The River Yealm
1st June 2012
We did not have to leave Plymouth Harbour until after 11:00 today, so we got a few
chores done – laundry for Carole and sail repair for both. Once out of the marina
we got the sails up and had fun tacking out of the harbour and past the various rocks
well documented on the charts. Unfortunately the wind then decreased to less than
2 knots and we had to motor the remainder of the journey into the River Yealm. Like
the entrance into Salcombe we had a bar to cross and various rocks and ledges to
avoid, which we succeeded in doing without too much trouble.
Once into the river we moored up on one of the two visitors’ pontoons and inflated
the dinghy. The harbour master paid us a call to collect our dues, after which we
took the dinghy to shore for a walk about. Our neighbours on the pontoon advised
us on the location of the pub and yacht club and after a 10-minute walk we joined
them for a nice cold drink, after which we had a bit more information about where
to sail locally and where we could moor up or anchor for free.
On our way back to the dinghy, we stopped for a chat with a lovely local lady called
Sasha, who Chris gave one of our cards to. Hi Sasha – it was a pleasure to meet you
and we love this place. When we got back to the dinghy, we weren’t surprised to see
that it was no longer afloat. Anyway, Carole did not mind getting her feet wet to
re-float it so that we could mooch about further up the river. Newton Ferrers is
on one side and Noss Mayo is on the other and we are advised that there is a place
at low water where you can walk across. After a nice tasty supper (not fish and
chips), we settled down for a quiet night.
Next morning the weather was not that good so we decided that we would stay in the
warm and do a bit of baking. Sally very kindly texted us a scone recipe as we couldn’t
remember the ratios of butter to flour and sugar. Carole made some coconut, cherry
and sultana fairy cakes and Chris made some sultana scones. They all turned out very
well, although we still haven’t worked out how not to get too well done bottoms.
We had buttered scones with jam for lunch and then took the dinghy landside for a
walk to the couple of shops in Newton Ferrers. The sign for the ferryman is still
used. as per the photo.
The weather forecast was not looking good for Sunday so we planned to leave late
Saturday afternoon for Plymouth. Unfortunately the bad weather came earlier than
we thought and so we had to stay on the River Yealm for another day. The wind buffeted
us on the boat all day but we managed to get the television and satellite working
so we could watch the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant.
Email: skipper@yachtseaduction.co.uk