Post by duncanhall on Sept 3, 2012 19:17:14 GMT
Ardua left Cardiff early morning on Sat 18th August with the intent of going south with an intention of making the soulth coast with the first stop at Lundy.
We locked out at about 7am and motored up channel with the wind on our nose. It was a rough trip so by Combe Martin we decided to drop anchor and await the high tide to enter Watermouth Cove. When the tide was right we picked up a visitor mooring and settled down for a good sleep as we dried out at about 10pm.
The next morning the view was wonderful
so we decided to stay for the day and proceed to remove the Cardiff stain and the Watchett mud.
The service from the Harbor Master was excellent when we filled our water containers up he put them in his JCB and delivered them level to the boats deck.
The next morning we left an hour before high tide and proceeded to Padstow. The wind remained on our nose till we passed around Hartland point giving another rough passage with the wind against tide. As the tide was now against us we went round Bude bay and got an opportunity to sail. This calmed the boats motion significantly and we had a pleasant end to the journey past Tintagell.
we then sailed into Padstow where we arrived 1 hour before high water.
We parked up by the Quay next to an Americans (Joe) boat that had just crossed the Atlantic and suffered damaged sails 100miles off the English shore. He was not on the boat at the time.
On arrival we met Andy on High Spirits who was returning from his trip.
We decided to stay several days with a view to moving further south on Wednesday. However the weather deteriorated and one crew member was laid low by a virus. However we did find that the alternator had got so hot that the fire extinguisher above the engine had been deployed.
With Gales forecast we left the boat and went home on the Friday.
We returned Monday but the winds were still forecast at force 7 to 8. That forced us to try out most of the establishments by the Quay.
Having taken advice from the Moody Owners Association I fitted extra cooling fans to the engine to prevent the alternator overheating and tested it out using thermocouples.
Joe had arrived back at his yacht and we learned of his rough crossing. This has led to the rupture of both his diesel and Water tanks.
Our earlier experiences with Katy at Appledore helped hater when he dried the boat against the wall in the outer harbour. Unfortunately, because of the high winds, the boat started to lean away from the wall so we helped pull the top of the mast to lean towards the wall using the genoa halyard.
By Thursday the forcast was good so we decided to start home on the Friday. We left Padstow at about 7am and after motoring for an hour were able to sail. We had an excelent sail and met a pod of dolphins across the bay.
Click on the image below to see the dolphins.
Our progress was so good that we continued on to arrive at Ilfracombe in time to search for food.
I woke early the next morning an realised that we had about 2 to 3 hours of tide on our side. We therefore left Ilfracome in the dark at about 5am and motored down the english channel until daylight. We then set the Genoa with the wind dead astern passing through the tidal gate by bull point at about 7:30. A careful look at the charts indicated that the tide went with us for longer on the Welsh side so we crossed over to Barry Power Station as the tide changed. We then had an excellent sail under main and Genoa following the Welsh cost taking the back eddies all the way back to Cardiff. We rarely had more than a knot of tide against us.
Finally as we went round Lavelock the wind picked up to about 18kn apparent and we flew back at water speeds of up to 8kn making the 12:45 lock in.
We locked out at about 7am and motored up channel with the wind on our nose. It was a rough trip so by Combe Martin we decided to drop anchor and await the high tide to enter Watermouth Cove. When the tide was right we picked up a visitor mooring and settled down for a good sleep as we dried out at about 10pm.
The next morning the view was wonderful
so we decided to stay for the day and proceed to remove the Cardiff stain and the Watchett mud.
The service from the Harbor Master was excellent when we filled our water containers up he put them in his JCB and delivered them level to the boats deck.
The next morning we left an hour before high tide and proceeded to Padstow. The wind remained on our nose till we passed around Hartland point giving another rough passage with the wind against tide. As the tide was now against us we went round Bude bay and got an opportunity to sail. This calmed the boats motion significantly and we had a pleasant end to the journey past Tintagell.
we then sailed into Padstow where we arrived 1 hour before high water.
We parked up by the Quay next to an Americans (Joe) boat that had just crossed the Atlantic and suffered damaged sails 100miles off the English shore. He was not on the boat at the time.
On arrival we met Andy on High Spirits who was returning from his trip.
We decided to stay several days with a view to moving further south on Wednesday. However the weather deteriorated and one crew member was laid low by a virus. However we did find that the alternator had got so hot that the fire extinguisher above the engine had been deployed.
With Gales forecast we left the boat and went home on the Friday.
We returned Monday but the winds were still forecast at force 7 to 8. That forced us to try out most of the establishments by the Quay.
Having taken advice from the Moody Owners Association I fitted extra cooling fans to the engine to prevent the alternator overheating and tested it out using thermocouples.
Joe had arrived back at his yacht and we learned of his rough crossing. This has led to the rupture of both his diesel and Water tanks.
Our earlier experiences with Katy at Appledore helped hater when he dried the boat against the wall in the outer harbour. Unfortunately, because of the high winds, the boat started to lean away from the wall so we helped pull the top of the mast to lean towards the wall using the genoa halyard.
By Thursday the forcast was good so we decided to start home on the Friday. We left Padstow at about 7am and after motoring for an hour were able to sail. We had an excelent sail and met a pod of dolphins across the bay.
Click on the image below to see the dolphins.
Our progress was so good that we continued on to arrive at Ilfracombe in time to search for food.I woke early the next morning an realised that we had about 2 to 3 hours of tide on our side. We therefore left Ilfracome in the dark at about 5am and motored down the english channel until daylight. We then set the Genoa with the wind dead astern passing through the tidal gate by bull point at about 7:30. A careful look at the charts indicated that the tide went with us for longer on the Welsh side so we crossed over to Barry Power Station as the tide changed. We then had an excellent sail under main and Genoa following the Welsh cost taking the back eddies all the way back to Cardiff. We rarely had more than a knot of tide against us.
Finally as we went round Lavelock the wind picked up to about 18kn apparent and we flew back at water speeds of up to 8kn making the 12:45 lock in.
