martin
Member
Well the trip to Torquay is over….. some parts went well and others not so. Main achievement has to be that Wife and kids are now converted and wife has gone on record as saying that she thinks the Thames might be too boring next year now that she has seen what it can be like when its good on the south coast. Gentlemen…this is a miracle on par with the parting of the red seas…a summary account of how we arrived at unbelievable but happy condition is outlined below…It has taken me ten years to get here and I offer it to new chaps with some pride….
The Delivery - As reported before the boat was transported from Marlow to Torquay on Monday the 9th. Transport late and boat arrived with a busted light but apart from that all was well.
Preparation - The weather was pants for the first three days and had to cancel yacht master sharpener course, as it was too blowy. It seemed as if the Marina was having a cleanest boat competition that week and nobody had told me, so I spent the time between gales fixing and polishing and trying to make Elle as presentable as the rest of the neighbours. (later found out that most of the residents of B pontoon (or platoon) had it done professionally so no wonder. Thursday night went out with a bunch of peeps from B platoon, excellent meal at Steps Bistro and got very drunk at the Hole in Wall (hic!)
The royal visit - Wife and kids arrived on Friday, bit of a sore head but the cleaning and fixing from earlier in the week earned enough brownie points to pass muster. As if by magic, the sun came out and the seas calmed.(Bl_ _ dy typical!). Anyway, as I was itching to try out new engines and having sat in Marina for 4 days, I whisked them straight out and into the bay…. smiles all round…biggest one on me.
A few confidence builders. – Our first trip was to the local beeches just 20 mins from the marina. Goodrington and Babbacome were voted best. Anchored up and took dinghy ashore loads of buckets and spades, crab lines, picnic etc. Sat and watched newly polished boat bob at anchor from the beech as sun beat down …can’t get better I thought…
THE Gale – Woke up at 3 in the morning on Tuesday to the sound of strong wind and the boat tugging against its lines, (and this was IN the marina), ran about like a loony in shredies trying to get the canopy up/water tight and putting out extra lines. Finally got back to bed as youngest woke up at 6 (bless!)… by 9 HRH had called for a retreat back to the house. A KEY decision though, as we lived to fight another day with two hot sunny days freshly applied to the family memory. Played the sunny video’s back to them a few times just to make sure the bait was good and taken..
Round two and a few adventures – We returned to the boat after a couple of days and everyone was keen to go out on it again (hooray!) and visit the magical place I had told them about called Dartmouth. I had programmed the route into the Magellan GPS and I have to say it worked a treat, got the autopilot working on the way and drank a cup of tea as we whizzed round the coast. Flat seas and clear sky’s, managed to get the boat up to 33 knots at one point. Sadly, lost two deck cushions on route and didn’t even notice until 2 hours after arrival. (doh!). HRH not happy was un impressed until I mentioned possible insurance cover.
The next day with similar conditions we went on to Salcombe, got a great mooring on the vistor’s pontoon and set off in the dinghy to explore the town and beeches. Bought 3 bags of Ice from town butcher and after the kids went to bed I fired up the BBQ and chilled a bottle of white down to a very drinkable temperature. Great meal and fab sunset.
Happy Snaps - Also of interest was the photographer who came along and took snaps of us all on the beach. He was working for a new photo shop called Explosures up on the hill and took black and white shots you could buy from the shop the next day. We dutifully motored into town the next morning and picked up a swinging mooring for a couple of hours while we went to see the results..the owner of the shop picked up on the fact that we had come from a boat and offered to come out on a dinghy and take some shots of it…even some fast ones out at sea…(is he mad I thought?) Well, we snapped (excuse pun) up his offer and ran back to the boat to do a quick spruce up. Sure enough 5 mins later the photograher hailed us on channel 16 and we proceeded out to sea in convoy and did as he told me over the VHF for about 15 mins. Best shot is probably us circling his small boat at high speed so that he could get a good shot of the inside of the cockpit with all of us all waving like mad…Haven’t seen the results yet but having seen his other work I can’t wait.
Palm the kids off for a while - Motored back to the Dart in the afternoon and moored up in Dart Marina for a couple of days..V nice but quite expensive. Did a couple of trips to Backpool sands for the kids. As usual HRH asked around the marina, if anyone had seen our cushions (this had become a personal crusade for her by then) and by some bizarre quirk of fate a chap in the navy yard next door had recovered them... I was gob smacked to say the least…. On the Saturday the white tops (Grand Parents) arrived and after yet another day on the beach and fantastic meal in the evening, everyone agreed the combination of the boat and the sea was fantastic, next years hols were planned and then they departed and took the kids with them.. This, was the moment I had been waiting for, for a LONG time, in fact at one point in the evening, the white tops suggested that we all spend a further day and night together and I had to fight very hard not to break down and cry. Luckily, I think they pick up on this (or was it the fork I began to brandish menacingly) and departed somewhat miffed.
Quality Time - The next morning we planned our big week alone. We aimed to go further west and explore all the small harbours and rivers we could find. To this end we sped around the town for provisions, refuelled and tanked up with water. Set off out at about 11 , against the tide, slightly cloudy but flat seas. By 11:15 we were just approaching the nudist beach (hey I had to try!) when the oil pressure on the starboard engine dropped and the alarm sounded. Sh_ _ I said…or something like that. Closer inspection revealed nothing unusual but she would not restart, so we motored back into the Dart on one engine. Having relinquished our berth in Dart marina, which was now full, we stopped at Dart Haven, which was a bit bigger and cheaper but still ok.
Its all gone Pete Tong - Sadly, we waited on the Visitors pontoon for three days for engineers to figure out what was wrong, but no joy. Our week of freedom ebbed away and eventually we gave up and returned home yesterday. I was told today that the boat will probably need a new engine (its only 4 months old so all covered under warranty) and that this work should be completed late next week. Mean while the whole family has voted it one of the best hols we have had and they want to go back when the boat is fixed.
The Delivery - As reported before the boat was transported from Marlow to Torquay on Monday the 9th. Transport late and boat arrived with a busted light but apart from that all was well.
Preparation - The weather was pants for the first three days and had to cancel yacht master sharpener course, as it was too blowy. It seemed as if the Marina was having a cleanest boat competition that week and nobody had told me, so I spent the time between gales fixing and polishing and trying to make Elle as presentable as the rest of the neighbours. (later found out that most of the residents of B pontoon (or platoon) had it done professionally so no wonder. Thursday night went out with a bunch of peeps from B platoon, excellent meal at Steps Bistro and got very drunk at the Hole in Wall (hic!)
The royal visit - Wife and kids arrived on Friday, bit of a sore head but the cleaning and fixing from earlier in the week earned enough brownie points to pass muster. As if by magic, the sun came out and the seas calmed.(Bl_ _ dy typical!). Anyway, as I was itching to try out new engines and having sat in Marina for 4 days, I whisked them straight out and into the bay…. smiles all round…biggest one on me.
A few confidence builders. – Our first trip was to the local beeches just 20 mins from the marina. Goodrington and Babbacome were voted best. Anchored up and took dinghy ashore loads of buckets and spades, crab lines, picnic etc. Sat and watched newly polished boat bob at anchor from the beech as sun beat down …can’t get better I thought…
THE Gale – Woke up at 3 in the morning on Tuesday to the sound of strong wind and the boat tugging against its lines, (and this was IN the marina), ran about like a loony in shredies trying to get the canopy up/water tight and putting out extra lines. Finally got back to bed as youngest woke up at 6 (bless!)… by 9 HRH had called for a retreat back to the house. A KEY decision though, as we lived to fight another day with two hot sunny days freshly applied to the family memory. Played the sunny video’s back to them a few times just to make sure the bait was good and taken..
Round two and a few adventures – We returned to the boat after a couple of days and everyone was keen to go out on it again (hooray!) and visit the magical place I had told them about called Dartmouth. I had programmed the route into the Magellan GPS and I have to say it worked a treat, got the autopilot working on the way and drank a cup of tea as we whizzed round the coast. Flat seas and clear sky’s, managed to get the boat up to 33 knots at one point. Sadly, lost two deck cushions on route and didn’t even notice until 2 hours after arrival. (doh!). HRH not happy was un impressed until I mentioned possible insurance cover.
The next day with similar conditions we went on to Salcombe, got a great mooring on the vistor’s pontoon and set off in the dinghy to explore the town and beeches. Bought 3 bags of Ice from town butcher and after the kids went to bed I fired up the BBQ and chilled a bottle of white down to a very drinkable temperature. Great meal and fab sunset.
Happy Snaps - Also of interest was the photographer who came along and took snaps of us all on the beach. He was working for a new photo shop called Explosures up on the hill and took black and white shots you could buy from the shop the next day. We dutifully motored into town the next morning and picked up a swinging mooring for a couple of hours while we went to see the results..the owner of the shop picked up on the fact that we had come from a boat and offered to come out on a dinghy and take some shots of it…even some fast ones out at sea…(is he mad I thought?) Well, we snapped (excuse pun) up his offer and ran back to the boat to do a quick spruce up. Sure enough 5 mins later the photograher hailed us on channel 16 and we proceeded out to sea in convoy and did as he told me over the VHF for about 15 mins. Best shot is probably us circling his small boat at high speed so that he could get a good shot of the inside of the cockpit with all of us all waving like mad…Haven’t seen the results yet but having seen his other work I can’t wait.
Palm the kids off for a while - Motored back to the Dart in the afternoon and moored up in Dart Marina for a couple of days..V nice but quite expensive. Did a couple of trips to Backpool sands for the kids. As usual HRH asked around the marina, if anyone had seen our cushions (this had become a personal crusade for her by then) and by some bizarre quirk of fate a chap in the navy yard next door had recovered them... I was gob smacked to say the least…. On the Saturday the white tops (Grand Parents) arrived and after yet another day on the beach and fantastic meal in the evening, everyone agreed the combination of the boat and the sea was fantastic, next years hols were planned and then they departed and took the kids with them.. This, was the moment I had been waiting for, for a LONG time, in fact at one point in the evening, the white tops suggested that we all spend a further day and night together and I had to fight very hard not to break down and cry. Luckily, I think they pick up on this (or was it the fork I began to brandish menacingly) and departed somewhat miffed.
Quality Time - The next morning we planned our big week alone. We aimed to go further west and explore all the small harbours and rivers we could find. To this end we sped around the town for provisions, refuelled and tanked up with water. Set off out at about 11 , against the tide, slightly cloudy but flat seas. By 11:15 we were just approaching the nudist beach (hey I had to try!) when the oil pressure on the starboard engine dropped and the alarm sounded. Sh_ _ I said…or something like that. Closer inspection revealed nothing unusual but she would not restart, so we motored back into the Dart on one engine. Having relinquished our berth in Dart marina, which was now full, we stopped at Dart Haven, which was a bit bigger and cheaper but still ok.
Its all gone Pete Tong - Sadly, we waited on the Visitors pontoon for three days for engineers to figure out what was wrong, but no joy. Our week of freedom ebbed away and eventually we gave up and returned home yesterday. I was told today that the boat will probably need a new engine (its only 4 months old so all covered under warranty) and that this work should be completed late next week. Mean while the whole family has voted it one of the best hols we have had and they want to go back when the boat is fixed.
