Unfortunately, a large shipping separation zone, northwest of Alderney lies on the direct route to Salcombe. This necessitated a considerable dog leg to avoid it, as a result, the wind direction and tidal flows made the passage more difficult than it should have been – take a look at the ‘Voyage Tracker’ tab on the Home page to see our route back across the Channel.
We had a notable encounter with a fishing boat which was clearly not fishing, doing 8.5knots and on a collision course. We were under sail and there is no doubt that we had the ‘right of way’. I tried to radio them twice without a response, so we had no alternative but to tack to avoid a collision We saw no life on board as they passed, so they were clearly not keeping a watch. No harm done, I guess but annoyingly irresponsible. We thought they were French and their unaltered course took them through the shipping lanes at an angle – also not right.
Salcombe was rammed with yachts and, arriving about 6, we found a vacant buoy and stayed on board to eat. We had an early night to catch up from our 04.30 departure from Alderney.
It being only 29 miles from Salcombe to Looe, we could take our time and manage our arrival to enter at the top of the tide to ensure sufficient depth to reach the drying visitor berths.
I had not moored in Looe before although I had previously taken a look in a friends yacht, and that was enough to suggest it was worth a visit.
The Harbour Master had been very positive on the phone saying there was likely to be space to ‘lie alongside’ and that the bottom was ‘flatish’ for us to sit on at low tide.
The two visitor berths dry 2.2m so, with a 4.3m neap tide and drawing 1m with the keel fully retracted, it was important to get the timing right and we only dropped 1m before taking the ground – slightly on the skew.
Looking ahead, forecasts of 48 knot winds, which is a Force 10, next Tuesday evening are suggesting we reassess our plans, but things change – watch this space…
Richard writes;
Amanda and I were collected by Paula (thank you Paula), Nick and David and whisked down to Northney for the start of our adventure. Fog was the main feature of the day but this gave Nick an excuse to use his automatic foghorn. This is mounted halfway up the mast and powered by a 3000-watt amplifier, announcing his presence every 2 minutes, to everyone within 10 miles. He continued to blast even after we were safely moored in Swanage. Everyone knew we had arrived!
Then across to Alderney. What a lovely island with an eclectic mix of friendly locals. Because there are no housing restrictions, any British citizen can live there. resulting in accents from all around the UK. The impact of the German occupation in WW2 is everywhere, with gun emplacements, fortifications, tunnels and other structures littering the coastal landscape. Most are open for the public to explore.
Our next destination was Salcombe. Unusually, we sailed almost all the way arriving in the early evening and were directed to one of the last remaining mooring buoys in ‘The Bag’, part of Salcombe harbour. On the way in I spotted Esmeralda, our old Halberg Rassy 31, which we sold a few years ago. Leaving early the next morning, we spotted the new owner sitting in the cockpit so headed over for a quick chat. Mixed emotions for both Amanda and I but the reality is that it is a lot less expensive to sail on other people’s yachts!!!
I’ve always loved Looe. I have a friend there on top of the Hill to the north and from his garden he can watch us approaching and so knows when to drop down & say hello. Very pretty town with good walks “up the river” following the old railway. Good HM too. very amenable. But beware the tide can really rush out near springs.