First trip to Devon & Cornwall

And if you get fed up with the sterile ambience of yachting marinas try Newlyn; I love the place. Polperro would also be high on my list. If you make it far west and the weather serves then a night at anchor in Porth Curno with a play ongoing in the Minack is surreal.
 
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All those ports mentioned are good. If you wish to stay in marinas then they all offer a good selection.
Torquay town itself is quite rough we found though we did enjoy it there as its a start off point for Exeter by bus.
Dartmouth is my favourite encompassing marinas, harbour commissioners pontoons/bouys town quays and the ability to anchor aswell.
Salcombe the same exept marinas but anchoring upstream aswell.
Plymouth has the lot marinas all over the place with the ability to anchor most places for free.
Fowey is nice but expensive for what is just a mooring. No anchoring.
Falmouth ok but the town is the best in cornwall by far. I would recommend St Mawes a real gem.
The Fal river is very good, whether picking up a pontoon or anchoring out of the fairway.
Helford another gem

All mentioned in previous post but there is a couple of ways to either do a couple of long passages and get down quite far and take your time on the return, or just take your time and if you don't get far then no worries you're enjoying your sailing by doing what you want.
 
Once you have got yourself west of Lyme Bay, you won't want to come back....

All the advice above about nice places to go.... I wish they wouldn't! But.... do please remember that lot of visiting families like yours have had their hols spoiled by too much worry about 'when to start back' and trying to second-guess the weather forecasts.

I'd say 'make the most of your time down West' and, if you're beginning to fret about the forecast, remember you can always arrange to leave the boat in a marina - or at a club - while you ferry the family home by coach and car, and come back for the boat a week later with a fresh strong crew.. It's a Plan B.......It's an option.
 
Zoidberg is absolutely right, I'd say the vast majority of hairy coastal trips are caused by ' got to be back at the office Monday morning '.

I have left my boat and got the train back a couple of times even in the Solent when the forecast went wrong and I didn't fancy a spring ebb agaist a gale at Chichester entrance.

There's no shame in doing this, in fact I think it adds a new fun element watching the countryside from the train - or maybe coach from the West Country.

It's a way of extending the holiday too, knowing one still has the delights of the sail back to look forward to, so if things are beginning to look a bit dicey weather and time wise it's worth bearing in mind being somewhere handy to leave the boat safe, with decent transport links.

One time I was let down and deserted by a crew who hadn't let on they had a work engagement, leaving me solo at Brixham; I wasn't bothered about getting back across Lyme Bay, was just waiting a few days for fog to clear but my elderly father took it on himself to catch the train down from West Sussex ( think he just fancied the sail and helping me was an excuse ) - the railway people accidentally fired him off to Bristol overnight so as an apology paid for his taxi from Torquay to Brixham, he had a whale of a time :)
 
It might free you up a bit if you decided the return trip is optional, (see East wind note above) you could leave the boat and do a few weekends, trip home later or next year. Furthest point, Penzance floating dock might suit you, no idea of charges, but handy for the trains, as is Falmouth, or even Malpas at Truro.
 
Went the same way as all the free anchorages, and places where you could drop a mooring or get to the water, for free....money. In Newlyn we tied up free, costs disbursed by harbour dues % of sales of fish. Then we got lovely pontoons, then we got the news that we have to pay £800 minimum a year, one way or the other, whether we used them or alongside or in the old harbour lay-up. Sailor vie.
 
Quiddle said:
And if you get fed up with the sterile ambience of yachting marinas try Newlyn; I love the place. Polperro would also be high on my list. If you make it far west and the weather serves then a night at anchor in Porth Curno with a play ongoing in the Minack is surreal.
Click to expand...

Porth Curno is clearly marked as No Anchoring on the chart owing to all the submarine cables that come ashore there. You can anchor slightly East of there off Pedn Vounder beach where you'll be inshore of the cables. Watch out for naked saggy 60yr old's though, it's the nudist beach.
 
robertj said:
All those ports mentioned are good. If you wish to stay in marinas then they all offer a good selection.
Torquay town itself is quite rough we found though we did enjoy it there as its a start off point for Exeter by bus.
Dartmouth is my favourite encompassing marinas, harbour commissioners pontoons/bouys town quays and the ability to anchor aswell.
Salcombe the same exept marinas but anchoring upstream aswell.
Plymouth has the lot marinas all over the place with the ability to anchor most places for free.
Fowey is nice but expensive for what is just a mooring. No anchoring.
Falmouth ok but the town is the best in cornwall by far. I would recommend St Mawes a real gem.
The Fal river is very good, whether picking up a pontoon or anchoring out of the fairway.
Helford another gem

All mentioned in previous post but there is a couple of ways to either do a couple of long passages and get down quite far and take your time on the return, or just take your time and if you don't get far then no worries you're enjoying your sailing by doing what you want.
Click to expand...

Hard to disagree with just about anything in this thread. I’m based in Dartmouth and the river is hard to beat, maybe a few days on a buoy or pontoon off the town, then another night up at Dittisham, then move further up across or around Flat Owers, only a mile or so around Higher Gurrow point you’ll find a lovely quiet and unspoilt anchorage. I often spend a few nights up there, apart from a few passing boats about the only things you’ll see and hear are seals and birds.
From the anchorage you can either take your dinghy up to Stoke Gabriel, or go and anchor nearby. Also don’t miss the chance to take your dinghy up Bow Creek and visit the Malsters at Tuckenhay. It was once owned by the late Keith Floyd, and he called it Floyds Inn (sometimes). A lovely spot for a pint and good pub grub.
You could continue upstream and visit the Sharpham vineyard and cheesery , again probably easier by dinghy. The whole river past Dittisham is delightful, a few secluded anchorages where you’ll see virtually no one apart from a few passing pleasure cruisers. You could easily while away a week enjoying the simple pleasures of the river.

If and when you’ve had enough of the Dart it’s an easy sail to Salcombe where again you could spend a week split between anchoring or picking up a buoy off the town, a night or two on the pontoons in the Bag and then anchoring up at the Saltstone. From there if the tides are right, take your dinghy up Frogmore Creek and find a nice pub right up at the end. Again easy to spend the best part of a week in Salcombe.

The local yacht clubs are welcoming and worth a visit. And if you find yourself weather bound there are plenty of sheltered places to safely leave your boat.

Going further west is delightful, but the danger is trying to do too much and then missing out on so many simple pleasures. Whatever you decide to do, you should have a great time wherever you end up.
 
I like Torquay. But I suppose it depends how old you are.:) It has a thriving nightlife and a great selection of pubs and restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets. It also has great sandy beaches which are great if you have youngsters with you. It has a well sheltered harbour with a choice of either MDL marina or the town pontoon.
Brixham is also great. So good that I moved 200 miles to live there.
But a lot of what you do will depend on what you and your family want out of a stay
 
Seajet said:
This is exactly how I found Torquay when I spent a night there, and the reason it's the only place not to get many recommendations; it's a bit far north off the direct route anyway...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mawObchMnCE
Click to expand...

The marina at Torquay is extremely smart. However, the video is brilliant and pretty much sums up what the town has to offer, unfortunately.
 
My family has fond memories of Torquay, we tied up on the public pontoon just after Richard Brandson's Blue Riband boat had left. The kids saw some coins that visitors to the boat had dropped through the slats in the pontoon. They spent a happy couple of hours with two screwdrivers picking them out.
 
From left to right:
Newlyn; lovely place, no Marina as still a fishing town, eat fish, seagulls noisy, take a trip to Mousehole and st Michaels mount
Penzance; quaint gated harbour, not much room.
Helford; on this year’s list.
Falmouth; can’t remember but planning St Mawes.
St Austell; told a bit industrial.
Fowey; mid river pontoons, still worth going
Plymouth; used to be based there, nuff said
Yealm; going in looks like you arse going to drive into a cliff as the river is invisible from the sea, felt like going back in time, as sailing in feels like you are the only person on earth
Salcombe; mid river buoys, still a nice place.
Dartmouth; awful place, don’t go there. Man cresh in the Dolphin. Kingsweir paddle steamer (I knew this boat on the Medway) Steam train to Paignton, stopping off at Greenways, Agatha Christie’s summer house, the wife sitting in the boat house reading the folio of what is in the room, history etc “Agatha Christie used to sit in here reading her manuscripts on her favourite chair” she says, looking round for it, “you are sitting on it”.
Brixham; always stop there as have now got friends there, Blue anchor on music nights, fish and chips opposite. Careful on strong easterlies as they call it the Brixham slop, pontoon was going up and down by 18” boat was going up and down by 18”, but not at the same time.
Torquay;
River exe; been in the Marina, going up river this year to the mid river cafe.
Lyme Regis; if you don’t want to go in a straight line
Portland; go by bike from Weymouth.
Weymouth; like the place, go on the town pontoons, loads of pubs. See if you can get to the crab shack cafe, lovely crab and the farm their own oysters .
Poole; another post in its own right
Mudford; only been by car, very small. If you do get there, make a donation to Adam’s hoofing hut”
Back to the Solent; home
 
As a YM miles builder, I regularly did Gosport, St Caths to Dartmouth in one hop. Leaving Gosport to clear the Solent before night fall.

Have a 'day-off' in Dartmouth before the return trip close by Portland into Weymouth (night off) and via the Needles into the Solent and Gosport.

This was work and a tiring but enjoyable week. Weather regularly curtailed the route but there were a series of bolt holes.

It will take 2 longish day sails Solent to and from Brixham, which would quickly become intolerable in adverse weather.

Hope you enjoy God's Country. but don't over reach yourselves.

From experience, it is a long beat from Plymouth to Southampton!
 
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