Desperate for A Swail

Interesting week as a landlubber..............have missed das bot tremendously.  You soon get back into the groove of work and I know we made absolutely the right decision to come home as we certainly wouldn't have moved far this week and the whole point of taking a month off was to do a grand voyage.

Lots of people have asked why we didnt just jump on a plane and head for somewhere hot for the remaining two weeks.........we'll do that later in the yr  I hope, but we,re sailors and the whole point was a month on RedSnapper. 

Right now though I am desperate for a decent sail and the freedom and exhilaration that brings, so have everything crossed that we might get down to Plymouth tomorrow so we get the sails out and let rip around good old Plymouth Sound.

Packing Up & Homeward Bound

It's a much quieter wind and sea state than what Neptune threw at us yesterday! It got
progressively worse as the day went on and was well and truly rough as rats at one stage, to the point where we had to use the winch to get us nearer the pontoon to get us on and off RedSnapper.....a first for us!

Decision made to abandon das bot for this holiday, we went for lunch at Jolly Jacks and drowned our sorrows. Das kept even joked that das bot would not go in the water next yr...I think not. Great company up there as always.

We then spent early doors aboard Parson Jack a 46ft bot that has just returned from the Caribbean after completing their grand voyage the Arc Rally. Over a few glasses of vino we heard of their adventures and the boys ruminated over boat gizzmondos ie AIS. Whilst not used to it's full potential this hols, it's been a great new toy.....despite it's screeching noise that warns us of nearing ships..just doing it's job!

So back to das bot it was, to listen to the last hooley of this trip....restless night as it didn't really blow itself out until about 4am.

Now the grand pack up can begin..HOW much stuff did we bring?! Well a months worth, lots can stay including the dry store provisions and be used up over the rest of the swailing season. Oncoming motleys crews to RedSnapper look out, lots of tinned M&S curry,s to eat!

An afternoon of boat domestic slavery awaits then, to get her all shipshape for the next swail.

The Flag of Surrender to the Elements

With heavy hearts we have admitted defeat! Yep.....after another battering overnight and das captain looking at the long range forecast we are throwing in the towel.

The low pressure is going to continue until at least thurs with similar wind conditions so it is unlikely we shall be moving anywhere.

So back to work on Monday it is, at least then we can hope for a another swailing week this season.

Am very philosophical about what's been, that's sailing for you and am consoled that hundreds of bots alongside the southwest have met with a similar experience to ours. Those unlucky ones that did make it are holed up in France in similar conditions to here...not fun.

So have had a blast, made some new yachtie friends both English and foreign. Read copious books for blighty, read some amazing blogs from those cruising the Caribbean and Pacific and generally chilled from the throws of work life. I am sure it will be back with a vengeance next week.

I am still in my shorts and remain adverse to hanging ones knickers out to dry in public view!

Hey ho and c,est la vie....we still have the charts and kit...there is always another yr to follow the dream.
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Location:Plymouth

The photo says it all

Even the warships gave up playing today in the sound! As for us we went to the cinema and saw Senna. Great film and beat being in 28 knots of wind.



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Location:Plymouth

Mackerel & Bass r Jumping

Keep on jumpin......a good old nineties dance tune....well the mackerel n bass r certainly doing that tonight.

More Roffe misfortune is my canon lens had cracked not on the lens but on the side so das camera will not take photos. Good news is that as the f 8 is coming in tonight and tomorrow I shall go and look in Plymouth for a replacement.

Anyway photo opportunity lost I have a sad substitute taken on iPhone tonight. We r so fortunate in the Marina with phishing ..... yes fishing, an hr or so after high water this time of yr they flood in their shoals chasing the elvers and jump for England.
Place ur rod in.......with a bare silver hook and u r guaranteed a bite every time...... a tasty mackerel or if the right size ( father in law is always the luckiest ) a swooper duper bass.

Have seen them jumping a bit but not like they were on our way back from Jolly Jacks this evening after a swooper super early doors drinks and supper, with das captain catching up on his doom bar rations being back in Devon.

The Marina was full of fish racing about and of course ...jumping.
U can catch them not with feathers.....well u can but the best way to catch them is with a bare silver hook and they bite every single time.

Our rods r set in French mode and not with bare line so will reset one of the kids rods tomorrow as am sure they will be back in abundance... tis that time of year. It's fab to watch as the shoal just keep just the water.

As for us we r back on das bot and bracing for the gale again that is coming,waves are breaking big time over the Plymouth breakwaters as I write this, a Swedish submarine passed us on our way out for supper tonight.

So we r battening down the hatches again.....yawn.....and will sort out the rods for fishing tomorrow, mackerel or even better bass would be absolutely marvellous!



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Location:Mayflower Marina

Batten down the hatches......again!

So we brace ourselves again for the next storm that is making it's way towards and across Blighty....come on Met Office, tis supposed to be the flaming June that you promised.

Awoke to thick pea soup this morning, Mount Edgecombe and the pontoon directly in front of us was totally obscured. By the time das captain awoke it had cleared somewhat and we spent the morning reading lazily.

I love reading and really catch up with it when on holiday.....am very disappointed in das captains selections this hols, it's war and space books, not his usual collection of swailing adventures....thank goodness I have come prepared with my usual array of chick books.

We ventured out for some food supplies and lunch out at Queen Annes Battery, another Marina in Plymouth, bar the warships guarding our waters and a sailing race, the water traffic was pretty light.

So we r well and truly stuck for the next few days and are mulling and pontificating the next steps.....the break should come mon / tues and plan c at the mo is to head directly from here to Guernsey or Trebeurden.....we shall wait and see....best laid plans haven't come to fruition thus far.


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Location:Plymouth

Nous sommes arrives a.......

We are back in Plymouth after a motor back from Falmouth. Wind on the nose, less than was forecast but not many boats out on the water.

So we said a fond farewell to Falmouth, our French neighbours returned yesterday and were wishing us "Bon Voyage" as we left. Crossing the channel today just wasn't going to happen, c,est la vie!

So plan b......Salcombe or Dartmouth and then across to the Channel Islands and then France. Das captain has just informed me of an email weather alert.....another low on it's way....hey ho. Good fortune must come our way soon....surely.



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Location:Mayflower Marina

What a magical surprise

Blink and u miss it...I was sooo gutted I didn't have my canon with me this evening so apologies this photo taken by my iPhone didn't give it justice.

Das captain and I took a stroll to das pub for happy hr prior to supper aboard and were met first by Romans (aka mr Chelsea,s) old super yacht back from the Bahamas having got bored with a huge heli pad, 40ft plus sailing yacht attached to the side cha Ching (££££££££) he has only gone on and bought at least another 4 ....poor Old Grand Bleu.

Lord only knows what one of his new ones r like aka his new super beasts....this one looks SWOOPER! It 'twas fascinating watch it berth next to ex Rfa Largos that has just been sold to to the Aus Navy, took an age to berth despite bow and stern thrusters.

Anyway... the highlight and apologise again now that iPhone can't zoom in but right in front of us a seal popped up in front of a moored fishing boat. He kept popping up for an age...majestic and an adult male and HUGE....biggest I have ever seen...and then he went just like like. Made my day.



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Location:Falmouth Harbour

Pontification......

Pontification.....now there is a word. Think, think, think.......you don't really want to do that when you get into the holiday zone but we are. Oh what to do? Thank god we didn't leave a wk earlier as originally planned said das captain this morning....we could have been here two weeks!! Much as I love Falmouth I would have gone overboard by now.

So the rain has stopped the wind dropped and like everyone here with us we are waiting with bated breath as to what tomorrow will bring and whether the good forecast is good enough to get us across to L'Aber Wrac'h or just back to Plymouth and wait for the next weather break.

Yes...... another hideous low is coming in for the next few days. Then we have pontificated that a change of passage plan is required so the channel islands are on the agenda and the north French coast.

So there we have it....happy days, we are still smiling and I am going to stop pontificating now and have lunch with a nice chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

Ps....dry weather and the knicker washing brigade are out in full force again



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Location:Guess where.........YEP Falmouth!

Chill, Kick Back n Relax

There is nothing better to feed the soul than a roast dinner, so that's what we have done aka Chain Locker style.

So with a break in the rain (still defiant in my shorts) we took a run for it and have had a swooper lunch.

Sat next to some Dutch people who moor their boat in Rotterdam and after das captain assisting with wi fi access he has exchanged a positive weather forecast.....life is on the up!

So sal / sue it certainly wasn't a jj roast but hit the spot along side the doom bar and scrumpy jack. Just finishing our pints and then back to das bot to chill and read the papers.


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Location:Chain Locker

Sailing Eccentrics

It has well and truely rained overnight....the winds are continuing to lash around us and the rain has not abated. This is in for the day. It's very foggy outside, quite spooky and even the Falmouth seagulls are unusually quiet.

We said goodbye to our French neighbours yesterday who have left to take shelter (if u can call the river shelter) upstream for a few days. They have been on a grand voyage around the uk but the weather has hampered their trip to Wales only thus far. They were great fun....one chap Pierre had the most amazing laugh....deep French from the pit of his soul and always smiling and joking. Another reminded me of my old headmaster, he too great fun as we tried to converse in French with some success.

No sooner had they left then their berth rafted alongside us, then their spot was taken as boats galore looked to take shelter, some were turned away as there is definitely no more room at the inn. We have Dutch, Irish, French and English for company today.

Sailing is amazing for the characters you meet and das captain has a saying ....look there is another one of sailings eccentrics. I laugh as we all have our own sailing eccentricities, be it the way we like our sails set. Tie our lines when berthed or rafted, put up and take down our ensigns etc.

What he means though is the real men of the sea, with sea tales to tell of mad adventures. You see them in most ports but Falmouth as a setting off post for Atlantic sailing gets loads, there are two here currently. The English man in his three metre boat, with what looks like a 1 metre tender on the cabin roof who plays his guitar, drinking whiskey and meticulously is plotting his next travel. He is off to Spain in his bot......braver man than I but I bet he makes it.....he is the image you would have of a wild salty seaman and every time I see or hear him on his guitar he makes me smile.

The other is a young Frenchman that I helped raft alongside another boat last night...his boat too was tiny and weather beaten and had done many sea miles. I sleep now he says....this morning he is gone.

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Location:Falmouth

The calm before the storm

It's a glorious sunny morning here and is misleading as to what will hit the grand seas later.

I am sat on deck watching the world come to life....it is so peaceful. Everyone I have seen so far says" seen the forecast"! Everyone is resigned to staying put probably until tues when the latest hideous low pressure should have blown itself out. Our former neighbour who left on Thursday turned back into Falmouth we heard yesterday, das captain and I thought he was a tad too brave or had heard a different forecast to us.

We spent the day mooching yesterday, had a nice sandwich lunch out in Falmouth over a glass of vino and a beer, swooper snooze in the afternoon as still waking up @ work time so enjoyed indulgence. Supper was fresh plaice bought from the local fishmongers and cooked simply.....delicious.

Das captain thinks speaking French is dead easy now as we are surrounded by French boats and amused ourselves as the men chatted non stop for ages rueing the English weather over a glass of Ricard!

So I am still defiant in wearing shorts, going to make the most of this beautiful day before we batten down the hatches and brace ourselves for the great hooley.....after that with some good fortune we should finally be on our way.




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Swailors in despair

What can I say as I watch the rain lash down outside. You plan for a year, get everything ready, but what you can,t plan for is the weather! Forecast horrendous with gales in the channel, it may blow itself out after the weekend and we may then have a fighting chance of getting across but La Rochelle our ultimate destination on the grand voyage now looks like a lost dream for this year.

Das captain and I are very despondent this morning......


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Location:Falmouth

The Chain Locker

The good and the great have drunk here over the years and so have we this week. Great place to hang out with fellow yachties and watch the world go by. The inside is amazing with nautical history galore.






Das captain a staunch lager fiend is now converted to Doom Bar..blame it on the weather!


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Location:Falmouth Harbour

Pants

Less wind and no rain....things r on the up. It 'twas scorchio on deck this morning as the Marina came to life.

Sat and read my book in my pj's as a few boats left for pastures new. The wind may have dropped but sea state still rough so we hoping to take our chance tomorrow before the next low pressure bout kicks in.

For those of us staying put it's a day of boat chores and washing. Pants galore are lining people's yachts of all shapes and sizes....some quite disturbing. Ours shall remain in the tumble dryer until done.


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Location:Falmouth

Blowin' a hooley

Awoke to the most amazing rainbow across the back of the bow this am. Surprised the sun was about as the rain really lashed down overnight and the wind was howling as I was sat on deck drinking coffee @ 6am!

Das captain awoke a few hrs later to the greeting that he was irritable! On questioning it 'twas we should be in France with cruising Shute out instead of this b****y wind! And I thought I was the impatient one!

So we wait as does everyone else it seems in the Marina... we shall be in good company then as the mass departure begins when the wind dies down. Nothing has moved today. I was in stitches when I went to pay the another nights Marina,s fees when I met another lady who when I said good morning laughed and described herself as irrititable! Why's that I said....b****y wind.....I fell about laughing and suggested she have a hot date with das captain who was feeling the same way!

So another lazy day, took the ferry across to Flushing and mooched about...soon back to das bot where all us frustrated swailors will be comparing forecasts to see if tomorrow is a goer or not....happy days


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Location:Falmouth

Nautical showers

So we are in a windbound Falmouth with sunny spells and heavy blustery showers. Marina still full and not many have braved the high seas. Looks like we could be here for a few days.. with a Thursday start looking likely though the weather could improve at a drop of a hat.

So other than the talking about the weather what else gets yachties on their soapboxes....it's the variable state of the nations Marina showers. This is not just those in good old blighty but those across the water and beyond.

Why does this matter I hear you ask, well there is nothing worse than a pair of old sea salty shanties going ashore and to scrub themselves clean having to don either a pair of flip flops or worse a pair of Wellington boots!

Having paid our tax on being stupid aka Marina fees it shouldn't take much to have facilities that are semi decent but in some cases it would be safer to have a shower via the water hose on the pontoon than brave what is waiting for u in a filthy shower block!

So you may be hearing more about this on our travels I was hearing a soap box rant this am as I was showering of a recent excursion to a nameless Marina in France ( crossed off our visit list). So what of Falmouth Marina showers then.....passable and neither flip flops or Wellington boots 'twas required.







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What's in a boat name?

Awoken in Fowey this am by the church bells and a darned cockerel. How some fellow yachtsman hasn't strangled it and had it for supper by now is beyond me! Bleary eyed i did chortle to myself this morning.

Lots of boats had left by the time we got up (well me, sleepyhead aka das captain was still in deep slumber). Forecast was for high winds later but anyone heading our way would have had a big tidal push out to Dodman Point. We left around eleven in a f4 and flat sea but soon picked up. Motor on we made our way in good time, lots of boats in the horizon and not much else except a racing trimaran overtook us on the approach into Falmouth.

In Falmouth Marina, rafted up as chocca block with boats of all names and nations. It always intrigues me with boat names as to how, what, when, why they aquired their name.

Das captain when he bought das bot, never renamed her, she is and always will be Red Snapper and we both r really proud of her, there will never be another Red Snapper in our eyes.

Should we ever get another bot, what would we call her I,d get thrown overboard before calling her something like flirtini ( fav fizz cocktail), scrumpy jack.....(student drink) or pimms o,clock!!!! We are both agreed that should we get another bot it shall be called Red Snapper 2 or Waterfall (stone roses song).

So wind bound now in Falmouth (there are worse places to be!), we are surrounded by international boats that have racked up thousands of nautical miles between them with fantastic names...I wonder what and how and when they came up with those....Blue, Sherpa, Liona, Imagine, Lady Charlotte, Cygnet of Lymington, Tangaroa, Artemis and Ghost...to name a few.

Sat on deck watching the sun go down after supper aboard, scrumpy jack is going down a treat....great start to the hols.



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Location:Falmouth

Let the holiday begin

Left a very drizzly Plymouth just after lunch today. Swooper supper last night at Jolly Jacks with my in laws, so a leisurely start to the day today.

Not any wind at all, so main sail up and motor on. Loads of boats coming past us on their way home back to port, but we were the solitary boat heading our way.

Very peaceful motor, sea flat and bar a merlin helicopter swirling around for some time hunting for a submarine no noise at all. Saw some seagulls playing tug of war with a gift left by a passing fishing boat which amused me no end.

So we are in a packed Fowey, picked up the last buoy and are sat watching the world go by, waiting for the maritime forecast to bring us good news. Lady luck will shine i hope as I feel good fortune could be upon us we are on a buoy behind a fellow yacht called langkawi and next to a boating author called mark eden. So forecast, then ashore for some supper.



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Location:Fowey

Boat Stocked and Ready To Go!

Sat on das bot in the sunshine after a marathon packing and unpacking session. We thought we had packed leanly but it all adds up! Took us over an hr to stow everything way,but that's the great thing re das bot.....the cubbyholes.

Water tank topped up...check, engine checks....check. Steve due to French bureacracy has gone to fill the gerry cans with white diesel and then tomorrow it will be filling the fuel tank up and we.ll be ready to go. Passage plan at the mo is Fowey tomorrow, Falmouth Monday and then over to L'Aber Wrac'h from Falmouth on tuesday. I love Falmouth, it,ll be full of people either going or coming back from their grand voyage. Can't think of a better place to start ours.

As for the rest of the day....just chilling and winding down from work, with supper @ Jolly Jacks later with das captain and my lovely in- laws who will be waving us off tomorrow. Can't wait to set swail.

The weather waiting game

Well the prayers worked.....well almost! The sun is shining, weather warmed but shipping forecast is still a tad too gusty to set off on Saturday. So das captain and I took the executive decision today to not go hell for leather tonight and go down to das bot tomorrow night but head off Saturday and then wait......looks like Monday could be the day.

That's sailing for you, always dependent on the elements...but after a hectic wk at work we can finish the big pack up in a more relaxed fashion.

The excitement absolutely kicked in today.....can't quite believe we almost off. Das captain has had sleepless nights this wk dreaming about the Raz De Sein.....I say good on as that means a good swail!

So all being well we,ll be off....the sun will be shining in the Marina so won't make the wait too painful, as we do the last min boat chores. Fuel...check.....water.....check....fresh food shop check......last min toast to the gods for a smooth channel crossing and then......extra prayers for the Chenal de Four and Raz de Sein....check! Happy hols and swailing here we come....tgi Friday will have a whole new meaning tomorrow.


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Location:Home