Leg 5 Dartmouth to Salcombe 17.05.11

Date:- 17.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Freddie From: Dartmouth To: Salcombe Comments: Easy start rough finish

Wind Strength / direction: Westerly F5 Sea State: Moderate Distance:21.7 nautical miles Time Taken:5hrs 26

Start point



The start of leg 5 was calm and nice. Weather was very good and sea state was slight. At first as we left the river Dart all was fine I thought to myself that it was going to be a cruising shute day. But as we left the river mouth there was no wind and I re-thought that it wasn’t even worth putting the cruising shute up. The wind indicator showed between 4 and 7 knots of Apparent wind. But as we motored out further in to the English channel the wind increased, I put up the main sail first and then shortly after this I pulled out the Jib. We were flying along reaching 7.7knots with no reefs in the sail. Perfect. But definitely not a cruising chute day. As I came amid ships of ‘Start Point’ This is a very prominent headland with a white tower on it which can be seen for many miles out to sea, the sea state suddenly changed from a slight sea to a very choppy moderate sea. Moderate sea is between 9ft and 15ft waves.

I was very tempted to drop the main sail as I had when crossing from poole Harbour to Weymouth but the boat was handling the conditions really well and we were keeping up a good six to six and a half knots up or down the waves or even in the troughs. I had worked out my passage time from a rough 4 knots per mile at this rate I could probably knock about an hour and half to two hours off my passage time. Although this would prove to be a problem as in the entrance to Salcombe there is a bar (sand bank) and if I arrived to early there would not be enough water for me to get into the harbour! But I would consider this later.

My faith in Morgen just grows from strength to strength. Even though we were battling against the prevailing westerly wind almost head on she just kept on ploughing through everything that was thrown at her. What a great little boat. The wind and the sea made for exciting sailing for me, however Freddie felt differently about it! He couldn’t work out how to get comfortable with the boat heeled so far over and when he did get comfortable by wedging himself in to the corner of the cockpit he threw up. The first time he has been sea sick. Great. He seemed ok straight away so I found the bucket which was hidden away in the rear lazerette which has a rope attached to it, threw it over the side filling it up with clean sea water. I then went about washing the deck where he had been sick. This took quite a while to clear as the chunks of dog food wedged itself in any little nook or cranny. Job done settle back to sailing. The wind picked up and we were hammering along. Freddie was sick again. However this time I couldn’t clean it up as the sea state had become to rough. Freddie moved himself in to the cockpit floor at the doorway well away from where he had been sick and left me to stand in it for the next two hours until we were able to moor up at a vivistors pontoon. Nice !

Just before Freddie was sick. Yuk.

I had left the AICR banner tied to the forward port guard rail and at about 12.30 to 13.00 hrs it started to untie itself. I didn’t want to lose the banner over the side of the boat so there was only one thing I could do, and I needed to do it fast. I walked and crawled up on to the port deck which is no problem in itself but when the sea is lapping over the toe rail and the boat is heeled over so far, one slip and the next stop is the drink. Also the water seems to pass by the hull very very fast and all of these sensations come very prominently to the foreground of your mind. As I untie the banner it starts flapping wildly in the wind and I am hugely aware that I must not slip but I untie the banner one knot at a time. I crawl back to the cockpit and try to carry it down the cabin steps where I immediately slip and crash down the gangway yet again. I have pins and plates in my left leg from a motor vehicle accident about seven years ago and of course I land on this leg which instantly gives way and I go sprawling in to the cabin. ‘o bother’ I say to myself and the air turns blue.

After some very high westerly winds we finally reach the entrance to salcombe. I have to keep as far to the west as I dare on the entrance to the harbour. There are some daunting cliffs and I need to judge it just right as the depth gauge is showing me that the water is becoming shallower all the time. I was about an hour earlier than I had planned and as it turned out I had enough water underneath me to make it across the bar, Phew. Salcombe as you can see from the pictures is another beautiful harbour and very well protected. As you sail in you can see golden sandy beaches on both sides in little coves that make you want to get off and explore. Just then the mobile phone goes and I come back to reality and as I answer it the Harbour master comes out to direct me to a visitors pontoon. I feel like a naughty school kid caught with his mobile phone in lessons. Tut tut.

Once moored up safely around the corner from Salcombe in a place called the bag I get Freddie off the boat and take him walking and running so as to burn some energy from him. We end up going up a very steep hill which gives us great views of the estuary. A really lovely place. Salcombe however is a place for the more affluent amongst us as it is quite expensive with designer shops along its main street. But I have to say quintessentially a lovely little English sea side village. But very hilly when you have to walk a german shepherd. And very tiring.

Freddie makes friends on the Visitors Pontoon
 

Dartmouth 13.05.11 to 16th.05.11

Date:- 13.05.11 to 16.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Freddie From: Dartmouth To: N/A Comments: A lovely weekend in Dartmouth

Wind Strength / direction: force 2 Sea State:Slight Distance: Time Taken:

Lovely entrance to Dartmouth

Arrived back at the boat on Friday evening. This is after being at home for five days suffering with toothache. Not fun at sea. I have had sensitive teeth on the left side of my jaw for about a year but whilst at Poole Harbour and Weymouth the toothache really began to bother me to the point where I couldn’t eat or drink from the left side of my mouth. After visiting the emergency dentist in Kettering explaining that I need something done as I need to return to the boat in order to carry on, ‘she said to phone my dentist first thing Monday morning’ and gave me some anti-biotics. And that was it!
I phoned my dentist first thing Monday morning explaining all the ins and outs and they told me my dentist was off ill. So I made an appointment with an other dentist from the same practise. This Dentist said that she thought it was my wisdom teeth and to take some stronger tablets and make an appointment with my own dentist.Arghhhhh
The following day I phoned the dentist again as the pain was by now really bad. Holding pillows and rocking back and forth sort of pain. But finally an emergency appointment was made with my own dentist.
She immediately found the tooth that was causing all the pain and sensitivety and informed me that I would need to undergo route canal treatment and three follow up appointments. But she started it straight away. At last. After many injections and drilling she finally removed the three canals (the route) and filled the tooth with a temporary filling. This actually took nearly two hours so quite a big operation. A further appointment has been made which I will need to attend at some point when I’m home.
A bad nights sleep was to follow as the anaesthetic wore off and the pain from my jaw slowly made its presence felt. However revelation upon revelation the following morning dawned pain free. This was the first time in weeks that I did not have toothache. Yehhhhhh.

Freda and Alan enjouying the sail so far

Any way moved the boat from the Dartmouth Harbour authority moorings back to Darthaven marina so we could enjoy the facilities of a marina for the weekend. My sister and brother in law live in Corwall which is about 40 minutes away and they arranged to visit the following day. Great I rarely see Freda and Alan and this would be the first time they would see the boat.

Freda and Alan arrived Saturday morning and after a cup of tea and a good gossip where I found out that my sister is terrified of boats and gets sea sick very easily we took a chance to go out to the entrance of the bay as it was very calm and sunny. To my sisters surprise she found the boat to be very sure footed and did not feel sea sick at all. After her confidence grew we decided to put the Jib up ( the front sail) She found this fine too but I did try to explain that because the wind was with us the boat sat nice and flat but when we turn in to the wind in order to return the boat would heel over far more as we would be sailing close to the wind which would make it heel over. She was even fine with this. Surprise surprise, until Freddie decided to jump on her for some petting. This did frighten her as we were quite heeled over at the time. After much licking by Freddie we turned in to the harbour and wound the Jib back in and turned the motor on and everything settled down to a nice afternoon trip up the river Dart. This is a very beautiful part of the country and we are surrounded by woods and rolling hills and a lovely meandering river. Perfect.

Just to prove I was on the boat

Some wine and dinner and a lot of laughing and catching up and moaning about politicians etc and we all turned in for the night.

Sunday morning breakfast in the Royal Dart Hotel was a great treat and a good way of starting the day off. This is how Sundays should be. A lazy slow start. After breakfast Freda and Alan said there goodbyes so they could return home and catch up with all those weekend chores and give me Fran and Freddie a little time to ourselves before Fran would need to set off home on her four and half hour drive.

I have to say though it was a great weekend seeing my sister and spending time with both of them is quite special when we live half of the country away from them. We have always been close and it was a real boon being this close to there home whilst on my trip. I’m really glad they made it. One thing which was said whilst we had had a few drinks inside us that when I arrive in Plymouth they will visit me again which should I hope depending on weather be next weekend.

It depends on weather if I make Plymouth be the weekend as there is a Front coming in from the Atlantic which is due to hit us on Wednesday. I hope that this will be a rest day. But I will have to wait and see.

Monday 16^th May was the day I had put aside for getting on with some of the running repairs etc. Another costly trip to the chandlery. I have to replace the mains electric input connection for when you connect to shore power. The existing one is a pain in the a___ as when you are standing at the helm steering as you do for many hours on end you cannot help but stand on the protective flap. This has had the corner broken off and now does a good impression of a hacksaw cutting in to your ankles. A new flush mounted electrical connector is now in place and when you stand at the helm you can brace yourself with legs equal distance apart. The other job which I needed to do was repair the tack line for the cruising chute. I bought some rope eyes again from the chandlers and fitted them to the deck so the new tack line could run freely back to the cockpit where I can adjust the tension.

Job done!