Arwen's meanderings

Hi everyone and welcome to my dinghy cruising blog about my John Welsford designed 'navigator' named Arwen. Built over three years, Arwen was launched in August 2007. She is a standing lug yawl 14' 6" in length. This blog records our dinghy cruising voyages together around the coastal waters of SW England.
Arwen has an associated YouTube channel so visit www.YouTube.com/c/plymouthwelshboy to find our most recent cruises and click subscribe.
On this blog you will find posts about dinghy cruising locations, accounts of our voyages, maintenance tips and 'How to's' ranging from rigging standing lug sails and building galley boxes to using 'anchor buddies' and creating 'pilotage notes'. I hope you find something that inspires you to get out on the water in your boat. Drop us a comment and happy sailing.
Steve and Arwen

Sunday, 13 April 2014

out on the water today

we managed 5.6 knots this morning into Cawsand Bay.  Low tide was around 12.30 ish and high tide around 6pm. Just the start of the springs.

Looking at Cawsand

This is Kingsand. In the far right is the clock tower that during the winter storms nearly collapsed into the sea but was saved during frantic through the night engineering efforts

The intention was to sail up the Tamar, turn into the lynher and sail up to Boating World, up one of the Lynher's tributaries. The winds put paid to that....I sort of knew they would.  Straight down the Tamar - north and north, north west.......impossible journey. You'd spend so much time tacking into the wind. So plan B went into operation..........across to Kingsand and then over to the Yealm. The sun shone; the breeze stayed steady at around 10 - 12 knots. It was a really decent sailing day. 


heading out towards the Yealm with the Great Mewstone off the port bow

The new handheld VHF radio (ICOM M-23; floating, small and lightweight) worked really well. It was able to pick up Falmouth coastguard quite clearly which really surprised me. It clips securely to the buoyancy aid. I've still to work out all the various channels and permutations but its waterproof so no more aqua-pack flapping about.



Entrance of the Yealm ahead

I love listening to the waves sliding beneath Arwen's hull. Almost hypnotic, that hissing and gurgling.
It was a good day. Any day on the water is a good day I guess.



Heading deeper into the Yealm, looking for the harbour masters pontoon
 


found it at last and botched the approach into the pontoon....mental note - always approach into the tide!!
 

Steve


 

3 comments:

Rik said...

Great to see you on the water steve. Thanks for the post.

Bursledon Blogger said...

Love the Yealm you're very fortunate to live so close - we were tucked up in the river one night when the harbour master came round "Blowin' an houley down at misery" it was too we'd just sailed in half an hour before - the saying became a shipboard joke

steve said...

thanks guys......I like the yealm but really love salcombe and Fowey

steve