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.