EVENTS & NEWS
Facebook and the AOAC
What we're doing with social networking
by Gavin on 18-Aug-10 01:53
New Forest Weekend
‘Where IS the New Forest?’ enquired the geographically challenged...
by Gavin on 08-Aug-10 21:10
A Guide To Paddlesport
The goings-on of "canoeing" can be quite confusing to the uninitiated. I will now try to explain some of the terminology used by "paddlers".
by Gavin on 18-Jun-10 10:56
Easter Sailing in Devon / Cornwall
Easter Sailing in Devon / Cornwall, 30th March - 5th April 2010
by Gavin Sp on 08-Jun-10 09:51
Home » News » Easter Sailing in Devon / Cornwall
Sunday was Easter day so breakfast was
mostly chocolate!!! (:-9) The weather was excellent
with wall to wall sunshine and kinder waves and i had a good long go
at driving. We left at 8am to make it to the Yealm estuary in good time
but thanks to the wind and current, we had plenty of time for tacking up and
down near the Mew Stone, waiting for the tide for a safe passage up the Yealm
channel. That was until we noticed a rip in our
genoa, so packed it up and limped to our pontoon while Bertie showed
off! That evening the pub at Noss Mayo was beckoning so
we inflated the dinghies and in the pitch-dark, half way across to the bank our
engine conked out! Jonny tried to re-start it but the cord
broke so out came the oars, but with me and Hannah rowing, the
boat tried to do circles. Though it was all going a bit 'Top Gear' we
made it to the bank and the pub eventually.
Easter Sailing in Devon / Cornwall, 30th March - 5th April 2010
'Bertie' - Bavaria 44: Maurice Houkes
(skipper), Jon Tucker (1st mate), Kim Blunt, Richard Hewison, Helen Tanner, Mal
Thomas.
'Ready Ssaltd' - Sun Odyssey 40: Jennie
Weatherill (skipper), Randal Patterson (1st mate), Janet Adcock, Steph
Hitchcock, Hannah Kent, Jonny Riley.
As a rookie sailor, well big yachts anyway,
i felt a little apprehensive about spending almost a
week on a yacht in the English channel at a time of year when the
equinox winds occur and with a stomach that won't even spare me any dignity on a
cross-channel ferry. But i thought why not jump in at the deep end, so i
paid up and i wasn't disappointed!
We arrived in Plymouth to take charge of our yachts
and found that Jennie had already bought all our food - hurrah!!!
On what would have been the first day of sailing, the wind was
blowing a rather large hooley so we had a walk round the Barbican and
the Hoe - sight-seeing fuelled by cream teas and chocolate muffins.
With the wind very slightly quieter, we got going the next day to Fowey
over mountainous waves, while i was chundering all the way and
couldn't even get to a bunk without yakking-up over a load of mugs in the
sink! (:-þ) Jennie excelled beyond her role as skipper,
even making me a make-shift hot-water bottle for having spent too long on
deck. While Bertie continued to Falmouth we moored in the middle
of the Fowey river with entertainment provided by the 'name the song' cd
which we just blurted out the answers to instead of writing them down - far too
much like hard work! The next day, i felt good after taking
Jennie's stugeron (or was it my sea-legs kicking-in?)
and actually enjoyed the waves as we rock and
rolled our way to Falmouth. In town that evening
a very pokey curry was in order, then met up with
Bertie's crew and saw a live band or rather 2 'Wurzel' types beating out
some jolly good tunes til midnight!
Saturday was torrential rain all day and i went
shopping while managing to resist the many pasty shops knowing i had
half a cold curry waiting for me in the fridge - yum! On returning we
had a discussion on whether to leave for the Helford river or stay in Falmouth
another night. The weather was still a tad naff so the
vote to stay won and we all piled into Bertie to play Maurice's 'Pass
the Pigs' game which i almost won (first past 100 but was porked at
the post in a 'pig-off' by Randal - the crafty swine!) and was then accused
of cheating!!! Huh!
Monday was another gorgeous day as we motored the short
distance back to Queen Anne's Battery to re-fuel and clean the yachts, followed
by a 'who can 'sing' (shout) the loudest' competition during
my lift home with Jon. At home that
night i was unable to sleep in my motionless, quiet and spacious bedroom so
instead let the memories of a fun-filled week of thrills and spills(!), big
waves, pigs, smelly toilets, lots of laughs and great company flood my mind -
aaaaah! Does anyone need a bucket now?
Words by Steph Hitchcock
Photos by Helen Tanner & Steph Hitchcock