SUMMER PASSAGE ON MOONRIVER

Y23 MEETINGS & SIGHTINGS

2008

YOGAFF MEETING

 Six Y23 yachts at YOGAFF, is this a record?  Five moored in a row, tied up to the piles and each other, in the centre of Yarmouth harbour, a lovely sight to see, Jabiru (who arrived first) Hecate, Tarka, Tim & I on Moonriver  and True Blue.

Steve & Alison on the sixth Y23, Louisa, chose a pontoon mooring this year as they had Gareth and Siobhan on board with their new baby, Aoife, looking good in her first all-in-one waterproof plus life jacket. She certainly seemed to enjoy the whole festival experience.

Tarka, Hecate, Jabiru & Moonriver have attended YOGAFF for several years but it was a first for Mike and Liz on True Blue as new ‘Old Gaffers’.

As always, YOGAFF offered a wide variety of entertainment. Robin Knox-Johnson officially opened the festival at noon on the Friday and the harbourside was filled with a continental market, local food stalls, crafts, arts as well as music and entertainment for all ages. We all had a really enjoyable weekend.

On the Saturday morning, Louisa & Moonriver joined the Old Gaffer’s Race/Pageant in the Solent. Louisa had all four crew aboard plus baby and Miranda from Hecate joined Tim & I as an extra crew member. Unfortunately, after managing to sail slowly around the first buoy, due to lack of any wind and surrounded by boats dropping anchor because of the tide, we both decided to abandon the race on safety grounds thus, sadly, there could be no presentation for the Y23 class. It seems we should have handed in our forms regardless, maybe next year? That evening we all enjoyed a crew supper overlooking the harbour.

Sunday morning, 1st June found the festival drawing to a close, Louisa left early to sail back to Chichester, her home port, while True Blue was staying on. The rest of us decided to sail in company for 2 days, heading out of Yarmouth early afternoon, first for Lymington to moor on Helen’s favourite floating ‘Duck Pontoon’. With a F2/3 wind speed we mostly motored across, only managing half an hour’s sail at the last, before entering the river. We shared tenders to reach shore that evening to eat a meal together in one of the local pubs. After spending the next day exploring Lymington in the rain, next morning we decided to set off in a north easterly for Beaulieu. In these wet and windy conditions, we all motor sailed for two and a half hours. By the time we reached the port hand leading marker post at the mouth of the river, the rain had eased and we were able to moor up and remain fairly dry. Whatever happened to ‘flaming June?’

SUMMER PASSAGE

The 4 June arrived bright and sunny with F5 wind, Tarka was heading back to Poole, Geoff and Jaye’s homeport. Tim and I planned to sail Moonriver to Falmouth this year so decided to join them as far as Poole. In the event they kindly found us a mooring in their yacht club where we stayed for a few days as the weather was glorious. At first during our passage, we both motored for a few hours, then had to beat our way through the race off Hengesbury Head, due to a head wind, making the sea very turbulent. At one point Geoff had to bear away, as he thought his propellor had become caught on a lobster pot rope, a scary moment!

We eventually took the outer channel to Poole following a lively 4 hour sail, great fun! During our stay we met up with Mike and Liz on True Blue as they belong to the same yacht club and their mooring was close by.

After spending time in Poole with family coming to stay on board for a weekend, 9 June we bade farewell to Geoff and Jaye and set sail on Moonriver for Weymouth. Sailing, however, was not an option, as the wind was barely F2, weather hot and sunny. We motored for 6 hours only managing a sail for the last hour.

Weymouth held it’s usual charm for us so the intended 2/3 days stretched to 7 days as we were meeting with friends, the weather was very hot & sunny and I admit we cheated and caught the Condor ferry to Guernsey for a long day’s visit, it was lovely. Maybe we’ll sail there one day!

On 16 June we set off on the early morning tide bound for Dartmouth in company with three other yachts. We had all been rafted together in Weymouth harbour for several days and in conversations realised we were all heading the same way. In a westerly wind F2/3 we all motor sailed on the inner channel past Portland Bill, it was a warm sunny day with good visability.

Ten hours later, eight of which were under engine, we finally arrived; “I love the approach to Dartmouth, it is so picturesque.” We moored on the Kingsweir side of the river in the Darthaven Marina with a lovely view across to the town.

Due to a continual weather forecast of strong winds, we stayed in Kingsweir for 7 days, meeting up with Phil and Lindsay Charlesworth who own the Y23 ‘Kitty’ and live in Dartmouth. They joined us for a coffee on Moonriver and later a drink at the Dart Yacht Club. Tim and I wiled away the remaining days re-discovering Dartmouth, visiting the naval college, Brittania, set high on a hill above the town and walking along the coast to see  ‘Coleton Fishacre,’ house and grounds originally owned by the Doyle Carte family.

As the winds had reduced now to F3/4, we decided to move on to Newtown Ferrers, a new place to explore. After 8 hours of sailing, we were approaching the River Yealm. It was difficult to see the entrance at this point but on reaching the Mew stone, the angle to enter became much clearer. You must follow the buoyage very carefully on entering or you might see a seagull standing up in the water not far from your boat, which can be very worrying!! There are two floating pontoons for visitors but most yachts moor on the first one to starboard.

The River Yealm is a beautiful and peaceful place to be, there are showers/toilets ashore and a jetty to moor tenders for walking into the small village of Noss Mayo for supplies, visit to the Dolphin pub or turn left for a walk through the woods to the creek.

We had a slow motor up river that evening in our tender to see the oyster beds and Kitley House and grounds. As we glided through the river moorings, we were surprised to see another Y23 named Tigger.

By the second day, the winds had increased again to F6/7, there were even waves in the river! However, the weather report promised a decrease later to F5 so, as we had planned a rendevous with my sister and husband in Plymouth that day, we waited until 18.00 hrs and made a joint decision to go. As we left, our neighbouring yachtsmen shouted ‘good for you’ which was slightly worrying. Actually, it did prove to be the wrong decision, as we had a rather too lively motor sail out of the River Yealm, up to and around the Mew Stone, then heading for the breakwater at Plymouth Sound. This had to be the longest hour and a half I have ever experienced!

On arrival, we locked in to Sutton Harbour marina which has good facilities, is close to the town and above all has very friendly staff. In the event we did accept my sister Joan’s invitation for a few days stay on dry land with them at their home. It made a nice change as by now we had lived on board for nearly a month.

Four days later we motor sailed out of Plymouth on a lovely sunny day, wind F2/3 heading back up the coast to Salcombe. After 3 hours on the water, we managed to hoist all the sails for a good run to the estuary. To our surprise, as we entered the mouth of the river, there were Phil and Lindsay waving to us from their Y23, Kitty. On instructions from the harbour master, we moored our boats on adjacent buoys in a quiet backwater, sheltered from the predicted strong winds that evening. The winds blew themselves out overnight so next day we were able to go ashore in our tender and had a pleasant walk to Batson Creek in the sunshine.

The following morning, we bade farewell to Kitty, setting off at 07.00hrs with the early tide bound for Torquay. The first part of this passage we motored in fairly rough seas then as lunchtime approached the seas calmed to slight, although weather still very cloudy with only light winds. After rounding Berry Head 2mls offshore, we were able to have a good sail in F4 wind, broad reaching into Torquay Bay, using the large white air balloon as a transit.

On entering Torquay marina we were shocked to find that there are no longer any visitors’ moorings. We planned to stay 2 nights but were initially offered only one night, on an available berth mooring. There are now new town harbour moorings just inside the breakwater entrance which did have available berths but these were more open to the elements! We had intended to move there next day but luckily the marina found us another mooring which was fortuitous as the weather turned very nasty with torrential rain and gale force winds for the next 5/7 days.

We spent this time rediscovering Torquay, catching the bus to Exeter, Totnes, Newton Abbot and coastal walking to Babbacombe in the rain! We met another couple who were similarly passing the time in Torquay and became friends, there is some consolation in being weather bound.

Day 6 we prepared to leave our mooring and sail across the bay to Brixham for a change of scene as the winds were still too strong to head out to sea. Our boat however, had other ideas, Tim was slowly motoring out of our mooring in reverse gear, as he went into first gear with acceleration, we continued to move back in reverse very fast and did a James Bond up onto a nearby pontoon, not the plan!!

I rushed below and radioed the harbour master for assistance fast which didn’t happen but luckily a passing couple came to our aid and helped us walk Moonriver back to our original mooring. Thankfully, we had not done any damage to other boats and on investigation, Tim found that the gear cable had snapped. He phoned a local engineer who came over from Brixham with parts and repaired the cable, this took most of that day, it could have been much worse.

Our second attempt at leaving Torquay next day was successful and we had an exhilarating 2hr sail, tacking across Torbay to Brixham in a F4/5.

It was now 12 July and after 2 nights on a sheltered mooring, the weather had improved enough to set off for the long passage to Weymouth. The next morning brought calm winds F1/2 and a smooth sea but we still decided to pass Portland Bill 4 miles offshore as the weather report gave a prediction of inclement weather later. We also considered heading straight for Yarmouth but after10 hours at sea motor sailing we’d had enough. By now the winds had increased/changed to westerly F4/5 so we decided to turn and broad reach the last 12nm into Weymouth.

After a good night’s sleep we left Weymouth harbour about 08.00hrs on a lovely sunny morning, winds westerly F3/4. As it was Sunday we were able to take the inner channel at St.Alban’s Head as the gunnery was not active. After a run of 7 hours with the wind behind us, we approached the North Channel into the Solent, hoping to catch the 4pm bridge lift to our mooring on the river Yar.

In the event we missed it by 20 minutes, so took the opportunity to have an hour’s good sail in the Solent whilst waiting for the 17.30hrs bridge lift, this was probably the best sail we had managed all summer!

In conclusion, our plan had been to reach Falmouth but inevitably we ran out of time, should this happen in retirement?

We really enjoyed the sailing experience plus meeting different people along the way and discovering new harbours will always be a special feeling.