Plymouth to Keyhaven

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we departed the Tamar River and Plymouth to sail to Keyhaven in the western Solent.  The passage took 23 hours and was timed to arrive on a rising tide.  We're currently anchored east of Hurst Castle waiting for the tide to rise.  We'll then go into the Keyhaven River to pick up a mooring kindly offered by OCC friends John and Chris of sv Sara II.

Here are the usual plots...

Zen Again Track

Zen Again Speed

The speed plot is interesting.  As normal it shows our speed over the ground.  The sine wave isn't due to our boat speed changing - it is the effect of tide.  We sailed through two periods of adverse tide with one period with positive tide in the middle.  This ensured we arrived with the tide flooding into the Solent.  That flood is obvious at the end of the plot.

Here are the vital statistics...

• Distances/Speeds
• Route Distance = 120nm
• Logged Distance = 132nm
• GPS Distance = 119nm
• Duration = 23 hours
• Average boat speed = 5.7kt
• Average ground speed = 5.2kt
• Weather
• Minimum wind speed = 10 kt
• Average wind speed = 18 knots
• Maximum wind speed = 28kt
• Apparent wind angle range = 0 to 180
• Seas up to 2m
• Overcast with frequent drizzle
• Engine
• Total = 4 hours
• Driving = 4 hours (down the river and out of Plymouth harbour)
• Charging = 0 hours

Isle of Wight ahead in the murk

Passing the Needles

We were kept busy throughout the passage with traffic - cargo ships, fishing boats and yachts.  All except a few yachts had AIS transmitters which was a big help in poor visibility which ranged from 1nm to 2nm.

As we approached the Solent several yachts were ahead and behind us.  We entered via the main channel which was straight-forward.  We had 2 knots of current with us in the channel.  As we passed Hurst Castle we turned to port, got out of the channel and anchored in 3m over mud.  We're now waiting for the tide to rise enough for us to get over the bar and into the river.

Plymouth

Hi everyone,
We are now anchored off Keyhaven in the Solent.  We'll describe the passage from Plymouth in the next post but here's what we were up to during our week in Plymouth.

We spent only one night at Barn Pool before heading up the Tamar River.  We anchored just short of the two Tamar Bridges and off the Tamar River Sailing Club (web site here).  Motoring up the river was interesting, not least because the adjacent countryside is quite similar to that along the Tamar River in Tasmania.  Very green when the sun came out!

Passing the Royal Navy base at Devonport

Torpoint Ferries

We remained at anchor from Sunday until Thursday.  Then we moved alongside TRSC's pontoon at their invitation.  TSMC made is very welcome throughout our stay.  Amazingly the first people we met there were OCC members Dick and Mary of sv Alacazam who we met in the Caribbean.  It really is a small world.  They made us very welcome and arranged a key fob so we could access the club and its showers at any time.

Anchored off TRSC

Zen Again on the Tamar

View across the river to Saltash

During the week we met with two of my cousins - Janice and Julie.  We hadn't seen each-other for decades.  It was great to see them, meet their husbands and catch up on their family news.  We walked around the sea-front and across the Hoe before having a very nice dinner in town.

We also met our friends Malcolm and Ingrid who live in Luxembourg but were in the UK on holiday. Malcolm designed our previous boat Degrees of Freedom.  Twas nice to meet Malcolm's father again too.  We had a nice dinner together at the excellent Ferry Inn close to the TRSC.

During the week we took the bus into Plymouth several times to get various things done:

• Took iPhone to Apple Store for free check - declared dead so bought a cheap (dumb) phone
• Took Macbook Air to Apple Store for free check - repairable and we'll get that done sometime
• Laundry - three weeks worth
• Food shopping  - groceries in the UK seems to be about half the cost in Perth

We also dinghied across the river to explore the Cornish town of Saltash.  Nice little town where I had a long overdue hair cut, we posted a letter and did some food shopping.  The bridges over the river were opened a century apart in time - Brunel's railway bridge in 1859 and the road bridge in 1961.  Prior to the bridges Cornwall was almost an island due to the river and the moors to the north.

On Friday evening we joined the TRSC's social evening and met many club members.  We traded a FSC Cruising Section burgee for a TRSC burgee.  The FSC burgee is now front & centre above the bar.

On Saturday morning we had breakfast at Dick and Mary's before meeting our friends Kim and Annette who are in the UK on holiday.  It was great to see them too - amazing that so many people were in the area at the same time as us.

Keeping the boat in the Plymouth area cost us exactly nothing.  Both anchoring in the Tamar and alongside at TRSC's jetty for a short stay were free.  TRSC is a very nice club and makes visitors very welcome.

At midday we cast off from TRSC and headed down river on the ebb tide, bound towards the Solent.

Falmouth to Plymouth

Hi everyone,
Today we day-sailed from Falmouth to Plymouth.  We thoroughly enjoyed our 3 days in Falmouth and got everything done there we needed.  We could easily have stayed for a week but we need to move east to access better rail transport.

The weather today was about as good as we're likely to get for the next week.  It was partly sunny with occasional showers.  There was a perfect westerly wind of 15-20 knots.  We departed at 1000 and arrived at 1900.  The route was 38nm, we logged 50nm and covered 46nm over the ground.

Zen Again Track

Zen Again Speed

There were quite a number of fishing floats in the approaches to Falmouth, as there were when we arrived on Wednesday.  Most of them have flag poles which make them easier to see than those back home in Australia.

Along the way we were visited by groups of dolphins several times.  They were quite playful and it's always fun to have their company.

The entrance to Plymouth is straightforward but a little interesting.  It has a long breakwater running W-E across the outer harbour - isolated from the shore.  The breakwater is barely above water at high tide.  Once inside the breakwater there are numerous marina options for yachts.  We are anchoring so decided to stay overnight at Barn Pool which is a short distance up the Tamar River.  We motored around Drake's Island to enter the Tamar.

Plymouth Breakwater

Drake's Island

Plymouth Hoe

At anchor in Barn Pool on the Tamar River

Barn Pool is a small anchorage on the outside of a bend in the river.  It has a relatively shallow area where anchoring is easy.  A shingle beach is only a few boat-lengths away with a grassed area and woods beyond - very tranquil.  On the other side of the river is Devonport and its large naval base - less tranquil!

Tomorrow we expect to go further up the river, close to the Tamar Bridge.  We understand it is quiet and the anchoring is free as it is here.