At Plymouth on 6 Aug 18
Kelpie
Sarah and David Holtby
Mon 6 Aug 2018 16:10
So we got off to a cracking start on Saturday, great send off from so many
friends who gathered at Shamrock Quay for a picnic lunch and a tearful wave!
Then off we went. Not a huge amount of wind but a lovely sail to Studland
Bay where we anchored for the night and to sort out stowage and generally
get organised. Amazingly, we saw a large pod of dolphins in Christchuch Bay
on this first day
We had our first equipment failure yesterday - the engine would not start.
Initial panic was that all the rewiring for the solar panels etc. had
somehow stopped the batteries charging but no, the problem is the engine
cranking battery has decided its future lies in a skip, not the Caribbean.
temporarily swapped it for one of the house batteries and got underway again
but we have to replace the battery so its off to Halfords in Plymouth this
morning.
After a crystal clear night with fabulous glowing Milky Way and lots of
shooting stars, the fog came down in the night as we approached Plymouth
Sound so I am delighted that radar worked like a dream - we had engaged
Greenham Regis to give the electronics the once over - excellent value for
money!
The weather forecast is excellent - our plan is to slip from Plymouth at
dawn (0500) and head west for as long as the forecast northerly's hold then
turn towards the south as the wend comes round to the west so that its
always on the beam
Thats the plan - I will be astonished if it turns out like that!