Reading Time: 15 minutes
28th June 2024
We left Weymouth at 10:30 for the long route via the east of The Shambles and then south of the race off Portland Bill. It was a spring tide so I didn’t fancy the biscuit toss route inside the race. Even several miles south of the Bill it was surprisingly rough considering the moderate weather. We arrived in Torquay in the dead of the night. Tilman always barks when we approach a marina so this proved to be a tad embarrassing. We considered dawdling to arrive at dawn, but decided it best to press on. Ordinarily I would have stopped at Brixham, but I needed to go to Torquay to collect my friend Alan.
Torquay
It is unfair to review this port as we were only there for a short time. By accident I booked in to the rather expensive MDL Marina. I hadn’t noticed that there were alternative town harbour moorings which would have been much cheaper and probably suited us best, but it was too late. A member of the MDL staff came down to greet us with a torch to show us to the correct pontoon, which happened to be pretty filthy. But to compensate, there was piped music in the shower block, so maybe it was worth booking in to the posh marina. This was a marina full of big “Sunseeker” type motor boats making little Sumara look very out of place. Sadly, MDL charge mid-day to mid-day so as we arrived at 02:00 and left at 12:00 the following day, we were charged for two days This actually makes it the most expensive marina so far at £58.58 per day! (£41.50 per 12:00-12:00).
Luckily Alan introduced us to the Hole in the Wall pub which was a hidden corker serving a fine pint of Dartmoor Jail. Established in 1540, it is Torquay’s oldest inn. It is close to the harbour but tucked away up Park Lane, but well worth seeking out.
Good Points
As with all the marinas I have been very impressed by the staff who were friendly and helpful
Clean modern shower block – with piped music!
24 hour access and close to the town
Bad Points
Our pontoon was particularly dirty, although, to be fair, the others seemed ok. Just bad luck I suppose.
Price per night for 8 m boat
Noon to noon pricing at £41.50 worked out at £58.58 per day!
Dartmouth
‘We left Torquay at 12:30 and headed off towards Dartmouth. Our attempts at sailing soon left us wafting about getting nowhere so we motored past the Mewstone Rock into Dartmouth.
The other day Bruce, who has a Vertue in Tasmania, asked whether larger boats were struggling to find moorings in the UK. It got me thinking how lucky I was to own a small boat. We radioed up Dartmouth Harbour and they asked how long the boat was, when we replied 8 m, they said that we could moor alongside on the town pontoon next to the lower ferry – a plum spot! This pontoon is reserved for boats of 8 m or less, what’s more, the gap between the moored boats was only about 9 m so we gently ferry glided in to the best mooring in town. Sadly I’ve forgotten what it cost for the night but not too much. The Dartmouth Yacht Club opposite had showers etc. The larger yachts were rafted up midstream.
I called up a old girlfriend of mine from RADA days, who was now happily married and living in Kingswear. She said that she would book a table at her favourite restaurant – The Seahorse. It served the most fantastic seafood but I confess that it was probably the most expensive meal i have ever had, with the exception of snacking hot dogs in Norway! (I don’t dare say what it cost!) We were then invited for a super healthy breakfast at their house in Kingswear with breath-taking views across the estuary.
Salcombe
As wonderful as Dartmouth is, we wanted to leave to head towards Salcombe. I did a passage plan to avoid arriving on the bar across Salcombe at low tide, then promptly ignored it by leaving earlier than planned (I get bored waiting) and sailing faster than forecast, so we arrived at exactly low tide. I suspect we could have creeped in, but being of cautious mind, decided to turn off the motor, drop the sails and do a bit of half hearted fishing. Once a couple of hours had passed, we saw a yacht come out and decided to venture in, keeping to the west of the leading line. Ironically the depth at LWS on the leading line is .07 m whereas it is apparently 3 m deep slightly to the west.
Again, the advantage of a small boat came to help us. There was a buoy available for boats up to 8 m whilst the larger yachts were again rafted-up midstream. At £16.00 per night it seemed like a bargain. Whereas Dartmouth has a feel of a working town, Salcombe is 100% in holiday mode. The high street is a string of Henri Lloyd, Fat Face and Musto shops selling just the kind of gear you need to wear to blend in with the affluent sailing community.
We cheated and used the river taxi, but behind us was a Twister and they rowed ashore in their Avon dinghy looking like they were from a different planet. I have never seen so many flashy little RIBs with big outboards.
The weather was against us so we planned to stay in Salcombe for an extra day and it gave us the opportunity to meet Roger and his wife Frances. Roger looks after the Vertue Yachts website. We had lunch together in the bustling Ferry Boat Inn then took them out to see Sumara. Roger seemed suitably impressed and made some very complimentary remarks about Sumara’s build quality. Once back ashore, Roger insisted that we meet his longstanding friend Malcolm who is a Ship Historian who also makes absolutely amazing model ships. I wondered whether Malcolm would be very pleased to have us interrupting his afternoons work, but he greeted us in a most friendly way and showed us around his studio packed with thousands of maritime books and of course all the tools of his trade. His work was mind bogglingly intricate and looked stunning! He is about to have a book on the Fruit Ships published. I will post a link once it is released. It was a real pleasure to meet him and Roger and Frances. After this whirlwind of social activity, it was again time to move on.
Cawsand
We had light winds up until now, but this leg was going to be a little bit more lively. After a few fruitless tacks in a moderate sea, we eventually edged away from Salcombe once the tide kicked in to our favour. I set up the Windpilot self-steering gear and, with hardly any tweaking, it sailed us right into Cawsand Bay.
This wide gently sloping bay is protected from the west and makes for a popular anchorage. There were quite a few boats anchored inshore so we stayed clear and dropped the Rocna anchor in 9.5 m with 36 m of chain and a snubber. After taking a couple of transits we relaxed with an evening meal and a swim around the boat to clean the water line.
We didn’t go ashore but have since visited the two villages of Kingsand and Cawsand and found them to be idyllic Cornish fishing villages with plenty of pubs serving great food at reasonable prices – after my fish meal in Dartmouth, everywhere seems reasonable now!
Cremyll
The following day we motored into Plymouth harbour to pick up a buoy off Cremyll. It had been kindly lent to us by Will who owns a covered shipyard over the water. Will was away sailing in the Aleutians. Being able to stay for a few days on a buoy which is free of charge helps hugely to reduce the daily cost of sailing on the South Coast. Will also offered to lend me a dinghy and outboard but, as I was to be alone for a while, my little Avon Redstart with long oars was going to be easier to drag up the beach.
Talking about how small yachts have advantages, small dinghies can be useful too. Being able to sling a dinghy on your shoulder and tie it up to the railings above high tide is quite a strong advantage. Rowing is good exercise too!
However, I was soon to discover the power of the spring tides which runs at 2.8 knots on the ebb! Luckily a local dive boat spotted me rowing flat out one evening making little progress and offered me a tow. I owe six divers a beer! I now have to do passage plans before attempting the row ashore as the spring tides are still building. I understand now why Will offered the loan of a dinghy and outboard!
After we arrived we were treated to an air display but were only able to spot glimpses of the acrobatics from our mooring.
Alan and I decided to row ashore to wander around the beautiful Mount Edgcumbe Gardens. Alan was looking a touch nervous at the prospect of the dinghy ride! Whilst ashore there was time for a quick swim before we met up with my friends Paul and Diana.
The next day would be time for Alan to leave the boat to catch the bus back to Torquay.
Paul will be sailing with me to Falmouth. I have enjoyed many adventures with Paul including sailing from Greenwich to Spitsbergen!
We ate an amazing Sunday lunch in the Edgcumbe Arms – highly recommended.
Paul and Diana are currently building a cabin on the cliffs overlooking Whitsand Bay so I offered to give them a hand. The cabin is the equivalent of 17 stories down the cliff so unloading the timber lorry was a good workout.
I admire their energy to see this project through, especially in this rather unseasonable weather. Whenever I leave the boat now I pack a belay jacket and swimming gear, you just have no idea what the next hour will bring.
It was great to meet up with Arthur again. We sailed together through the Northwest Passage last year and Arthur proved himself to be a brilliant sailor and great company. We ate fine Cornish seabass in The Devonport Inn which is a freehouse pub overlooking the sea in Cawsand. It was returning to the boat from this trip when the Torpoint dive boat gave me tow after spotting me rowing like the clappers and getting almost nowhere.
I eventually gave up on the buoy. The windy weather and spring tides were making getting ashore very exciting. I booked myself into the Mayflower Marina for a couple of days so I could do my laundry, fill up with water and have a shower. To my surprise they actually have BATHROOMS! Wow, that was a good bath.
Tonight I am being introduced to Chris, who is a legendry local boatbuilder and sailor. We will eat in the Edgcumbe Arms again then Paul and I will grab the last ferry across the water ready to sail through continuous rain towards Fowey.
Mayflower Marina
Good Points
It has spotless BATH rooms! That is a first for me, although I have a faint memory of Shotley having a few bathrooms too.
Helpful staff, although to advice to moor downwind portside too resulted in a few hull scrapes. Hard to ignore the advice once it was given.
Onsite bar, café, restaurant, laundry.
Pleasant 10 minute walk to an outside lido
Bad Points
Judging by the number of tyres using as mooring springs, I can imagine that this place can get a bit rolly in some winds.
It is a bit of a trek into town
Price per night for a visiting yacht
£36.00 including power if needed – not too bad considering it has BATHrooms!
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