Snatching a day on the water tomorrow. High tide at 11.08 am 4.5 m. Winds backing from NE around to WSW during the day with general winds around 3 - 7 kts and gusts around 8 - 12 kts. Visibility will be good all day and cloud will build during the day. Sea state will be smooth to slight.
I'm aiming to sail around to Whitsand Bay, to the west of Rame Head and then anyway a few miles off shore eastwards towards the Great Mewstone near Wembury Bay. I'm hoping that the tuna, dolphin and gannets will still be around.
Launching from QAB, I'm hoping to be on the water by 0730 and I will actually motor out across the sound as winds will be very light at that time of the morning.
One of the aims tomorrow is to shoot a considerable amount of B roll footage for future vlogs. I never get time on a sailing trip day to just do simple things like shooting the raising and dropping of sails etc. So, once clear of the breakwater I will spend some time filming different aspects of sailing Arwen and getting the close ups of various aspects of boat work.
I might also go over to Cawsand, anchor off the beach using either the beach buddy bungee or rigging a simple pulley system through two anchor and grab myself a coffee if the hotel cafe terrace is still open.
I'm not planning on actually creating a vlog from this trip tomorrow though.
Let's hope I spot lots of reeling diving gannets over a shoal of tuna being chased by a pod of cetaceans.
UPDATE
A very early start - launching on the ramp at 06.30. An omen of the day was watching two blue trailer rollers suddenly drop off the trailer as I drove it back up the slipway. They rolled the length of the slip but I was able to retrieve them. An inspection of the trailer shows that all the split pins and discs which hold the rollers on their bars have corroded away - so today I must source 16 discs and 8 split pins asap!
The predicted 7 kts winds never materialised. It was gentle winds or no wind at all all day. Still a bad day on the water is better than a day teaching in school....especially under the current circumstances.
Frustration doesn't sum up the day. After a quick glimpse of a small dolphin just off Rame Head, nothing for a couple of hours. Two sunfish, another dolphin.
And then an extremely frustrating hour - four miles off shore drifting along in the tidal currents eastwards towards Whitesand Bay I could hear several 'blows' of whales. Despite the sea state being smooth, I couldn't see anything. And then a two second glimpse of a large back in the distance just past Rame and that was it.
Several hours later light wind sailing and drifting about and nothing.
But at least I know why - wrong time and wrong place - they were all partying off Fowey.
Enjoy Lone Kayaker's blog - he is a clever, clever man.
In the meantime, I'm off to the local trailer parts supplier. This afternoon is earmarked for some trailer maintenance!
4 comments:
Good luck with the trip, forecast here is light northerly. Stopping off in Cawsand sounds nice, in fact I could easily get stuck there, anchored up, feet up enjoying the scene, I might not have the will power to do anything as energetic as setting sail :o)
Sounds like you have a nice day planned, hoe you get to see some wildlife. I went to QAB the other week to get a chart, it looks like a nice safe slipway. I will keep an eye out for your next video as I am learning a lot.
Looking forward to the views and logs.
Max, Cawsand is always a favourite day stop anchorage in warm light weather - along the side of Penlee Point - green waters, wooded slopes, lovely to swim in.
Matt - can't remember how much it cost me to launch at QAB - I think its around £23 for a 4m long boat (I don't include bowsprit or bumpkin). The advantages are easy SAFE trailer storage and car parking on site, a good slipway accessible most states of the tide and a great pontoon set up, toilets and then a cafe or two for a pre launch or after recovery coffee. The staff are all excellent and very accommodating as well. Mountbatten is a slight pain as there is nowhere to tie up the boat and you need to go about 150 yards back up onto road or car park to store car and trailer (free). So boat is bobbing about unattended.
Rik - sadly no photographs or video - they were too quick and elusive. Someone else I know was off Polperro, about four miles out and his larger boat was surrounded by a pod of around forty dolphin for 30 minutes or so. I think that the only way to get the views is to anchor overnight in cawsand or Fowey and set off at very first light befoe all the boat traffic is about.
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