Sea Essay trip from Plymouth June 15-23 2013  – report by Bernard Smyth 

I went on this trip in this Dufour 40.5  organised by former member Dave Price  , accompanied by a couple of the former Buoys Club members. It was more of a motor-sailing than sailing holiday due to a lack of wind. The forecasts were rubbish as they kept mentioning rain which did not turn up or came only as light showers. Even worse was a gale forecast which turned out to be even more rubbish after keeping us in QAB a day longer than necessary. 

We eventually got all the way to Newton Ferrers, where the wind got under the toy-like dinghy and upended the skipper into the Yealm as he delivered two of the crew for a run ashore. He swam the couple of yards to safety and was rowed back to the boat for a meal on board instead of in the pub. 

Next day we motor-sailed to Dartmouth, where I met a long-lost cousin for a drink with the crew. After a sunny trip up the Dart, it was on to Brixham, which struck us as a bit run down. We left in thick fog so were glad of the radar on board this civil service club boat. Out at sea the viz increased slightly and we made it safely to the Yealm again. No run ashore due to no-one having any enthusiasm for tackling that toy dinghy. 

Next day we actually sailed to Cawsand Bay to anchor for lunch and tacked up to Saltash, only to find that the pontoon we have used in the past for an overnight now had a threatening notice allowing only a two-hour stay. We inquired at the nearby Saltash Sailing Club, where we were headed anyway, and were made most welcome and offered a meal, drinks and a night on their pontoon. But what a night! Strong winds kept us awake a lot of the time with the howling halyards and the straining on the warps. We returned to QAB in the rain and cleared up.