After a lazy start to the day after tea and showers we did a radio check with the marina and cast off at 0930 UTC the wind blowing us off the pontoon, I do like it when it does that as it makes life a lot easier but I missed the channel out through the swing moorings so had to do a quick 360 turn round a boat, just to test the steering you understand.
We raised the main in a brisk F3 and headed down to St Anthony Head where we unfurled the genoa and headed out to sea. We were going to be spending the day sailing to windward with the tide against us.
Very quickly I realised that the hull was a lot smoother and on a beam reach we were getting up to hull speed, seven knots, without trying.
The sky was overcast and it was not as warm as the previous day so we added a few layers to tee shirts, I have this "ancient" Breton smock and it is brilliant at keeping the wind off while you do not get all hot and sticky as in some modern materials.
An enjoyable motor sail up the coast knowing we were sailing to windward and did not want to get in too late we motor sailed a fair bit, but for some reason we were going in the opposite direction to every other sailing vessel. This trip was to get Aphrodite back to her home berth in Plymouth. Everybody had wind and tide to their advantage and cracking along at great speed. I was very happy with the progress we were making.
Passing Dodman point I was quietly crossing my fingers and hoping the new impeller would hold, which it did, I really, really did not want a repeat of the westward journey. At least I knew where the spare impellers were.
Dodman does have a habit of being forever present along that part of the coast, it takes ages to get there, ages to pass and even longer while you see it over your shoulder.
A few miles of Rame Head I requested another radio check with the National Coastwatch Institute and was delighted that they could receive us and see us on AIS, the sparky at Mylor was a bit concerned about our antenna, but it is a Metz and connected differently to most.
Rame Head from the west. Credit Garry Lester
Turning into Plymouth Sound as it started to cool down we furled the genoa away and just of Asia buoy dropped the main. Just the "parking" to do and we would be back on our home berth.
With a following wind I turned the engine to neutral as we entered Millbay. With wind and tide we were doing just over two knots as we entered King Point, a hard starboard turn, then hard to port and another hard to port and we had arrived - Garry stepped onto the finger and attached the mooring warps. No gelcoat was damaged and no sudden bumps as we arrived at the berth.
It being almost 1900 UTC we tied up, plugged in the shore power and headed to the restaurant in the marina for a meal. Followed by a good sleep after all that sea air.
Crew: Sandy Garrity, Garry Lester
Trip Stats: Distance: 49 nm, Avg speed: 4.90 knots, Max speed: 8.10 knots, Under way: 10 h 00 m
Weather: Inshore waters forecast to 12 miles offshore 07:00 (UTC+1) on Sat 3 Aug 2019 to 07:00 (UTC+1) on Sun 4 Aug 2019
Lyme Regis to Lands End including the Isles of Scilly
24 hour forecast: East or southeast becoming variable, 3 or less, increasing 4 at times. Smooth or slight, becoming slight or moderate in west. Showers, mainly in west. Moderate or good.
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