Back to Sailing (3) – report by skipper Jeff Birkin

23-25th July Bavaria 36 Anodyne Liberty Yacht Charter, QAB, Plymouth.

Crew - Alan Gray, Sonia Russe, Kath Liddiard and Rhian Phillips and skipper Jeff Birkin

In abysmal summer weekend traffic we all finally made it to QAB.There was little interest in going out that evening so we headed for the Waypoint restaurant in QAB and had an excellent meal, before making our way back to the boat for drinks, music and nibbles.

09:50 Saturday we slipped and made our way to the Cattewater for manoeuvring and buoy lassoing practice.After finally tying up to the buoy for some refreshment, we slipped and sailed off the buoy at 12:30 using the freshening winds and tide to navigate through the nearby boats.The next two hours was spent with gybing and tacking practice across the Sound to Cawsand Bay where we dropped the hook for some refreshments.

15:30 We conducted the statutory MOB practice followed by some anchoring practice in the almost deserted bay.We finally left the hook in at 18:45 and settled down for the night.

We had an excellent meal on board and sat out drinking, eating and talking in the clear moonlight until gone midnight.It was idyllic.

9:55 the next morning we pulled up the anchor and in a windless calm sea we headed for the Yealm, picking up the transit around 11:05.Just 40 minutes later, in a very strong current, we left the shelter and shortly after as we approached the Mewstone, we found enough wind to begin sailing.Alas, after just 50 minutes the wind had died to a mere zephyr and again we had to put the engine on.

13:30 we sailed straight up to a buoy in the Cattewater and it was lassoed first try.Refreshments taken, we headed for PYH for fuel only to find the pontoon had been almost completely taken by a moored yacht and a dive boat unloading.It was a fairly tight fit, not made easier by the complete lack of any conditions to work against. Fortunately, the folks from the dive boat were keen to take the lines.

By 15:30 we were back at QAB and after fully cleaning and scrubbing the boat, we all made our way back home along a fairly peaceful M5.

I never tire of saying this but, it was another really enjoyable weekend with a great bunch of friends on a nice boat.

Finally, Anodyne’s awkward throttle lever had made finding neutral something of a lottery.This has now been reported to Simon in the hope it will receive some attention.At the same time it is hoped they do something about the cooker.In all my years of sailing I’ve never had one that lights with the button.This one did and clearly that indicates a serious fault.As we’re talking of a gas appliance, the consequences of it working as designed could be disastrous.