To Alderney

17 September 2017

It was time to go sailing again.  We'd nip over to Alderney and visit our old friend Jonathon.

We left Noss at first light (this occurs at exactly the same time that I first open my eyes each morning ... so we always leave a little after first light).  The forecast was NW F4 becoming NE later.  The wind was NE F4 all day.  We stonked over to Alderney on a beam/close reach and got there by 1745. The Casquette Traffic Separation Zone was interesting.

We moored in Braye, Jean cooked a Spag Bog and we slept very well.  Braye is unusual, being one of the few harbours that is consistently rolly inside even when it's a flat calm outside.

18th September

Unfortunately, for us, our old friend Jonathon was away on holiday.  So we went for a walk and I worried about how we were ever going to get back to Noss (bearing NW) in the forecast F5 NW.
Supper (F&C) at The Braye Beach Hotel was good. 
As we were going to have to motor all day to get back to Noss, I gave the engine a good talking to and randomly adjusted various nuts and bolts to show I meant business ....without breaking anything of note.  Coolant has been leaking from the (err..) cooling system for years so, having carefully cleaned the offending leaky area I carefully applied some AbroSteel (epoxy stuff), squishing it deftly into position using Jean's toothbrush handle.  At last a proper fix for our engine!

Thoroughly fixed leak

19th September

Up at first light (etc.). We left at 0700 having spent 20 minutes unplatting our mooring lines.
We had very strong adverse tides for the first 3 hours. I calculated an ETA at Noss of 0400 next day.   We bashed along motor-sailing (more motor than sail) almost head to wind.  I went to bed. The tide turned, the wind backed and Jean tacked and we were flying.  ETA Noss now well in time for supper. Even better our trusty engine was no longer leaking. No more red coolant dripping out.
Having managed to avoid a minor tornado (see picture), we even turned off th engine and sailed the last 12 miles towards The Dart.

 A distant tornado

Arrived  1730.  Not even quite dark. 
Unfortunately, I later discovered that the coolant had in fact been leaking all day long .. just slightly more discretely from behind my carefully applied lump of AbroSteel.

Four stay on a boat together

15 August 2017

After lunch at home, we packed all our stuff and got in the big blue car with a propeller on the back.
And then we went to Noss Marina. On the way we played a game where we guessed how many cars were be coming the otherway. Grandpa made up the rules. Grandpa won the game.

And then we put the stuff from the big blue car into the little green boat. then Grandpa took the propeller off the big blue car and fixed it on the little green boat. And then we put on our life jackets and  Grandpa told us not to fall in the water. And then we set out across the river in the little green boat and arrived at a big white boat called "Albatross".

We explored Albatross and its bedrooms and outside. Then we had tea and after that we had supper.  Granny cooked bolognese with rice.   We had Shloer and Granny and Grandpa had a bottle of Ribena.

 

And then we went to sleep.

Next day we packed our stuff into the little green boat, then into the big blue car. And then we drove back to Granny and Grandpa's house. Grandpa won the game on the way back too, although the rules were slightly different.

40th Anniversary

29 July 2017

We celebrated our 40th!

  Almost all of us in the rain 

We did lots of crabbing.

And we had a BBQ

July Cruise II

16 July 2017
Al joined us for our annual cruise together. This was very nice.

From the Dart we sailed and motored to CSB (Cawsand Bay).  An eddy helped Doris  get around Start Point.
We anchored and had spag bog.

17 July
We motored in a flat calm to Falmouth.  The Visitors' Marina.
We rafted on the outside east-facing side next to Pipedream and Stuart with whom we had a very nice chat. Supper F&C.

18 July
Returning from a walk and a pastie we found many boat in trouble in the wind (F7 Easterly).
Wind. Thunder. Rain. Waves.
The Visitors' Marina was barely tenable but also inescapable.
A local sailor said it was common knowledge that boats were at risk of damage in strong easterlies.
We put 15 fenders  including a car tyre between us and Pipedream and spent the afternoon stuffing them back down whenever they popped out. Eventually the wind dropped and the waves settled and we returned variouse fenders to various kind sailors whose boats were moored in better shelter.

 

Albatross and Pipedream and 15 fenders 

I had a chat with the man in the marina office.
Our chat involved ideas like "duty of care" "absence of warning" and "negligence".
He kindly gave us a refund. 'nuff said.

19 July
We motored well up the river to a nice sheltered pontoon and went for a very pleasant walk in Malpas followed by some very pleasant beers in the pub.

20 July
A broad reach in F5 to QAB Marina Plymouth.
Saw several Harbour Porpoises and some White-Beaked Dolphins (possibly).  Linda would have known which was which.
Arrived in QAB before a stormy evening and night.

21 July
We had a day off in QAB.  This included walking to Cornwall, a boat trip back to Devon, a long walk in the rain  and much interesting siteseeing and eating and possibly a little beer.

23 July
According to The Captain's Log  Star Date 22-07-17 is absent from the current year's calendar.
Anyway, we left at 0555 got to Start Point by 0830 and were happily moored on the Dart for lunch.

A very pleasant trip with great company  in awful weather. Nothing much changes, eh?