After a pre-cruise planning meeting in the Rose and Crown pub, this leg of the cruise commenced for Anne Goggin, Clare Klaire, Warren Ackerley, Charles Clark and myself with a road trip from Alton, via Andover, to Mylor Yacht Haven, Falmouth. The first part of the evolution was managing to squeeze five people, all our kit and some pre-prepared frozen meals into a hire car smaller than the one we booked!
On arrival in Mylor it was time to take over Eagle, complete the inventory and send the volunteer shoppers with the hire car to the nearest supermarket, and then go ashore for a first night dinner at Castaways restaurant in the marina.
The next day we were met by clear weather, sunshine and a good breeze, perfect for a short first day sail down to the Helford River. An early afternoon arrival – where club member David White happened to moor next to us on classic boat ‘Minx’ – allowed plenty of time for those keen enough to go ashore and explore, followed by a lovely dinner onboard of the first of the pre-prepared frozen meals.
The next day the view was non-existent with thick fog blanketing the estuary. It did lift sufficiently to allow us to leave just about on schedule for our next stop of Fowey. However, the fog returned during our passage with fog banks interspersed with periods of clear(ish) weather. We could hear a Norwegian frigate conducting a live fire exercise plus hear them hooning about at 40 knots! We never did see them, always just out of sight the other side of a fog bank. The fog then returned with a vengeance just as we approached Fowey. We crept in at very slow speed with Warren doing excellent blind navigation using a combination of the chart plotter and his handheld Navionics. You could not see either side of the river on the way in but had sufficient visibility to be able to spot our chosen pontoon at Pont Pill, nicely opposite Town Quay and Yacht Club.
We had a relaxing two days in Fowey, eating onboard, showering and drinking ashore plus topping up with the worlds best Pasties before departure. A ‘highlight’ of the stay was the practical experiment conducted by Charles on the impact strength of red wine bottles versus white wine bottles. When dropped onto concrete from the same height only the white wine bottles shattered!
Our next port of call was Plymouth, just a quick pit-stop overnight en-route to Dartmouth. Another good days sail interspersed with some motoring. We did see lots of dolphins during the cruise, but I actually cannot recall on which day. What we did see just outside Plymouth, surfacing just off our starboard quarter was this Portuguese submarine. The first time I have witnessed a submarine surfacing from the outside!
The next day brought more fine weather, but light winds, so a motor sail around to Dartmouth. The crew voted for paying to stay on the visitors pontoon at Kingswear rather than taking a free berth further up river at Premiers Noss-on-Dart marina. We had a great evening meal at the local pub before a relaxing day allowing the explorers to witness the modes of transport from yester-year plus taking a selfie in front of a sign that says ‘no photography’!
We were blessed with a flat sea and a very clear night, but again light winds so a motor sail across Lyme Bay followed by creeping past Portland Bill well off-shore in order to minimise the effect of the contrary ride. An early afternoon arrival into a surprisingly quiet Poole Yacht Haven led to a convivial afternoon and another glorious dinner on board.
Our last two days of the cruise then resulted in the best winds of the week. A cracking sail across to Hurst was followed by tacking our way up the Western Solent towards Cowes. Another lesson re-learnt was to always have a glance over the shoulder before tacking – yes, very large ships still use the Needles Channel and travel surprisingly fast!
Our last evening of the cruise was spent up the Medina on the pontoons opposite the Folly Inn. Our plans to go ashore for a beer were thwarted by the absence of the water taxi, otherwise engaged in ferrying the last of the IoW festival goers back to Cowes (but we did have the benefit of a free pop concert!). So we had to resort to demolishing the last of the onboard alcohol supplies followed by a final supper. By a strange co-incidence we berthed just in front of a yacht called Spread Eagle, which on discussion with the owners had been sold to them by SESC many years previously.
Our last day was a motor down the Medina, a re-fuel at Cowes and a final cracking sail back to Hamble Point. Drop the sails, tidy the boat and a motor back to our berth at Universal. This was the hardest evolution of the week with 25 knots blowing directly off the berth, but with good teamwork we managed to successfully berth at the 3rd attempt!
The cruise was blessed with fine weather, sunshine and no rain. The skipper was blessed with a great crew, all of whom contributed to a highly enjoyable trip.
C J Maughan
Skipper