Simon Ellis makes the most of a three-month sabbatical by attempting to visit every bay, harbour and marina between Poole and Penzance en route to the Scilly Isles
Two weeks into my mid-life crisis cruise, and I had made it as far as Torquay with the help of various family and friends. Today brought the first official crew change, and who better to welcome aboard than three old university mates? Enter Jack, Nige and Del(boy). What do such mates do when they arrive? Obviously, toast another rendezvous on board with some beers and then head out for a few more!
This lads’ weekend on the boat has been an annual diary date for years, although this time they were planning to spend a week on board…uh oh!
No need for them to check the safety document again, so it was straight out to enjoy the delights of Torquay. The evening culminated in a live showing of the Fury vs Usyk boxing match, which almost induced another live showdown in the pub.
It’s amazing how easily blokes pick up where they left off 12 months previously.
Drinks with the lads at the Cary Arms in Babbacombe Bay
Day 16 Sunday 19 May
Waking at a reasonable time to a forecast of sun and minimal wind, it looked ideal for a day and night at anchor in Babbacombe Bay. We arrived at 1130 to an onshore easterly swell from Lyme Bay, so we picked up one of the Cary Arms mooring buoys rather than dropping anchor, to ensure we could relax without fear of dragging our anchor towards the rocky shoreline.
We enjoyed the usual banter and jokes, assisted by a drink or two, but the 13°C water temperature and murky surface debris failed to entice us to swim on what was otherwise a superb day. A short tender trip ashore for some sundowner drinks at the captain’s table in the Cary Arms seemed like a much more tempting option.
Positioned perfectly to oversee the cove, we enjoyed our drinks while watching school kids launching themselves off the small breakwater. On the other side of the cove a seal was feeding close to the shore, framed by the beautiful backdrop of Lyme Bay.
Back on board, we fired up the generator for a BBQ as the sun started to descend, accompanied by the satisfying pop of a cork being pulled from a rather nice bottle of Malbec. It was as close to utopia as it gets.
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Day 17 Monday 20 May
We awoke to another day of clear blue skies.
Firing up the genny, we soon had a breakfast of tea, coffee and toast on the go to help overcome our late night ‘discussions’.
The sea temperature had now edged up to 16°C [my threshold is 14] but still looked rather murky so we returned to Torquay and set off on a leisurely walk to Paignton, where we drank in the views from the terrace of the Redcliff Hotel.
Back at the marina, some nesting swans were doing their best to look after a clutch of eggs at the base of the pontoon ramp despite all the passing foot traffic.
View through the cannon turret at Baynard’s Cove Fort, Dartmouth
Day 18 Tuesday 21 May
The easterly swell into Tor Bay continued, making my aim of anchoring and a swim far from ideal despite the sunny conditions, so we explored the coastline and pottered into Brixham instead.
The crew weren’t keen on stand-up paddleboarding but Del did manage a brief paddle on his knees before cooking up a fabulous Thai curry on the boat’s griddle. Then it was back into Torquay to see a beautiful rainbow, followed by a round of spot-the-most-neglected-boat-in-the-marina – we soon found a clear winner.
Day 19 Wednesday 22 May
We bid a sad farewell to Del after a fry-up at Below Decks just outside the marina and then made a slow 6-knot chug across the bay to Brixham Marina to make use of my MDL freedom berthing and the fuel discount that comes with it. After topping up the tank and finding our berth, the rain came lashing down, ‘forcing’ us to take shelter at the nearby Prince William pub.
Once it cleared, we enjoyed a sightseeing tour of the delightful harbour, then treated ourselves to some tasty fish offerings at Rockfish on the seafront, which must win the award for the urinals with the best view in the world.
The only complication of berthing at Brixham was an outbreak of cryptosporidium in the local water supply that meant we couldn’t top up the fresh water tanks. However, crates of free bottled water were being offered instead, so we loaded up with what we could.
Brixham harbour front
Day 20 Thursday 23 May
We said goodbye to the Brixham mermaid statue on a calm, sunny morning with a mixed forecast ahead. We blasted round Berry Head to find the mouth of the Dart, with Andy on helming duties and Nige on lobster pot buoy alerts, having seen a Facebook post about one lurking just beneath the surface.
Once safely inside the estuary, we pottered up the river hoping for a berth at Dart Marina on the west bank, where the water supply was unaffected by the outbreak. Disappointingly, their only visitor space was already occupied so we had to make do with a basic walk-ashore visitor pontoon without water or shore power.
We launched the tender for a trip up the Dart to see Agatha Christie’s Greenway retreat and boathouse before finding a good old curry house for supper.
Day 22 Saturday 25th May
The second bank holiday weekend started with another dry day and alternating sun and cloud. My uni mates were leaving later that day, to be replaced by my wife Pamela, my daughters Beth and Megan, and her boyfriend, Freddie.
Knowing Pamela would want superior mooring (bathroom) facilities, I booked a berth at the newly built Noss on Dart marina for the next three nights. Being on the east side of the Dart would also make the crew change easier, as it was a more direct route from our home in Dorset and a quicker trip back to Torquay for Andy and Derrick. However, this meant we were back on the contaminated side of the river so I still couldn’t fill the fresh water tank.
Changing marinas to Noss on Dart
A quick potter 0.3 miles upstream to Noss and we were safely tucked into our new berth. The crew even got congratulated on their docking skills by the marina staff – I’ve rarely seen grown men look so pleased! A quick clipper haircut on the bathing platform to smarten up before Pamela arrived, and then a brisk walk to Kingswear to find some refreshment at the Royal Dart Yacht Club, which has a reciprocal agreement with the Cobbs Quay Berth Holders Association.
Returning via the west side of the river, we granted Nige his wish for a Devonshire cream tea, followed by a fine curry at the Spice Merchant, before Pamela and Beth arrived later in the evening.
Day 23 Sunday 26 May
As usual, the bank holiday weather was mixed at best. We managed a short walk through Dartmouth to Bayards Cove Fort and enjoyed a chilled evening eating pizzas at Noss Marina. Then disaster struck: my first breakdown since leaving Cobbs Quay and it was a bad one – the toilet!
Luckily (or should that be unluckily) my boat has form in this department so I was at least au fait with what was needed. It was on with the mask and gloves, off with the outlet pipe and in with my fingers to remove the crystallised urate build-up – a grim job, but a necessary one.
At least a beautiful evening’s vista soon erased my memory of it as we spent a happy few hours playing cards and chatting prior to Pamela’s departure in the morning.
Steam train approaching Kingswear from Paignton
Day 24 Monday 27 May
A sunny but gusty start didn’t stop us hopping across the river to the pricey Dart Marina so we could finally fill up our tank with clean, fresh water. The outside hammerhead berth we were given suffered a bit from the wash of passing traffic but it offered excellent views of the river and the noisy yet magnificent steam train that puffs in and out of Kingswear every hour or so.
We spent some time in the RNLI shop reading the poignant stories of famous lifeboatmen such as Henry Blogg, who in 1917 spent 24 hours leading his team of oarsmen through the breakers off Cromer beach to rescue the crew of a Swedish vessel that had struck a mine during a fierce storm.
Day 25 Tuesday 28 May
I heard the rain from the early hours, even with earplugs in, and felt the boat rocking from the sudden gusts. With full water tanks but an empty wallet, I was anxious to move across to the more affordable Darthaven Marina at Kingswear.
I knew it would be an unpleasant 30-minute crossing but my young crew of Megan and Freddie did well sorting the lines out in the pouring rain with a helping hand from the dockmaster. We spent most of the rest of the day mopping up drips coming through the canvas and decided to cheer ourselves up with some hot grub at the Ship Inn.
Megan and Freddie re-enact the famous Titanic pose
When the rain finally stopped, we enjoyed a pleasant walk along the coast in the setting sun, hoping that the red sky at night boded well for the following day’s weather.
Day 26 Wednesday 29 May
The day dawned bright and clear, so we hiked up the hill to take some photos of the Dart before another fine BBQ breakfast. I use a disposable tin tray on the BBQ griddle to make cleaning easier and like to do my eco warrior bit by cleaning it and trying to get through the whole season with a single tray despite it only costing a few quid!
Following a rendition of the classic Titanic scene, we tried a quick blast out of the river to Blackpool Sands, only to be met with grey skies and more wind so, disappointingly, we returned to the last of my planned berths – a midstream pontoon. I tried to launch the drone for some aerial shots, but swiftly thought better of it when the warning alert came on because of the Naval College opposite. Oops!
Annoyingly, my main camera’s telephoto lens also decided to malfunction, but not before I’d captured a seal sunbathing on a mooring buoy and a very unhappy seagull. I’d never noticed their technique of dropping mussels on the pontoons to crack them open before; after repeatedly bombing the pontoon 10 feet away, the seagull in question then missed the target and launched itself into the water in search of the errant mussel. From the look on its beak, the mussel had a lucky escape.
Heading off in Easily Distracted’s tender Little Distraction
Day 27 Thursday 30 May
The day started bright and sunny but was still frustratingly windy. Dartmouth had been fabulous, but it was time to move on. The Torquay airshow started tomorrow and Megan and Freddie were leaving the day after so we decided to head off early.
We departed in the lee of the land, but our promising start soon turned into a bumpy wind-against-tide ride over the next 10 miles. And just to make things interesting, the north-northwest wind was blowing straight into Brixham harbour.
Luckily, the marina staff changed our berth at the last minute, making the entrance to it a little easier, but Easily Distracted still rocked all day on its finger berth. At least it was tempered by another lovely sunset and a chilled evening on board watching Pirates of the Caribbean!
Rain batters the covers at Dart Haven
Day 28 Friday 31 May
It felt like the wind blew all night. We decided to leave early before the wind got any worse, and amazingly, the young crew got up, casting the lines at 0815 and, making full use of the upgraded 80kg bow thruster, managed to exit the marina with relative ease.
The wind in Tor Bay gradually built up, but there were no waves of note as we chugged across to Torquay marina, managing an unflustered stern-to docking. We spent a chillaxing day at the marina sorting out domestic chores before Pamela returned in the evening.
Day 29 Saturday 1 June
Today was the first of two days of an airshow in Tor Bay, and right on cue, clear skies arrived. Pamela and I took advantage of the weather to walk to Cockington Country Park, where we took in a local cricket match and admired the various craftspeople at work, including a blacksmith, a glass blower and a carpenter, leaving Megan and Freddie to do some paddleboarding and sunbathing.
The locals advised me that the marina was the best place to watch the air show from. It didn’t disappoint, culminating with a spectacular display from the Red Arrows and a horn ensemble applause from the viewing boats.
Red sky at night… View up the River Dart from Darthaven
Day 30 Sunday 2 June
Another scorcher of a day and more remarkable aerobatics before bidding farewell to my family and welcoming my old mate Ben on board to take their place. Once we’d removed all the canvases, I went through the usual docking procedure, but somehow forgot to untie the rope on the non-pontoon side and arced slowly and embarrassingly into a neighbouring boat!
Apologies made, we joined the waiting fleet in the safety zone. Four delightful hours flew by – literally – with the highlight being a heart-stopping flyby from a Typhoon Eurofighter.
Back at the marina, Ben had a first attempt at paddleboarding. To cap it all, we treated ourselves to a superb meal at the Ephesus Greek Restaurant and revisited my passage plans for the following week. Excited? Absolutely, especially as I had a good friend by my side to enjoy it.
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