sailing

A boat in Teignmouth

/ Bill

I have been getting used to new surroundings – new for Blue Mistress that is. No longer the city of Plymouth, but the town of Teignmouth – two ports, different aspects.

We too have wharves . . .

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and buildings along the water’s edge . . .

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and good pubs.

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The entrance is interesting with shifting sandbanks meaning work for the dredger . . .

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The sailing is less crowded . . .

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Teignmouth is not only a holiday resort but a working port . . .

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Vessels negotiate an awkward entrance.

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Once in, their presence “alters the shape” of the town.

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They continue the long tradition with this as with every other port – looking outwards, trading with other ports, both home, as with Celtic Ambassador, and abroad . . .

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I am going to enjoy sailing from here.

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(Images by Bill Whateley)

 

 

An Evolution

/ Bill

The old . . .

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The new . . .

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The very new . . .

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Note the bystanders on the pontoon.

These vessels will sail for New York on Monday, 2nd May 2016 – no passengers.

(Images by Bill Whateley)

A day-sail – 6 hours

/ Bill

I foolishly left the camera my smaller Lumix camera in Farnham at the weekend, so yesterday I took the heavier Nikon 3200 SLR instead. The problem is where to put it down in a hurry when I need to attend to the boat. It sits in one of the canvas line bags at a stretch otherwise in a bag hung just inside the companionway.

There were a number of people enjoying the water. It was one of those days when the wind was steady (F3), the sun shone, the sailing, as they say, was easy. I left the mooring about 1100 and was back at 1700. No pressure.

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Dowsing the foresail

/ Bill / 1 Comment

Now the boat is back in the water, I can assess the changes made over the winter.

One of the tricks for a single-hander is to be able to lower the foresail and dowse it before the bulk of the sail slides under the lifelines and into the water. 99 times out of 100, there’s no problem. Occasionally everything goes wrong. It happened to me at the end of last year and it was time to do something about it.

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Paihia to Opua- a walk

/ Bill

A post from Webb Chiles in Opua brought memories of a walk we made from Paihia to Opua in April last year.

The walk follows the bays, first across rocks and along a beach, on through mangroves and then along a sometimes wider, sometimes narrower, sometimes rough, sometimes smooth path. We walked comfortably through bush or along the water’s edge beneath the low and somewhat fragile cliffs.

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Nobody told the albatross

/ Bill

I have just got back from London having attended Roger Taylor’s lecture at the home of the Cruising Association at Limehouse Basin in London.

Roger is the self-styled Simple Sailor . He has written three well-received books about his voyages first in his Corribee, Ming Ming, and now in her successor, Ming Ming ll. In 2009, he was awarded the Jester Medal by the Ocean Cruising Club “for an outstanding contribution to the art of singlehanded sailing.” The large number of members present was a fitting testament to his endeavours.

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