Ailsa and I were over the moon to be asked to go on a cruise from Portishead to Plymouth to help out our friends Harriet and Dom move their boat Budge to their new home to Kings Point marina in Plymouth.
The timing had to be right … any trip down the west coast of Cornwall can be tricky but to do it at the end of march?? Surely a little insane?! As it happens though the ideal weather forecast appeared with unseasonal warm and settled weather predicted for at least 6 days before the weather was to change to a howling gale. Just enough time for a leisurely cruise around Lands End?
We set off on the Friday with great frivolity. A mad dash to try and catch the lock at high tide, with all the last minute preparations and loading of supplies. It’s always a little stressful to leave Portishead, but all that was quickly forgotten as we got out in to a windless but sunny Bristol Channel. Everyone soon settled in to the trip and we headed for Dom & Harriet’s first night at anchor on Budge on the North coast of Devon at Porlock. No wind at all meant a comfortable night which was cold as soon as the sun dropped below the horizon, reminding us that this was still March.
The next day was a leisurely start to catch the tide out of the Bristol Channel, around the corner with a planned stop at Clovelly. Skipper Dom did his tidal planning well and we were blessed with a force 5 blow from the East and downwind surfing all the way out of the channel. Truly unheard of sailing in this part of the world!
The tide helped us too and we quickly sailed past Combe Martin and Illfracombe, around Morte point and down towards Clovelly where Our good friend Charlie had provided some useful information for the best place to anchor in this remote spot. Thankfully we arrived before dark, as none of us knew this anchorage. It was a little rolly, but the wind soon died away and the sea flattened out. Getting to shore proved to be a little tricky though. At low tide, all we were presented with was a steeply shelved rocky beach and no access to the inner harbour. We four intrepid sailors loaded ourselves in to Budge’s dinghy and skipper Dom rowed us to shore heading for a large concrete structure that looked like a likely landing place. It proved to be somewhat different, slippery as hell and in fact useless for access to the beach, so much to the amusement of anyone watching we fought our way up the rocky beach and tied the long painter to a large rock.
The next part of the battle to conquer Clovelly was the need to feed hungry sailors and Charlie had already determined that the pub at the bottom of the hill was not serving food that night, so we set off on the steep climb through the pretty town on the hope that the only other pub in town would be open and have a table. Charlie and Jen had agreed to drive down and meet us. So it was with relief that the friendly landlord went out of his way to sort us out with a table for 6 in what turned out to be our own private room for a delicious meal and a few local beers / gins. Highly recommended.
Leaving a boat in daylight is all well and good, but forgetting a torch as well as forgetting to put the anchor light on on Budge meant that on our return to the beach, we were met with pitch blackness and the trip back to the boat looked to be very difficult! Charlie ‘never without a torch’ Phillips came to the rescue again, producing a torch capable of lighting up the entire boat from a distance of 300m! The beer definitely helped the scramble back down the beach and the launch of the dinghy in fits of giggles from all involved and Charlie’s torch guided us back to Budge in style. Such was the power of the beam, we felt we were being pushed along by the photons! All arrived back at Budge without incident, well maybe some wet feet.
Another comfortable night at anchor, and we set off again for the trip down the coast to to Padstow. It was another sunny day and the sea state was flat with a gentle swell. It was a bonus to see a pod of dolphins.
Yet again we were blessed with ideal sailing conditions with 15 knots on the beam all the way down the coast. The wind picked up to force 5 as we approached the entrance to Padstow and skipper Dom expertly helmed us over the doom bar without breaking a sweat an hour after high tide. Time was pressing though and a call to Padstow Harbour Master confirmed fears that the inner harbour was about to close. Harriet and Ailsa had been promised the possibility of a shower …. a dangerous precedent had been set, and skipper Dom was not about to let them down, so he decided there was no way we were not getting in. Engine revs were set to max, forget the 5 knots speed limit, Dom helmed us through the narrow channel with skill and got us in to the inner harbour just in time before the gate was shut. A 180 degree spin later and we were moored up on the wall in front of an enormous crowd of onlookers. The shower was secured and Dom had saved the day!
The town of Padstow (or should we call it Rick’s town?) was very accommodating. The showers were hot. Ricks fish and chips were palatable and filling. However, the supreme effort of getting here had caught up with the skipper, he hadn’t slept well on the trip so far, and the safety of the inner harbour led to his collapse in to bed and 14 hours of sleep. All that sea air is definitely good for the soul. Also, now we were in the harbour there was no way if getting out again until high tide at 3pm the next day. We were all pretty knackered, so enjoyed the break and took the chance to spend the next morning perusing the shops and enjoying a pasty for lunch.
No rest for the wicked. Tide and time wait for no one, so 10 minutes after the harbour master opened the gate, we were on our way following the inward track back over the doombar and out to sea on our way to St Ives. We wanted to get to arrive before dark but it was a tough call. No wind meant the motor all the way, and the tide was against us. The daylight eventually ran out and we edged in to the anchorage under darkness. Harriet was posted at the front of the boat with the torch checking for lobster pots. Last time we were in St Ives, Ailsa and I had had to weave in and out of them on our approach. As it turned out, this time there weren’t any, sorry Harriet!
We dropped the hook 200m off the pier and then realised that even though there was no wind, and virtually no swell all the way down, Sod’s law had decided that a really annoying swell was entering the anchorage from the North West and Budge was flopping from side to side. A decision had to be made…. stay here or press on round lands end in the dark. In the end, we decided to stay, but all experienced a rough night of rolling and listening to all the creeks and groans of Budge. You have it take the rough tank the smooth with sailing!
Bleary eyed the next morning, everyone eventually surfaced and off we set again to take on the challenge of rounding Lands End. Accompanied by more sunny weather but with an ominous mist hanging over the coast. The sea state was flat again though, and Budge motored round the coast as we waited for some expected wind to pick up. The conditions were perfect to go through the inside passage at Lands End, so skipper Dom took the helm from Fred (recently named autopilot) after the Brisons and took us through the gap between Longships and Lands End. The mist cleared and Harriet produced cold beers to help us celebrate the moment!
The plan was to make it all the way to Falmouth (another shower had been promised!) and having rounded Lands End, there was still a good distance to go across the bay and around the Lizard. We are still not sure what sacrifice Dom and Harriet must have made to the wind gods before we left, but it must have been considerable …. the wind picked up to Force 4/5 on the beam and pushed Budge onwards to her destination at a great speed.
We entered Falmouth harbour at dusk just as the sun set below the horizon and pulled up to the dock at Pendennis Marina. A wonderful sail!
We woke the next day to a grey sky and cold. It looked like the spell of good weather was coming to an end? However, after leaving Falmouth, once again the skies cleared, the sea went glassy smooth, and Budge motored on towards Plymouth under blue skies. 6 hours later and Skipper Dom navigated us carefully in to Plymouth, dodging various fishing and pilot boats and large ferries all the way in to Kings Point Marina, their new home for the year. It’s not the easiest place to get in to as you have to navigate past a line of 72 foot multi million pound princess motor boats, but we pulled up at the dock (with a little help from Dom and Harriets new neighbours) and sat in the cockpit enjoying the moment with a cold beer.
All good things come to an end. It had been a wonderful trip, but there was just enough time to explore Plymouth and enjoy a farewell meal and beers before we had to leave the next day. A walk from the Marina past the Plymouth Hoe took us to the Barbican district where we ended up in the Dolphin pub and met an old friend from Portishead as well as met a new one, a local shipwright called Reece who regalled us with his sailing stories. Hunger finally forced us to seek out a curry house and we enjoyed some great food, slightly inebriated and bizarrely entertained by our persistent waiter Callum who proceeded to tell us his life story and philosophies whilst we pretended we were interested? It looks to us as though Plymouth will provide plenty of evening entertainment and interesting people for Dom and Harriet in the months to come as they settle in to their new home!
The evening descended in to Drunken banter as we discussed the possibility that Dom, if he gets too drunk, could maybe miss the entrance to his marina on the long walk home and possibly find himself in Roscoff the next morning courtesy of the ferry terminal right next door!
The next day, we eventually emerged from the cabins and all felt a little tired and emotional from the excesses of the previous evening. Big thanks to Charlie who had offered to pick us up and whisk us back to Portishead in his comfortable Jag! He saved the day as the prospect of several hours on trains and buses was not appealing!
We want to say a huge thank you to Dom and Harriet for taking us on this adventure and looking after us so well! We had a wonderful time, and felt like we were waited on hand and foot at Budge Hotel! Well done Dom and Harriet for all your efforts in getting Budge ready to go, and feel confident that you are great sailors and able to take on the challenges of sailing in the UK. We wish Dom and Harriet all the best in their new Marina and hope they really get to enjoy the new sailing opportunities the south coast has to offer. We would be jealous, except we are off to a better place too! Adios Portishead!
Thanks to Vinnie Pearce for video editing!