jcwads
Well-Known Member
Just back from a couple of weeks away in the West Country, including a week in the Isles of Scilly. It was my goal to make this trip since getting my T40 last November. Here is my report for you to read, ignore, skim over etc..
The weather was not playing ball when we departed back on the 16th August. Persistent westerlies and strong winds meant the only way we could progresss West was into the wind and waves. This meant original plans for a dash to Salcombe, Falmouth and then Scilly was a no go. Instead the trip had to be broken down into smaller segments so we could deal with the conditions.
We headed to Portland marina on the first day. 15 knots and trimmed right down. Really slow and bumpy, slummy and uncomfortable. We were driven by the fact my whole family were arriving in Scilly in the coming days and we wanted to get out there and join them on holiday.. Portland marina is a little soulless for my liking. Next time in that part of the world I will choose Waymouth as I much prefer it there. Was only a brief overnight anyway.
Next leg was a diversion to Dartmouth. My previous thread about servicing my loo and fixing it backfired and we had a leak - a split hose and also leaking assembly. Dartmouth was the natural choice as Darthaven has a good stock of parts. Trip was close round the bill and then a bumpy ride across Lyme bay. Again we had to endure around 15 knots and trimmed down. Slow progress and the wife was not all too impressed...
Toilet got fixed in Dartmouth. Took me about 4hours due to not mousing the outlet hose. The only reason it got fixed is thanks to Jimmy the Builder helping me out. He knows his way around a T40 better than failrine... I had the microwave out and all. Quite a job.
Next plan was to try and make it a good distance West. We wanted to try for Falmouth but the conditions were horrible. Couldn’t get past 14 knots, so we diverted to Plymouth to sit it out. Can’t say that was the best plan as it’s not the most scenic of holiday cruise stop overs....
We pushed on the next day gladly departing Plymouth. We decided to ride out the rough to get to Fowey. This was by far the worst leg. 14 knots and slam city. Wife felt ill, and I was not far off.. Halfway across and the other half shouts the galley TV is lose. I ease off the sticks and investigate. A real **** event, as it had broken off its mount and was held on by a small rope. It had been swinging around and took out 3 of my cherry wood cabinets. Badly scratched and dented. It’s a French polishers for me and fingers crossed they can be repaired.
Arriving at Fowey was a relief. It’s the furthest west I’ve gone on my boat and it’s a lovely estuary. We had a great time there and had a nice river pontoon. A bit of retail therapy (mainly for the wife) and good food.
The next day the conditions had finally chilled out a bit! Still W or SW but F2/3. We sat with a cup of tea and decided this was it. We were going to go for it. We set off to Falmouth first to fill up and then rounded the Lizard and headed West. We managed a solid 22 knots with the conditions and had a few friendly dolphins with us at times. Made the crossing in a bit of fog and arrived 2hrs 40 Mins later.
It was elating as St Mary’s appeared on the horizon. I’ve holidayed there all my life and to arrive under my own steam was a major achievement for me.
We spent a week on the islands. Mixed conditions with a couple of stunning days. When the really high winds were forecast we bailed to a hotel for a couple of nights. Even in sheltered Anchorage’s the ground swell was pretty reasonable given the recent non stop westerlies.
Highlights were taking my family to St Agnes which is my island where I always holidayed growing up. My wife and I then dropped them off later and returned so we could anchor the night. It was so still and peaceful. We had a great night at New Grimsby between Tresco and Bryher and a couple of rolly nights and Old Grimsby in a F6 with gusts to 8! It was quite sheltered but the ground swell kept us rolling around. We had a scorcher last Saturday and enjoyed a beach day on the lovely St Martin’s. kayak and paddle board out and the Nieces and Nephews were loving life!
I’d give the following points to anyone wanting to do the Isles of Scilly on a similar boat -
- There are mooring buoys available in certain places, but they are not sufficient for a 40ft Mobo. The only buoy that is, is a larger green buoy on St Mary’s where they have about 6 of them. All other buoys mean the boat pulls too far and hits the buoys infront or behind depending on wind. They are too close together. I had to do a tactical buoy swap early one morning in a force 6 to avoid clouting a yacht. That was interesting... so best bet outside of St Mary’s is anchoring.
- The ground swell is substantial, especially after lots of westerlies. Even the sheltered areas to stay can roll uncomfortably when on a mobo with no keel!
- As hard as it is, a period of really settled weather is needed. We missed out on being there in the amazing heatwave we had. That would have been a corker.
- You need a decent mooring bridle with a chain. Thank god I got one, because the forces on the buoys are significant in swell and drag.
It was an amazing thing to do and we had a great time. We headed back to Salcombe for a few days in that area. Unfortunately I must have run through some debris just outside of Salcombe and had both front props off their bushes and a cone sheared right off. Out the water and repaired in a couple of days and I will hope the insurers pay out. It is underwater damage so should be covered no probs. Either way we didn’t let it put a dampener on the holiday and it got sorted. Just really unlucky...
Last couple of days at the Dartmouth regatta and then home to Hamble.
Such a good trip, bags of experience and a few issues with the loo, cabinets, props and my bow thruster losing power. But over 420nm later it was a journey to remember.
I will get some pics up at some stage.
Jonathan
The weather was not playing ball when we departed back on the 16th August. Persistent westerlies and strong winds meant the only way we could progresss West was into the wind and waves. This meant original plans for a dash to Salcombe, Falmouth and then Scilly was a no go. Instead the trip had to be broken down into smaller segments so we could deal with the conditions.
We headed to Portland marina on the first day. 15 knots and trimmed right down. Really slow and bumpy, slummy and uncomfortable. We were driven by the fact my whole family were arriving in Scilly in the coming days and we wanted to get out there and join them on holiday.. Portland marina is a little soulless for my liking. Next time in that part of the world I will choose Waymouth as I much prefer it there. Was only a brief overnight anyway.
Next leg was a diversion to Dartmouth. My previous thread about servicing my loo and fixing it backfired and we had a leak - a split hose and also leaking assembly. Dartmouth was the natural choice as Darthaven has a good stock of parts. Trip was close round the bill and then a bumpy ride across Lyme bay. Again we had to endure around 15 knots and trimmed down. Slow progress and the wife was not all too impressed...
Toilet got fixed in Dartmouth. Took me about 4hours due to not mousing the outlet hose. The only reason it got fixed is thanks to Jimmy the Builder helping me out. He knows his way around a T40 better than failrine... I had the microwave out and all. Quite a job.
Next plan was to try and make it a good distance West. We wanted to try for Falmouth but the conditions were horrible. Couldn’t get past 14 knots, so we diverted to Plymouth to sit it out. Can’t say that was the best plan as it’s not the most scenic of holiday cruise stop overs....
We pushed on the next day gladly departing Plymouth. We decided to ride out the rough to get to Fowey. This was by far the worst leg. 14 knots and slam city. Wife felt ill, and I was not far off.. Halfway across and the other half shouts the galley TV is lose. I ease off the sticks and investigate. A real **** event, as it had broken off its mount and was held on by a small rope. It had been swinging around and took out 3 of my cherry wood cabinets. Badly scratched and dented. It’s a French polishers for me and fingers crossed they can be repaired.
Arriving at Fowey was a relief. It’s the furthest west I’ve gone on my boat and it’s a lovely estuary. We had a great time there and had a nice river pontoon. A bit of retail therapy (mainly for the wife) and good food.
The next day the conditions had finally chilled out a bit! Still W or SW but F2/3. We sat with a cup of tea and decided this was it. We were going to go for it. We set off to Falmouth first to fill up and then rounded the Lizard and headed West. We managed a solid 22 knots with the conditions and had a few friendly dolphins with us at times. Made the crossing in a bit of fog and arrived 2hrs 40 Mins later.
It was elating as St Mary’s appeared on the horizon. I’ve holidayed there all my life and to arrive under my own steam was a major achievement for me.
We spent a week on the islands. Mixed conditions with a couple of stunning days. When the really high winds were forecast we bailed to a hotel for a couple of nights. Even in sheltered Anchorage’s the ground swell was pretty reasonable given the recent non stop westerlies.
Highlights were taking my family to St Agnes which is my island where I always holidayed growing up. My wife and I then dropped them off later and returned so we could anchor the night. It was so still and peaceful. We had a great night at New Grimsby between Tresco and Bryher and a couple of rolly nights and Old Grimsby in a F6 with gusts to 8! It was quite sheltered but the ground swell kept us rolling around. We had a scorcher last Saturday and enjoyed a beach day on the lovely St Martin’s. kayak and paddle board out and the Nieces and Nephews were loving life!
I’d give the following points to anyone wanting to do the Isles of Scilly on a similar boat -
- There are mooring buoys available in certain places, but they are not sufficient for a 40ft Mobo. The only buoy that is, is a larger green buoy on St Mary’s where they have about 6 of them. All other buoys mean the boat pulls too far and hits the buoys infront or behind depending on wind. They are too close together. I had to do a tactical buoy swap early one morning in a force 6 to avoid clouting a yacht. That was interesting... so best bet outside of St Mary’s is anchoring.
- The ground swell is substantial, especially after lots of westerlies. Even the sheltered areas to stay can roll uncomfortably when on a mobo with no keel!
- As hard as it is, a period of really settled weather is needed. We missed out on being there in the amazing heatwave we had. That would have been a corker.
- You need a decent mooring bridle with a chain. Thank god I got one, because the forces on the buoys are significant in swell and drag.
It was an amazing thing to do and we had a great time. We headed back to Salcombe for a few days in that area. Unfortunately I must have run through some debris just outside of Salcombe and had both front props off their bushes and a cone sheared right off. Out the water and repaired in a couple of days and I will hope the insurers pay out. It is underwater damage so should be covered no probs. Either way we didn’t let it put a dampener on the holiday and it got sorted. Just really unlucky...
Last couple of days at the Dartmouth regatta and then home to Hamble.
Such a good trip, bags of experience and a few issues with the loo, cabinets, props and my bow thruster losing power. But over 420nm later it was a journey to remember.
I will get some pics up at some stage.
Jonathan
