Sailing pontoon at the entrance to the Neyland creek, which was the best coming alongside we've managed so far. Jim thought we'd put the engine on for the manoeuvre!
Mike, the Dale Sailing Director, was extemely helpful. Within half an hour, Noisette was in the hoist and we could see what the problem was. A 5 gallon plastic drum*, half full of concrete, with a few metres of polypropylene (floating) rope wound round the prop.
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| Prop completely ensnared by whelk pot and line - rudder to right |
*We know it was a whelk pot, because there was a whelk in it. We worked out the cost per kilo of the 200gm whelk, taking into account the cost of the lift-and-hold, and decided that however it tasted, it would be a dissappointment.
Half an hour after relaunching at Neyland, we were passing through the lock to enter the dock at Milford Haven, where we have left Noisette while we return home to mow the lawn, do the washing, catch up with parents, daughters and grandchildren, and pay some bills.
We rejoin Noisette on 2nd May, with the objective of heading North up the Irish Sea, to leave her within striking distance of the Isle of Man where we need to be by 24th May.
