Yachtmaster Offshore Examination

Nerves were evident the night before at the Ship Inn, when little was said over a pint of Otter. Today David and I were to were to be examined for the pinnacle of yachting examinations; the RYA Yachtmaster Offshore.

Up early, not much breakfast. We did some last minute tidying of the boat, slipped the lines and headed up river to pick up our torturer for the day at Noss marina. We rafted up against another boat momentarily whilst Andy Wright stepped aboard. Andy introduced himself, validated all the prerequisites for the course (losts of sea miles, night hours, various training courses etc.) and then went through the plan for the day. Night sailing was part of the examination, and of course, it was very close to being the longest day - and that's what it turned out to be!

The first task was some basic boat handing under engine. Reversing through narrow spaces, rafting up against other yachts, and picking up buoys. All fine, although my buoy pick up was a little ragged.

David was then requested to prepare a passage plan to take us to Brixham, a few miles up the coast. All done perfectly, as you might expect, from the master navigator. Conditions were not good. There was very limited visibility, bordering on fog (definition required David), and there was no wind! When a speed boat passed us at speed in these conditions from behind, and no one saw it, there was an oh dear moment when we thought we would be marked down. Our radar was not picking this boat up - no reflector, so other than stopping the boat an listening we were likely to miss it. The last section you see below heading somewhat away from Brixham was a valiant attempt to get Liquid Asset sailing which we did albeit very slowly.

Track of Liquid Asset during Yachtmaster

Next came the difficult one. Picking up a buoy under sail. David first. We must have chosen the worst buoy to get, it was almost impossible to grab. Three of four attempts and we were right on top of this thing, unable to get a hold on it. No problem with the approach, just the last bit. Unfortunately, being a stickler for completion, Andy was marking David down. It was David that got us to the buoy, and foredeck crew who failed to snag it!

Buoy Pickup under Sail

My turn. What fortune. I was saw an opportunity to tack onto the perfect course to pick up one of three buoys in a line (he did ask which one I was going for) and we picked it up first time. No trying to grab it with a boat hook, a simple loop thrown over. He did say later that I was bit lucky; cheeky!

 As you may be able to discern from the photograph we both made it. It was a tough long day, and we were celebrating with a flight of malts at 3am. More later.

Helford River to Dartmouth

Our route today is a dash back to Dartmouth ready for the exam tomorrow. We left the Helford at just before 7. It had been foggy overnight, but there were signs of it clearing this morning. Slipped the mooring and threaded our way through the yachts to open water. A perfectly still "summer" morning, no one else about.

Our passage was uneventful. We motored probably 80% of the way, but had a glorious couple of hours sailing with a beam reach late in the morning. We goose winged for an hour at about 4.5 kts as we passed the Eddystone lighthouse off Plymouth.

Our track to Dartmouth

Some glorious sailing

Bob and lighthouses

We arrived in Dartmouth at about 6pm. We have arranged a berth in Darthaven Marina for a month, but with the ebbing tide and a downstream facing berth it is too dangerous to attempt, particularly with a following wind. The best bet it to anchor an hour or two, have a G&T and dinner and wait for the slack water. At least it keeps us out of the Ship!

Fal to Helford to Dartmouth

Sorry for the radio silence; for various reasons we have been unable to connect to the internet.

Just to say all is well and we are now on our way back towards Dartmouth. Lovely blue skies, a bit foggy. Should be a nice day. More later.

Helford River Early Morning

View from Liquid Asset

River Fal

Fowey to Falmouth

Today we are off to Falmouth.

An excellent breakfast ashore. Pictures to follow!

Liquid Asset in Fowey

Dartmouth to Fowey?

The wind has subsided this morning as expected and we are off further west. We have four days before we are due to be back in Dartmouth and the weather looks perfect for both directions. Watch out for us on this link. Looks like this link does not work. AIS (which is what transmits our position information) is not being picked up west of Dartmouth.

We passed an interesting French yacht going very fast to wind; La Cancalaise.

We have arrived safely in Fowey after a really good sailing day. We thought we were going to lose the wind, but it soon backed and picked up to 17 kts. Downwind sailing was the order of the day, and both Bob and Dave were excellent at this; it is not an easy point of sail. Eventually we had to take the main down and sail with the wind directly behind just on the headsail. We surfed into Fowey!

Tied up at a mooring buoy. Bit of a tidy up and off ashore in the water taxi to The Galleon Inn, which David remembers well as being in Salcombe!

No sooner had we tied up but a water taxi arrived (we hadn't called it), so within 5 minutes we were in the Galleon deciding what to eat. Picture below for next time...!

Here we are off Plymouth in 20kts of wind doing nearly 7 kts. Note we could not point towards Fowey (to the left on the chart with the X) since the wind would have been directly behind us (not an easy way to sail). So we headed on this course towards Falmouth, and then turned north west towards Fowey with headsail only. 

A Day in Dartmouth

If you going to be holed up somewhere, then Dartmouth, or more accurately Kingswear, is the place to be. Darthaven Marina is one of my favourite spots.

Overlooking Dartmouth from Kingswear

Darthaven Marina Looking Upstream

Today is a day of shopping, washing (clothes and crew), fixing the boat (not much), and checking out the Ship Inn. David and I went to the laundrette, got bored with waiting for the tumble dryer, and ended up in the Ship. After a very nice lunch on the back of the boat, Bob and David headed to Dartmouth for supplies; not that we needed much, but the wine seller was becoming depleted.

An early evening walk out towards Froward Point set us up nicely for dinner, Bob staying aboard and preparing a fantastic, and huge, spaghetti bolognese!

Life Aboard Liquid Asset

Dinner

Dinner starts at about 5:30 with Gin and Tonic and some nibbles. The two primary cooks aboard (David and Bob) conjure something fantastic in the Galley. The TV stays off, and the stereo is brought into action with samples of a wide range of music- most recently Mahler, John Martyn, Fairport Convention and Flying Burrito Brothers! Wine, with dinner of course. The menu depends primarily on whether anyone remembered to take something out of the freezer; Kedgeree (no), Tuna Bake (no), Pork a la Keith with seasonal vegetables (yes), Chicken in spicy parsnip sauce (yes but maybe a mistake!) etc.

A typical dinner scene

Yacht Maintenance

If you want a job well done, then deploy Bob the Builder - or in this case Bob the Electrician (or sparks as we know him). Here is Bob plugging the boat's power cable back into shore power. The first attempt was the night before when he managed to blow the fuse taking the power out for the entire pontoon (the socket had been dropped in the water...!). Note the euphoria mixed with relief when the mission was accomplished without blue smoke.

Dartmouth - Again

We have arrived in Dartmouth after a long beat down the Devon coast from Teignmouth. We had great intentions of making Fowey, some 40 miles further on, but a small announcement on the radio of a Force 8 in the Plymouth area, soon; changed our minds. It was very specific and not be ignored. Entry to Salcombe, which was our backup, across the bar in strong southerlies is not to be recommended and since we would have arrived at low tide this was not going to happen.

All said, we have a lovely sail from Teignmouth. Wind from the south west, and tidal flow to the north made the conditions challenging. Here is our track.

We are safely tied up in Darthaven Marina. A tour upriver to Dittisham to await the slack tide was needed to get into the berth easily. Dittisham has some very nice visitors moorings which we might use another time.

A Quiet Drink at the Ship

How about a quick drink at the Ship?

Beltane - apparently

Lovely evening in Teignmouth

Stormbound in Teignmouth

The high winds have persisted overnight (a very bumpy night indeed). We have a second day in Teignmouth, so after a very nice breakfast of poached eggs courtesy of Bob, we rowed ashore to do some shopping ahead of a trip to the pub in Sheldon.

Liquid Asset dominates the water front!

Sheldon is just a ferry ride away from Teignmouth (£1.50, dogs free) and rather more upmarket. A bowls green seemed to be the focal point with the pub just opposite; what a good arrangement.

The Ness, Sheldon

We had lunch in the Ness; crab sandwiches and Badger Ale. Very nicely done. Found the ferry home and spent the remainder of the afternoon enjoying the sunny (but still windy) weather, revising for the exam!

Bob the Builder

When you want a job done well... Here is the Liquid Asset bin with integral self opening mechanism. From project initiation to completion in just two years! Thank you Bob; a degree in Physics and Physical Oceanography was not wasted.

Dinner aboard

Preparing Kedgeree..(David as sous chef with can and pliers)

And the result... who is the fourth crew member

Portland Harbour to Teignmouth

Another eventful night in Portland Harbour. Last time we anchored overnight here we dragged the anchor about half a mile and got caught on a battleship chain (well it was big anyway). This time, another bumpy night will little movement until dawn when the wind picked up and we were dragging down onto some moored boats. We pulled up the anchor in foul weather and picked up a vacant mooring buoy; what a deft move; worthy or Yachtmasters!

Set off around Portland Bill late morning to pass the tip at slack water. Seas were large, but calmed significantly once past the end - a pussy cat. Set the sails, and off we went. What a great day's sailing.

Three men in a boat - Bob, Duncan, David - Silly hat competition

Arrived in Teignmouth after a sleigh ride across Lyme Bay in record time. See here for our passage.  Average speed from tip of Portland Bill to Teignmouth = 7.5 kts.

Teignmouth Approach

Mind the girls!

Preparation

Picked David up from Polegate on Friday afternoon. We made sure we were not late this year by coming down in the morning. Headed back to the boat for lunch. Bob was due to arrive Saturday afternoon, so the plan was to prep the boat on Saturday and depart Sunday morning.

A "typical" lunch aboard Liquid Asset