15th July
We slipped our lines and navigated our way cautiously out of the River Yealm, successfully clearing the sand bar by just 0.9M. It was dry and bright and the wind was freshening, but we were making good time despite the mounting seas. We took turns on the helm, trying not to use the auto helm to conserve battery power. After a few hours the waves were getting higher and coming from the west (behind us). Some of these were about 4M. All of a sudden there was this crashing sound from behind and found a large wave had deposited our dinghy on our stern. Chris managed quickly to get it back in the water and up the right way and shortened the towing line.
We rounded Bolt Head and entered the River Salcombe where conditions calmed down considerably and radioed into harbour control. The Harbour Master came out to us and directed us to a mooring buoy which we could pick up for the afternoon. He then offered us an overnight spot on a serviced pontoon by the town when the main water taxi finished for the day at 6:30 pm, which we gratefully accepted in order to top up our batteries, recharge our electronics and fill our water tanks. When the time came to relocate for the night, we were pleased to find that this location was extremely well sheltered from the winds that had again increased. After tying up securely and sorting ourselves out for the night, we took a walk out looking for our supper, which ended up as a shared fish and chips and bottle of beer back on the boat, ate on deck, which was our first this summer!
The only downside to this spot is that you must vacate the pontoon by 8:00 am, which we did comfortably and we then proceeded to successfully pick up a mooring buoy on first attempt, which was no mean feat with the wind gusting up to 30 mph.
Salcombe – 16th July
We spent most of our second day in Salcombe on a mooring buoy bouncing up and down in the strong winds – and we were in a fairly calm area – off the Town was even more lively. We did not leave the boat all day as the harbour master advised that the boat whose buoy we were using was expected back any time and we would have to move our boat if he returned. As it turned out, we did not have to move until it was time to go to the Town Quay at 6:30 pm, so we spent the day reading and writing, checking the weather forecast and planning our next trip.
When the time came, we tied up on the Town Quay. At the Quay another yacht joined us who had just arrived from Dartmouth. The skipper and his crew looked very weary and were muttering that they just wanted to have a wash and get drunk as their passage from Dartmouth was very bad. We took a walk to stretch our legs and find the local Spar shop to stock up on bread and milk. Our search for the shop took us up quite a few hills, but eventually we found it and returned to the boat to prepare dinner. At least our walk took us round parts of Salcombe that we would otherwise not have seen.
The morning of our third day In Salcombe began as the previous day but today we woke up early and showered on the boat before picking up a mooring buoy, this time with the assistance of the harbour master. We took the dinghy out for a ride further up the river and on our return to the boat we checked the weather report for the day and made the decision to head off on our next leg to Dartmouth