Plymouth weekend (2nd attempt) April 25-27 – report by Ian Collins

(The previous attempt was rudely interrupted by a net round the prop off Plymouth)

Crew: Ian Collins, Kath Liddiard, Rhian Phillips and Brian Adams.

Once more we met, with hope and good intentions, to sail from Plymouth across the bays of Whitsand and Lanivet to spend an evening in the port of Fowey.

Brian and I, well-burdened from our sortie into Morrisons, boarded the good ship ‘Cleo’ – another Bavaria 36 from Plymouth Sailing School – and set course from the mooring to Plymouth Yacht Haven marina. The weather forecast encouraged us to talk the supervisor into allowing us to berth close in to the launching dock, well sheltered by the headland. With winds of a lively nature foretold, in the calm of the marina we rolled away the genoa and hanked on the working jib.

With the arrival of Kath and Rhian to complete the crew, a meal, a drink, and a nightcap on board was the precursor to a night of snapping shorelines and musical rigging as the wind, like Topsy, just grew and grew.

Saturday morning, with Kath at the helm we motored into the Sound and a strong southerly. At the breakwater, aptly named as a constant line of waves surged over it, with a F6 or 7 on the nose and the sea a 2m chop. Saltash, and the pontoon nestling under Izzy’s bridge were delights we felt we’d best not miss. Regrettably, wrong move; the wind under the bridge was horrific so we beat a retreat and lassoed an untenanted buoy sheltered by Mount Edgecumbe.

With shelter and sustenance, and the awareness that we were the only sailboat in the Sound, staying put was preferred, and the time was spent with Kath and Brian undertaking navigation exercises with support from Rhian and awkward additions from me. At last the bell tolled, the stomach rumbled and it was back to the marina and a very nice evening meal in the ‘Clovelly’.

Sunday morning bristled with technology as Kath sought to acquire tickets for Glastonbury but failed, and had to settle for berths on the Round the Island race in recompense.

The rain slackened, the wind sort of eased, and even breaks in the clouds developed into ‘Sunny Intervals’. With the wind at a F4 gusting to 6 we rushed out to the Sound and for 5 hours enjoyed some really grand sailing – the sort that allows us to forgive just about all the other vagaries of being afloat.