A good day out with my old Mum and Dad

I was quite excited yesterday morning - up early getting Arwen ready. Mum and Dad were calling in on their way back from their holiday in Cornwall for a day’s sailing in Plymouth Sound. Both of them love being in the boat – it gives them a sense of peace and freedom I guess. At the crack of dawn I was taking covers off Arwen and coupling her up to the car. I’m nothing if not keen and I rarely get my parents to myself! Tidying up odd bits and pieces; attaching the outboard and making sure it had a full tank. Packed the waterproof bags with spare clothing; checked the spare lifejackets. Checked that she was still securely held by ratchet strap and that all masts and booms were secure on their carriers – all the tick list things completed with time to spare.

Although taken when Arwen was stored for a time at QAB....this shows the dreaded tarpaulins

I really must get a new cover with snap buckles.

Back to the kitchen, the sense of excited anticipation rising; quick check of the weather forecast again - force 3 winds with occasional gusts, coming from the north/north west. A check of the charts and tide tables one more time suggested an easy run out to the breakwater with the wind behind us and the tide going out. It was a 5m spring tide with high tide 6.30am.......so we’d depart at 10.00am (gives Mum and Dad time to see the kids and get a cup of tea) but it also meant the tide will be flowing outwards pretty strongly as we departed.

Cheese and marmite sandwiches (you either love it or hate it – we were a marmite ‘WE LOVE IT’ family; big flask of tea and some juices; yogurt bars, fruit and we are provisioned for the day. (I noticed that none of the large chocolate cake that arrived.....made its way to the boat – umm!) The plan – I’ll depart early for the marina and have Arwen ready to go for 9.45am. My wife would bring Mum and Dad down to the pontoon.

The dreaded Marmite...you either LOVE it or HATE it - there is no in-between!

Simple plan what could go wrong?
As I drove off Mum and Dad arrived and so a quick pull over into a lay-by and chat on the mobile; “see you at the pontoon at 10.00am Mum; tides going out! Go see the kids; get a cup of tea and then come down for 10.00am – see you”!


So I’m alongside the pontoon at 10.00am – no sign of them; 10.15am, no sign of them...where are they? I’m watching the tide go out at a rate of knots; I’ve moved the boat twice along the pontoon to keep a depth of water under Arwen and I was running out of pontoon! A phone call home – is everything OK? “Oh are you ready for us...?” says the wife – “we were busy chatting – we’ll come down now – see you in half an hour”.

Half an hour? I’ll be high and dry – are they on the same planet as me? Which bit of “falling spring tide - see you at 10.00 am” didn’t they understand – have they no sense of urgency and sailors need?

Arwen, tied alongside with water draining away very rapidly!

They duly arrive, ambling down the pontoon; we sort out clothing and lifejackets; bags stored in lockers and we are off.........easing out of the marina lane and into the main Sutton Harbour area just in front of the lock gates. You need eyes in the back of your head here as several pontoon exits; there is the refuelling pontoon at QAB and the main thoroughfare into/out of Sutton harbour all merging at the same point. Opposite is the big mooring pontoon for the river Tamar cruise boats and water taxis as well – so a weather eye on them as they reverse out is paramount. We pass the old phoenix wharf and into the main Cattedown area. More boat traffic – boats coming off moorings along the river Plym; harbour pilots going out to escort in little ships; some of the Mount Batten water sports centre boats weaving between moorings and dive boats laden with black clad bodies speeding away in rigid inflatables. The sun is shining; Mum and Dad have sat to balance the boat nicely; the outboard is pushing us along helped by the tide and all seems well.

One of the busy Cattedown wharves with fishing boats tied alongside and a Mount Batten water sports centre boat in the foreground

Then sadly, a mayday call comes over the radio....as we round Mount Batten breakwater into Jennycliffe Bay. Over the next few minutes it becomes clear that a major ‘man overboard’ incident is taking place just off Looe, further down the coast in Cornwall. Co-ordinated by Brixham coastguard, the all weather lifeboat from Fowey, the Looe inshore lifeboat and an RNAS helicopter from Culdrose are dispatched with urgency. A Mayday Relay signal is broadcast by the Coastguard into the area to alert other vessels to the unfolding incident and requesting immediate assistance. Other boats with First aiders on board rush to give assistance.

My small midland Atlantic hand held VHF which has a limited range

I only have a small handheld VHF and occasionally reception is patchy from other boats depending on distance etc......I didn’t catch all of the details ..............it sounded like the casualty was airlifted to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth after being transferred to one of the lifeboats. Some RNLI crew remained on board the boat to help the remaining crew get her into harbour at Looe I think.

I’ve often wondered whether there is a need to get a VHF aerial and extension and place the aerial at the top of the mast.......I don’t know what other small ‘open boaters’ do....but clearly I need to think about this further given I couldn’t get all of the radio broadcasts today.......When I eventually sail down to Fowey in Arwen, I want to know that in an emergency, my broadcast will be heard loud and clear for several miles in all directions.


In the shelter of Jennycliffe Bay , we put up the mizzen and Arwen obediently turns head to wind. The main is hauled up as high as I can get her and the downhaul tightened before the jib is pulled out and off she goes accelerating like a pedigree greyhound. 4.5 kts on a close haul across to Drakes Island Melampus buoy; then we turn south west onto a beam reach and rocket off along to Cawesand Bay.

My Mum, never sailed before, but looking pretty happy at the helm

Lots of boats were heading out – all white, plastic and big – all heading off down the coast to Fowey, probably to return tomorrow. We sail into the bay and across to the pretty villages of Cawesand and Kingsand. Mum and Dad are taken with the picturesque nature of these two small fishing villages with they brightly coloured houses reaching down to the water s edge and the imposing fort above (built in the late 1700’s to protect the western approaches to Plymouth Sound).

Pretty Cawesand  on the left and Kingsand on the right

Cawesand has had a chequered smuggling history in the past due to its closeness to Plymouth. Now it is a popular boat trip across the sound where tourists descend onto its sand and shingle beach. Kingsand, next door, gets its name from the fact that King Charles escaped over the beach to a ship in the bay. There is a historical rumour that 700 Spanish ships paused here in the bay centuries ago before sickness forced them to leave!

So many boats crossing our path on their way down the coast to Looe, Fowey and Falmouth

Mum and Dad are in their element and a request to sail down the outside length of the breakwater follows – off we go on a reach, averaging 4 kts across to Bovisand Bay. Mum took the helm for a bit but it was proving gusty and at times with lots of weather helm on tiller necessitating some adjustment of sails. Dad’s in charge of the GPS giving regular updates on speed.

Mum at the helm, with the breeze in her hair.....

Mr 'I'm fully competent with a GPS'...........

Happy as Larry he is.....me old dad

As we approach the eastern end of the breakwater a lovely site meets our eyes – some form of old gaff rigged barge about 30’ long under full tan sail emerges and makes her way sedately across Bovisand bay, heading out to sea. They don’t build them like that anymore ....or do they?

Any one recognise her or know what kind of boat she is?

I decide to try and head back inside the breakwater by cutting through the eastern entrance – even though the wind is virtually blowing directly from the north down through the very place we want to head into – doh! I sail as close to the rocks as I can at Bovisand so that I can tack around and pick up an angle of approach that will just have me cutting inside....and the wind dies. At 1.5kt Arwen decides she won't tack; we can see water shoaling fast – the bottom kelp covered rocks appearing under us rapidly and so I resort to a quick burst of outboard power to get us out of danger.....lesson learned! Thank God for outboards – without it we’d have been beached on the emerging rocks! It’s clear I won't be getting back within the breakwater through the eastern entrance – so its a long close haul tack across to the tinker buoys, onwards to the OSR buoys and then onto the Draystone – a serious case of déjà vue emerging.....didn’t I do this route last week?

OSR buoy in the outer Sound area, south of the western end of the breakwater

 At least we were making 5 kts and so serious waves. As we approach Penlee point, we are able to see the medieval church grotto through the binoculars.

Captain Ahab here, looking across towards Penlee Point

The old medieval grotto church is midway up on the left of the houses

Around the Draystone buoy and back down towards centre of breakwater.....if I put one more tack close into it – I should then get across to the coastline along from Cawesand and one further tack will put me on a line all the way back to Mount Batten pier (and guess what it did......wow!). Conditions were choppy as we went through the western entrance of the sound.....of course it was a wind against tide situation through a narrow entrance.....but Arwen coped with it admirably.

The lighthouse at the western end of Plymouth Breakwater

More reassuringly, I saw the incoming submarine this time and we were able to take appropriate avoidance action without having to be asked by the RN police patrol boats. There was also this beauty hugging the coast around Penlee Point.

Another boat I can't name....but what classic lines and a sharp turn of speed

The Brittany Ferry past by as well, slowing right down, barely making any bow wave. Into Jennycliffe bay we returned, passing the big ship mooring buoys with their cormorants sitting neatly on top drying their outstretched wings.

One of the ship mooring buoys in Plymouth Sound, used mainly by RN and RFA ships

Heading back into Jennycliffe Bay

As we approached Dunstone buoy, we turned head to wind; a pull on the lazy jack (which also doubles as a topping lift) and the main sails dropped neatly between the jacks where they were securely tied. The jib furler worked first time and the jib rolled itself away obligingly (not always a fore gone conclusion believe me!)

At the end of the day.........dad survives....but mum has her head in her hands

.......so no change there then!

One of the little tanker ships passed by on its outward journey and we all commiserated with a yacht which was having huge difficulties. A very large badly torn and twisted genoa was flapping wildly half way up the mast with ropes whipping around in all directions as a small crew below ran across the deck in all directions desperately trying to catch hold of anything. It happens and there but by the grace of God go I!


We potter back under the 3.5 HP engine into the main Sutton harbour entrance – the wind is picking up – blowing immediately offshore. As I trundle up the clearway between the mooring pontoons (its only 25’ wide if that), it becomes clear that a little more power will be required to nose her up alongside...normally a quick rev of the engine and she surges forward; pull the kill cord and the engine cuts out and you drift the last 3 or 4 feet up alongside with the barest of nudges. So imagine my consternation when I pull the red kill cord, it comes out and the engine carries on going..........I immediately knock it out of gear but too late we are going to impact with such force.......but we don’t. He may be over 70 but no flies on my Dad – sensing impending doom coupled with healthy self-preservation senses – he’s already leapt into action – got a mooring line around a pontoon cleat and hauled the boat to a stop....well done that man!

"He calls himself a sailor and the boy can't even shut off an outboard

with a kill cord........he's no son of mine!"

(a later investigation shows that two wires were shaken loose fro the screws that hold them in place and so a circuit wasn't made and the outboard kept running....its the second time this has happened - sounds like its time for some soldering methinks)!

All in all – a lovely day; 14 nautical miles at average speed of 4.8 kts and two very happy parents.

Mum and dad's route.......the more solid line is the inward return route

Thanks Mum and Dad for a cracking day – really enjoyed it.  You can see clips of our voyage at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ9UqFhT-T4

Steve


A sad Postscript:


Sadly, after Mum and Dad had gone home and I had cleared up and put Arwen under wraps, I was channel hopping the news services (I’m a world news junky really). The local news reported on the mayday incident. Unbeknown to us that morning due to garbled radio messages and static.....we had missed that the elderly lady who had gone overboard had died at the scene. The report was short on details but last night it served to remind me that the sea is a dangerous place even when the sun is shining and the weather is good. Although I do not know the boat or the people, and I very much doubt whether they will ever read this blog, my heart naturally goes out to them all along with my very deepest sympathies. They are in my thoughts today.....and in a quiet way, so too are the RNLI, RNAS, RAF and Coastguard services who are always ready to come to our aid in all weathers. My thanks, as always, goes to them all.

Steve