I was relieved the overnight rain had moved on leaving a calm sunny morning as my Fairline Targa 40 Easily Distracted was booked in for the first lift of the day at 8am and I was cruising solo for the next few days.
A heavily fouled hull and drives emerged, hopefully accounting for the loss of revs I’d been experiencing, although I’ve never needed a mid-season scrub before. After an hour of thorough jet washing I was back afloat.
I decided I’d head for Salcombe as both the south-westerly F4 and the tidal stream would be on my stern. In Plymouth Sound I gradually throttled up and was relieved to feel Easily Distracted powering onto the plane and hitting 26 knots at its usual cruising revs. Phew!
However, once at sea I had to ease off again as the hull was starting to slam over the swell so I changed my transit to better manage the waves and settled into a slow, more relaxed cruising rhythm of 1,200rpm.
Two hours later I was in Salcombe. The timing was ideal as I was rewarded with a mid-estuary mooring buoy, with great views and a short tender ride into the town.
I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sun watching the clouds drift overhead followed by a quiet evening with a shepherd’s pie and a gin-less G&T, listening to waves gently lapping on the shoreline.
Entering the Dart
Day 82 Wednesday 24 July
The next morning I woke to warm grey skies with a few rays of sun doing their best to force their way through the gaps so I tendered ashore for some supplies and fuelled up the outboard on my return.
What started as drizzle at 1pm, turned into heavy rain and what I thought were passing boat wakes turned out to be waves whipped up by wind funneling down the estuary.
The turbulent weather continued all night long and even using earplugs didn’t block out the relentless sound of water slapping against the chines so I decided to move into the aft cabin to try and get some sleep.
Day 83 Thursday 25 July
I woke up to more rain and rocking, which was forecast to clear by early afternoon. As predicted, by the time my new crew mates Tim and Craig arrived, the sun had reappeared so we took advantage of it to enjoy a pint or two in a local beer garden before heading back to the boat for homemade curry and the usual catch up chat into the early hours.
Another chaotic ‘fender park’ at Salcombe
Day 84 Friday 26 July
We crawled out of bed to a hot and humid sun-drenched cockpit and the promise of fine weather for the next 3-4 days. Today’s plans involved a sweep of the Start Bay sands en route to Dartmouth for an important rendezvous. We departed on the 10.30 high tide to make use of the tidal stream and the south-west wind behind us.
We passed the 66m superyacht Elysian moored midstream, taking care to steer clear of its mooring lines after hearing that a couple of yachties had got caught on them the day before, resulting in a small collision – ouch!
Once past the sandbar we picked up an impressive 3-knot tidal stream, giving us 8 knots over ground at low revs but with waves on our beam, we upped the revs to blast round Start Point before dropping back down once the waves were on our stern.
A Pan Pan on Channel 16 alerted us to a dive boat with engine failure off Hallsands beach, which happened to be our brunch destination so we popped back onto the plane and arrived five minutes later only to find a yachtie had beaten us to the rescue.
Article continues below…
Salcombe and Beyond: My Mid-Life Cruise Hits the West Country Coast
If we’d wanted to do that exact trip any faster, we’d have needed a helicopter
‘I sat for over an hour on my anchor seat just staring out to sea’
Hallsands was a delightful little anchorage so we broke out the BBQ for brunch before continuing at chug speed past Slapton and Blackpool Sands before entering the mouth of the Dart.
We had a berth booked at Noss marina where we’d arranged to meet Nick Burnham of Aquaholic fame so he could shoot one of his ‘meet the owner’ videos. The crew did a fine job of following my instructions and before long we were safely moored at H18 with a beautiful blue Mulder Favourite docked behind us.
It was great to meet Nick after reading his columns and watching his videos for so many years and you can view the results of the video we made on his YouTube channel (search for Meet The Owner: Fairline Targa 40). After an hour Tim and Craig returned from their temporary banishment and we took the Noss Ferry into Dartmouth for a few beers and a fish and chip supper – the perfect end to a very enjoyable day.
Craig helming up the Dart
Day 85 Saturday 27 July
Another lazy start before hopping round the coast to Torquay. We decided speed was the order of the day so planed round Berry Head before going back to displacement speed in Tor Bay. Disappointingly the three visitors’ buoys at Fishcombe Cove were already taken so we crossed to Torquay marina’s visitor pontoon for a few hours watching a bottle of gin miraculously evaporate! A short walk around the bay helped clear our heads.
Day 86 Sunday 28 July
It was another scorcher so the only challenge was where to anchor. I’m naturally cautious of just dropping the hook in case there are underwater hazards, so I tend to look around and imitate the locals.
Superyacht Elysian in Salcombe
I’d identified Goodrington Sands as a possible spot so was pleased to find a small boat already at anchor. We dropped ours at a respectable distance and settled in for another relaxed day. The sea temperature was a disappointing 17 degrees, below my swimming threshold, so we launched the SUP instead.
After a while we spotted boats collecting in the western end of the bay and decided to join them, taking note of the anchoring limits at Broadsands Beach and Elberry Cove.
After enjoying a long lazy day, we blasted back to Torquay marina at around 6pm where Craig expertly cooked up some pasta with tomatoes and chorizo. It was yet another beautiful and still evening, aside from distant views of a helicopter rescue taking place over Babbacombe Bay.
Late afternoon and sunset at Fishcombe Cove
Day 87 Monday 29 July
With the weather still set fair we had another attempt at bagging a buoy in Fishcombe Cove but once again all three were already occupied. Given the voluntary no anchoring signs for the seagrass/seahorses, we anchored at Elberry Cove instead for another sun-kissed day. Now that the water temperature had reached 20 degrees, we could enjoy a full day of sunbathing and swimming.
During the day I made a few returns to Fishcombe in the tender to monitor the buoys and cheekily investigate whether anyone had plans to leave. Annoyingly only one boat had crew onboard and they were staying!
We hung around at anchor until 6pm and then chugged past on our way to Brixham to see if we could get lucky. Bingo! A mobo was just leaving, so with crew primed on the bow we were on that buoy in seconds. It was worth the wait, the view of the Bay was breathtaking and we spent the rest of the evening paddling around on the SUP in oily calm waters before firing up the BBQ for chicken and chorizo with a glass or two of red. The setting sun was a sight to savour.
Coo-ee of Weymouth nestled in the town’s bustling harbour
Day 88 Tuesday 30 July
The alarm buzzed at 6am to capture an awesome sunrise and bring an end to one of my best ever nights afloat. Even the gentle rocking from a swell that rolled in during the early hours didn’t bother me.
We departed at 10.15 for a fuel top up in Brixham and moored on a visiting pontoon for a quick stroll around the town. Our next leg was a 50nm passage across Lyme Bay to Weymouth. In the calm conditions and with the help of a favourable tide, we were soon hitting 29 knots SOG and what a beautiful ride it was, streaking alone across the bay towards an empty horizon, with Tor Bay fading into the distance. A bird, possibly a Shearwater, flew alongside for a while before overtaking and zipping across our bow. Impressive given our speed!
Approaching my waypoint, I noticed the starboard rev counter starting to flutter, copied soon after by my heart beat! Coming off the plane to 6 knots, the rev counter went even crazier, although the exhaust note sounded fine. I put the starboard engine into neutral to maintain power steering and chugged towards Portland Bill on the port one alone, making 5 knots with tide.
A few phone calls to engineers provisionally diagnosed a faulty gauge or sender so I arranged a rendezvous with SeaStart at Weymouth bridge waiting pontoon before the 6pm lift. All was found to be in working order after turning the engine off and on again in true IT style – something I didn’t want to risk while crossing Lyme Bay! Reassured it wasn’t anything major, we motored through the bridge and onto our berth. It had been another fabulous day, though not many remaining now.
Joined by Cate and Emma
Day 89 Wednesday 31 July
With the risk of a passing thunderstorm now averted, I could delay our return to Poole to Thursday so we welcomed friends Cate and Emma on board for a morning coffee and took them through the bridge, disembarking at the waiting pontoon.
Once out of the harbour, we gave the engines a test, hitting our usual 29 knots at 3,300rpm with the gauges behaving normally before looking for and finding a lovely anchorage in the outer harbour not far from the marina entrance. We dug in for what was meant to be a lunch stop and a swim.
But after the HM charged us harbour dues, that I didn’t realise I had already paid for as part of my berthing fee, we decided to get full value by staying on for further swims and beers out of the wind on the bathing platform. Then it was back to Weymouth and the 6pm bridge, where Carl and Susie turned up with two dozen scallops he’d caught. Grilled on the BBQ, they were heaven on a plate.
Durdle Door’s iconic arch
Day 90 Thursday 1 August
My last morning and the last leg of my cruise. Where had the last three months gone? It had rained overnight but the day ahead looked great and we were soon exiting Weymouth Bay into an eerie calm, made even more peculiar by the sight of a 34ft motor boat a mile off the harbour wall, gently rocking with no anchor down and no sign of life. After chugging past to check everything was alright, they soon powered up and blasted past us!
After 90 mins chugging, we arrived at Durdle Door with the usual procession of visitors descending down to its stony beach. We motored slowly past and poked our nose into Lulworth Cove. I’ve always been wary of anchoring here after being spooked many years ago by katabatic winds dragging our anchor at 2am, almost hitting the adjacent boats!
Thankfully, this time we found good holding and were soon splashing about in the clear blue water, eating sausage sarnies and chatting to a fellow Targa 40 owner anchored next door to us about, errr, Targa 40s, until it was time for the home run.
We blasted round St Albans head at 28 knots and passed Swanage Bay bringing up the reassuring view of Old Harry Rocks. We had a final short stop on an eco-mooring at Studland before popping into Poole Boat Haven for a fish and chips stopover before catching the 19.30 bridge lift to Cobbs Quay. It felt good to be back after so long away and gave me time to reflect over a long weekend on all that I had experienced.
Anchored at Lulworth Cove
Final Thoughts
I absolutely loved my adventure, seeing so many places for the first time and learning how to navigate each one. I was surprised to discover that I had covered 711nm according to the paddlewheel log. Those numerous daily trips certainly added up.
Whilst I didn’t make the Isles of Scilly, I did go beyond Land’s End and visited around 65 locations, including every marina between Poole and Land’s End, as per my original goal.
Overall I had amazing luck with the weather – just 10 days affected by rain despite the summer of 2024 being considered poor. I had 12 solo days, which was more than I expected due to early departures, late arrivals, illness and a diary clash but this wasn’t really an issue except when moving marinas.
South-western views of Poole Harbour on entering from the Swash channel
But the 35 family and friends, who took time out of their lives to share the experience with me, really made the trip. I’m also so grateful to my wife Pamela for making home function without me and to my daughters – I loved having you onboard. I’m also owe a debt of thanks to my work colleagues for covering my sabbatical and to my engineer Richard Davies for all his help and advice.
The total fuel and marina costs came to £4,707, which I reckon is pretty good, plus a further £1,500 on various boat issues, including two lift outs, a broken toilet, a change of filters and petrol for the tender.
I also really benefitted from MDL’s ‘freedom berthing’ offer of 26 ‘free’ nights at other MDL marinas in exchange for my home berth, so it’s disappointing that this membership option has now been withdrawn.
However you look at it, though, £6,207 for a 12-week trip of a lifetime seems remarkably good value for money. Can you put a price on fun? I think I just did and it was worth every penny of it!
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