Lyn's Log, 4th July 2005
England, Solent to Plymouth

Plymouth, England.
N50º22', W4º08'
1489 miles.

July 1st saw us in Brixham again where we anchored in tiny Fishcombe Cove (pic), a curious seal paying us a visit. Then around to Dartmouth, for a pontoon mooring in the river that cost a mere £11 for the night.

The next day we set off for Plymouth, motoring in light south-west winds. But before we reached Start Point, the engine alarms were buzzing and all the red lights were on. The engine had overheated and was hissing steam. So the sails had to go up and we tacked slowly towards the headland, unable to reach it before the tide changed. An hour or so later the engine had cooled down enough to check, and we found the cooling water had completely drained. It needed an awful lot of fresh water poured in. To our relief the engine started OK though there was a leak on the back end of the heat exchanger, a couple of bolts having worked loose. We continued to beat very slowly towards Plymouth: the 25 mile passage took 9 hours before we finally picked up a buoy off Torpoint.

Entering the marina at Torpoint was exciting. There was a strong cross current, practically no water just outside the narrow entrance gap in the stone walls and less than the length of the yacht in which to turn before hitting the boats moored on the hammerhead opposite the entrance. With hard reverse and Andrew’s wellies we avoided any damage. We also managed somehow to get out again without touching anything!

We had a week in Plymouth to celebrate Andrew’s birthday and sort a few things in town. While there, we added a brass strip to the keel of the dinghy and added a little more fibreglass reinforcement on some areas. Then it was farewell to family again and at last time for departure on Saturday 9th.

The beginning of July and nearly 1,500 miles logged since we left London in January, yet we had still only reached Plymouth!