Hugh Town - 28/29/30/31 May 2006 (day 8 to 11)

Yacht Gothik

Hugh Town

St Mary's

Isles of Scilly

31 May 2006

Click here to see a map.

Logged distance: 416M

Chart distance: 358M

Time under way: 3days 4h

Sunday 28 May 2006

Well, not sure where to start. So much seems to have happened in such a short time. There really has been no time (and no desire) to get the computer out and write all this. I will have to make some plan to buy an exercise book to jot things down from time to time otherwise you will have nothing to read!

Boulogne - we said good bye (and good riddance) to Boulogne some time ago now, let's see it would have been Sunday 28th May. The plan was to leave around high tide to make the leaving a little easier. The tidal marina we were holed up in was at the entrance to the river Liane. Canal lock gates kept the water in the river at low tide with a set of sluices to let water out in a controlled manner. Being a large river this controlled release amounted to a fierce stream in the marina itself which meant boat manoeuvres required a little extra thought. It had been amusing to watch unsuspecting new comers enter the marina, different skippers would notice the effect of the stream at different moments. Some coolly slid into a berth while others just made a complete mess of things. The French can be a funny lot, Keith and I helped one group of frenchmen from running headlong into the dock - we received no thanks from them, not even an acknowledgement. They were probably too embarrassed but a nod would have sufficed.

Anyway, I digress. We'd been stuck in Boulogne far too long. Our stay had been very wet, very windy, very cold and very foggy. The marina at low tide stank and the town itself was full of dog doo and tourist shops. Things were not helped by a disastrous meal on the first night in "Bar Hamiot" on the water front. It seemed to be a popular place with the local crowd but the food was neither here nor there and the wine appalling and expensive. We had a run in with the waiter when he tried to fob us off with a bottle of wine we had not ordered. He presented the bottle before opening it but it was not the better vintage listed on the menu. "Sorry, we have no more of that wine but this is excellent". I thought this unlikely but the waiter was firm in his recommendation and so I tried the wine. It really was very poor indeed - if it had been inexpensive or even palatable I would have left it at that but it was neither, so we selected another from the wine list. Again the waiter returned with an unlisted vintage. Eventually we got him to return with something that was listed and of reasonable provenance but as he was about to open the new bottle he slipped in the comment that we would be charged for bottle we had returned. With politeness and diplomacy this took some time to resolve and involved a few extra staff. I would therefore suggest to anyone that they not bother with the Bar Hamiot!

My impression of Boulogne did not lift until the last evening (probably because it was the last evening). We found a restaurant in the old town inside the city walls, it was obviously frequented by tourists but there was a pleasant ambiance and the staff were welcoming and polite. The food was good, the wine truly excellent and all for around half the price of our first night's meal! Sadly I cannot remember the name.

Departure time on the 28th May was 0200. The weather was still a cause for a certain unease but we had prepared ourselves and were really ready to escape. It was still foggy (as it had been for the last three days) but since we had made it in to port in fog Keith H and I reasoned we could make it out. Hah hah! How wrong. at 0210 we had cast off and begun to motor outwards. The port of Boulogne is big. We managed to navigate our way out of the inner harbour but could not identify (with any confidence) the navigation lights on the outer harbour wall. We found the cardinal mark in the gloom but the port and starboard lights would just not appear. I was confident of our position so either they were such poor lights or the fog here was dense beyond belief. "That's it chaps - I'm aborting" and with a sense of 'we're never going to get out of here' we returned to our berth.

As we manoeuvred back into the marina the fog suddenly lifted. All navigational marks and lights were now suddenly visible. If we had left our departure for another half hour we could have been on our merry way. Even though the fog had lifted we decided to tie up, have a cup of coffee and wait for dawn. It seemed prudent to make sure the fog truly had lifted - the change was so sudden that it could quite as easily descend.

Casting off at 0430 was the right thing to do. It was light enough to see by and the fog had not returned. We passed through the harbour entrance and set reefed sails (reduced sail area) in a westerly wind with a moderate sea. It was still cold, very grey and the boat felt quite small as we lolloped around in the swell, but still - at least we were out and on our way to Alderney.

The morning was spent on a starboard tack but by early afternoon we had to add some more north to our heading and so changed over to port tack. Tacking became the norm and with each change of watch (3 to 4 hours) we would change direction. Progress down the channel was slow with these strong westerlies. The forecast was for the wind to veer more to the NW in the next day or so which would make our passage from Alderney to Fowey another one directly into the wind. Tactically therefore it seemed wise to consider recrossing the channel early and skipping Alderney altogether. This meant a longer time at sea - something I relish but it needed discussing with the two Keith's. So over a dinner of Borlotti Bean soup we talked about the options and toyed with the idea of going all the way to the Isles of Scilly non-stop to take advantage of the improving conditions. No decisions or course changes were made now as it was wise to see how we all fared with a night at sea.

The first night was fine. Winds were around force 4 to 5 but it was overcast and gloomy. Our watches were a little unconventional. I would do 3 hours in the cockpit by myself and the two Keith's 4 hours together. This was to allow Keith S (who had never sailed before this trip) to gain some experience and for me to have time to navigate and prepare meals outside of my 3 hours on duty. It seemed to work reasonably well.

At 0437, on my watch, we crossed from the eastern hemisphere into the western. A minor point maybe but at that time of the morning you needed something to tickle the mind. It was interesting to see the display on the GPS count down the easting until it reached 000°00.000' and then to start the count up for the westing.

Monday 29 May 2006

At some point in the morning we made a collective assumption that we were skipping Alderney altogether. Not sure when it happened. Not sure how it happened. Not sure we even talked about it but as we set onto yet another port tack we headed for the shipping lanes and crossed the Channel. Traffic once again seemed light and caused us little problem. By early afternoon the sea had got lumpier and the wind a little stronger. It was now a steady 6 with gusts of 7 (and even 8 in the squalls) but with two reefs in the main and the genny heavily furled Gothik seemed comfortable, 'George' (autopilot) was still happy and we felt safe. The grand thing was the wind was indeed veering a little to the NW and the sky was shrugging off the grey as we approached the Isle of Wight and the English coast.

Early evening saw the wind drop and become variable so the engine went on to charge the batteries. The genoa was furled but we left the main up, double reefed because there were still the occasional squalls. During my watch I could see one particularly vicious one approaching. A wall of rain, waves whipped into white caps - then it struck. Wow! I hunkered down beneath the cockpit spray hood - it was awesome to watch. 38kts of wind, rain slashing the decks and then hail. It lasted probably 10 minutes. Behind it was clear air and the wind started to set and become regular a true NW force 4 to 5, ideal. Engine off, main still double reefed, unfurled the genny (leaving it a little reefed) and Gothik was unstoppable. 6.5 knots through the water with 7 knots at times. At 2000 it was the end of my watch - I was sorry to leave the helm, it had been great. The two Keiths came on deck and I prepared supper in a bouncing galley - Haggis and potatoes. It went down a treat. Despite the cold weather we were all enjoying ourselves.

That night the stars were out in all their glory. The sunset had been magnificent. Gothik rarely dropped below 6.5 kts and was frequently above 7. It was very cold but it just did not seem to matter. After the shipping forecast I heard the land based weather - risk of ground frost in rural areas. This! At the end of May!

Tuesday 30 May 2006

Dawn revealed perfect blue skies, and a sea empty of shipping and land. A bit of sail trimming and we were hammering along with the log steady at 7.7 kts (honest!), even reaching a maximum of 8. For my entire watch I sat alone on the toe rail, taking it all in. It was on this watch that I had my last sighting of a yellow headed gull. No idea what these are called but they had occupied most parts of the sea from Boulogne to Start Point. Always solitary, white overall with a lemon coloured head, long beak and narrow black tipped wings. One would often sit on the waves and our passage would disturb it into taking off. In flight their shape was truly wonderful.

By late afternoon Plymouth was abeam. Another yacht had converged on our course and then begun to run parallel. Through binoculars she looked magnificent. Fractional rig and mylar sails fore and aft, about 40 foot long judging from the relative size of crew to boat. I think they were up for a bit of a race as they seemed to be trying to overhaul us but we were still gunning it. The wind picked up and we were losing a bit of speed from the extra heel. We put in a reef and I took over the helm from George. This was exciting stuff. Gothik shone, boat speed was back up and no longer was the other yacht making as much ground. For a couple of hours we ran like this, half a mile apart and finally they reefed. They reduced the main and changed headsails from a jib to a lower cut triangular foresail. They were heeling less now and finally managed to gain some ground. A ferry was approaching perpendicular to our path but seeing our game, I guess, it kindly gave way. Shortly after the other yacht bore off the wind and headed more south. Alone again.

The Royal Navy gave us a display as they were out on manoeuvres in the bay. Impressive 'destroyer' turns. Incredible in fact how fast they could alter course. We were slightly amused to hear on VHF channel 16 a call from Falmouth Coast Guard to the Navigating Officer on one of the warships to telephone a Plymouth number for a message. All this might and technology and they have to pick up messages via telephone!

I put my head down for a few hours while the two Keiths were out on the sunset watch but was woken by a panicked Keith S trying to start the engine. Got that started and popped my head into the cockpit to see the port side horizon obscured by a big lump of metal. "It came out of the sun skipper" was Keith H's remark. A big ship it was too. They had seen it in advance but had confused the silhouette as a stern view of a possibly anchored vessel - in fact it was the bow view of one about to run us down! We were safe but it was a close encounter. I could only reply with "put it down to experience". Many years ago a similar occurrence had happened to me.

A strong wind warning was issued for our patch of sea. Odd. We were 20 miles off shore, the sky was clear of clouds and there were no indicators of wind fluctuations but we would occasionally get a good 2 Beauforts above the steady force 5 we were experiencing. I'd not encountered this kind of thing before. No danger but Gothik did feel pushed at times and we were forced to stay heavily reefed.

As the sun went down on our third day out and the temperature plummeted once more. Supper gave a little warmth - rigatoni with ginger, garlic and tomatoes and a good sprinkling of the deliciously salty Pecorino Romano cheese. We put the engine on again for battery charging, taking advantage of the extra power to turn on the heater. The cabin was nice and snug but it was my watch and I was left alone in the cold with a blanket of stars. The Scillies will be in sight at daybreak.

Wednesday 31 May 2006

As it turned out I had to slow the boat down. It was all I could do to reduce our speed to below 6 kts - we didn't want to arrive before dawn.

The Scillies were a welcome sight for me but I had just found my rhythm. After a single day and night at sea one feels quite tired and drained. After two, the tiredness is dispelled as one becomes accustomed to resting at odd times - however, bruises appear, muscles begin to stiffen and the constant motion gets irritating. After three days and three nights a rhythm ensues and one feels that this daily cycle can be maintained as long as the food and water lasts. These three days and three nights at sea were my self indulgence. The longer passage was my luxury. The two Keiths had concensed to skipping Alderney and Fowey and we had all enjoyed it. When planning this trip I really had no interest in stopping in the Channel but the rest days seemed sensible for us all and probably necessary for inexperienced crew.

By 0830 we were safely secured to a mooring in Saint Mary's Pool, off Hugh Town, Saint Mary's, Isles of Scilly - no wind, glorious sunshine, three happy persons in need of nothing more than a hot shower.