Gludy
Well-Known Member
Drumbeat\'s Last Trip - warning many images
The time came, a week last Saturday (22nd Oct) to start the voyage from Swansea to Emsworth Yacht Harbour to take Drumbeat my Squadron 59 to its new home.
It turned out to be a very rough delivery trip from which we have just returned.
The first photo shows Drumbeat -I think she is a stunner for looks and as it happens she proved to be a stunner in very high seas as well.
In the lock in Swansea this shot show the forboding sky …..
Leaving on Saturday 22nd we headed to Padstow in a f4 with the weather threatening to close in, we simply had to grab the first leg when we could –
Cruising along happily at 26 knots we happened upon a tall ship that had just left Swansea … A drink on my new boat for anyone who guesses its name ….
She was a tidy looking vessel
We think she was heading to Ireland – we took some video and stills of her and then with a wave departed and continued our passage to Padstow where we arrived many hours before the harbour opened and waited in the pool outside. We went into the town by rib.
This shot was taken from drumbeat at anchor outside the harbour.
We found that the harbour was devoid of visiting boats – we were to be the only one!
Later, after dark the gate opened and we berthed in the harbour and met Malcolm, Padstow’s friendly HM.
Looking at the coming weather and very much discounting the standard CG weather forecast from the Met office that was telling us the seas were rough or very rough with high winds – we reckoned the weather was kinder than that, we decided to leave as soon as the harbour gated dropped in the morning and head for Falmouth.
Heading out from Falmouth
It turned out that the CG forecast was wrong and that the sea state was just a little choppy at times – around Lands End itself – the swell was less than a foot and the sea state reasonably calm
Again our cruising speed of 26 knots was comfortable and Falmouth was reached without any other problems although we knew the weather was about to get much worse and we lost no time in getting there before the weather really got bad.
The only berth would find us rafted up, 3 deep, to a yacht called Whitebread.
The Oyster festival was on just a few hundred yards from the boat so we did some shopping in Falmouth plus our first trip to the National Maritime Museum that was also just a few hundred yards away. Even this late in the season they laid on a March to welcome us:-
Walking around Falmouth we could not help but spot a boat for sale – it was there in all its glory with the words For Sale painted right across its hull …… someone really knows how to market their boat!
Everyone in Falmouth had concluded the weather was in for the week but we simply had to try.
However first the fuel barge - it was well up river and so never having been up river we slowly made our way up watching depth very carefully only to be a little surprised by these two boats alongside the fuel barge:-
We spent a good deal of time planning our escape which was to end up with waves as high as 18 foot and Drumbeat managing to do 26 knots in a f8 before we had to bolt for Plymouth followed by a German frigate in our wake – we think he was keeping a watchful eye on us… but that is in part II of the story for the week turned into a week of gales and a few adventures
The time came, a week last Saturday (22nd Oct) to start the voyage from Swansea to Emsworth Yacht Harbour to take Drumbeat my Squadron 59 to its new home.
It turned out to be a very rough delivery trip from which we have just returned.
The first photo shows Drumbeat -I think she is a stunner for looks and as it happens she proved to be a stunner in very high seas as well.
In the lock in Swansea this shot show the forboding sky …..
Leaving on Saturday 22nd we headed to Padstow in a f4 with the weather threatening to close in, we simply had to grab the first leg when we could –
Cruising along happily at 26 knots we happened upon a tall ship that had just left Swansea … A drink on my new boat for anyone who guesses its name ….
She was a tidy looking vessel
We think she was heading to Ireland – we took some video and stills of her and then with a wave departed and continued our passage to Padstow where we arrived many hours before the harbour opened and waited in the pool outside. We went into the town by rib.
This shot was taken from drumbeat at anchor outside the harbour.
We found that the harbour was devoid of visiting boats – we were to be the only one!
Later, after dark the gate opened and we berthed in the harbour and met Malcolm, Padstow’s friendly HM.
Looking at the coming weather and very much discounting the standard CG weather forecast from the Met office that was telling us the seas were rough or very rough with high winds – we reckoned the weather was kinder than that, we decided to leave as soon as the harbour gated dropped in the morning and head for Falmouth.
Heading out from Falmouth
It turned out that the CG forecast was wrong and that the sea state was just a little choppy at times – around Lands End itself – the swell was less than a foot and the sea state reasonably calm
Again our cruising speed of 26 knots was comfortable and Falmouth was reached without any other problems although we knew the weather was about to get much worse and we lost no time in getting there before the weather really got bad.
The only berth would find us rafted up, 3 deep, to a yacht called Whitebread.
The Oyster festival was on just a few hundred yards from the boat so we did some shopping in Falmouth plus our first trip to the National Maritime Museum that was also just a few hundred yards away. Even this late in the season they laid on a March to welcome us:-
Walking around Falmouth we could not help but spot a boat for sale – it was there in all its glory with the words For Sale painted right across its hull …… someone really knows how to market their boat!
Everyone in Falmouth had concluded the weather was in for the week but we simply had to try.
However first the fuel barge - it was well up river and so never having been up river we slowly made our way up watching depth very carefully only to be a little surprised by these two boats alongside the fuel barge:-
We spent a good deal of time planning our escape which was to end up with waves as high as 18 foot and Drumbeat managing to do 26 knots in a f8 before we had to bolt for Plymouth followed by a German frigate in our wake – we think he was keeping a watchful eye on us… but that is in part II of the story for the week turned into a week of gales and a few adventures
