10th July 2014 - Anchored Outside Mevagissey

Post by **Jeff** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 2:30 pm

Plymouth Sound was lovely as usual but the forecast of North Westerly winds was too great a temptation so yesterday morning we hoisted the main and weighed anchor.

I was trying to sail away without using the engine at all. My plan (which has worked in the past with Isabella) was to hoist the main, and then pull in the anchor. While doing so the boat seems inevitably to swing left and right repeatedly which is fine if it's OK to sail either way out of the anchorage, but I'd put us practically on the beach at Cawsand and _needed_ to swing to the right as the anchor released the seabed. Unfortunately I timed it just wrong and so had to use a quick blip of engine to tack us back round. But that was it, all the way to just off Mevagissey. We sailed upwind for 5 hours making speeds of over 6 knots at times - heeling considerably - but it was a very straightforward passage.

We decided against Mevagissey due to swell and so ended up off Pentewan Sands. I rowed ashore with Nina and got supplies. No dogs allowed - so Rose stayed aboard to keep Lunar company. Nice place.

This morning we motored the 1.5 miles back to Mevagissey where we're now anchored.

We've been keeping the mizzen hoisted while at anchor recently; something we can't do in Dartmouth I don't think as the current is stronger than the wind most of the time. It seems to reduce rolling quite a bit. Unsure. Looks very cool though

Here's us just before departure in Cawsand

And here we are in Mevagissey

And here's a short movie from the sail
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oF97qjccUBA" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Discus · Post by **Discus** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 6:04 pm

Another good video! Poor Luna, couldn't 'perform' in those conditions to deal with the backlog! Had a bit of a double take at your 'pot' plant in the wheelhouse

but then realised I was watching in low res, so my eyes deceived me.

Are you heading on to the Fal area?

Post by **Jeff** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 6:12 pm

Cheers rob. She got drenched by spray from a wave moments after. Should have kept filming!

Pot plant is ninas snapdragon she planted at playschool. It's remarkably stable somehow.

Falmouth, helford, or poss back to Plymouth for a bit as we have a meeting in a few weeks... And I don't want to miss the fireworks this year!

Discus · Post by **Discus** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 7:06 pm

You're almost there now. St Mawes, Helford, up the Fal, all much nicer than Plymouth (well I think so!). Is Luna a water dog? In other words does she mind getting wet or jumping off the boat, or even a bit of swimming?

Al these pics, you are making me jealous - stuck at home and not going to the boat this weekend. Withdrawal symptoms already! Plus you have cartoons on board - perfect

Post by **Jeff** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 8:55 pm

She's increasingly turning into a water dog. Today for the first time ever she jumped from the dinghy into water of unknown depth in order to swim to a small island rock because it had a seagull on it. She'd been boat bound for a while at the time. It's definitely not normal for her.

All the westward options are good but I'd hate to have to motor west into the wind in order to appreciate them.

Discus · Post by **Discus** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:58 pm

Jeff wrote:

She's increasingly turning into a water dog. Today for the first time ever she jumped from the dinghy into water of unknown depth in order to swim to a small island rock because it had a seagull on it. She'd been boat bound for a while at the time. It's definitely not normal for her.

All the westward options are good but I'd hate to have to motor west into the wind in order to appreciate them.

Hmmm, you are starting to sound like me. This season, in particular, I have lost all interest in motoring to get somewhere. Just doesn't seem worth the effort and I can think of better things to do with my time.

I am not really experienced with dogs, but they seem to fall into the camp of either leaping in the water at any opportunity or not liking the water at all. Always hours of entertainment when you do see a water dog - especially when the owners can't get them back out the water. A few years ago, we were in Tarbert in Scotland and the boat next to us had a hound that insisted on being carried on and off the boat (onto the pontoon) and visibly quaked when encouraged to do the maneovre themselves!

Is your dinghy not a bit 'full' when you are 4 up? How do you keep the dog from not shooting off after a passing seagull/seal/patch of seaweed?

Post by **Jeff** » Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:42 pm

Dinghy is quite big, and we're all quite small I guess. But we've had another adult aboard as well as us, or a whole lot of shopping etc without much bother. One rowing, one sat aft with nina, and lunar forward.

She's only this one time ever leapt in to open water so it's never an issue other than when close to making landfall, when she -always- makes a leap for freedom. But as she never fails to do this we know in advance to tie her on if there's some potential bite/lick target close by. This morning I went ashore with just lunar on the beach at Gorran haven. I tied her to the stern and reversed towards the beach. She jumped off and pulled me up the beach a little so I didn't even get wet feet!

If you've not been to this stretch of Coast btw it's well worth a visit. Easy anchorages and lots to see and barely any other visiting boats at all. We've seen two other overnighters so far in 4 nights anchored off mevagissey or Gorran.

Sounds like tarbert dog should be going caravanning not boating!

Discus · Post by **Discus** » Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:10 pm

Dinghy question wasn't totally irrelevant as we are shopping around for another dinghy as ours is a bit on the small side - or I should say the tubes are = wet backside in any chop. Overall length is going to have to stay at the 2.3/2.4 metre mark or it won't fit folded up into our cockpit locker.

Luna sounds useful for pulling the dinghy (or sledge in the snow!). Good to see she can earn her keep!

To my shame, I have always barrelled along that bit of coast in order to get to either Falmouth going west of Fowey going east. Will give it greater consideration in the future - although anchoring is still not the preferred option if there is a mooring buoy (which I know I have to work on

)

Post by **Jeff** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:29 pm

I really can't recommend the Avon enough. It's light, rows well and durable and cheap (eBay). It's hypalon too so you can keep it outside with no ill effect, and use the locker for something more important maybe. I do really like having ours inflated at all times. We do have a life raft but they can fail to inflate, or maybe you don't have time to deploy it in a bad situation. The Avon is our safe haven for such a situation.

And it really does row well.

Anchoring. Rob you must sort this out. It's total freedom. It's quieter, easier, cheaper, less likely to cause damage to your boat, and it frees you up to visit gazillions more places than you can possibly otherwise... And did I mention it's cheaper?

We now always make a point of testing it by motoring hard astern if we're leaving the boat soon after parking. With the rocna I put out 2.5 x depth and ignore that it's another 1.5m to the bow roller (so effectively less than 2.5 ratio) and motor astern. We always, always (really, never the other) stop dead precisely the distance away from the drop point dictated by the chain we dropped. It's awesome. We then chuck out another few meters to make it up to 3 x depth, and add a snubber to remove the rumbling sound caused by chain over seabed and further reduce potential shock loads. It has never dragged or failed ever. (I think we moved 10m once off a remote Scottish Island after dropping the hook on a mountain of old kelp, in a full gale, but not sure I didn't dream it.)

Get a Rocna and double your cruising pleasure!

Discus · Post by **Discus** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 8:49 pm

I really need to get into this anchoring vibe. I am missing out. Rocha is not a possibility for us as we have the extended rig version of the Tradewind with a bowsprit and a teak platform on it. I think the roll bar would foul the whole lot! I don't distrust the Delta we have, but some people have had issues with them.
Rowability of a dinghy wouldn't be an issue -always use the outboard (the angry wasp). Did have a trip in an Avon a few years back and it was like rowing a jelly, although I think it was somewhat under inflated (or I really need to lose some weight). I think it may be more amiable with the plywood floor in it.
I think I need a change of mindset with the anchoring. I must admit that it gets a bit 'samey' just going to the established stop offs along the Devon and Cornwall coasts. Hopefully, next season will be completely different as we head off up to Scotland. All these posts of yours - just making me jealous!
Had a weekend up in Yorkshire at the in-laws (golden wedding do) and had Karen's huge family grilling me about our plans with the boat and hoping to get a weekend on board which raised another issue - never sailed with guests before and feel a bit strange at the thought. I think it would be a tight fit for more than two!
Definitely need more than weekends and short breaks at this! Maybe we should sell the house! Problem solved!

Post by **Jeff** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:26 pm

Our Rocna fits well on our teak platform bowsprit. If it didn't I'd have it modified so it would.

Delta is ok but does not hold at all at 2.5:1 at which ratio I can literally pull in a 20kg one by hand across soft sand into which our Rocna would hold a battleship. And as strong pull effectively reduces the angle twixt chain and anchor, I postulate that means the delta will give up much sooner than the Rocna when used in anger. Can't stress how much it has changed our entire boating experience.

Avon. We've never had the floor option in ours but tried one with once. It was awful, sucked it down at speed and made It very heavy to move stow etc. I think yours must have just needed a pump. We can make over 2 knots fairly easily with all aboard, rowing. About the same as non planing speed with a 2hp outboard...

Sounds like I'm not going to convince you to also lose the outboard but gosh I hate those things. Everyone else in barn pool used theirs to make the 50m trip ashore and back last week, I was pulling my hair out watching them get close to shore and have to use their oars anyway for the final few meters. We've now been without outboard for 4 years I think. No regrets... Except yesterday when we had to make a 250m row 5 times ferrying visitors aboard and back. Though I'm now ready for the Olympics which is a nice bonus.

Sailing with said visitors was excellent. Just used them as crew. They enjoyed it (I think) and were much more fastidious than me at any task I put them to. I just fished off the stern while they weighed anchor, hoisted fails, helmed etc. I could get used to it

Discus · Post by **Discus** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 10:11 pm

Am considering a spade, if funds permit! Supposed to be good but without the rollbar and price is not a million miles away from the Rocna. Outboard is great - zip around for miles and no risk of a coronary! Ours gets almost zero maintenance but seems to keep going and you don't have to worry about a running tide to row against.
I think I may be more of a control freak than you. I tend to do all the helming - its the bit I think I enjoy the most. Karen trims the sails, does the mooring pick up and most of the nav. Perhaps a bit of crew could be useful but there is not a huge amount of room in our cockpit so we may all be stood on each other!
I like to think the Avon was a bit flat but suspect a brief diet may also have helped! At 6' 3", all dinghies seem a bit small to me. Ultimately, I want one of those 2 person inflatable kayaks for quieter exploring, again funds permitting, or even one of those tinker tramps with the sailing kit - lovely!
Also need a new seat for our current dinghy to row it properly. Previous seat was last seen heading down the Tamar on a 2 knot tide!

Post by **Jeff** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 6:24 am

I nearly bought a spade, they do look good and do very well in the tests too. Expensive. But if you're going to start anchoring a good deal the price for a good nights sleep comes down. And I'd pay a lot for a good night's sleep.

Tried the sailing dinghy idea. It makes a lot of sense but we found the faff of rigging it all up each time made it more trouble than it was worth. I still really like the idea though. But maybe what I really want is a paradox micro cruiser like Jim. Take the whole boat exploring, not just the tender.

Hopefully when your guests come it'll be warm and sunny with light winds and they can all sprawl on deck in the sun while you drift along

Discus · Post by **Discus** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:59 pm

You should try one of those large sailing dinghies with the camping kit. You can tow them behind the car, explore the local area, pull it up the beach to sleep in then relaunch the next morning and explore some more. You are very right about the good nights sleep bit. I tend to sleep well in poor weather but Karen is a light sleeper. Couple of years ago we were in Salcombe on a buoy late in the season. It was forecast strong southerlies. Should have moved to the bag but stuck another rope on the buoy and went to bed. Karen set the anchor drag on the GPS just in case we chaffed through the 3 lines we had on the buoy. It blew hard and we strained against the buoy all night. About 7am, the wind dropped quickly and we 'pinged' back into position on the buoy triggering the drag alarm. I was dispatched immediately to check the situation outside, not even being allowed to dress. It was cold. I wasn't happy. God help us if the anchor ever drags - I'm not an advocate of running around the deck half asleep in just my kecks!

Post by **Jeff** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 5:38 pm

I find myself doing that surprisingly often!

Paradox Jim said to me, "why would you trust a mooring buoy more than your own anchor?"

I do wonder how much force there is on ground tackle which has a short riser when the conditions pick up a bit. Must be immense. Your drag alarm was a good idea not just for keeping an eye on your lines maybe.

But then I've never seen a mooring move, but I have seen a lot of anchors drag... But not mine since we got rid of the cqr.