Papillon: Fowey to Plymouth

Having spent three relaxing days in Fowey, wandering about the town, reading onboard, enjoying the beer and meals at The Ship Inn.

There were few boats on the pontoons and as sailors the world over we all met up, had coffee and a chat. I was delighted to see a French boat over with all the shenanigans about Brexit.

When it was time to head back we slipped our lines and poked the bow out of the river, conditions were still bouncy, and headed east under a single reef. Visibility was less than a mile.

The French boat that was on the second pontoon also departed heading for Plymouth.

As we arrived at Sutton Lock the lock keeper called out and asked if Andrew would ring then Coastguard at Falmouth as they wanted to check we were OK. It turns out that the French skipper had lost sight of us and we had disappeared from his AIS, hence he reported this to the Coastguard. They were able to confirm that they could see us on AIS doing 7 knots heading east.

All in all a cracking few days.

All times are UTC.

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The Numbers:

	Underway	Distance NM	Avg SOG knots	Max SOG knots	Night Hours
Day:	4h 15m	27.75	6.5	9.00	0h 0m
Trip:	10d 23h 59m	9,999	0	0	0

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Crew: Andrew Pascoe (Skipper) Morag Thomson Findlay and Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: 0542 hrs Sunset: 1931 hrs

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Weather: The shipping forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 00:15 (UTC+1) on Thu 8 Sep 2022 for the period 01:00 (UTC+1) on Thu 8 Sep 2022 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 9 Sep 2022.

Portland, Plymouth

Southwest 5 to 7. Moderate or rough. Thundery showers. Good, occasionally poor.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 08/09/2022

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Papillon: Plymouth to Fowey

Monday 5^th September 2022

One of the great things about social media is the ability to contact people, share ideas and do stuff. After offering to crew in a Plymouth Group I was contacted by Andrew to see if I was interested in doing a trip.

After meeting up for a quick chat on the previous Thursday we had planned a trip to Guernsey in the Channel Islands, but over the weekend the weather turned very windy with a low pressure system sat off Ireland. Lots of ideas were pinged back and fro about possible places to sail and we settled on Salcombe or Dartmouth.

I drove down to Plymouth and abananded the car at Andrew's place and then we went down to the marina where we met Morag. We dropped our kit and supplies on Papillon and got her ready for sea then headed for the Sutton Harbour lock and waited to be let out.

Into Plymouth Sound we motored, the wind was 'a bit brisk', but warm and on raising the main I got a thorough drenching with the amount of water that had been trapped in the sail.

Heading out of the Eastern Entrance we all detected that there was far more east in the wind that the forecast had predicted and casually people started to once again look at different forecasts on their phones and wondering if going east was such a good idea.

Poking our noise out beyond the Great Mew Stone confirmed our suspicions, the forecasted F4 - F6 was at the high end of the range, we would spend a good few hours bashing into it and we knew the wind would increase.

Almost together we asked if this was a good idea and decided that Fowey was a much better option and turned Papillion west. With a reef in the main and under full genoa and settled down to enjoy the downwind sail.

Almost together we asked if this was a good idea and decided that Fowey was a much better option and turned Papillion west. With a reef in the main and under full genoa and settled down to enjoy the downwind sail.

A bouncy couple of hours followed as we headed west in a choppy sea, but the sun shone and the sky was clear blue.

Enjoying the ride and free of the demands of skippering I sat back and watched the world go by.

Entering Fowey for the first time was interesting as Andrew pointed out all of the landmarks, perhaps the most comical one was 'the firework' a red port light that did look like a firework.

We tied up on one of the pontoons and reflected on a fun, but challenging morning.

All times are UTC.

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The Numbers:

	Underway	Distance	Avg SOG	Max SOG	Night Hours
Day:	4h 15m	27.75	6.50	9.00	0h 00m
Trip:	4h 15m	27.75	6.50	9.00	0h 00m

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Crew: Andrew Pascoe (Skipper) Morag Thomson Findlay and Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: 0542 hrs Sunset: 1931 hrs

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Weather: The shipping forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 00:15 (UTC+1) on Mon 5 Sep 2022 for the period 01:00 (UTC+1) on Mon 5 Sep 2022 to 01:00 (UTC+1) on Tue 6 Sep 2022.

Plymouth, Northwest Biscay

Southwesterly 4 to 6 backing southerly 5 to 7, perhaps gale 8 later. Moderate or rough, becoming rough or very rough later in west. Thundery showers. Good, occasionally poor.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 05/09/2022

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Faro to Falmouth – Day 12

Friday 19^th August 2022

0100 hrs

Lat: 49° 48.77 'N Long: 004° 49.70 'W

Up on deck for my last watch at sea of the trip. The Cornish coastline could be seen and the welcome flash of familiar lighthouses.

0700 hrs

Lat: 50° 09.17'N Long: 005° 03.70'W

Arrived and tied up at Port Pendennis Marina, time for breakfast before cleaning the boat from stem to stern.

Following a shower, I am not impressed with the facilities given the reputation of the place, we headed up to Falmouth Docks rail station, purchased our tickets and jumped on the next train to Truro where we changed trains for all points east. Dan and Stuart got off at Plymouth as they wanted a London bound train and I continued to Exeter.

All times are UTC.

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The Numbers

	Underway	Distance	Avg SOG	Max SOG	Night Hours
Day:	6h 00m	26.30	4.38	6.00	5h 17m
Trip:	10d 23h 59m	938.10	0	0	0

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Crew: Dan Judges (Skipper), Stuart Corbett, Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: 0517 hrs Sunset: 1933 hrs

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Weather: The shipping forecast issued by the Met Office, on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at 12:30 (UTC+1) on Mon 8 Aug 2022 for the period 13:00 (UTC+1) on Mon 8 Aug 2022 to 13:00 (UTC+1) on Tue 9 Aug 2022.

Plymouth

Northerly or northwesterly 3 to 5, occasionally 6 in northwest, becoming variable 2 to 4 in northeast for a time. Slight or moderate. Showers. Good.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 08/08/2024

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Faro to Falmouth – Day 11

Thursday 18^th August 2022

0000 hrs

Lat: 48° 27.0'N Long: 005° 05.99'W

A very peaceful night in this lovely anchorage. I must return one day.

0730

Dropped the mooring buoy and started on the last hop to Falmouth. Looking distances we had about a hundred miles to run and it felt like just a short hop over La Manche to Cornwall

0900 hrs

Lat: 48° 32.39'N Long: 005° 06.95'W

We had come out into a lumpy chop, but the sun was shining and the coastline, including several spectacular lighthouses was stunning.

1000 hrs

Lat: 48° 37.75'N Long: 005° 03.10'W

The French Coastguard and several fishing vessels out searching for a MOB from a fishing vessel last night. Another reminder that the sea needs to be respected.

Several dolphins, gannets and shearwaters spotted.

All times are UTC.

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Stats

	Underway	Distance	Avg SOG	Max SOG	Night Hours
Day:	24h 00m	82.10	5.75	7.00	5h 17m
Trip:	5d 08h 30m	911.80	6.29	7.00

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Crew: Dan Judges (Skipper), Stuart Corbett, Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: 0515 hrs Sunset: 1935 hrs

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Weather: Forecast valid from: 19:00 (UTC+1) on Thu 18 Aug 2022 until 19:00 (UTC+1) on Fri 19 Aug 2022

Portland, Plymouth

West or southwest, veering northwest, 3 to 5. Smooth or slight at first in Portland, otherwise slight or moderate, occasionally rough later in west Plymouth. Thundery showers, fog patches. Moderate or good, occasionally very poor.

© Met Office Synoptic Chart 18/08/2022

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Faro to Falmouth – Day 10

Wednesday

0000 hrs

Lat: 50° 59.99 'N Long: 004° 59.59 'W
Course: 360°T SOG: 9 kts STW: 4 kts Hourly run: 5 nm
TWD: 360 °T TWS: 10 kts AWA: 360 °P/S AWS: 5 kts

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All times are UTC.

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Stats

	Underway	Distance	Avg SOG	Max SOG	Night Hours
Day:	24h 00m	16.90	-	-	-
Trip:	5d 08h 30m	829.70	6.29	7	-

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Crew: Dan Judges (Skipper), Stuart Corbett, Sandy Garrity

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Sunrise: - hrs Sunset: - hrs

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Weather: -

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© Met Office Synoptic Chart 08/08/2022< /em>

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