THE STORY
SO FAR
Stream
departed from her home for the last two and a half years, Troon, on the 24th
June 2013. Aboard were skipper Darrell and Stream’s usual First Mate Quentin. We
had an early start after waiting for strong westerlies to moderate on the Sunday
morning and arrived in Portpatrick for a late lunch
ashore.
Our early
start the following day was frustrated by grounding on the way out of the
harbour! We arrived in Peel on the Isle of Man mid afternoon and anchored off
the tidal harbour to enable another early start the following day. The welcoming
marina at Howth in the Republic of Ireland enabled us to spend a day exploring
Dublin and a memorable visit around Trinity College and it’s library to see the
Book of Kells.
The next
3 days saw us making a passage to the Scilly Isles after a night at anchor just
south of Arklow. The reasonably priced visitors moorings at Hugh Town were not
crowded even though it was nearly July and we spent a pleasant couple of days
exploring the delights of St Marys and Tresco. On the day we were on Tresco they
were hosting their own triathlon and had over 60 competitors from many of the
other islands.
A ten
hour motor with the usual Atlantic swell chased us to the Helford River where we
were fortunate to pick up a visitors mooring just abeam the yacht club and a
short row from the jetty near the ferry terminal. A pleasant evening ashore was
followed by a short sail the following day to Falmouth where we picked up a
visitors mooring in monsoon like rain. The Maritime Museum was an ideal place to
spend a wet afternoon and the local sail maker an ideal place to purchase a 2.4
metre batten to replace the one lost in a mid night reef in large seas off S
Ireland.
Another
short sail saw us picking up yet another visitors mooring in Fowey for a short
stay before our final leg to Plymouth and our pre-booked berth at Plymouth Yacht
Haven.
Stream
rested here for 6 weeks before Darrell and Sarah arrived in the second week of
August for an exceptionally pleasant couple of weeks exploring the coast of
Devon and Cornwall. With a base in
the Helford River we took in some of the fine gardens in this secluded valley
and then with Fowey as a base, the Eden Project and the Lost Gardens of Helligan
were only an hours bus journey away. (The only rain we had over the two weeks
during the day was when we were in the Biomes of the Eden Project) The River
Yealm pontoons off Newton Ferres provided a great base for a coastal walk after
a sociable evening spent with friends in Noss Mayo.
In
Dartmouth we picked up Sub-lieutenant Fergus Holland, on leave from his training
at HMS Brittannia, but only after a personal guided tour of the College and its
ground including the infamous “Cardiac Hill”. A light easterly enable us to fly
the “Purple Peril” for some
increased speed which was finally snuffed in 20 knots and over 9 knots through the water. “The best scones in
England” were purchased in Salcombe and consumed at sea on the way to Cawsand
bay and then it was back to Plymouth to say “Goodbye” to Fergus and Sarah and
“Welcome back” to Quent for the channel crossing.
A short
motor to Cawsand Bay enabled us to have an early departure for L’Aberwrach, but
with light winds and the desire to get there before dark we ended up motoring
all the 131nm, but arrived to a beautiful sunset. Despite an early start we were
caught by the harbor master for our fees for the visitors mooring and another
motor saw us safely through the Chenal du Four and the Raz de Seine and an
anchorage at Sainte Evette (Audierne). During the night some kind Frenchman
decided he liked the look of our snubber on the anchor chain and decided to
remove it. What happened to entente cordiale? A pontoon berth at Sainte Marine
(Benodet) was followed by another in the marina at Port du Sauzon on Belle Ile
and then a rolly anchorage off the beach at Ile de Houat.
An early
start with a star studded sky saw us arriving in Port Joinville on Ile d’Yeu
55nm later. The following day was a day for exploration, Q investigating
historical things and D stretching his legs on Le Tour d’Ile d’Yeu and a fine(?)
hired bike. After a night at anchor off Plage de Veille and another early start
we arrived early at St Martin de Rey on the Ile de Rey and had to wait to enter
the marina as a small flotilla of yachts left as the lock gate opened. Once
moored we joined the weekend crowds to explore the delights of the town in hot
sunshine. The following day Adam arrived, fresh from his overnight in La
Rochelle, and, after a quick lunch, bikes were hired and the southern end of the
island toured until our backsides told us we needed to stop before further
damage was done to our nether regions. La Rochelle was duly explored over the
next couple of days with our base in Les Minimes marina (only 3000
boats!)
The Bay
of Biscay provided its usual excitement with some big following seas and the
loss of the Stbd nav light when we took on a rather large wave on the bow which
then poured into the saloon despite the spray hood. Seas subsided on the second
day and landfall was finally made
at Viviero after a passage of 330 nm and 2 nights at sea. Tapas were consumed
and exploration was carried out the following day before a passage to Ria de
Cedeira and an anchorage and then a short passage to La Coruna. Repairs to the
stackpack were organized and routine maintenance carried out by D whilst Q and A
took the opportunity to catch the train and have their own pilgrimage to
Santiago de Compostela. Anchorages in Caminas (with a nocturnal re-anchoring)
and Muros followed before another anchorage on the nature reserve island of Isla
do Norte one of the Cias Islands. More exploration of the remarkable rock
formations ashore followed with an ascent to the main lighthouse for some
spectacular views of the Rias.
A night
in Baiona was followed by an interesting passage to Viana do Costello with the
wind gusting to F 8 and a steady 25-30 knots as we arrived at the harbour
entrance. A short tour ashore made us promise to return one day to this
fascinating city. Leixoes was our port of entry for Porto where we toured and
experienced the delights of a regional promotion event for food and wine (drawn
in by the promise of food and wine samples for only 5 euros!) An overnight
passage saw us in Lisbon for a couple of days doing tourist things, including a
meal in the old quarter and a visit to the Maritime Museum. The pretty town of
Sines and the very good value marina there was our next stop before rounding
Cape St Vincent and a very late arrival behind the breakwater of Portimao where
we anchored before moving into the marina the following
day.
After a
day exploring and Q getting his hair cut in the “never-to-be visited-again”
resort of Praia da Rocha Tom joined the crew and the day after Adam departed
(not because of Tom!) Departure was delayed waiting for “a weather window”. The
NE 3-4 winds we had been blessed with for much of the voyage so far were now SW
5-6 and we were hoping to go to Madeira! The “window opened” on the Friday
evening after we had spent a day anchored behind the breakwater waiting for the
winds to moderate. The following two days are best glossed over – hard sailing
on Stbd tack with SW-W winds of 20+ knots, 2 reefs and a well furled genoa,
finally saw us making the coast of Morocco, only to then have to run the
gauntlet of their unlit and unpredictable fishing boats who had never heard of
AIS after we had tacked! 5 nights at sea saw us arriving at Marina Rubicon after
715nm and some excitement when the split pin securing the cotter pin at the base
of the forestay sheared and emergency rigging was constructed from spinnaker
halyard, topping lift and removable inner forestay. Repairs were carried out at
the marina, including to the genoa which was rather “tatty” along the leach
after our passage.
Fully
refreshed after 3 days of eating, drinking and swimming in the marina pool we
left the marina in the evening and anchored to the east for an early departure
the following day. The passage to la Gomera was uneventful apart from some
excitement when we discovered the true extent of the “Compression Zones” the
islands are famous for. This necessitated reefing much later than we should have
when we went from motor sailing in 5-6 knots to 25knots in the matter of a
hundred metres. We arrived in San Sebastian de La Gomera in the afternoon and
for the next 2 days were entertained by the festivities of the town’s religious
fiesta. This included the live music until 5 am, not good when we had a ferry
off the island to catch at 7am!
Stream
and her motley crews had arrived safely at the end of the first leg after
covering just short of 3000nm from Troon. Adam had managed “The Bay” and some big
seas without seeing what he had eaten again. Tom had completed his first sailing
trip with a baptism of fire on the first two days and Quent and Darrell left for
a six week break before they would be returning with Adam and new crew member
Peter, for the next leg of their voyage across The Pond in November.