Dartmouth and Kingswear
28th May
Our first night in Darthaven Marina was a good one despite the strong wind. After
showers and breakfast, we walked into Kingswear village and bought tickets for the
1 o’clock steam train into Paignton. The journey took about 30 mins and gave us some
very pretty views of the countryside and coastline. Paignton was a typical busy seaside
resort with pubs, cafes and amusement arcades. It also had a lovely beach onto which
fairly lively waves were breaking. We had a pub lunch and on our walk round the town
we picked up ingredients for our supper. We took a phone call from our friend, Peter,
who would be joining us later, so we had to get back to the boat to prepare the guest
cabin for occupation. (While we are sailing just the two of us, our third cabin is
our “spare room” in which everything not being used gets put.)
Peter arrived in good time for supper and with the Eurovision Song Contest on the
TV in the background he kept us entertained with all what he had been up to since
we saw him last. After supper, while Carole washed up and tidied away, Chris showed
Peter some of his new “toys”.
Next day became a really nice lazy Sunday. We took the ferry across into Dartmouth,
had a wander round the little shops, and then found a smart looking fish restaurant
for lunch. After turning down dessert we took a stroll in the sunshine. Peter treated
us to ice creams and we found a nice spot in the shade with the sound of Totnes Brass
Band in the air.
We returned to the boat via the ferry for a cup of tea before Peter left us to make
his journey back home. Peter will be joining us again for some sailing when we reach
Scotland.
We left Darthaven Marina on Monday after lunch, heading first to the Fuel Barge to
take on some fuel. It took us two attempts to get tied on to the barge as Carole
was not quick enough to tie the stern line on (one point to Chris!). We then put
the genoa up, turned the engine off and sailed up the river to Dittisham. We decided
it was such a nice spot, we would pick up a mooring buoy here for the night, so Chris
radioed in and a very nice Dart Nav man whizzed over and helped us raft up to another
boat. Home-made chicken curry and rice tonight
Email: skipper@yachtseaduction.co.uk