31st July – Sunday
We woke after a reasonable night’s sleep on the mooring and after getting washed and dressed, we decided that we would take the dinghy over to the town and treat ourselves to breakfast before heading off to Plymouth around lunchtime. It was quite a pleasant morning and we had a stroll around before deciding on a small cafe which looked quite nice from the outside (we had also seen its advert in the Fowey Harbour guide). Sadly for us, the food was awful and a waste of money; we wished we had not gone there and definitely won’t go back. We returned to Seaduction just in time to bid farewell to our neighbours and within 15 mins we were ready to slip our lines from the mooring buoy. We headed out of the river at about 12:30. The wind forecast was a light WNW F3, which would gently push us along. We did not have any tidal gates or shallow sand bars to negotiate so we were in no hurry. Our departure time must have been about right as there were about 20 yachts spread out going in the same direction. This was a pleasant sail with us making about 4-5 knots. We had already booked a marina berth at Sutton Harbour Marina so we knew that we had a good place to stay as the weather forecast for the next few days was very wet and windy. After radioing in, we arrived at Sutton Lock in company with a few others and just had to wait a few minutes for the lock keeper to swing the bridge and we were through. Again the lock keeper was aware we were booked in as he confirmed our berth and then radioed the marina to assist with our lines. The Sutton Lock Keeper is just like our ones at Ipswich Lock – friendly and helpful. Once tied up securely on our berth, we had a nice hot shower and prepared our dinner. After tidying away we read our books and had an early night
1st August – Monday
We awoke to a grey, damp morning and after breakfast, Chris got involved in numerous work related calls. As the morning turned into afternoon, the weather deteriorated and the rain got heavier and quite a breeze got up. Rather than stay cooped up on the boat we decided to go for a swim (Carole) and sauna/steam (Chris) and we found a large leisure centre a bus ride away that would suit us both. We packed our bags and found our brollies and walked into the city centre and eventually found the bus we needed. After a 10 minute ride we were there and we both felt better for making the effort. On returning to the boat we prepared our supper and after clearing away, watched a few programmes Chris had downloaded on his laptop, one of them being Mrs Brown’s Boys – LIVE, which did not disappoint. When we retired to our beds, it was still windy and pouring with rain, but at least we were warm and dry.
2nd August – Tuesday
It was no surprise when we awoke to find it was still raining. After breakfast, Chris continued with some work while Carole did some laundry. Around 11.40, we walked into the city centre for Carole to visit Shuropody for some well deserved feet treat. On the way back we picked up some shopping to top up our stores, hopeful that we might leave to go to Salcombe on Wednesday. Once back on the boat, we had lunch and while Chris looked at navigation, etc, Carole did the last laundry load. We decided that we would eat out tonight and after a shower and change we walked across the road to the tapas bar we enjoyed a meal at last time. Again, even though we tried some different dishes that perhaps weren’t as much to our liking, it was still a good meal. The rain had now reduced to a drizzle and on settling down for the night we were optimistic for the following day.
3rd August – Wednesday
The sun was streaming through the curtains when we awoke which was quite uplifting. While Carole made a cuppa, Chris looked at the forecasts for the day, but these were not what we were hoping for. As we weren’t going to be leaving for Salcombe until early afternoon, we decided to wait for the midday forecast and then make a decision. Carole had some letters to post and a couple of bits of shopping to get, so she took a walk out on her own while Chris did some work. By the time Carole returned, Chris had all the information needed to decide we would be staying for one more night in Plymouth. Winds were forecast to be F.6-7 today with possible gusts of F.8. Chris had also spoken to a few others heading our way who thought it was more sensible to stay another day and wait for the high winds to decrease.
After lunch, we took a walk up to Plymouth Hoe where we could see for ourselves how breezy it was and also how few boats were actually out there. It proved we had made the right decision to stay in port. We kept ourselves occupied by reading late afternoon and preparing a mini roast for dinner. While Chris washed up, Carole filled up the front water tank ready for a couple of nights away from marinas. Chris had an early night as he was a tired bunny, so while he snored away, Carole wrote up the blog ready for Chris to edit and publish tomorrow. Carole made sure her alarm was set for 6.30 as we planned an early start in the morning to Salcombe – fingers crossed.