Friday 27 April 2012

The Amiable Alex


Alex our expert sailor friend met us in Newlyn on the 25th April. After very close scrutiny, we decided that we should grab the weather window on the 26th and 27th, prior to more horrible weather coming in again on Sunday. For Bob and myself, this was where the big adventure really started. We'd been to the Isles of Scilly last year, but we'd never rounded Land's End before, and never had a 24 hour trip before. We cast off on Thursday morning at 10.00am in acceptable weather, wondering how it would feel and how we'd cope. It made a big difference knowing that Alex was there to advise if we needed it, and also to give us some practical help.
As we rounded the Runnel Stone, switched the engine off, and started to sail North, we had a group of dolphins accompany us. They were joyfully ducking and diving around the front of the boat as we carved our way through the waves. It felt like a good omen. The weather was settled enough for us to sail between the Longships Lighthouse and Land's End itself, a narrow channel with fierce rocks either side. It would eat you up in no time in rougher conditions. Sailing through the night was going to be the hardest part of this passage, so we devised a watch rota. One of us would be on deck for two hours, one sleeping within shouting distance and one switching off totally, then we'd swap round. My first solo night watch was between 10 and midnight and the second was at 4.00am. I wanted to be the one who sailed from nightime into daylight, hoping for a glorious sunrise, but it was more like a series of progressively lightening shades of grey. It was good to see some colour contrast when we finally saw land, even if it was a dull shade of green. At 5.30 am, another school of dolphins appeared and swam along with us again for twenty minutes or so. It was a cheering sight on a cold and damp morning.
Despite the thick cloud cover, our night sail was straighforward, with consistent winds, very few gusts and no nasty surprises. The traffic in the Bristol Channel is always minimal, so apart from a few fishing boats and the odd cargo ship, we had the place to ourselves. We arrived in Milford Haven almost exactly twenty four hours later, having clocked up 142 nautical miles, feeling a bit dog eared, but having a good sense of achievement.


The Longships Lighthouse off Land's End



4 comments:

  1. Been tracking you on that shipfinder thing, quite exciting to think about, well done!
    Love the mental image of the dolphins.

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  2. We've seen dolphins at a distance before, but not had them swim with us like that. We think they were sharing our excitement, especially the setting off and then the arriving safely. The whole trip was an adventure, but the dolphins were a particular highlight,, and I felt very privileged having them appear when I was on watch by myself in the early hours of Friday morning. What next? A minke whale?

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  3. It is hard to believe you are actually doing this - so brave and fearless. And to top it all you manage to throw in an art exhibition and cookery demo along the way. Great to learn you were in safe hands with Alex, loving the tales of dolphins and sails. Fabulous.

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  4. Dear Melodious, thank you for giving us a comment on this gloomy Saturday (at least that's what it's like in Milford Haven). To be honest the most challenging part has been getting to grips with the Remoska hot pot and keeping every recipe from becoming veggie gunge with flakes of fish (and that includes the lamb recipes). Our safety has been all down to Mrs. T's meticulous passage plans and BellaRosaTheWonderBoat(to be sung to the tune of Champion the Wonder Horse!). It's actually really interesting in arriving in places from the sea because you go from SW England to West Wales and suddenly there's this different breed of people and a totally different collection of pound shops. Says something that our coastal communities, outside the affluent SE and places like Fowey and Salcombe are so impoverished. It's also inspiring that even so there are so many people putting so much into their community. We're going to the Torch Theatre in Milford Haven tonight. Had a coffee there earlier and it was full of kids doing drama workshops and buzzing. Review of the play to follow later ... Lots of love Bob and Jean

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