Last leg

After having left the boat in Brighton Marina for a week and following some personal  R&R in Wales we all felt able to tackle the last big push in order to try and get home ASAP 

Enriched by a new and enthusiastic crew we set off on a short and uneventful trip to Eastbourne and enjoyed sailing close to Beachy Head,

The crew enjoyed a bus trip around Eastbourne before a short sleep and an early departure this morning to sail to Ramsgate.

Although the journey was long and not very exciting, we all enjoyed an easy arrival at Ramsgate where we were pleased to witness the arrival of ‘Seeker’, the Border Force patrol boat.

We also experienced a visit to the largest Wetherspoons in the country ......!

Tomorrow we will hopefully finish our circumnavigation with an afternoon sail round the North Foreland and back to the welcoming mud of The Swale

Brighton Beckons

After a bright and early start we cleverly caught the tide going out of Portsmouth and were glad to make good time to Selsey Bill

Although it was a bit bumpy the crew stayed calm and we soon made it into East Sussex with Brighton rapidly coming closer

The sun shone and we both suffered as a consequence so were happy to arrive in Brighton by mid afternoon

After a good nights sleep we awoke refreshed but sad that my trusty professional crew mate must return home.

The boat will now take a few more days rest in Brighton before we embark on the last leg of our journey accompanied by a new fresh and eager crew.

A visit to Old Pompey

After a bumpy night in the marina the crew were pleased to see the harbour rubber dinghy arrive early this morning to tow us out of Yarmouth Harbour

The rest of the morning was spent having a pleasant sail along The Solent past Osborne House  and an old castle.

We enjoyed our afternoon in Portsmouth visiting the Spinnaker Tower and walking through the old town with all its Nelson connections

There was a great view of Calismarde from the top, sitting in the massive but very pleasant Haslar Marina.

After supper on an old lightship the crew are looking forward to an early start tomorrow in order to get to Brighton before closing time.

Well ... here we are again

So....

After a week at home the return to Calismarde was a journey of tense anticipation mixed with apprehension at the thought of passing the mighty Portland Sound en route to Poole

Vitalised by a fresh crew and a few beers we set off bright and early from wonderful Torquay to cross Lyme Bay

The passing of Portland Bill proved to be a non event despite the skippers anxieties

However..... the journey was very long but largely uneventful thanks to the influence of my new professional crew mate and despite the traumas of entering Poole harbour at night with ferries bearing down on us

We picked up a mooring for the night just off Brownsea Island and set off this morning on the short journey to Yarmouth Isle of Wight

All went well until we reached the Needles when the skippers lack of preparation was revealed.

The 4.5 knot adverse tide meant that our journey was very slow and thankfully the crew was happy to look at the Needles for a couple of hours as we slowly made our way up the Solent

We were pleased to arrive safely in Yarmouth and the crew thoroughly enjoyed a drink with the rich members of Royal Solent Yacht Club

Tomorrow Portsmouth beckons

A fond farewell.. for now

We arrived in Torquay yesterday after a short sail around Berry Head and across Torbay.

The crew were delighted to arrive at such a swish marina with so many shiny white boats.

Certainly Calismarde looked rather out of place.

 Undeterred, the crew soon made some new friends and we enjoyed making the boat look gleaming prior to today’s departure for home.

We were excited to see some huge jellyfish in the harbour and were relieved not to have fallen in the water as we approached the marina .as they looked rather fierce 

We look forward to restarting our trip next weekend with fresh crew.

Two short sails in a row

The new crew was keen to see as many places as possible in the couple of days that she had set aside to spend on Calismarde

With that in mind we set off early from Plymouth on our trip to Salcombe. Initially the wind was kind and we made valiant attempts at fishing for mackerel, but it soon blew up making for a slightly nerve wracking entry across the sand bar into the harbour. It was only later that we learnt about the horrific lifeboat disaster here in 1914.

A tragedy at Salcombe bar

The crew found Salcombe to be a rather posh place and not really to her taste. However after a tasty pub meal and a good sleep we were both ready for today’s dash to Dartmouth.

With our new mackerel line out (the one from yesterday went overboard) we had an uneventful sail in the sun arriving at Dartmouth by early afternoon.... sadly without mackerel.

This town is more to everyone’s liking and we are looking forward to a mackerel supper caught and cooked by a professional

We were pleased to travel on the Kingswear ferry to Dartmouth town which was built at Conyer in 1978

The ferry built near Faversham

Tomorrow we go to Torquay in order to leave the boat for a week intil the next stage of the adventure

Entry to Dartmouth

Memories of Plymouth

It’s 40 years since I worked in Plymouth for six months after I qualified. It’s changed a lot ...certainly around The Barbican where the very swish Sutton Harbour Marina has been built.

 There are loads of pubs and restaurant and it was even buzzing.... compared to Westbere standards ...on a Tuesday evening.

We had a boring trip from Fowey against  a light wind so engine was the order of the day and we arrived in Plymouth in a heavy rainstorm

The crew were very pleased with the facilities and I like to think that we have had our money’s worth from them.

There are several large boats here including this one from Malta

Today we visited Saltram House ... a large country mansion owned by an 18th century landowner and largely designed by Robert Adam and with beautiful gardens.

Tomorrow sees a change in crew and hopefully a trip to Salcombe.