Life in Brixham

For the past week I have been living on Jomima in Brixham. Fortunately, she is large enough for life on board to be quite comfortable and it is possible to use her as a ‘house boat’ for an extended period if necessary. Unfortunately, Ann had to visit our son at short notice so I was in residence on my own. It has been over two years since I had last been in Brixham with Jomima so it was interesting to see the changes that have taken place. New gardens have been added, Woolworths is now a new Tesco Metro and some of the boats have changed in the marina. All of the changes seem to be positive and it was extremely pleasant to meet old friends and talk about what they have been doing while we have been travelling.
It is of course high season in Brixham so the walk into Brixham from the marina was crowded with youngsters (or their parents) fishing for crabs off the harbour wall and other children enthusiastically joining in the fun at the local outward bound activity centre. It was great to see so many visitors bringing in vital income to the area.One of the new boats in the marina was ‘Dream of Balkie’ which is a wooden clinker hulled sailing boat built in Scotland. She has been lovingly individually made and varnished on the west coast of Scotland and then sailed down from there to Brixham. It was great to see a new boat that was not just another white fibre glass boat just like all of the others.

Sadly, this will be the last post in Jomima's diary because she has now been sold.  After five years of fun and experiences, in places as far apart as Scotland, Devon and Paris, the ever increasing cost of fuel has meant that we have had to move on to less expensive adventures.  I hope that you enjoyed reading about Jomima's travels and that I may, one day, start another Blog.  So, goodbye from Jomima's Diary.

Single Handed Back to Devon

Unusually, Victoria Marina provides a good WiFi internet connection. So, over the next few days, I spent a lot of time studying weather sites on the web. One of the best ones that I have found is: http://www.passageweather.com/ which supplies predictions of the likely wind and waves to expect during the following few days. It indicated that Friday morning should give me a suitable weather window to get back to Devon. However, to get the tides right through Little Russel, I would have to leave at 6:00 am. The sill at Victoria Marina was only open around midday so I left the comfort of the marina on Thursday ready for an early start on Friday. Handling Jomima on my own (38 feet long and 10 tons) required a lot of planning to make sure that, in particular, I could safely leave a mooring and then arrive at the new pontoon with fenders, ropes etc ready for mooring up as required. I again checked the weather, before turning in for the night, and it seemed as though it should be ok.

I got up at 05:00, cast off at 06:00, and before I left the harbour stowed all of the ropes and fenders. Little Russel was quiet and a one metre swell made its presence felt as I headed across the Channel. Fortunately the autopilot was able to keep to the course that I had programmed in advance, despite the swell. I passed the mid Channel light Vessel and crossed the two large shipping lanes without too many problems. The swell then began to subside as the tide changed and I began to relax and enjoy the 75 mile journey. The conditions allowed me to average 15-16 knots and the English coast appeared as a smudge on the horizon at 09:30. At 11:00 I entered Brixham harbour and, using the VHF radio, asked them for a mooring and checked which side I would have to place the fenders. I then put the engines into neutral and drifted while I set up ropes and fenders. Fortunately the mooring was quite narrow, and there was little wind, so that once I had got Jomima into the mooring she did not drift away while I attached ropes to the pontoon. It was a great relief to get back safely before the weather changed that afternoon.

Flying Home

Early on Saturday morning we attempted to cruise Jomima back to Devon. As we headed up towards the English Channel, between Herm and Guernsey, we entered a passage between the islands known as Little Russel. The charts do not give any indication of potential problems but, afterwards, I found that the sea bed slopes upwards at this point. Unfortunately, when this was combined with an incoming spring tide, the sea was very rough. Green water came over the bow and we were thrown about so violently that many items jumped out of place and onto the floor of the boat. I therefore waited for a gap between the waves and turned Jomima back to St. Peter Port.

Later I checked the weather and could see no let up in the steady flow of depressions coming across the Atlantic. Ann therefore chose to fly home while I remained with the boat in St Peter Port’s Victoria Marina.

Very High Water

Towards the end of the festivities this evening the St. Peter Port Life Boat entered the harbour and moored near the entrance. This coincided with high tide and it was a very high tide. This morning the low tide was at 0.5m and the evening high tide was 9.9m. That is a tidal range of 9.4m. Behind the Life Boat is a floating pontoon which is attached to the inside of the Victoria Marina harbour entrance, which can be seen to the right of the boat. The pontoon is level with the top of the wall and the water is within 1/3 m (1 foot) of the top of the wall. If the sea had been rough it would have been very scary.

Fun & Games

This evening, in Victoria Marina, St. Peter Port, they held an amusing festival. The events included: Ladies Raft Race (hotly contested by many teams), Tug of War (across the harbour entrance with the loosing team being pulled into the water) and a ‘Flying’ display (people dressed up and attempted to fly from a platform across the harbour – with predictable results). The position of our boats gave us a grand stand view of the proceedings and John and Ann on the yacht Tempus can be seen here enjoying the festivities.

A Walk along the Coast

This morning we caught a bus to Sausmarez Manor. Sadly, this was not as interesting as expected so we walked down to the coast where there was a beautiful beach called Fermain Bay. This, as the photograph shows, could have been an exotic location on a tropical island. It was very lovely and we were able to sit in a restaurant, overlooking this view, and enjoy a coffee and a chat to some very friendly locals.

Next, we decided to walk the three miles back to the boat along the coastal path. This proved more challenging than we had expected because of the number of steps that we encountered. However, it was well worth while and nicely worked off the cream tea that I should not have had with the coffee this morning. One amusing incident was it is not only the local people that are friendly. I can only assume that the local wild rabbit population do not have many enemies locally because I was able to walk unusually close to them.

Playing Soldiers

If you are in St Peter Port, Guernsey late morning then it is quite likely you will get a bit of a shock when there is a very loud bang. It sounds very much as though a gas cylinder has exploded. However, it is only the 12:00 O’clock gun firing off. Yes, at midday, from the castle walls, they fire a canon every day. So today we decided to visit Castle Cornet which has stood guard at the entrance to the harbour for nearly eight centuries. The visit took longer than anticipated because there are three excellent museums on the site: The Story of Castle Cornet, Maritime Museum and The 201 Squadron (RAF) Museum.

In the afternoon we returned to the boat where it is safely tucked up with two friendly sailing boats.

Escape from Lezardrieux

The small town of Lezardrieux was very pleasant and it was a shame to leave behind the excellent patisserie, but Ann wanted us to begin our journey back to England. The obvious next stop was St. Peter Port again where we could refuel with diesel at 56p per litre. The weather forecast for the week ahead was dire apart from this morning. I checked the tides and realised that, unless we left no later than 6:00 am we would be pushing to Guernsey against a strong tide, so we got up at 5:00 am. We thought that this was early but later discovered that the yachts had left at 4:00 am!

Watching the sun rise as we motored down the estuary was magical. However, from Lezardrieux it is nearly ten miles before you are really at sea and the swell was quite big. I had plotted an alternative run into Treguier, if the sea was to rough, but we decided to continue and I set the speed at a reasonably comfortable 16 knots.

At sea, in the English Channel, there are basically two types of wave: wind waves and swell. Wind waves are short and choppy and have ‘white horses’ as the wind increases above force 4. Swell waves tend to be higher, but much further apart, and may have travelled for hundreds of miles, from storms out in the Atlantic Ocean. Today, unusually, there was only swell but it increased as we got further out to sea and it was hitting our port quarter (back left hand side). This meant that the waves were trying to turn us sideways on and could cause us to roll severely. The autopilot could not cope with this so I went on to hand steering. The Guernsey VHF later said that the swell was about 3 to 5 feet high. However, when two or three waves came together they must have been twice as high as that. I concentrated on keeping the boat pointing towards Guernsey but making sure we were not sideways to the next wave. This meant looking left and anticipating what it would do when it hit us. On occasions, our speed increased to 19 knots as we headed down the front of a wave and then decreased to 12 knots as we clawed our way up the back of it with only a view of the sky as the boat reared upwards. Ann later said that grabbing the whisky bottle and vanishing beneath a duvet below had attractions. However, she stuck with it and Jomima coped extremely well with just a bit of help from me.

Once we moved into the shelter of Guernsey the swell abated and I was able to leave the helm to Ann while I ran to the heads to relieve the pressure in my bladder – something that I had not been able to do for the past three hours. We arrived safely in St. Peter Port and headed for the refuelling berth, where I found I could not switch off the port engine. There are no spark plugs on a diesel engine and switching off the ignition has no effect. It is stopped by a servo pulling on a lever to cut off the diesel in the fuel pump. A 4p knut had dropped off and detached the servo so I stopped it by hand and relaxed after an ‘interesting’ journey.

Exploring Lezardrieux

The windy weather has returned and force 6 to 8 has been promised for today. Jomima stayed put today but we planned to explore the village. A couple of days ago we were visited by four people, from two other boats in Paimpol. They arrived by bicycle, electric ones. It did not take long for Ann to express sufficient interest in their machines for her to be offered a ride. We were told that you had to pedal for about three seconds and then the electric power would come in to assist you. Ann set off and after three seconds, as I fully expected, she let out a squeal as her speed increased without her having to put in any more effort. Quite where we would keep one of those I do not know so we will have to stick to our small folders for now.

It would have been nice to have been able to use two of their bikes to enable us to get up the hill to the village. Sadly, we had to walk but knew that it would be downhill coming back with fresh food supplies. The village turned out to be small but pleasant and well equipped with a super market, excellent bread shop and a coffee shop where we were able to get an English newspaper and sit outside reading while drinking excellent French coffee. It’s a hard life being a nomadic boater.

Lezardrieux

What we do each day, on Jomima, depends very heavily on the weather. It has been quite windy and showery for the past few days so we caught up on a few jobs: using the local launderette, polishing Jomima and planning our next port of call. Today promised to be a short period of better weather so, when the tide had raised enough for the lock gate to open, we manoeuvred out of our space on the quay side and headed for the lock. For those of you of a nautical nature we had to motor against a spring to get the back end out, without hitting the boat in front, so that we could reverse past the two boats rafted up behind us. Unfortunately, by the time we managed to get away from our mooring, the lock was already full of boats that also wanted to make an early start. We therefore had to try and hold our place, in the breezy harbour, in a queue of boats waiting to go in the lock. The lock eventually opened and, after letting out the large incoming commercial boat, we all revved engines and bow thrusters and positioned ourselves in the lock. As soon as the outer gate opened we all formed line ahead and followed the long channel out to sea.

We were heading for Lezardrieux which involved cruising down the rocky passage between the mainland and Ile de Brehat. Again we were grateful for modern technology as we followed the plotted route across the electronic chart as well as double checking our route on the paper variety. It was actually very pleasant to arrive safely at the entrance to the Trieux River and be able to cruise upstream, in calmer waters, to a marina mooring in Lezardrieux.

Bastille Day

Today is Bastille Day, which is a public holiday, and in many ways it is like November 5th in England. The important thing is: how good are the fireworks going to be this year?
The evening began with two parades from villages either side of Paimpol. Small children were able to travel on a flower bedecked trailer behind a tractor; larger ones walked carrying a lantern. Meanwhile, back in Paimpol, they were having a ‘Fest Noz’ in the town hall. We paid them a visit and it turned out to be a kind of barn dance but to music played on an instrument that sounded dreadfully like bagpipes. Everybody knew the steps, including the small children. We stood and watched until we could not stand the strange sounding music any longer.
At about 11:15 pm the two processions arrived at the quay side and the fireworks began. We were later told that the number of fireworks was less than two years ago, probably because of budgeting restraints. It is, of course, the same in France as it is in the U.K. However, we thought that the fireworks were great, but please judge for yourself.

Ile de Brehat

As mentioned before, this coastline is extremely rocky and tidal. It is therefore quite possible to cruise over rocks at high tide, in an area that will be well above sea level at low tide. Two additional Broom boats arrived today and there would have been three of them but one caught his propeller on a rock, as he left a lock, and caused £9,000 worth of damage. There are therefore times when it is wise to visit some areas by local ferry. One such area is the Ile de Brehat, which is an island near here which is absolutely surrounded by rocks as described above. We therefore decided to visit them today - by ferry.
The island is situated off the north east corner of Brittany and is a favourite destination for walkers and cyclists because there are no cars allowed. Firstly, we visited an old fort (built to keep away the British pirates) which now houses a world famous artistic glass factory. There were many beautiful items here and Ann fell in love with a glass dish, which she bought and they carefully wrapped for our journey. I just hope that it makes it home in one piece.
When we arrived it was high tide and the walk from the boat was about was about 50 yards. The tide was out when we needed the ferry to get back and the walk was about ½ mile. The ferry captains really have to know the local waters extremely well.

Abbaye De Beauport

A few miles from Paimpol is Abbey de Beauport. It was founded by two Welsh saints in the 12th century and eventually abandoned about 100 years ago. Since then the remaining buildings were used for a number of things including saltpetre storage and cider making. However, they are now restoring the magnificent buildings and gardens. Time to get the bicycles out!
I managed to find a back roads route to the Abbey which, because it ran along the coast, was fairly flat. All of which pleased Ann. The journey was delightful with many views of the rocky coast which we had cruised past only two days ago. The helpful lady that took our money was able to loan us a guide in English. After admiring the work that they were doing to restore the place, we cycled down to the sea and pedalled, briefly, along the coastal pathway that seems to go right along this stretch of coast. Apparently, the path was set up by the customs officers who used to patrol to try and stop smuggling and the pirates. This area has much in common with Cornwall.

A Short Story

On the last evening before we left St. Quay-Portrieux, I was walking back along the visitor’s pontoon and noticed a massive boat coming in to moor. I commented to some people sitting in a reasonably large yacht, fairly close to Jomima, that I hoped the boat was not about to moor between the two of us. We fell into a brief conversation and the lady sitting on the boat suddenly said, in a loud voice, “I know you. You rescued Sooty. Come and have a drink with us”. This took me a little by surprise but, needless to say, I accepted the invitation. The lady then explained. Last year Jomima had been moored next to their boat in Oban, Scotland. As I was leaving the finger pontoon between us their dog “Sooty” jumped off their boat, missed the pontoon, and ended up in the sea. The lady and her children panicked and all hell broke loose. Her husband was on a telephone conference call at the time so “Sooty” was left to swim for himself. Without thinking, I knelt down on the pontoon, grabbed “Sooty” by his harness, and hauled him out and then promptly forgot all about it. However, they had not.
It is amazing how you meet people, which you have met before in far flung places, when you lead a nomadic boating life style like ours.

Paimpol

When the tide goes out around here it seriously vanishes. The difference, at present, between low tide and high tide is about 11m (see Paimpol harbour entrance above - yes they are the same place!). Consequently even Paimpol, who have an entrance lock rather than just a gate, restrict entry to 2½ hours either side of high tide. There are also a lot of rocks that are just covered by the tide so you have to carefully follow the channel. Once the tide goes out the rocks are easy to see but the sea goes out beyond view from the harbour. We arrived at the start of the channel at about 10:00am and spent the next half hour with Ann checking the pilot books, to identifying the various channel and rock markers, while I steered and checked our route against the chart plotter. Once inside the lock we were moored against the old harbour wall with ‘Penhelyg’.

They have a new Tourist Information Centre, with helpful staff, that were even able to tell us where to get some English paper backs from, to replenish our well-read stock. In the evening we had a pleasant meal, at a local restaurant, with Pete and Liz. We all agreed that the day had been tiring because whilst the journey was short a navigational error could have been expensive. Sadly, the locals were noisy and we could have slept better that night.

Binic

We had planned to move Jomima to Binic. Entry to their harbour is difficult, because of the tides, so we chose to check it out by bus. The entry, by water, is through a gate that only opens at high tide, for between one and two hours, and occasionally not at all when the tide is particularly low (neaps). This makes the timing of your arrival extremely important and leaving difficult, particularly if the tide is late afternoon and you have a long way to go.The visitor’s moorings are right in the centre of town with restaurants nearby. The one we chose for lunch proved excellent and we savoured galettes (large thin flat round cakes) filled like an omelette washed down with local wine. They also have some excellent beaches. However, the town is very small and we had pretty well exhausted what it had to offer by the end of the day. I think that we will head to Paimpol next and leave out Binic for this year.

Market Day

All towns of any size in France seem to have a weekly outdoor market. The range of goods on sale takes me back to my childhood, when I would visit the Wolverhampton open market with my mother. For us, the best items on sale here are the fresh fruit and vegetables – most of which looked as though they had been picked early that morning. Irresistible.

St. Quay-Portrieux

New port, so exploration required. We got a small map of the town from the harbour office and headed for the Tourist Information. There was a long queue of people, so we helped ourselves to the limited range of literature available. From our map we could see a less direct but more interesting coastal footpath back to the boat. This place has five excellent beaches and looks a great place for families. Needless to say the beaches were all in use over the fine weekend – sadly high winds and rain is promised for at least a couple of days.
The deep water harbour faces south and is sheltered from the prevailing winds. The tides in this area have a range of up to 12m at springs. When the tide goes out there is one hell of a slope on the walkway down to the visitor’s pontoon that we are on. With 1,030 berths it is like a vast car park for line up on line of small French weekend fishing boats. However, the visitor’s pontoon is totally different with a wide variety of boats moored up including a new arrival: ‘Penhelyg’ – originally from Brixham. We have not seen Pete & Liz and their Atlantic 42 since we saw them in St. Vaast on our way to Paris two years ago. It is amazing how itinerant boaters like us meet up periodically.

France, St. Quay-Portrieux

We had planned to leave St. Peter Port, Guernsey, for Paimpol in France, yesterday. We left the inside marina and moved to the outside area, the previous evening, to enable us to leave without waiting for high tide. However, once we got to sea and found that the high(ish) winds were causing us to be covered in spray from the choppy sea we decided that we would leave our departure until tomorrow. This was a wise choice and the following day was much better. Paimpol, like most harbours in the area, can only be entered at two hours either side of high tide. We would have arrived early so we headed for St. Quay-Portrieux instead. Unusually the journey was sunny and relaxed so you have actually got a photograph of me today.

Sark

Again we decided that a ferry was preferable to risking scraping the bottom of Jomima on a rock visiting Sark. I can now confirm that there are no cars on Sark, which is larger than Herm, at 3 miles long and 1 ½ miles wide. However, it also has the highest point of any of the Channel Islands so the potential walk from the harbour to the town was steep, so we took one of the tractor drawn buses. If you want to tour the Island then you have three choices: walk, hire a bike or take a horse drawn cart. We chose the latter and were lucky because our cart only had the four of us as passengers rather than the usual 10 people. George (the horse) took us on a gentle, two hour, tour of the island with a stop at the fantastic ‘Le Seigneurie’ Gardens i.e. the Governor’s house. It would take too long to explain the politics, which is based upon the islanders being a self-governing Crown Dependency with the Barclay brothers, who live on a neighbouring island, causing problems locally. The pace of life is different from the mainland. Traditional activities such as farming, fishing and local crafts provide employment for the 600 people on the island. However, some modern technology such as broadband and mobile telephones are also available – but definitely no cars.

Herm

The weather forecast last night was for rain but this morning it said sunshine. I’ll take today’s forecast thank you. Jeff, Gerry, Ann and I rushed around and managed to just catch the 10:30 ferry (we are on holiday) to Herm. We could have gone in one of our own boats but:

A) The tides are massive (10M) and somebody would have had to have stayed on board to move the boat as the tide went out.

B) There are many rocks in the water just below the surface and you need to take great care when moving between islands.

We arrived at the very small picturesque harbour and decided to walk around the island. It can be done in two hours but we took a leisurely five hours, including a stop for lunch. The beaches were clean and uncrowded. The sea was crystal clear. It was a delightful way to spend the day before catching the ferry back to Guernsey.

Jeff's Birthday

One of the reasons that we headed to Jersey was to meet up with Jeff & Gerry, with their boat Virginia Lady, also from the Broom Owners Club. Once the water level had risen about 2m above the sill we were able to enter the harbour at St Peter Port and moor alongside Virginia lady, another Broom 38. We then discovered that it was Jeff’s birthday and headed into the town for a meal. Good company, good food and wine – what more could you want after a very tiring day navigating through fog.

Dartmouth to Guernsey

The fridge arrived on Thursday – damaged. The replacement arrived late Friday and I managed to fit it that afternoon. Adjusting the door so that the hinges were on the left took longer than actually fitting the fridge in place. As soon as I was able to confirm that we had cold storage again, Ann visited Sainsbury’s and stocked up.

The weather forecast for Saturday was for fine weather, little wind, some mist and calm seas. We decided to head for Guernsey and left our berth in Dartmouth at 10:30 am. The course was SE for 75 nautical miles. I had deliberately plotted a route that took us near the Channel Light Vessel (CLV). It is reassuring, when all you can see is sea, to be able to view the CLV fixed in the middle of the Channel – just to confirm that you are actually on course. With the radar on we crossed the end of the first section of traffic lanes and several large ships passed us by, through the mist, with visibility at about 2 miles. The CLV appeared through the mist and we began to realise that the mist had turned to fog. We now had to cross the second traffic lane with visibility at about 75 yards. At this point you realise that the money you have spent on expensive radar and a chart plotter was a good investment, because that is what you have to trust your life to under these conditions. We were 30 miles from Guernsey. Ann watched the radar and warned me when any of the very large and fast ships approached from the west. I steered by means of the compass and chart plotter, kept my eyes and ears open for other shipping and my hands on the throttles. All around us was complete whiteness. There was no horizon or anything to steer by. It is amazing how much you miss the sun and clouds which, without thinking about it, reassure you that you are on a steady course.

This situation lasted for a very long hour. After we cleared the traffic lanes we were less likely to be mown down by a ship considerably larger than us. Eventually the mist cleared and we could see land on the radar. Once we spotted the NE corner of Guernsey we were able to relax a bit. Then, after carefully navigating the channel into St. Peter Port harbour, we were able to tie up to a pontoon and have a well earned break to wait for the tide to come in so that we could enter the harbour.

Finch's Foundry & Rosemore

Back down in Dartmouth again, waiting for the new fridge to be delivered (promised today but I am not holding my breath). Weather forecast good today, but poor tomorrow, so go out today and fit fridge tomorrow. Decided to visit Finch’s Foundry (National Trust) this morning and Rosemore Gardens (RHS) this afternoon. Photographically they were both an experience. The water powered drop forge showed how spades and scythes were made in the 19th century. They were having problems with the building falling to bits because of the vibration from the hammer.
We have been to Rosemore gardens before and they are always a pleasure. My feet gave out before Ann’s did but most enjoyable. As we drove back to Dartmouth I received a message saying that the fridge had arrived – so I know what I am doing tomorrow.

Britannia Royal Naval College

High on a hill above Dartmouth, Britannia Royal Naval College has been training Royal Naval officers on this site since 1905. In fact, naval officers' training in Dartmouth goes back to 1863, when the old wooden wall HMS Britannia was first moored in the River Dart. The job has always been the same and is now encapsulated, as you might expect, in a mission statement:

“To deliver courageous leaders with the spirit to fight and win”

The Queen met Prince Phillip here during a visit made by the very young Princes Elizabeth. He was then a dashing young Naval Cadet: Phillip of Greece.

The whole place was steeped in history and obviously still provides excellent training for the cadets that are lucky enough to be able to attend courses here. The view, out to sea past Dartmouth, from the parade ground, was magnificent.

Stoke Gabriel

Today is my birthday. I don’t particularly like getting older but I did get some excellent presents this year – mainly to do with photography. The filters that I received I used to hold back the sky (a graduated filter) on the above shot. While I was setting up the tripod etc., typically, Ann got talking to the people that owned the yacht that is to the left of the picture. Yes, the figure in red is Ann climbing onto the yacht having already been invited on board during the brief period that it took me to set up my camera. I quite like the perspective of the pontoon where all of the dinghies are moored.

Dartmouth

The weather forecast was not good so we decided to move on to Dartmouth where we knew we should be able to get a marina mooring. If it is going to rain then it is better to have electricity and be able to get off the boat without a very wet ride in the tender.
There is always plenty to do in Dartmouth and once the rain stopped then the light was wonderful and I was able to take some great photographs of the view from the boat. We actually moored in Kingswear which is on the other side of the river to Dartmouth. This has advantages because it means that you can look at Dartmouth in the sun in the morning and then enjoy the sun shining on Kingswear in the afternoon.

Salcombe

After a couple of days in Newton Ferrers we decided to progress eastwards to Salcombe. It is only about 20 miles away so we waited until the tide was heading in that direction and for sufficient water to be over the bar at Salcombe to make entrance easy even if there were some waves at the entrance. We followed a fishing boat in and admired the splendid view of the hillside as we made our way into the harbour. Unfortunately, as usual, all of the mooring buoys (there are no marinas) were occupied and we were directed to one of the larger ones in the middle of the bay. This was already occupied by a Broom 42 which sadly decided to run their generator for several hours that evening.
Mooring against other boats is always a bit of an adventure. We have sometimes made new friends but only very occasionally have we had any problems. To be fair, they did switch their generator off when we complained.

Newton Ferrers

We have finally decided to leave Mayflower Marina and Plymouth for pastures new. Our first port of call was Newton Ferrers, which is one of our favourite spots on the whole of the Devon and Cornwall coast. We have been stranded there for days by bad weather and that was not a problem.
If the tide is in, it is possible to take your tender right up to the village and moor at the yacht club or public slip way. However, if you want to spend any time there, it is best to moor your tender at the jetty at Yealm Steps and enjoy the creek side walk down the lower path and admire the pastel painted Devon cottages with their gardens down to the water. There are a few local shops including a Co-op, Chemist and post office. But, if like me, you have a thirst after your walk then The Dolphin Inn is difficult to beat. Recently listed, by a well known yachting magazine, as one of the 40 best sailors’ pubs in the country, it is well worth a visit. There is a good choice of local beers and an impressive restaurant menu with fresh local food listed on the chalk board inside.

The Barbican

Near the three local marinas is the Mayflower Steps monument commemorating the departure of the Pilgrims for America in 1620. It is believed that they actually departed from a pier, incorporated into the West Pier, which was built in the 18th century. Nearby is the Tourist Information office and here you will find sufficient information to keep you busy for days. One particularly interesting leaflet lists 20 historic sites within walking distance. These include the Elizabethan House which is said to be one of the first speculatively-built houses in Plymouth. It was erected by John Sparke, the first Englishman to describe tobacco and potatoes. Nearby you will find the Dolphin Hotel which is where the Tolpuddle Martyrs spent their first nights, back in England, on returning from exile in Australia in 1838. The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs is perhaps the best known case in the early history of the Trade Unions.

Today I also managed to finally fix the electricity supply to the instruments on the boat. It was finally traced to a small 20p fuse hidden behind the instruments in the roof lining!

Now heading back to Nottingham for a couple of weeks.

The Royal Citadel

There are many fortresses and defensive towers around Plymouth Sound. However, the one that I would suggest that you visit is The Royal Citadel. It is only open to the public on Tuesday afternoons, at 14:30, and it is then possible to go on a guided tour of this magnificent structure. It is in a very prominent position overlooking the harbour and was completed in 1670. Since that time it has been in continuous military use and, from 1897, it has been garrisoned by the Royal Artillery. If you are at all interested in canons then they have a fantastic selection for you to admire. It is interesting to note that the mere presence of this imposing fortress meant that, until 1939, not a single shot had been fired in anger from its massive ramparts. From the walls it is possible to get a marvellous view of the harbour including the Mount Batten peninsula opposite. For most of the last century Mount Batten was an R.A.F. seaplane base. Lawrence of Arabia was stationed there during the 1930s.

Up at Dawn

I frequently read photographic magazines and they talk about the wonderful light at dawn. Unfortunately, my body clock was not very happy when I get up at 5:00 am to try this idea out for myself. Anyway, I managed to get up on the Hoe very early. There were still some people around who had obviously not gone to bed on Saturday evening and were still up and around making a noise. I took several photographs on the Hoe and then some more down near the Barbican. I hope that you like the results.