Over ambitious.....or cautiously ambitious?

Well, this is it – I’ve decided to be cautiously ambitious and do a bigger trip next week. Sometime Wednesday to Friday next week, I intend to sail from Plymouth 23nm to Salcombe; over night in Salcombe and do the return trip the following day. Obviously, it will be weather dependent – I need settled weather with some good winds around 10 – 14 knots on the day I sail. Its looking promising on the long range forecasts!

The route!

My trip to the yealm did teach me a few things. Firstly, time seems to increase over the amount of time you actually expect to sail and this was confirmed by my friend. So a 24 nm trip at 3kts average should take 8 hours but is likely to take 9 – 10 hours! A long days sail along a stretch of coast with few natural stopping off points. On this calculation – leaving 8.30 means I get into Salcombe around 6pm ish!

The scene of my last voyage/previous post - around Great Mewstone and into the yealm

Then there are the tides to contend with. High tide is 0730 and its 5.6m on Wednesday – so springs are the order of the week!. Low tide is 1342 at 0.4m. Evening high tide is 2030 and 5.8m. It’s outgoing and I intend to start sailing just off Bovisand in the Eastern sound area at 0830. For the first 4 hours the tidal stream will be flowing easterly along the coast, the way I am heading, varying between 0.2 to o.6 knots...so that will help. Towards the end of the day as I come along Bolt Tail to Bolt head....the tidal stream will switch so that it flows at 0.2 kts westerly – against me......tiring and frustrating at the end of a long day! On the other hand, the tide will be going in so that might help carry me in past the bar.

The mouth of yealm to stoke point section

Having done my calculations, I hope to be 0930 off the Mewstone; 1100 off stoke point; 1210 off Burgh island; 1345 of Bolt tail and 1545 off Bolt Head.....but adding on that hour 30 minutes or so.....takes it to 1800 ish!!

Stoke point to Mothercombe

One possible emergency bolt hole...if it turns nasty...and assuming winds are from west!

There are few escape points along this coast – the yealm is an obvious one. After that along the stretch to stoke point, there are none. The next one is Mothercombe beach in the lee of the cliffs...if the winds are from any westerly direction. I could also tuck behind Burgh Island (eastern side) and in very desperate circumstances – make for Hope cove although in truth I am reluctant to do this – off shore winds no problem – onshore means this place is very exposed and big surfs! From Bolt Tail to Bolt Head – there is nothing except Soar Mill cove.....really desperate circumstances but doable!

Burgh Island looking across to Stoke point in west

Consequently, I’ve decided that at Burgh Island – I have to make an important decision – if the weather and sea state is getting beyond what I can safely cope with, given my level of experience, then I must turn around and head back – I’ll then be able to duck into Mothercombe or the yealm if reaching Plymouth is impossible. Once Past Bolt Tail – I’m really committed to going into Salcombe.

Soar Mill Cove

There are a number of rocky dangers to contend with and so I need to keep at least 8 cables off shore along the Gara rock to stoke point and Bolt Tail to Bolt head sections. This latter stretch could be very treacherous – ledges, and several prominent rocky outcrops!
I don’t know what other people do but I’ve decided to keep a half hourly log – every 30 minutes, I triangulate where I am using compass; plot GPS lat and Long and record average speed and actual speed along with distance travelled since last log entry. Should I record anything else – if you think so – PLEASE will you let me know – I am a beginner/novice.

I have also taken the precaution of purchasing a spot 2 GPs messenger PLB...I’ve seen how Steve Earley uses his on Spartina. The advantages of SPOT are that I can do a 911 call; update my map position every 10 minutes and send regular OK messages to family – it will give them peace of mind as well.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/index.php?cid=102

I’ll leave a detailed passage plan with my wife and a friend as well. I carry a handheld VHF and mobile phone in waterproof cases permanently attached to me; I wear a harness and have a safety line attached which is tied around the forward part of the centre case – it has about 7m of rope and my harness strop. I carry charts for the whole area covered – detailed ones for the sound, yealm and Salcombe estuary.

Bolt Tail cliffs

I'll carry enough fuel on board to make sure i can motor a fair way if need be i can do 3 nm on one tank which is a litre and a bit - so 10 litres should see me able to motor 20nm anyway.

I'll post more later with details of return trip

Steve