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.

Back in Plymouth

Returned to Plymouth last night and decided to go for a walk locally this afternoon. Not very much to see but we did manage to find a lovely little harbour and slipway. It looked as though it had not changed for centuries and probably hadn't – although the boats had. It was great to see people messing about in boats in the sunshine after such a lot of rain lately.

Mayflower Marina

Most of my days have been spent at the marina servicing the engines and carrying out repairs. Most of the service work is now done with oil and diesel filters all changed. Yesterday I managed to get both heads (toilets) working – after totally replacing one pump. Unfortunately, I still have a problem with the instruments not working for one engine. All of the fuses seem alright so I have sent for a new ignition key and, when it arrives, I will see if that cures the problem.

Tomorrow we return home for a couple of weeks.

Twice an hour a little ferry pops backwards and forwards to Cornwall from just acoss the water. There is a slight wake from it but not unpleasant. Long may boats like this continue to ply these waters.

Unloading in Plymouth

Wide loads are not allowed to travel in the centre of Plymouth between 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm. It was therefore after 7:00 pm that we arrived so we had to wait until today to be unloaded. Unfortunately, another job was being given priority today – dismantling an extremely large 130 ton crane. This involved using a fairly large mobile crane to dismantle it and then placing the parts: tracks, weights, cab, jib sections etc on a series of lorries. The delay caused by this process was easily occupied by watching this skilled and fascinating process.

At 8:30 am the travel hoist had lifted Jomima off the lorry so that he could proceed to his next appointment. We were then left in the slings, with Jomima’s keel gently resting on some wooden blocks, to await the area around the launching bay to be clear of crane parts. At 3:30 pm Jomima was lowered into Plymouth harbour and held there while I checked for leaks after her six months out of the water. All was well so, with the help of the friendly Mayflower Marina staff I navigated Jomima to her new home.

On The Move

At last the day has arrived for me to move Jomima, with the help of a large truck, to her new home at Mayflower Marina in Plymouth. The truck arrived at 8:00 am at Newark, where I had stayed overnight on Jomima to avoid an early start and the heavy commuter traffic. I gave that sort of thing up two years ago when I took early retirement.

There was already a boat on the truck when it arrived and that was quickly unloaded and put in the water. Jomima was then lifted out from her home of the last six months and placed carefully on the lorry. While all of the straps were being fitted I took the opportunity to anti-foul the six places where supports had been placed to support Jomima during the winter. I had carefully kept the remains of a tin of paint for this purpose because, if I did not complete this work, we would have been trailing six clumps of weed within a fairly short period of time.

The journey to Plymouth, at a steady 55 mph, was uneventful. However it did rain quite heavily half way down which liberally coated Jomima in dirt and traffic film, some of which remained in the usually covered helm area. After a short wait, outside Plymouth, we met the escort vehicle for our wide load. We then proceeded into the unloading area at the marina to park overnight for unloading tomorrow.

Waiting for a Truck to Plymouth

Jomima is at present out of the water so that I can do some jobs on her hull. So far, she is anti-fouled and the hull is polished. I have also replaced the anodes and cleaned the propellers and rudders - she has two of each. She is scheduled to be moved by truck to Plymouth, Devon on 6 April 2009. If the weather is suitable then I may start the long job of polishing her top sides before she goes. Otherwise that will have to wait until she is in the water.

Once she is in the water I will service the engines. This is quite a big job because they are big engines. I have 25 liters of oil ready along with various impellers and filters. Let's hope that the sun shines this summer and we can enjoy our cruising in 2009.