Well the Fowey trip looks as if it is a goer tomorrow and Saturday.  All the kit is ready to be packed into waterproof dry bags tonight. The chart work has been done.  Weather forecasts scrutinised at several different sites including:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/sw/sw_forecast_weather.html

http://www.foweyharbour.co.uk/weather-tides.html

http://www.harbourexchange.com/weather/windguru-forecasts/plymouth-sound/

and finally

http://www.passageweather.com/

The majority verdict is that Friday winds will be 0 - 10kts with occasional gust to 16; from south west or south-south-west; good visibility; little chance of precipitation (good because its like a monsoon outside at the moment) sea state slight. Saturday is a little windier 10 - 15 kts but few gusts; sea state slight to moderate; good visibility. Friday will have some sunny spells but increasing cloud cover; Saturday will be cloudier.  It looks like this is the best - a depression passes over SW England again on Sunday bringing wetter weather. The newspapers in UK have all declared that our BBQ summer is now ended.......I'm still trying to work out when they thought we actually had a BBQ summer. I've been in the country all the time this year.......I must have blinked and missed it!

I've to add my sleeping gear to the growing mound in the main hallway of the house (duck down RAB bag in gortex bivvy bag outer) and we are done.  Evening meal will be lamb and veg soup followed by spaghetti and meatballs with fruit pieces and custard for dessert. Hot chocolate and ginger nut biscuits for nightcap. Breakfast - cereal, beans, bacon and sausages.

I can hear the hissing of my trangia stoves already....a wonderful sound!

Journey details - well with south westerly winds - it will be close reaching most of the way down. Light winds - probably averaging 2 - 3kts per hour. Journey length - well directly it is 24nm; with tacking probably closer to 28/29nm....so average speed of 3 knots looking at around 9 hours.  departing Plymouth at 0900 so should arrive at Fowey, all being well, at 6pm ish.  I'm guessing with light winds then there will be little leeway so I'm estimating around 5 degrees on Friday; maybe 7 or 8 degrees on Saturday although the winds will be from aft most of the time on that day. This passage planning stuff is still all new to me - it's trial and error and careful use of OS maps as well.

Tonight I will enter the important waypoints into the GPS and make sure camera, phone etc are charged and new batteries have gone into VHF radio and GPS unit.

safety wise - the stretch from Rame Head to Looe is the bit which concerns me most as there are no bolt holes if the weather turns nasty.  Up to Downderry I will return to Plymouth. Past Downderry, it's refuge in Looe; past Looe - well there is Polperro to duck into.

And that is it. Wish me luck!  If I survive this one - next week Dad and I are going up the Tamar to Calstock!  If the tides and winds let us that is!

Steve