Bad weather at the end of an early season cruise to Falmouth meant we had to leave our Duchy 35 Laila in the marina there rather than heading back to our home port of Noss on Dart, so when we returned in mid July for a 10-day summer break it meant we could set off from there instead. With no fixed plans of where to go, the world, or at least the South West, was our oyster!

Tuesday 22 July

We’d arrived a couple of days previously but with the wind still howling through the marina we used the time to stock up on stores and start making plans. Now the weather was looking much brighter, although there was still a stiff breeze from the east.

Confident in Laila’s seakeeping, we departed Fal marina mid-morning and headed up to Malpas. We called the Truro Harbour Authority and a helpful chap confirmed that the pontoon at Malpas was both quiet and deep enough for our 1.2m draft. By the time we arrived, the wind had dropped, the water was like sheet glass and the only sound was birdsong from the trees lining the banks.

Berthed on the pontoon at Malpas

Sara rustled up a quiche for lunch and I cracked open a nice bottle of rosé to kick-start the holiday! A lazy afternoon rolled into the evening, when the lure of the Heron Inn pub a stone’s throw away across the estuary proved too tempting to resist. We both opted for the paella, bursting with freshly caught local seafood – delicious!

Wednesday 23 July

Woke up to a fantastic view down the estuary. After fresh coffee and toast aboard, we headed ashore for a walk along the Tresillian estuary. Before long we came across the hamlet of St Clement with its beautiful Grade 1 listed church and a handful of picture perfect cottages. Phoning ahead to Mary’s Pasty Shop on a tip from the harbourmaster, Sara put in an order for “two Cornish pasties”, adding that we were “on our way from Malpas”. Mary’s reply was priceless: “You mean two pasties, my love, we’re in Cornwall, and it’s pronounced Molpos.”

I decided not to mention that we were from Devon when we arrived to collect our pasties but they were every bit as delicious as promised. Weighed down with pasty, we opted to catch the bus into Truro. The sun was shining and it was market day so all the stalls were doing a roaring trade.

Glassy conditions made for a perfect stay. Photo: Getty

We loaded up with fresh cheese, local honey and other local produce, popped into Fodders for a restorative cup of tea, then walked back along the east side of the estuary to Malpas. With stunning views in all directions and a well-trodden riverside path adorned with gnarled trees and abandoned craft, it was the ideal way to walk off our hearty lunch. We arrived back in Malpas at 1700 just in time for an ice-cold Cornish Orchards cider in the garden of the Heron Inn pub.

Thursday 24 July

We headed downstream and landed at the lower visitor pontoon on the Fal before taking the tender up to the pontoon at nearby Trelissick House. As National Trust members, entry was free and we spent a very happy few hours wandering through the sun-dappled forest, taking our dog Marmalade for a swim from the beach, and admiring the beautiful house and gardens. The weather was so nice, we decided to head back to Laila to feast on all the lovely goodies we’d picked up in Truro the day before.

Sara gets the holiday off to a good start with a picnic onboard

Lunch done, we departed for Helford. Light winds and flat seas made for an easy hop round and we arrived in the Helford at 1630 in the hopes of picking up a mooring. We couldn’t see the mooring officer or reach him on the landline (01326 250749), so we were all set to anchor for the night in Robin Cove or Polwidden Bay when we spotted a day boat leaving a mooring buoy. We grabbed the buoy, scanned the barcode printed on it and paid our mooring fees for three nights, giving us time to explore the whole estuary.

Once settled in, Marmalade and I hopped in the tender for our usual evening walk while Sara rustled up her legendary spaghetti Bolognese. We landed at the Helford Sailing Club’s pontoon, put a few quid in the honesty box and headed into the village over a small footbridge surrounded by picture perfect cottages draped with colourful flower boxes.

Stumbling across The Shipwright Arms, Marmalade insisted we pop in for some liquid refreshment. Chatting to one of the locals over a swift pint, I learnt that the pub’s owner is the son of Roger Taylor, drummer for the legendary rock band Queen.

Their Duchy 35 Laila is ideally suited to cruising these waters

Friday 25 July

Over a late brekky, we studied the weather apps and realised we were in for a settled North Westerly for the following week. We both had a light bulb moment – the Scilly Isles! They’ve been on our cruising radar ever since buying Laila but we’ve never yet had the time or weather to make it there. This was our chance.

I messaged Dave Cockwell, who built our wonderful Duchy 35, for advice. Dave and his family have been going there for over 20 years in his 1936 converted ring netter Marie. As luck would have it he was heading there himself on Monday. His advice was typically forthright: “If you’re going to go, go now!”

This was exactly the confidence boost I needed. I’d been to the Scillies plenty of times before to row in the Pilot Gig championships but I’d never cruised there in my own boat. After a quick conflab, we decided to go for it. While Sara took Marmalade ashore for a quick walk, I conducted a passage plan, checked the fuel and strainers, assessed the winds and tides. F2 to 4 WSW with an easterly tide – not ideal but should be OK! After all, we were in a sturdy semi-displacement vessel with two 380hp V8 Yanmars and a Seakeeper stabiliser.

I called up the Helford moorings officer to let him know of our change of plan. He was kind enough to bank our two extra days for our return trip to the Helford. We let go of the mooring at 1130 with a 60nm passage ahead of us.

We headed south east towards the East Manacle cardinal, refining our passage plan as we went. By the time we reached the Manacle buoy, we had a Plan A and a Plan B, with Sara noting our positions and times in our logbook. We could now relax into the passage, enjoying the moment we passed 2nm south of the Lizard and changed direction due west out into the Atlantic – Scilly Isles here we come!

Keeping a sharp look out for ships as we entered the Traffic Separation Scheme, we switched the radar on as visibility was closing in a bit. Maintaining our speed at 24 knots we romped through the swell with ease, marvelling at Laila’s comfortable ride. In the distance a cruise liner was not moving from our guardrail stanchion so I put the radar’s variable line marker on it to check its ‘closest point of approach’ (CPA) and took a hand bearing to double check.

It was bearing down on us from 6nm so I called L’Austral on the VHF to inform the crew I was reducing speed to pass by its stern. The friendly French captain acknowledged the message and confirmed my intentions.

Our plan was to arrive in St Agnes, stay a couple of nights and work our way around the rest of the Scilly Isles over the coming days. All being well we would anchor to the south east in the cove between St Agnes and Gugh.

Visitors’ buoys are always in hot demand on the Helford River. Photo Getty Images

We arrived at 1415 in perfect conditions. It was busy though, I counted 24 masts and not a single motorboat. Given that we would swing differently to most yachts, we tried to find a spot on the north east side of the cove. We set anchor perfectly but were asked to move by a nearby yacht who seemed to think we were crowding their space.

Minutes later their friends arrived in another yacht and took the exact same spot – they had clearly been keeping it for them. They did look pretty sheepish when we ended up sitting on the next door table to them at the Turks Head pub later that afternoon!

Once we found a new spot and set the anchor for the second time with our new snubber bridle attached, we could finally relax and cracked open a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate our arrival. I hoisted my Isles of Scilly courtesy flag, inflated the tender and we all went ashore for a little explore, through St Agnes across to Troytown Farm for a local ice cream and onto Carnew Point to the best glamping site I have ever seen – the view across to the uninhabited island of Annet with Bishop Rock lighthouse in the distance was spectacular.

Helford village is home to the Shipwright Arms

Saturday 26th July

After a good night’s kip, we woke up early and headed out across St Agnes on a circular walk to see more of the island’s magnificent views and wildlife. We passed through Wingletang Down, pausing to admire the Giant’s Punch Bowl, a naturally balancing stone, Beady Pool and Nags Head, a rock resembling a horse’s head. Later in the day, we went for a refreshing dip at Bar Beach, the narrow sand bar that links St Agnes and Gugh at low water.

Once dressed and warm again, we popped into the Turks Head for a gin and tonic. It was such a lovely evening we decided to head across to Gugh. You have to be very careful not to disturb the nesting petrels, great black gulls and ringed plovers, as we found out when we took the wrong path and the ground erupted with screeching seabirds!

The Isles of Scilly are famous for their pristine white beaches and turquoise waters. Photo: Shutterstock

We beat a hasty retreat back onto the correct path and continued up over Kitten Hill to the ‘Old Man of Gugh’, a leaning stone that was once a Bronze Age ritual monument, before heading back to the boat for a simple supper of jacket spuds, coleslaw and another bottle of Prosecco!

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article “Go Now!” A Sudden weather window sparked our unforgettable Scilly Isles cruise appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Our cruise from Guernsey to the Morbihan aboard our Princess V50 Echo Beach had all gone very smoothly. The V50’s joystick, coupled with the IPS drives and the powerful bow thruster, definitely helped.

Now we had our friends David and Debra Corson joining us. Having another pair of hands on board is always welcome, as is fresh company. Not only that, but Debra is an excellent cook! Fortunately, Echo Beach is well equipped for guests with two comfortable cabins, each with its own en suite facilities. We’d arranged to meet them in Vannes, two hours south of St Malo by train and an easy place to get to if you ever need to leave your boat in southern Brittany.

Echo Beach moored in front of the old walled town of Concarneau.

Vannes is also an attractive walled city, with many interesting features, lots of good restaurants and cafés, numerous boulangeries and a lovely feel to it. This was made all the better by one of the best markets we have been to in Brittany, all in a beautiful setting.

We visited Auray by land and the area by the bridge called Pont de Saint Goustan is small but very pretty and would be great to visit by boat, although given the tides and the shallow approaches there, probably not in a 50ft motor boat that cannot dry out.

The old town centre in Roscoff is well worth wandering through for a browse in the various shops

Vannes to Crouesty

On the day we planned to leave Vannes, it was blowing a F4 gusting F5. Because access is restricted by tide, we were due to leave as soon as the gate opened at 2pm. We followed the marina attendant down the channel, knowing that departing boats have priority over incoming ones.

Camaret town is pleasant… The highlight, though, was the walk around the coast

The gate opened promptly at the published time. However, the operator then had to get back into his dinghy, go to the road bridge and open that separately, which took a further 15 minutes – not ideal when you’re trying to hold station in a narrow channel with a F5 crosswind whipping across it. In fact, thanks to joystick control and my full concentration, it wasn’t as problematic as we had anticipated.

Before long, we exited the channel and were back in the main channel of the Morbihan. Although it was not at its best, due to the overcast conditions, David and Debra still enjoyed seeing the many islands.

Coming out of the Morbihan, there was a nasty wind against tide. Thankfully, the rough patch only lasted for a few minutes and Echo Beach took it in her stride.
A short while later, Crouesty came into view, and we headed in to find a berth.

The walk along the coast to Haliguen encompasses several nice beaches and scenic paths

The mooring in Crouesty was our worst experience of the trip. Having been told they could accommodate us, the marina attendant said they were very full and asked us to moor on the outside of a 40ft motor boat, which was on a small hammerhead at an angle to the main causeway.

It needed David and Linda’s hard work and expertise to tie us alongside as best they could but our bow was left sticking out into the fairway. Without lines ashore to secure us both and a forecast of F5 during the night, I was worried about a boat of our size relying on the smaller boats’ lines to hold us both.

In the end, I telephoned the marina and eventually they found us a much better berth. It was not very accessible from land but we were relieved to be on a secure mooring.

Moored by the Capitanerie in Vannes marina

Crouesty to Trinité

The next morning it was still F4 gusting F5. However, the Bay of Quiberon is like an amphitheatre and sheltered from most directions. Even when the wind is from the south, the islands of Houat, Hoëdic and Belle Île provide some protection. The resulting short chop meant we were able to maintain a steady 25 knots en route to Trinité-sur-Mer.

We called the marina office a number of times on arrival on VHF9 but got no reply. With nobody on site to direct us, we moored on the hammerhead of the visitors’ pontoon just behind a 25ft yacht. I presumed one or both of us would be asked to move later on, when moorings became available, but it never happened so we stayed where we were.

Pont de Saint Gustan in Auray

Trinité proved to be an interesting spot. The town itself is attractive and blessed with a good selection of appealing shops. We also enjoyed an excursion on The Petit Train, a tyred tourist train that takes you on a tour of the Carnac Stones – a series of Neolithic standing stones erected around 3,300 BC.

The marina was undergoing development work at the time of our visit, including the fuelling pontoon, which should now be better able to cope with larger boats. Thankfully, the captain was very helpful and proactive, showing us the old facilities at our end of the marina and the much newer (and better) ones at the other end.

The finger mooring in Roscoff was the perfect size for Colin’s Princess V50

Trinité to Haliguen

Our next stop was Haliguen, just across the bay on the Quiberon peninsula. This proved to be one of the highlights of our trip.

We were met on arrival and shown to a good finger mooring on Pontoon I. The marina is lovely, with three sets of modern facilities and another Petit Train that takes you to Quiberon Town.

In Vannes’ market

Quiberon was bigger than expected and has a pretty beach front with lots of activities. We decided to walk back along the coast to Haliguen, which takes around an hour and encompasses several nice beaches and scenic paths.

Haliguen can also be used as a base to explore Belle Île. A ferry runs there all year round from Quiberon, and in the summer months there’s a smaller one from Haliguen. We very much enjoyed our stay here and will certainly go back again.

We enjoyed Etel so much on the way out that we decided to pop in again on the way back for an additional night’s stay. We knew what to do and when, so as soon as we arrived, David and Debra caught the tourist boat up the river before meeting us for dinner at the Restaurant Le BB and a trip to the market in Rue de la Libération.

Carnac’s ancient standing stones

This was our longest passage since David and Debra joined us, but it was still only 37nm. We passed close to Île de Groix and headed for an old favourite, Concarneau. The marina is pleasant and the walled town is lovely to visit – a bit crowded in peak season, but quieter in the evenings.

The only moorings for a 50ft boat are inside of the breakwater. This looks to be a solid concrete pier but it’s actually made up of several floating sections that move independently of each other so do not tie up between two different sections. Also, ensure you are not too close to the next boat, as the movement can bring you closer.

Article continues below…

Boating in a Princess V50 to Southern Brittany part 1: 'The Semaine du Golfe festival was heaving with people'

Channel Islands boating: Local’s guide to Guernsey and its stunning neighbours

Sainte Marine

Sainte Marine is one of our favourite places and although we had the pleasure of stopping there on the way down, we were keen to drop in again for a night on our way back.

On the day of our departure from Concarneau, I did my normal early morning croissant run to the boulangerie. On the way back, the skies darkened and within seconds the heavens opened, drenching me. It was an amazing thunderstorm and quite rightly, no one wanted to go to sea.

Echo Beach squeezes along the narrow Vannes channel

After a couple of hours, the storm passed, so we left our mooring and motored to Sainte Marine. It was great to be back and a visit to our favourite creperie, La Misaine, completed our day. Knowing how lumpy the Raz de Sein can be in any kind of tide, we left the Odet River two hours before slack water at the notorious overfalls.

Camaret

Although only F3 gusting F4, the forecast was for 2.6m swells. Sure enough, the sea was confused and seemed to be coming from several different directions as we passed through the various tidal streams on the south-west tip of Brittany. Nevertheless, we managed to maintain a steady 21 knots for most of the journey, and arrived at the Raz five minutes early. Our timing was spot on and once through the Raz de Sein, the sea flattened out and we had a good run to Brest.

We had such a good experience of fuelling at Brest’s Chateau Marina on the way down, that we decided to refuel there again. A quick call on VHF9 and the fuel pump was unlocked, with the attendant coming to collect payment once we were done. Very efficient.

Teignouse lighthouse on the tip of the Quiberon peninsula

We left Brest and travelled the 10nm to Camaret, heading for the outer, visitors’ marina, where we called on VHF 9 and were taken to our berth on the inside of the wave wall. It looked fine but the wall is lower than it looks and all visiting boats, including ours, had to quickly drop their fenders so they touched the sea. The bollards are a very old style and there is a constant surge, day and night.

Snubbers and nylon ropes helped take the snatch out of the movement but it was still pretty uncomfortable. It also had the worst facilities, being based in an old German bunker!

Although the marina was very disappointing, the walk to the town of Camaret, past the Vauban tower and the old fisherman’s chapel, is special and the town is pleasant with plenty of places to eat. The highlight, though, was the walk around the coast to see the semaphore at Pointe du Toulinguet, the ruins of the Manoir Saint Pol Roux, the Alignements de Lagatjar stones and the Liberation Cross at Pen Hir – all part of our favourite GR34 walking route.

The tranquil bay at Sainte Marine

After two nights of the unpleasant surge, we headed for Roscoff.

It is a surprisingly long distance from Camaret to Roscoff. You pass Pointe Saint-Mathieu, with its red and white lighthouse and derelict abbey, and up the Chenal du Four past Le Four Lighthouse, before heading east. It’s still 37nm from here, passing L’Aber Wrac’h, and as it was above half tide, slowly along the inside of Île de Batz.

Going around the outside of the Île de Batz is longer still, and can be rough due to the meeting of tidal streams unless you go a long way out.

Roscoff has a new “register my arrival” option on its website, which worked a treat. They were expecting us on arrival and showed us to a great finger berth, one of the best moorings of the trip.

The seafront at Quiberon

The walk to the town and the town itself is always special. We had booked into the Café du Port for lunch and had a great meal.

We had already sent in our “departure from the Schengen area” forms and were instructed to report to the douane office in the departures area of the Roscoff Ferry Terminal at 9:15. The officials were very helpful and efficient.

Formalities done, we headed back to Guernsey, via Sept Îles, and averaged 27 knots all the way back. The end of a great trip in a great boat.

French schooner looking majestic outside Concarneau

Lessons from Boating in Brittany

We contacted the marinas well in advance of our visit to see if they had any large events or rallies on which we should avoid. The only marina to say “Non” was Morgat, which will not take large boats.

None of the marinas take bookings for stays of less than a week, so the best approach with a larger boat is to contact the next marina a couple of days before arrival so they can give an indication of whether they can take you or not. The marinas in southern Brittany are fairly close, so if you can’t get into one, you can get to another in less than an hour. An early arrival, just before or after lunch, is ideal, as the yachts tend to arrive later in the afternoon.

The Liberation Cross at Pen Hir

Most cost around €44 a night for a 15m boat with no additional charge for electricity or Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is pretty slow in most marinas so a good 4G hotspot is the best solution.

The Passeport Escales loyalty card works well too. Etel, Crouesty, Île-aux-Moines, Vannes, Trinité and Haliguen are all part of this initiative. The card or app gets you into most of the facilities, your Passeport Escales number means the marina can look up all of your information and after a while you’ll build up enough points for a free night.

Gasoil is diesel and comes from the yellow pump. If there is a lorry sign on the pump, press it, and the fuel flow will go from slow to not quite as slow. We used 3,147 litres during the 597nm round trip.

Colin and David en route back to Guernsey after a fascinating tour of Southern Brittany

We only saw 16 amp sockets – no 32 amp sockets. Some electric points have push buttons, which you need to press every 24 hours. Take long leads and extensions.

Water connections mostly use the French bayonet type. Some of the cleats are just hoops, so it’s best to thread the rope through and take it back to the boat.
I took a video of Echo Beach going into each marina which you can view on www.digimapmarinas.com.

If it is your first visit, it is a great way to visualise the way in.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Boating in a Princess V50 to Southern Brittany Part 2: 'The walk along the coast to Haliguen encompasses several nice beaches' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Fellow boaters, my name is Ian Furby and I’ve shared a couple of experiences in MBY recently. If you’ve not read them, we live in “The North”, in the beautiful former fishing village of Runswick Bay, 7nm north of Whitby in God’s own county of Yorkshire.

We beach launch from Runswick and so are a little restricted to the size of boat we can comfortably handle; our current craft is a Nordkapp Enduro 605 with a Mercury 150 Pro Xs slung on the back. I am particularly bad at naming boats, so she’s called Six 0 Five and no it wasn’t because I’m a tight Yorkshireman and didn’t have to write her name on the boat.

It’s often said that it’s “grim up north” – well it ain’t, but our season is somewhat shorter than in other areas of the UK’s amazing coastline. Sometimes we only get eight weeks in each season. That said, we had an amazing August, with flat conditions most days and several sightings of minke whales and bottle nosed dolphins. Some lucky individuals even spotted a couple of humpbacks and a basking shark in the area.

Friday Bramble Bank cricket game. Photo: Ian Furby

I’m at a fortunate stage of my life when I’ve a little more time and freedom to go boating so when I acquired Six 0 Five I also invested in a quality road trailer, a stainless steel Vanclaes. The plan was to extend our boating season by towing her to where the sea state allows us to start a little earlier and finish a little later.

Having kicked off our season early in May this year by dragging Six 0 Five the 300-odd miles to Oban, enjoying four amazing days round the Western Isles, I thought I’d finish it by going t’other way and dragging her ‘down south’.

The Southampton Boat Show has become a bit of an annual pilgrimage; we usually go for a couple of days to chew the cud and kick a few fenders, perhaps have a beer or two. It’s normally a lads’ trip but this year I thought I’d make it a boaty trip and invite my bestie, first mate and wife, Sheddy.

Six O Five is dwarfed by the vast ships docked in Southampton Water. Photo: Ian Furby

After doing a bit of research, I got a berth booked at Town Quay Marina, which has a slip and somewhere to leave your car and trailer. And it’s next to the show. Perfect.

The plan was for a five-day trip setting off Monday morning, returning on the Friday, having a couple of days at the show, and boating in between.

This beached Sealine acts as a cautionary tale to other boaters. Photo: Ian Furby

Cruising the Solent: Beautiful Beaulieu

The Monday came and fortunately we were blessed with some amazing weather; a high pressure system had settled over the UK with the mercury set in the mid-20s and blue bird days. The only fly in the ointment was a stiff northeasterly breeze.

The road trip went well, and five or so hours after leaving Yorkshire we were on the slip making ready to launch. The Marina Office had warned me that you can’t launch at low water, so we’d timed our arrival for mid tide. The launch went well and by mid-afternoon we were heading out on Southampton Water bound for Buckler’s Hard in the Beaulieu River.

The view of the Beaulieu River from Buckler’s Hard. Photo: Ian Furby

After the relative emptiness of Yorkshire waters, the vast array of waterborne traffic in this part of the world never fails to amaze me; in a small boat like ours the meaty wakes of the ferries, cruise liners and commercial vessels demand serious respect.

Anyway, it was a beautiful afternoon, the wind wasn’t causing much of an issue and before long we were entering the mouth of the Beaulieu, dropping down to 6 knots for the long cruise upstream. We hailed Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour on the VHF, who kindly let us tie up for a couple of hours at no charge.

The view from The Hut in Freshwater Bay is almost as good as the food. Photo: Ian Furby

Now, this was my first time in Buckler’s Hard, and it won’t be the last; sat in the beer garden in the heart of the New Forest, in full view of a magnificent oak tree with the river sparkling away behind it while enjoying a selection of fine nibbles and a pint, it was my idea of heaven.

Before long, it was time to leave. Retracing our track, we were soon tied up in Town Quay in time to collect our luggage from the car and head for the hotel. We were booked to eat at Kutis Indian restaurant that evening, the place just puts a smile on my face; sat on the pier, it’s like a mini-Taj Mahal but covered in tacky, brightly coloured neon lights. The food’s good too and after a long day in the car and boat, it really hit the mark.

Article continues below…

Cruising Brittany: We cruised to seven ports in seven days

Fowey: The cruising destination that never disappoints

Taking to the stage

A day at the show and a big one for me. One of my previous adventures was circumnavigating the UK in my previous boat, an 18ft Nordkapp, in just 11 days. Editor Hugo ran the story as a series in MBY a couple of years ago and suggested to the show’s organisers that I might do a presentation. I’m not a natural speaker but I like a challenge. I can’t vouch for how it went but no one threw any eggs or heckled me so I’ll take that!

No Solent trip is complete without a visit to the Needles. Photo: Ian Furby

The rest of the day was spent pawing boats and gin and tonics, interspersed with Sheddy constantly telling me, “We don’t need another boat,” so she’s not allowed to come again!

On the plus side, Sheddy had booked dinner at Porters Wine & Charcuterie, which turned out to be another top choice. Perhaps I’ll forgive her after all.

Lunch at the hut

Today had always been a bit of a punt as our ultimate aim was a late, long lunch at The Hut on the Isle of Wight. News of its fame as the ultimate Solent boating restaurant had even reached Oop North so I was keen to see if it lived up to its stellar reputation.

Its popularity means you can’t just rock up and expect to get a table so I’d booked it a month before and still only managed to get the last available table from 3pm to 7pm. However, the northeasterly was a worry as I thought we could be pretty exposed mid-Solent.

Berthed in East Cowes for a wander around town. Photo: Ian Furby

The plan was to fire over to Cowes for a potter and a coffee then head west to the Needles, going round the back to Freshwater Bay for a swim, which I hoped would be in the lee, before making our way back to The Hut.

The passage down Southampton Water was fine but mid Solent things did get very lumpy. We made it to Cowes and tied up on the short stay pontoons on Fountain Pier just behind where the Red Funnel ferry tips in.

Scooting back along Southampton Water as dusk falls. Photo: Ian Furby

Thinking it was going to be a fight to get to the restaurant, we sacked off the planned trip to the Needles and went for a leisurely wander round the busy cobbled streets instead. It’s a lovely little town with an incredibly laid back vibe and after a very enjoyable amble we ended up at The Mermaid Garden on the waterfront, where we passed a pleasant hour soaking up the sun, before making our way back to the boat.

Conscious of the potential sea state slowing our progress, we left in good time. However, this time the wind and tide were with us so we hugged the island, steaming west on surprisingly flat water at 30 knots and less than 4,000rpm. In no time at all, the Hut was on our port side.

Topping up the fuel tank of Ian’s imaginatively named Nordkapp Enduro 605. Photo: Ian Furby

Finding that we were well over an hour early, we switched back to our original plan and headed to the Needles. We’ve both seen them before but never together, so we pottered around this iconic landmark and took the obligatory photo with the lighthouse behind us before heading round to Freshwater Bay.

Now in my head, I thought it would be flat round the back. It wasn’t. It was massive – a turn round and retreat before you turn this puppy over kind of big. Not being a complete idiot, I did exactly that.

Back in the lee, we got well inshore and ambled up the coast to kill time before dropping in to Alum Bay. What a fantastic place – the first beach I’ve seen with a ski chair lift behind it – and the colours of the sand in the cliff are truly stunning too.

Heading on and a little further up the coast, we caught sight of a wreck on the shore. Moving in for a closer look it soon became obvious that someone had had a very bad day. “You can’t park that here, mate,” sprung to mind. We later learnt it had been there for some time, the skipper allegedly ‘mooring’ her there after leaving The Hut. Note to self, go easy on the wine list!

Photo: Ian Furby

We still arrived at The Hut early, anchoring off and being collected by the restaurant’s tender as instructed. We sat in the bar and had a pleasant drink while our table was made ready.

We couldn’t have picked a better day: fantastic food, amazing weather and fabulous views. If you’ve never been then go, but book well in advance.

Our slot ended all too soon. Reluctantly, we made our way back to Southampton with the sun setting behind us. Back at Town Quay, we just sat on the boat, kicked back to the sound of tapping halyards and took in the last of the sunset in the unbelievably balmy evening heat. There may have been a bottle of wine in the fridge too.

The Bugle Pub on the Hamble. Photo: Ian Furby

Hamble happy hour

Another show day and an exciting one. We had a couple of mates coming down on a mission to buy a boat. I always find it exciting buying boats, whether it’s for me or a mate.

Having spent a lot of time pawing over the new Sting 580 with Henry Turner of Wills Marine, Kingsbridge, who also happened to sell me my Nordkapp, we went off to look at alternatives. We did our best to find a better boat at a better price but a couple of hours later we were back with Henry shaking hands on a deal for the Sting 580. Well, that was easy.

Ian and ‘Sheddy’ Furby. Photo: Ian Furby

Feeling more than a little pleased with ourselves, we took ourselves off to The Shipyard stage/bar area, for a celebratory drink but as the afternoon wore on, I started to get twitchy. We had a boat in the water five minutes away and it would be a shame not to take her out.

As the northeasterlies had lifted to 25 gusting 35, I figured we’d hug Southampton Water’s northern shore and head up the Hamble River, to The Bugle pub. What a wonderful olde worlde place this is with its open fires, uneven wooden floors and ancient beams. It’s probably been the same for hundreds of years and it was easy to imagine swashbuckling mariners of old frequenting the place.

After a couple of very enjoyable beers and with dusk setting in, it was time to head back. We don’t do a lot of night steaming at home but when we do there’s not much to see. Here, in a busy commercial seaway, the vast array of navigation lights and buoyage markers twinkling away in different colours proved almost hypnotic but we made it back safely, in time for another visit to Kutis.

Bramble Bank cricket

The initial plan, weather permitting, was to go boating first thing in the morning, then recover the boat around lunchtime once there was enough water on the slip. However, Sheddy and I had already sacked off this idea midweek, hoping for a lie in before recovering the boat and heading home.

This sand bank only emerges from the Solent at dead low springs. Photo: Ian Furby

But we learned something else at the show the previous day. Apparently, there’s a very English and very eccentric cricket match that takes place every year on Brambles Bank, the infamous shipping hazard in the middle of the Solent that emerges for a couple of hours at dead low spring tide.

The match is played between The Island Sailing Club and The Royal Southampton Yacht Club and not only was it happening today, at 6am, but it also happened to be the 40th anniversary of the match.

This was a once in a lifetime experience that couldn’t be missed so at 0530, we slipped lines in the dark and made for a mark on my plotter in the middle of the Solent. We honestly didn’t know if we’d got the right pace and it wasn’t until we were a few hundred yards off that we began to see boats and nav lights gathered in the gloom.

Ian joins in the spirit of this typically eccentric Solent ritual. Photo: Ian Furby

Everyone was beached, nose in and anchored on the southern bank of Brambles. We touched the bank bang on 0600 as a very pleasant volunteer took and set our anchor. Low water wasn’t for another 40 mins, so all was safe. I simply couldn’t believe how many boats and people had gathered for the event; some revellers we spoke to hadn’t even been to bed yet. There were two RLNI boat crews on hand and a group handing out shots of rum as the game commenced.

I’m still not actually sure it all wasn’t a dream, such bonkers fun, and I’ve no idea who won but an hour or so later, the game finished, the tide started to reclaim the bank and we hurried back aboard and headed to Cowes for a marvellous full English at Comi Coffee, next to the Red Funnel terminal.

Teams gather for the annual cricket match on Bramble Bank. Photo: Ian Furby

By 0900 we were back at Town Quay for a couple of hours’ kip in the hotel while we waited for enough water to recover Six 0 Five. Boat duly recovered, we were heading north by 1300, regretting the fact that it was Friday afternoon with 7.5 hours of traffic dodging after a busy week of boating. Looking back though, it had been a magical few days, full of fun adventures, fine food, old friends and new experiences.

Yorkshire may be God’s own county but the Solent lives up to its reputation as the boating capital of the country.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Cruising the Solent: 'This was my first time in Buckler’s Hard – and it certainly won’t be the last' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Our new boat Iolar arrived at the end of October, just as the last glimpses of summer were fading. However, before she became ours, we had enjoyed two weekends of sea trials on the stunning Pembrokeshire coast as part of Dale’s handover process. We also had a confidence-inspiring “rough-water tuition” session with Mike Reynolds in early October. Over the winter and spring, we made numerous short trips, but we were itching to be away for longer, to explore somewhere new and to experience life on board Iolar.

Dealing with Betty

Our summer holiday began with a week of sailing in Greece, but the second half was reserved for Iolar. The plan was to head west and explore the Fal and Helford rivers for ten days. As we boarded our flight home, guess what – Storm Betty hit the UK with gusts in excess of 50 knots.

It initially seemed like a deal breaker, but happily, all was not lost. The forecast looked set to improve so we drove straight to Iolar from the airport. The next morning, the sea state was calming quickly, with lighter winds and a 1.5m head sea. To ease ourselves in, I had booked our first night in Mylor Marina.

We reminded ourselves over a coffee why we had chosen Iolar: a boat that could handle less than perfect conditions. Coupled with memories of our rough-water tuition, that gave us the confidence we needed to cast off and head west. Iolar ate up the miles with ease, and a little over two hours later, we entered the Fal and anchored at Molunan beach. This allowed our son Joe to have a swim before heading to Mylor for the night.

Young Joe taking the wheel

Finding our rhythm

The next morning, we topped up the fuel tanks in Falmouth. One of the key objectives when speccing Iolar was to have the independence to explore. Our main fuel source is, of course, diesel, which we carry in plentiful quantities. As well as the engines, the diesel powers a generator and our heating.

Everything else is electric: induction hob, electric oven, two fridges, even the outboard for the tender. Add in a hefty bank of lithium-ion batteries and we can run the boat for a few days in silence, before charging on the move or with the generator. Water is really the only other limiting factor. We carry 420L in our tank, so this would be a good chance to see how far we could make that go.

From Falmouth, it was a short hop to Helford, via a lunch stop anchored at Porthallow. We picked up one of the visitor moorings, and that became our base for the next few days. It was magical. Morning swims off the aft platform became the routine.

We explored the river and villages on our 2.8m aluminium RIB (carried on snap davits) and an inflatable paddleboard. From afternoons at beautiful Bosahan Cove to drifting in Frenchman’s Creek in the stillness of early morning, it felt like something really special. Evenings brought barbecues on the deck and meals in local pubs. We had the unexpected bonus of bumping into friends who were just three moorings away on their sailing yacht.

Aqueen-size bed with proper sprung mattress makes for very sound sleeping

We quickly settled into an easy rhythm and Iolar was perfect. Our cabin is spacious, and the bed is large and comfortable thanks to a proper sprung mattress. Joe was equally happy in his cabin, and we found ourselves using the whole boat, including that huge foredeck and even the roof!

St Mawes and Mevagissey

Eventually, the time came to move on. The next stop was St Mawes, where we picked up another swinging mooring. We showered and dressed up (well, clean shorts and a T-shirt) for dinner ashore. After that, Annette and I enjoyed a glass of wine and a snooze in the cockpit under blankets and a clear night sky.

Even the wheelhouse roof is a popular spot to sit

As we left the Fal and Helford behind, we were going to head for Fowey until a quick look in our cruising guide mentioned a handful of visitor moorings in Mevagissey. As we approached, the friendly harbour master confirmed that one of the moorings was free and we were indeed small enough to use it. The fore-and-aft moorings were another first for us.

We made a plan and, with a bit of help from another visiting yacht on the mooring behind, we were secured and ready to enjoy the hustle and bustle of this lovely little fishing port. The next morning brought blustery conditions as we set off for the River Yealm. We spent our last two nights there on a beautiful mooring in the main pool, thanks to another friendly and helpful harbour master.

The learning curve

Our ten days had flown by and, as we sat in the warm sun in the Yealm, we reflected on what we had learned. Firstly, it does take a day or two to settle into the rhythm of living on board, but the experience of exploring and living on Iolar was brilliant. Secondly, for a boat under 40ft, Iolar is incredibly spacious and comfortable, while remaining easy for us to handle as a couple and not too big to stop us visiting smaller harbours.

Sunset in Helford after a busy day on the tender and paddleboards

Thirdly, we can get ten days out of our water tank, even with regular showers. Coupled with the generator and lithium-ion batteries, that means we’re able to explore independently, as long as we have diesel in our tanks. Fourthly, Iolar’s immense seakeeping capability means that, while we do have to keep tabs on the weather, we’re much less anxious about it and that broadens the possibilities.

And finally, an electric windlass makes anchoring a joy. We had never had one before and we now try to stop and anchor as often as we can for meals or swims or just to relax. In short, our first cruise on board Iolar was everything we’d hoped for and more. It certainly opened our eyes to how much further we could go. And for proof of that, we’ve since been to north Cornwall, to the Scillies, to Wales and to Ireland – and often in the kind of weather that might once have put us off.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article First cruise reflections: The joys of exploring Cornwall's hidden harbours appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

I was relieved the overnight rain had moved on leaving a calm sunny morning as my Fairline Targa 40 Easily Distracted was booked in for the first lift of the day at 8am and I was cruising solo for the next few days.

A heavily fouled hull and drives emerged, hopefully accounting for the loss of revs I’d been experiencing, although I’ve never needed a mid-season scrub before. After an hour of thorough jet washing I was back afloat.

I decided I’d head for Salcombe as both the south-westerly F4 and the tidal stream would be on my stern. In Plymouth Sound I gradually throttled up and was relieved to feel Easily Distracted powering onto the plane and hitting 26 knots at its usual cruising revs. Phew!

However, once at sea I had to ease off again as the hull was starting to slam over the swell so I changed my transit to better manage the waves and settled into a slow, more relaxed cruising rhythm of 1,200rpm.

Two hours later I was in Salcombe. The timing was ideal as I was rewarded with a mid-estuary mooring buoy, with great views and a short tender ride into the town.

I enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the sun watching the clouds drift overhead followed by a quiet evening with a shepherd’s pie and a gin-less G&T, listening to waves gently lapping on the shoreline.

Entering the Dart

Day 82 Wednesday 24 July

The next morning I woke to warm grey skies with a few rays of sun doing their best to force their way through the gaps so I tendered ashore for some supplies and fuelled up the outboard on my return.

What started as drizzle at 1pm, turned into heavy rain and what I thought were passing boat wakes turned out to be waves whipped up by wind funneling down the estuary.

The turbulent weather continued all night long and even using earplugs didn’t block out the relentless sound of water slapping against the chines so I decided to move into the aft cabin to try and get some sleep.

Day 83 Thursday 25 July

I woke up to more rain and rocking, which was forecast to clear by early afternoon. As predicted, by the time my new crew mates Tim and Craig arrived, the sun had reappeared so we took advantage of it to enjoy a pint or two in a local beer garden before heading back to the boat for homemade curry and the usual catch up chat into the early hours.

Another chaotic ‘fender park’ at Salcombe

Day 84 Friday 26 July

We crawled out of bed to a hot and humid sun-drenched cockpit and the promise of fine weather for the next 3-4 days. Today’s plans involved a sweep of the Start Bay sands en route to Dartmouth for an important rendezvous. We departed on the 10.30 high tide to make use of the tidal stream and the south-west wind behind us.

We passed the 66m superyacht Elysian moored midstream, taking care to steer clear of its mooring lines after hearing that a couple of yachties had got caught on them the day before, resulting in a small collision – ouch!

Once past the sandbar we picked up an impressive 3-knot tidal stream, giving us 8 knots over ground at low revs but with waves on our beam, we upped the revs to blast round Start Point before dropping back down once the waves were on our stern.

A Pan Pan on Channel 16 alerted us to a dive boat with engine failure off Hallsands beach, which happened to be our brunch destination so we popped back onto the plane and arrived five minutes later only to find a yachtie had beaten us to the rescue.

Article continues below…

Salcombe and Beyond: My Mid-Life Cruise Hits the West Country Coast

If we’d wanted to do that exact trip any faster, we’d have needed a helicopter

'I sat for over an hour on my anchor seat just staring out to sea'

Hallsands was a delightful little anchorage so we broke out the BBQ for brunch before continuing at chug speed past Slapton and Blackpool Sands before entering the mouth of the Dart.

We had a berth booked at Noss marina where we’d arranged to meet Nick Burnham of Aquaholic fame so he could shoot one of his ‘meet the owner’ videos. The crew did a fine job of following my instructions and before long we were safely moored at H18 with a beautiful blue Mulder Favourite docked behind us.

It was great to meet Nick after reading his columns and watching his videos for so many years and you can view the results of the video we made on his YouTube channel (search for Meet The Owner: Fairline Targa 40). After an hour Tim and Craig returned from their temporary banishment and we took the Noss Ferry into Dartmouth for a few beers and a fish and chip supper – the perfect end to a very enjoyable day.

Craig helming up the Dart

Day 85 Saturday 27 July

Another lazy start before hopping round the coast to Torquay. We decided speed was the order of the day so planed round Berry Head before going back to displacement speed in Tor Bay. Disappointingly the three visitors’ buoys at Fishcombe Cove were already taken so we crossed to Torquay marina’s visitor pontoon for a few hours watching a bottle of gin miraculously evaporate! A short walk around the bay helped clear our heads.

Day 86 Sunday 28 July

It was another scorcher so the only challenge was where to anchor. I’m naturally cautious of just dropping the hook in case there are underwater hazards, so I tend to look around and imitate the locals.

Superyacht Elysian in Salcombe

I’d identified Goodrington Sands as a possible spot so was pleased to find a small boat already at anchor. We dropped ours at a respectable distance and settled in for another relaxed day. The sea temperature was a disappointing 17 degrees, below my swimming threshold, so we launched the SUP instead.

After a while we spotted boats collecting in the western end of the bay and decided to join them, taking note of the anchoring limits at Broadsands Beach and Elberry Cove.

After enjoying a long lazy day, we blasted back to Torquay marina at around 6pm where Craig expertly cooked up some pasta with tomatoes and chorizo. It was yet another beautiful and still evening, aside from distant views of a helicopter rescue taking place over Babbacombe Bay.

Late afternoon and sunset at Fishcombe Cove

Day 87 Monday 29 July

With the weather still set fair we had another attempt at bagging a buoy in Fishcombe Cove but once again all three were already occupied. Given the voluntary no anchoring signs for the seagrass/seahorses, we anchored at Elberry Cove instead for another sun-kissed day. Now that the water temperature had reached 20 degrees, we could enjoy a full day of sunbathing and swimming.

During the day I made a few returns to Fishcombe in the tender to monitor the buoys and cheekily investigate whether anyone had plans to leave. Annoyingly only one boat had crew onboard and they were staying!

We hung around at anchor until 6pm and then chugged past on our way to Brixham to see if we could get lucky. Bingo! A mobo was just leaving, so with crew primed on the bow we were on that buoy in seconds. It was worth the wait, the view of the Bay was breathtaking and we spent the rest of the evening paddling around on the SUP in oily calm waters before firing up the BBQ for chicken and chorizo with a glass or two of red. The setting sun was a sight to savour.

Coo-ee of Weymouth nestled in the town’s bustling harbour

Day 88 Tuesday 30 July

The alarm buzzed at 6am to capture an awesome sunrise and bring an end to one of my best ever nights afloat. Even the gentle rocking from a swell that rolled in during the early hours didn’t bother me.

We departed at 10.15 for a fuel top up in Brixham and moored on a visiting pontoon for a quick stroll around the town. Our next leg was a 50nm passage across Lyme Bay to Weymouth. In the calm conditions and with the help of a favourable tide, we were soon hitting 29 knots SOG and what a beautiful ride it was, streaking alone across the bay towards an empty horizon, with Tor Bay fading into the distance. A bird, possibly a Shearwater, flew alongside for a while before overtaking and zipping across our bow. Impressive given our speed!

Approaching my waypoint, I noticed the starboard rev counter starting to flutter, copied soon after by my heart beat! Coming off the plane to 6 knots, the rev counter went even crazier, although the exhaust note sounded fine. I put the starboard engine into neutral to maintain power steering and chugged towards Portland Bill on the port one alone, making 5 knots with tide.

A few phone calls to engineers provisionally diagnosed a faulty gauge or sender so I arranged a rendezvous with SeaStart at Weymouth bridge waiting pontoon before the 6pm lift. All was found to be in working order after turning the engine off and on again in true IT style – something I didn’t want to risk while crossing Lyme Bay! Reassured it wasn’t anything major, we motored through the bridge and onto our berth. It had been another fabulous day, though not many remaining now.

Joined by Cate and Emma

Day 89 Wednesday 31 July

With the risk of a passing thunderstorm now averted, I could delay our return to Poole to Thursday so we welcomed friends Cate and Emma on board for a morning coffee and took them through the bridge, disembarking at the waiting pontoon.

Once out of the harbour, we gave the engines a test, hitting our usual 29 knots at 3,300rpm with the gauges behaving normally before looking for and finding a lovely anchorage in the outer harbour not far from the marina entrance. We dug in for what was meant to be a lunch stop and a swim.

But after the HM charged us harbour dues, that I didn’t realise I had already paid for as part of my berthing fee, we decided to get full value by staying on for further swims and beers out of the wind on the bathing platform. Then it was back to Weymouth and the 6pm bridge, where Carl and Susie turned up with two dozen scallops he’d caught. Grilled on the BBQ, they were heaven on a plate.

Durdle Door’s iconic arch

Day 90 Thursday 1 August

My last morning and the last leg of my cruise. Where had the last three months gone? It had rained overnight but the day ahead looked great and we were soon exiting Weymouth Bay into an eerie calm, made even more peculiar by the sight of a 34ft motor boat a mile off the harbour wall, gently rocking with no anchor down and no sign of life. After chugging past to check everything was alright, they soon powered up and blasted past us!

After 90 mins chugging, we arrived at Durdle Door with the usual procession of visitors descending down to its stony beach. We motored slowly past and poked our nose into Lulworth Cove. I’ve always been wary of anchoring here after being spooked many years ago by katabatic winds dragging our anchor at 2am, almost hitting the adjacent boats!

Thankfully, this time we found good holding and were soon splashing about in the clear blue water, eating sausage sarnies and chatting to a fellow Targa 40 owner anchored next door to us about, errr, Targa 40s, until it was time for the home run.

We blasted round St Albans head at 28 knots and passed Swanage Bay bringing up the reassuring view of Old Harry Rocks. We had a final short stop on an eco-mooring at Studland before popping into Poole Boat Haven for a fish and chips stopover before catching the 19.30 bridge lift to Cobbs Quay. It felt good to be back after so long away and gave me time to reflect over a long weekend on all that I had experienced.

Anchored at Lulworth Cove

Final Thoughts

I absolutely loved my adventure, seeing so many places for the first time and learning how to navigate each one. I was surprised to discover that I had covered 711nm according to the paddlewheel log. Those numerous daily trips certainly added up.

Whilst I didn’t make the Isles of Scilly, I did go beyond Land’s End and visited around 65 locations, including every marina between Poole and Land’s End, as per my original goal.

Overall I had amazing luck with the weather – just 10 days affected by rain despite the summer of 2024 being considered poor. I had 12 solo days, which was more than I expected due to early departures, late arrivals, illness and a diary clash but this wasn’t really an issue except when moving marinas.

South-western views of Poole Harbour on entering from the Swash channel

But the 35 family and friends, who took time out of their lives to share the experience with me, really made the trip. I’m also so grateful to my wife Pamela for making home function without me and to my daughters – I loved having you onboard. I’m also owe a debt of thanks to my work colleagues for covering my sabbatical and to my engineer Richard Davies for all his help and advice.

The total fuel and marina costs came to £4,707, which I reckon is pretty good, plus a further £1,500 on various boat issues, including two lift outs, a broken toilet, a change of filters and petrol for the tender.

I also really benefitted from MDL’s ‘freedom berthing’ offer of 26 ‘free’ nights at other MDL marinas in exchange for my home berth, so it’s disappointing that this membership option has now been withdrawn.

However you look at it, though, £6,207 for a 12-week trip of a lifetime seems remarkably good value for money. Can you put a price on fun? I think I just did and it was worth every penny of it!

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article The conclusion of my 711 nautical mile south coast solo adventure appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Boat ownership is all I’ve ever known. The farm we own is basically a peninsula in the Fal Estuary. There’s a launching beach just 400 yards down the hill from the farmstead and we have a couple of deepwater moorings. In fact, I would have to concede that circumstances here are pretty much perfect for messing about in boats. And very much like Per Harrtoft in last month’s magazine, that’s probably how we ended up with two of them!

When we bought Molly, our Aquador 32C, in early 2022, we already owned Sula, our Yamarin 59HT. And as great as Molly is, we continued to love Sula. She’s as perfect as you can get for a launch-and-retrieve sportsboat.

It takes us less than 15 minutes to throw our gear on board, trundle down the hill and get afloat. But although she’s ostensibly a dayboat, we’ve spent many nights on board – and you can revisit our adventures in old issues of MBY.

Molly is also a fabulous boat, but she is only afloat from early May to the end of September. There are many times in the remaining months when it is a joy to be out on the water and the simplicity of getting afloat with Sula is a major plus. The Yamarin combines the best of Finnish boatbuilding with a 115hp Yamaha outboard, which is the engine chosen by the RNLI to power its Atlantic 85 inshore rescue RIBs. Sula is also remarkably good in rough seas. In fact, with her flared bow, I have only once seen green water on the foredeck.

The Yamarin emerged thick with straw and dust

So the big question was what to do with Sula once Molly arrived. We weren’t sure how it would go with the bigger boat and there are very few Yamarin 59HTs in Britain – especially with the 115 Yam rather than the more commonplace 90hp.

So we thought we would keep her. We have the shed space so it involves no extra cost at all. With interest rates being little higher than inflation and investments far from certain in this very uncertain world, we felt that the money may as well be tied up in a boat – plus it meant we would get to keep using her.

We had a blow-out holiday last spring that meant we were away throughout May and half of June. Circumstances dictated that it was a fortnight after our return before Molly could be put into the water and for those two weeks, the weather was lovely. Sula to the rescue! While she had been in a dry shed, it was one where half of it housed our North Devon cattle during the winter.

The Yamarin is tough to beat as a family dayboat

A shed where three times per week, we bedded the cattle with a straw shredder that blasts the straw and dust 40-50ft down the shed. She looked very sad covered in a layer of thick dust and straw but it’s amazing what an industrial jetwash with liquid foam can do.

An hour cleaning up the outside and half a day with a bucket and sponge cleaning the interior meant that Sula came up a treat. The battery was charged for 24 hours and I topped up her internal fuel tank with fresh E5 petrol and a good dose of fuel conditioner.

I checked the oils, lubed the cables and put some fresh grease in the wheel bearings. I put a hose to the engine and she started instantly. I ran her for a while and then we launched. The engine was initially a bit lumpy at higher revs, but it soon settled down. And it has since had a full service marine engine and is now purring a treat.

Family outings are cosy but fun on the 59HT

She is, of course, a very different beast from Molly. Molly is solid and steady; Sula is lithe and lively. Molly tops out at 17-18 knots and cruises at 13-14. Sula will hit 35 knots and enjoy a relaxed cruise at 20. Molly draws 3 feet and has exposed rudders and propeller while Sula can be beached with the engine trimmed up. But I wouldn’t want to go to Scilly in Sula!

Boats that make sense

Funnily enough, we nearly didn’t buy the Yamarin. We had bought a 16ft Fletcher, with the same configuration as Sula. We like being sheltered without being too confined so that kind of layout works well for us. But the guy selling her was doing so because he had just bought a Yamarin 59HT – and when we saw it, we knew it was what we were really looking for.

For longer trips Molly has proved to be a great choice

We kept watch in a lazy window-shopping kind of way before spotting one for sale in Devon for £24,000. It was four years old with just 36 hours on the clock. The guy had bought a bigger boat and Sula was being kept in a dry shed at his home.

About six months later, it was still for sale so I offered £20,000 and he immediately said yes. But it was at that point that two thoughts crossed my mind. The first was “Damn, I should have offered less!” The second was “Hells bells, now I have to stump up twenty grand!”

But that was 13 years ago so it’s been a brilliant buy for us and the fact of the matter is that we love both our boats. A great deal of thought went into choosing them and they work a treat for our lifestyle, so we have no plans to sell either of them any time soon.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Why two boats are better than one: How we came to own an Aquador and a Yamarin appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

On the final leg of my three-month long cruise from Poole to the Isles of Scilly I woke up to find the rain had passed and better weather was on its way, although we knew there would still be a residual swell waiting for us. Not that the 4nm hop from Falmouth to the Helford River was going to pose too much trouble at chug speed.

On exiting the Fal, the expected Force 4 made its presence felt but by keeping it slow and steady we arrived at the entrance to the Helford within the hour. Once in the lee of the land, the wind and waves settled down and we picked up a mooring buoy.

Not wanting to risk a wet tender trip ashore, we summoned the water taxi to take us over to the Ferryboat Inn for an excellent lunch with a very pleasant view across the river, followed by a leg stretch before retiring back to the boat.

Article continues below…

Salcombe and Beyond: My Mid-Life Cruise Hits the West Country Coast

'I sat for over an hour on my anchor seat just staring out to sea'

Day 68 10 July

We departed a glorious Helford at 1030 in bright sun and minimal wind before turning to starboard and throttling up to the Manacles waypoint. The sea was lovely and flat and we arced round to line up for the Lizard, clocking up 12nm before the swell started.

It was only a Force 3-4 but the combination of wind against tide over an Atlantic swell proved very uncomfortable, so we eased back to a 5-knot chug. After rounding the Lizard, I changed to a north-west bearing for Newlyn harbour, engaged autopilot and after three hours and another 20 miles of riding the rollercoaster through Mounts Bay, we arrived and secured a finger pontoon.

Newlyn is very industrial with fishing boats everywhere and limited facilities. Ironically, by the time we’d recovered and relaxed, the swell had dropped and the sea looked remarkably calm. That swell had spooked me, despite all my preparations.

We visited Penzance harbour on foot to enjoy a curry at the Red Chilli restaurant before walking home under a moonlit sky.

Day 69 11 July

After being granted permission from the harbourmaster to slip the lines, we departed Newlyn at 0930 and chugged past Penzance to Mousehole. With an ebbing tide and knowing the harbour dries, not to mention some uncertainty of the anchorage position outside the harbour, we decided to gvive it a miss and get back underway to find the Minack Theatre.

Having read all about Rowena Cade’s vision to design, build and open this remarkable cliffside theatre, I was keen to appreciate it from the sea. Struggling to locate it on the nav charts, we used Google Earth to line up a 90-degree transit approach while closely monitoring the plotter. And there it was, clinging to the cliffs in all its rocky glory.

We spent a few minutes taking in the scene before pressing on towards Land’s End. I had decided that with the boat not reaching full revs and some anxiety over the Atlantic swell returning, a day trip to the Isles of Scilly felt a step too far.

That said Easily Distracted was loving the conditions, the bow getting airborne over the crests and landing with a gentle swoosh and plenty of spray.

Before long, the southerly cardinal waypoint came into view and we arced round towards Longships lighthouse a few miles off Land’s End. Here the swell suddenly doubled in height and now half the boat was airborne off each crest and the climb up the following swell was dragging on the props and straining the engine.

On a mooring buoy in the Helford – not far in the water taxi to the Ferryboat Inn

This was all perfectly normal but my paranoia always imagines the worst, amplifying my heartbeat. Once the chartplotter had confirmed we were further south-west than Land’s End, giving me the satisfaction of covering the entire south coast from Poole to Land’s End, I gently turned through 180 degrees and began to surf down the swell at 28 knots, trimming the drives up to prevent nose-diving into the next one.

Knowing that we were now on the way home with the Atlantic swell behind me brought a huge sense of relief. Our new destination was St Michael’s Mount.

Tom Cunliffe’s cruising guide made anchoring outside the Mount, 200m west of the harbour entrance, sound so easy despite the presence of rocks just 100m north-west of it and some uncertainty over the holding. Matt wasn’t keen but after circling slowly over the spot, we dropped the hook in 6m and deployed 20m of chain, achieving a stable hold almost immediately.

The bacon was soon sizzling and we revelled in the moment being so close to the Mount with the sun out, the water as calm as oil and the whole bay to ourselves. We wanted to be at the Lizard no later than 1400 so at midday we set off once again, gently chugging to Porthleven and then Mellin Cove, getting in close enough to appreciate their beauty and locate the small harbour entrance but choosing not to push our luck by attempting to enter it.

Matt and Simon

Then, it was throttles down and a 270-degree arc to the Lizard. We timed it perfectly to avoid the tidal race and Matt even spied some dolphins getting airborne off our port bow but sadly they were too fast for any photographs.

Our next stop was Coverack Cove just inside the Manacles, a small bay with a few yachts at anchor but with sub 14-degree water I wasn’t tempted to take a dip. The final 9nm back to Falmouth were covered at a relaxed pace, albeit with the front cover up to shelter from the northerly breeze.

On entering the Fal we went to pick up a mooring in St Mawes only to discover I had left the boat hook at Newlyn. As rain was forecast, we decided to divert to Falmouth Haven, which duly found us a berth. What a superb day, and while I hadn’t quite made my ultimate destination of the Isles of Scilly, a safe return journey beyond Land’s End was satisfaction enough.

Easily Distracted in Newlyn harbour

Day 70 12 July

Given the rain, we settled on a return visit to the Minack Theatre by car and looking down from the cliffs. I wasn’t sure how I had missed the sandy beach on the east side, which would have been perfect for anchoring yesterday. We also visited the delightfully quaint Mousehole harbour and spotted a yacht anchored just where Mr Cunliffe said you could, funny that. Next time!

We even nipped into Newlyn to retrieve my boat hook before returning to Falmouth for a few drinks in the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club then back on board for chilli and rice and a glass of red.

Day 71 13 July

The forecast was superb and as Matt left early I had agreed to meet up with my old uni mate Steve at Pendennis marina for a spot of shark fishing from his sportsfisher. With his father also on board, we blasted a few miles east of Falmouth to fish for shark bait. Before long we had caught a perfectly good haul of mackerel, whiting, scad and pollock.

En route to Land’s End via the Minack Theatre

Now I’d have settled for that but no, this was merely sacrificial and after motoring a further 15nm offshore, out came the big rods and reels to entice some blue fin sharks. Despite all the effort no blue fin were landed, blaming our lack of success on the perfect weather. The nearest I got was a dogfish, which is technically a shark, so I’m claiming that as a win.

Returning to our berth at around 1700, we gave the boat a thorough clean and then reconvened at Gylly Beach Cafe for sundowners before wandering over to Steve’s house for a medley supper of the remaining ‘bait’ fish and a few games of pool and darts. I could really get used to this boating life.

Day 72 14 July

With new crew arriving mid-afternoon, it was time for some laundry and boat jobs on Easily Distracted before welcoming Dazza aboard.

Hard to find a more dramatic setting than the unique Minack Theatre

Day 73 15 July

Heavy rain scuppered my plan to make Mevagissey so we spent the morning swotting up on Dazza’s RYA Day Skipper theory and walking to the top of Penryn River.

Day 74 16 July

We departed Falmouth around 0900 after another small fuel top-up and soon covered the 32nm getting to the drying harbour of Porthscatho, anchoring for brunch at Gorran Haven and checking out the adjacent Portmellon Cove and Mevagissey harbour before pressing on to Fowey by 1500.

The only stop we couldn’t make was the private Charlestown harbour. I had intended to poke my nose in but there was a minefield of oyster farming buoys outside in St Austell Bay so I abandoned the idea for fear of snagging the props. I had also hoped to anchor at Polkerris beach in Par but the westerly wind made this uncomfortable so after some circling, we continued round the headland to line up a transit to enter Fowey River.

Tempting beach in the shadow of the Minack Theatre

We found a different mooring pontoon midstream in Pond Pill and being sheltered from the wind, we explored the area by tender and paddleboard. Then, a repeat disaster with the toilet outlet pipe blocked again. With no access to walks ashore we were reduced to a bucket! After two wasted hours trying to fix it, we took to the tender and Dazza treated me to a meal at the King of Prussia fish restaurant.

Day 75 17 July

Despite trying the chandlery and local shipwrights to source something we could ram the pipe clear with, it remained firmly blocked. Bucket on hand, we made for Lantic Bay for a final four hours of chilling in Dazza’s company before another crew change back in Fowey, where Jon, another old uni mate, took his place.

The view over Mousehole harbour on our day off due to the rain

Day 76 18 July

Another glorious day with plans to cover the 26nm to Plymouth. We departed before noon and chugged along at 6 knots making the most of a free knot of tide. We nudged in close to Polperro harbour but thought better of entering at this low’ish state of tide and chugged on, arriving in Looe at 1230 for a late brunch and a swim, now the sea temperature had risen to a more agreeable 19 degrees.

After passing a few military ships we entered the Sound, taking the western approach through Cawsands where we were taunted by a remote-control craft that maintained a collision course approach despite me trying to motor away. I could imagine the base control all laughing at our puzzled faces!

We docked back at Queen Anne’s Battery marina in Plymouth and met up with our old friend Squealer again for an onboard BBQ and drinks.

Shark fishing was fun but apart from a dogfish, the sharks refused

Day 77 19 July

Richard from Power Marine & Auto drove down from Cobbs Quay to fix the toilet. He knows my boat inside out and I was immensely grateful to him for coming all this way to replace the toilet outlet pipe. His diagnosis was a heavy build up of urate crystal – charming!

Allstars at QAB also gave me some discarded stainless steel shrouds, just the job for clearing future blockages! Robbo and I then picked up a buoy just north of Drake’s Island for some afternoon lounging in the sun and a few bragging drone photos to our hockey team-mates. In the evening we moored up at Yacht Haven, the only marina in Plymouth we hadn’t yet visited.

Mousehole harbour remains wonderfully unspoilt and tranquil

Day 79 21 July

We departed early for the River Yealm. It’s only 5nm east around Great Mewstone rocks. It was a lumpy Force 3 wind taken beam on so we endured a fair bit of rolling into Wembury Bay but we were delighted to find space at the end of a midstream pontoon in Yealm Pool, giving us unimpeded stern access to launch the tender.

We launched Little Distraction with the rising tide to explore further up the river and then back up Newton Creek to find Noss Creek. The scenery was beautiful but the wind had whipped up the surface waters a little to wet our derrières.

By chance the annual regatta between Noss and Newton Ferrers clubs was underway with lots of fun being had, especially the kids who launched themselves off anything above the waterline, and numerous competitive gig races being cheered on by opposing sides of the creek.

On the River Yealm

We had timed the journey perfectly, arriving 90 minutes before high tide to have our pick of tender tie-ups outside The Ship. A relaxing Sunday afternoon was enhanced by some comedy as shocked owners returned to find the water lapping at the doors of their cars. What a delightful location – no wonder local house prices are as high as they are!

Day 80 22 July

An 1100 departure gave us clearance over the sandbar, dodging the thoughtfully positioned lobster pots almost directly outside the channel as we went.

My novice crew passed the rocking and rolling test as we made slow and steady passage into, over and down the waves. After passing Mewstone the waves died down, allowing me to open the throttles for a brief finale thrill for Squealer and his fiancé Dawn.

We moored at Queen Anne’s Battery and tucked into a tasty lunch at Waypoint Bar in dazzling sun before the crew departed and I had an early night. The following day I’d booked an 0800 lift and scrub which I hoped would address the loss of WOT for the 150nm return home to Poole.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Coastal Cruise Chaos: Atlantic Swell, Blocked Toilets, and a Quest for Blue Fin appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

With my eldest daughter, Beth, and her two friends staying on board for the next few days, I was hoping for some favourable weather to ease our journey west. The day started with overcast skies but as there was little wind to trouble us, and the promise of sun to follow later, we were keen to get underway as soon as possible. Our aim was to reach Looe for lunch and then press on to Fowey for the night.

The lock at Queen Anne’s Battery was on free-flow when we departed at 1000, leaving just the swinging bridge to negotiate. As we approached it, that swung open too and within minutes we were out at sea once again.

With the engines spinning at a gentle 1,000rpm and 1.5 knots of tide pushing our speed over ground up to 6 knots, we made the most of the conditions to drink in the scenery for just over an hour before raising the speed up to 20 knots for the final 7nm to Looe.

Dropping the hook opposite Banjo Pier, we fired up the BBQ for a brunch of good old bacon sarnies. We had the bay to ourselves, and as the overcast skies gave way to sun, things warmed up nicely. Even the sea temperature nudged past 16°C, the point at which I’m prepared to take a dip.

Two hours and a bracing swim later, it was time to move on. We still had some tidal assistance, taking our SOG up to 6.7 knots, so we chugged the remaining 10nm to Fowey. The sedate pace and gentle rocking from the eerily calm sea meant my crew slept on the bow most of the way, while I chilled out at the helm, noting how much I enjoyed this displacement mode of travel.

The entrance to Fowey gradually made itself visible as I reached my waypoint, taking care to keep well clear of the rocks. The harbour was relatively busy so I had to go quite far upstream to find a free berth on a mid-river pontoon. This meant no power or water, so after a spot of paddleboarding and exploring with the tender, I ferried the crew ashore to make use of the shoreside shower facilities as our 300-litre water tank had no chance of lasting for all four of us. Sadly, the facilities at the local sailing club were more yesterdecade than yesteryear!

A quick pint post-shower at the Havener’s didn’t prove quite as relaxing as I had hoped due to a direct hit from a seagull, so we headed back on board for a relaxed evening of drinks and dinner on a quiet mid-river pontoon.

Day 53 Tuesday 25 June

The next morning was amazing: no wind and the mercury already at 20°C. Summer had arrived and we soon had all the covers off. On the way in, I’d spotted the pretty-looking Lantic Bay. A chat with the harbourmaster confirmed it was a great spot to anchor, so long as I stayed well clear of the rocks on the west.

A quick blast to the bay revealed there were already some locals at anchor, providing further reassurance on where was safe. It was indeed a great location for brunch, sunbathing and a cooling 14.5°C swim; only slightly spoiled by the sweary rap my crew insisted on playing.

We returned a fraction after the 4pm threshold and once again were too late to find a walk ashore pontoon, settling instead for a different mid-river pontoon. We were helped alongside by a very friendly Dutch crew, who invited me on board for a tour of their beautiful 50ft yacht and a very entertaining chat. The evening ended with another excellent BBQ cooked by my new crew mates before tendering ashore for a few drinks at The Royal British Legion.

Day 54 Wednesday 26 June

This is how summer should be, another scorcher to enhance our return to QAB. After queuing to fill up the water tank, we chugged out of the River to find beautiful, glassy conditions.

We had about 20nm to cover, but given the weather, a day at anchor was calling, so I pushed the throttles down and rattled off the distance at a rapid 26 knots.

Unsure of where to drop the hook, I put a quick post on South Devon Boating Group’s Facebook page asking for local info on anchorages in Whitesand Bay. Within 10 minutes, I had a reply. Polhorn Cove, on the east side of the bay just around the headland of Plymouth Sound, was suggested.

Article continues below…

Salcombe and Beyond: My Mid-Life Cruise Hits the West Country Coast

If we’d wanted to do that exact trip any faster, we’d have needed a helicopter

We arrived around noon to find a few boats already there, giving pointers for where to anchor. Although a sandy seabed, I thought I’d try out my tripping line for retrieving the anchor.

Oh my, we’d struck gold with this location. It could have been the Med. The sun was heating up nicely, the water was already past 17°C and we slipped into the usual anchorage activity of doing absolutely nothing except suncream, beer, lunch, swim, repeat. I sat for over an hour on my Heath-Robinson anchor seat (a long fender board perched on the guardrails) just staring out to sea, as the view was simply awesome.

When 6pm arrived, we cruised round to Queen Anne’s Battery, with Ella at the helm. Back on our previous pontoon location, my crew cooked up a final dinner prior to their morning departure.

Day 55 Thursday 27 June

The crew departed and soon after I was collected by my mate Squealer for a three day hockey festival near Amsterdam with my old university team. I squeezed in a quick boat trip through the Amsterdam canals before the tournament, and returned on Sunday afternoon to meet my wife Pamela back at QAB.

Ella takes the helm for the run back to Queen Anne’s Battery

Day 59 Monday 1 July

We awoke to a brisk south-westerly wind, meaning it would be on our nose for the run to Falmouth.

We were due to rendezvous there with our friends Will and Cath for a week together exploring the Fal and the Isles of Scilly. I estimated the 45nm journey would take around two hours at planing speed, allowing a bit of leeway for the head seas.

Taking advantage of the discounted rate for MDL bertholders, we fuelled up and chugged slowly out into the Sound before opening up the throttles. Rounding Penlee Point, my planned 260° bearing to South of St Anthony’s Head was straight into the wind and the numerous white caps told me it was blowing at least a F4 – a little more than expected.

I steered a little further off course to take the waves at a more comfortable angle and then made regular tacks, sailing style, while maintaining our 26-knot cruising speed. There was still some slamming for the first 30 minutes, which caused a power trim dial to drop out of the fascia, and I was just mulling over a stop at Fowey when things settled down enough to keep on going for another 90 minutes.

Time has a habit of whizzing by when all your concentration is fixed on picking your way through the waves while keeping an eye out for pots and listening for any change in the engine noise. Pamela, meanwhile, focused on her book or dozed.

The young chefs did themselves proud

Before long, the log ticked past 48nm south of St Anthony’s Head. We came off the plane and soon secured a berth at Port Pendennis, docking just after noon. A reasonable journey given the conditions and my longest leg so far. What would have been daunting for me six weeks ago, I was now taking in my stride.

Will and Cath arrived about an hour later and we had the first of many celebratory toasts. Then it was time for a walk through Falmouth’s busy shopping area, pausing at The Boathouse Pub at the
top of the street for a much-needed pint.

Back on board, Will’s long arms made fixing the trim control back into the panel that much easier, and once sorted, we tucked into a big bowl of chilli and rice before crashing out for the night.

With Fowey ahead, the hunt for a berth begins

Day 60 Tuesday 2 July

With the first marina of the Fal ticked off, we headed straight up the estuary to Mylor Yacht Harbour. We made a small detour to explore up the Penryn River, past Flushing, to check out Falmouth Marina for future reference, before doubling back to Mylor where we were given a lovely berth, right at the marina entrance protected from the wind. I thought Poole harbour was big but the Fal estuary trumps it with dozens of different creeks and boats in their thousands.

We encountered a slight issue with shore power tripping the boat’s electrical system but a bit of teamwork soon tracked down a loose wire. Given the forecast, Pamela found a walk tracing the shoreline round to Flushing, ending at a lovely pub, the Harbour House.

In the event, the sun defied the forecast and came out to provide some beautiful views. Retracing our steps back to Mylor, we met up with Lucy, an old uni pal, and her partner Tim, who took us for a guided tour of the Fal in their RIB so we could scope out some anchorages before returning to our berth for sundowners and BBQ chicken.

Beth and her friends get 40 winks on the bow

Day 61 Wednesday 3 July

We woke up to grey skies but given the last two days we were hopeful the sun might return later. We decided to extend our stay another day and venture to the Pandora Inn at the entrance to Restronguet Creek. Setting off on foot after brunch, the views through Mylor Creek were beautiful and whilst the route looked straightforward enough on the map, by the time we arrived at Restronguet Creek my inner compass was totally disorientated.

What a superb location, though, with an amazing vista and the best beer garden ever – a floating pontoon with a large swan population. My knees requested a water taxi back to our boat, but at £40, my daily budget insisted on a slow and steady walk back home.

The picturesque Pandora Inn was worth the walk

Day 62 Thursday 4 July

Another mixed forecast and a north-westerly suggested we might find some shelter at Towan beach outside the entrance of the Fal, but when this proved too windy, we moved to St Mawes and picked up a mooring. After lunch, we summoned a water taxi for a traditional cream tea at Tresanton Hotel and spent a delightful couple of hours exploring St Mawes and enjoying the hotel’s hospitality.

Finding a berth was getting more difficult now but we secured an inside berth at Falmouth Haven and enjoyed a relaxing evening followed by excellent tapas at Bodega 18.

Rough seas caused one of the dials to drop out of Easily Distracted’s dashboard

Day 63-64 Friday 5 July

Will and Cath departed but I had to return to bed to get over a nasty 48-hour virus. I guess it was always going to happen at some point in my trip, but with wind and rain forecast for the next couple of days, at least I wasn’t missing out on any valuable cruising time.

Day 65 Sunday 7 July

New crew, Matt, arrived to replace Pamela, who left last night. The forecast for the start of the week was patchy but it looked like it might clear after that. I secured a berth at Falmouth Marina, the last of the four marinas on my tick list, and we chugged upstream in driving rain. By the time we’d docked, the sun was out again, so we wandered into town to check out the Maritime Museum.

We were immediately drawn to the very first Mirror dinghy, which way back in the 70s had provided a gateway into boating for both of us. I can remember fondly, as a seven-year-old, launching and retrieving our Mirror at Morfa Nefyn with my father.

A fine view of the Fal from Flushing village

After this trip down memory lane, the Chain Locker beer garden offered some refreshment and estuary views as well as shade from the now baking-hot sun. Back on board, we tucked into a G&T sundowner followed by homemade meatballs washed down with a nice St Emilion, matched only by the deep red skies of the setting sun.

Day 66 Monday 8 July

Another wet and windy day so we stayed put, tightened the lines, surfed the web, crawled a few pubs and waited for the weather to blow through. There was good news ahead, though, as the low-pressure front was moving on and a high-pressure window was opening.

Would this be my chance to reach the Isles of Scilly – the ultimate target of my three-month long sabbatical cruise? I was simultaneously buzzing with excitement and feeling butterflies in my stomach. With no proper marinas and limited mooring buoys, the Scillies are not somewhere you want to get stormbound. Only time would tell…

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article 'I sat for over an hour on my anchor seat just staring out to sea' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Compromise was key during this cruising adventure. My wife, Maire, is not a keen sailor but is happy to indulge my passion for boats on her own terms, so I agreed to cruise our Mitchell 28 Let’s Go from Plymouth to St Malo in Northern France, where Maire would join me for some gentle exploration of the surrounding area. I had three weeks to get there.

Picking a suitably calm day, I ambled across the Channel from Plymouth with just dolphins for company and the odd huge container ship. After about 100 miles I arrived in St Peter Port, Guernsey, for a couple of days rest and recuperation then carried on to Jersey for another few days before moving on to France.

St Malo would have been my easiest port of entry but having been there before, I decided on St Brieuc instead as the place to get my vital passport stamp showing I’d entered the Schengen Area.

I filled in the form and got a reply saying I had an appointment at 1400h on my day of arrival. It was time to get going.

Entry to Brieuc Légué is through a lock. Photo: Gilbert Park

St Brieuc

St Brieuc’s port is Le Légué (pronounced Leggay) and entry is via a lock. I was in it at noon, the lock filled and then emptied without letting me out because more boats were coming! An hour later the gates finally opened. There was no instruction where to go so I moored next to a boat that had been in the lock.

They told me I was in a private mooring, but after a little explaining in my best Franglais, they understood that I was a little stressed about my 2pm customs meeting. Google maps showed the office was a 35-minute walk away! They kindly got their car and drove me up a very long, very steep hill to the office and waited while my passport was stamped.

Once back at the boat I moved it to the visitors’ pontoon further up river. There are all the essentials there, such as two boulangeries, a small supermarket and a chandlery. Despite this, the next day I couldn’t resist a bus trip to St Brieuc itself for the amazing (and not to be missed) Saturday market.

Article continues below…

If we’d wanted to do that exact trip any faster, we’d have needed a helicopter

Boating in Scotland: 'We were the only boat on the water and my life was complete.'

There are quite a few restaurants in the town, but the one that attracted me the most was 20 metres from the boat – La Passerelle. The three-course set menu was €28 comprising a wonderfully zingy and colourful tartare of tomatoes with raspberries and rhubarb compote to start with, followed by fillet of pork and rounded off with forest nuts in the style of the chef. All washed down with a small pichet of a nice Sauvignon. One word describes this meal – fantastic – both for the quality of the food and value.

It was here that the idea of visiting seven ports in seven days was born.

At each port I would also have dinner in a local restaurant offering a similar set menu for about €30 before meeting Maire in St Malo in 7 days’ time.

The only problem was that nearly every port has some tidal constraint, with a cill or a lock to negotiate. This meant the earliest I could leave St Brieuc was early the following afternoon. I had decided my next port of call would be Erquy, around 14nm miles away, as I knew I could dry out there, utilising my boat’s custom-made legs. This would give me a chance to check the sterngear was all present and correct, after a slight tangle with a fishing pot on the way over here.

Gilbert made the solo trip aboard his Mitchell 26, Let’s Go. Photo: Gilbert Park

Erquy

Erquy is a lovely seaside town and by the time I arrived on a hot Sunday afternoon it was in full swing with packed streets and a harbour full of boats. I got a water taxi to the shore (included in the mooring fee) so I could find a restaurant, having been assured that by the time I’d finished my meal, the tide would have gone out and I’d be able to walk back to my boat on firm sand.

I wandered up and down the quay before eventually choosing a restaurant called the Table de Jeanne where the Old Lighthouse fixed price menu came to €29.50. From that I chose fish soup, followed by pork cabecero with honey and thyme and for dessert a Breton tart, all washed down with a little white wine. Not quite as tasty as the previous night, but still pretty good.

As the tide still hadn’t ebbed fully out by the time I’d finished my meal, I lingered a little longer in the warm evening sunshine sipping on a glass of wine and reading my book. When the harbour finally dried out an hour later at 9.30pm, it was still daylight and my inspection of the sterngear revealed all was well.

St Brieuc’s market. Photo: Gilbert Park

Paimpol

The longest trip across St Brieuc Bay at 48nm was well worth it on a sunny day with calm seas. There is a long drying plain on the way to Paimpol, and following the channel markers is essential but straightforward. As I came through the lock my Cruising Association flags were recognised and the Dutch crew from another CA boat came to help me moor up. Spaces in this marina are the tightest I have ever seen so the help was invaluable.

The town was a blend of tourist traps and old Breton – most enjoyable, especially the “Petit Train” tour around not just the town but also the area around it.

With my new friends from the Dutch boat, it was time for dinner. A small restaurant off the beaten track called Balthazar had been spotted by all of us and we decided to give it a try. It turned out to be the best yet and only €25 a head! It was clear there was a real passion for food in this restaurant.

A tight squeeze at Paimpol. Photo: Gilbert Park

Even mobile phones were banned so there could be no distraction. Yes, there was no choice on the fixed price menu, we all ate smoked salmon with hummus and pickles, roasted red mullet with thyme and fennel tandoori, and red fruits for dessert, but the food was amazing. Next time I’m in Paimpol, I’ll be back. In fact, I was tempted to stay an extra night just to go there again.

Paimpol is locked so you can only get out a few hours either side of high tide. At the time of my visit, that meant an early morning departure so my routine for the next few days would be to carry out engine checks the evening before, awake early the next morning then head straight out of the lock/cill to catch the tide. Tomorrow I was heading to St-Quay-Portrieux around 11nm away.

St-Quay-Portrieux

This is one of the few ports along this stretch of coast that has all-states access – handy for me because my Humphree Interceptors initially refused to work, limiting my speed to 8 knots, before they magically cured themselves.

St Quay has all-states access. Photo: Gilbert Park

The slower-than-normal speed did help me to identify probably the worst fishing pot markers I have ever seen: white, about 20cm long and barely visible in the bright sunshine reflecting off the surface. These were littered around harbour entrances, inviting trouble from visiting craft.

St Quay is a huge marina and the visitors’ pontoon is some distance from the capitainerie. The staff here are fabulous. I was met by a RIB and taken to my mooring where I was helped with the lines. Check in was easy but walking into town is quite a mission. On the way there I took the scenic route along the coastal path, past a signal station (with dire warnings about entering or even photographing the area).

The way back along the roads was easier but still about 30 minutes.

I couldn’t find a restaurant with a fixed menu so I settled on a fusion restaurant called La Cachette and had an enjoyable meal consisting of spring rolls, red Thai curry, and entremet Biscoff (a decadent cake combination) costing €40, including a pichet of wine.

Another day, another top-quality restaurant. Photo: Gilbert Park

Binic

Binic is a mere 4.4nm from St Quay but another tidal port, with limited access times. At low tide there’s nearly a mile of drying sand in front of the gate, which has the usual light signals to show when it’s passable. The visitors’ area is a long pontoon adjacent to the harbour wall.

The harbour master couldn’t have been more helpful. The facilities were excellent, including a handy DIY laundry in the marina. The town itself starts at the far end of the visitors’ pontoon and has a street next to the harbour full of restaurants and a further street behind it with a mixture of yet more restaurants and shops selling trinkets and the like.

In the evening I went to the La Sentinel for their bistro menu (€36). I chose scallops in a creamy sauce, followed by beef. I asked for it to be cooked in English-style (well done) and unlike most French restaurants, they did as I asked. The dessert was kouign-amann – a rich Breton butter cake.

Witnessing the huge tidal range at Binic harbour. Photo: Gilbert Park

Dahouët

The next day was another short trip to Dahouët, just 10.75nm from Binic, and as with every other day that week was blessed with a calm sea and brilliant sunshine. There were some fish farms to detour around, as well
as the odd rock or two, but with weather this good it was hardly a chore.

The entrance was fascinating with a large port hand marker and a cardinal marker on a pole showing the way. Once inside there was a drying channel that leads to a cill marked by a pair of port and starboard hand pole markers. Another really helpful harbour master came out in his RIB to help moor up.

I was expecting to have to walk into town to see anything of interest. How wrong I was! The far quayside had a market selling excellent food and there was a variety of shops. The pick of these was an extraordinary second hand book, newspaper and magazine store that filled an entire shed, with the odd boat inside it as well.

Colourful Brocante at Dahoët. Photo: Gilbert Park

The town itself was a 30-minute walk, albeit with a handy supermarket on the way. It’s a pleasant if unremarkable seaside town but I can highly recommend the walk back along the coastal path for the views it offers.
In the evening I went to La Voile (the sail) a few hundred meters from the boat.

I had the beetroot and feta cheese capuccino, pork collar marinated with thyme and honey, and then ‘far Breton’ – a rich, dense custard with dried fruit soaked in armagnac. Delicious and only €29.50.

St Cast

With 19.5nm to cover before reaching St Cast, I was a little dismayed to see that the weather was changing, with more wind and a moderate beam sea of 1.5-2m. My boat took it in its stride and once we’d rounded Cap Fréhel, the seas calmed down and the wind eased.

The thing that struck me most about the entrance to the marina was the extraordinary number of fishing pots. Once inside, I was met by a dory, taken to a finger berth and helped to tie up. This port had far and away the best facilities and organisation. Once moored up and paid up, it was off to town, about a mile away along the coast.

Gilbert found the harbour at Dahoët fascinating. Photo: Gilbert Park

The sun was shining, the wind had died down and there was a huge beach to walk along. It felt like being in the Mediterranean again.

The town had a plethora of restaurants to choose from but very few were offering a fixed menu, so it was off to Le Caravel Café just up the passageway next to the marina. Since it was my last night, I decided to have all sea food starting with a big bowl of shrimps, followed by – what else – but fish and chips! Not the usual heavy British offering, here the fish was coated in a thin layer of batter and gently deep-fried, giving it a much more delicate flavour. For dessert, the chef’s interpretation of tarte au citron – just a bit too sweet for me. Total cost, €31.

Let’s Go safely delivered Gilbert to his wife Maire, who was waiting in St Malo. Photo: Gilbert Park

St Malo

With conditions deteriorating further, I was relieved only to have a passage of 11nm to St Malo. I had to be there today though because my wife was due to arrive. Besides, I wanted to complete my seven ports in seven days!

Again it was an awkward beam sea but the boat coped and I caught the 0800h lock into Port Vauban, giving me 24hrs to get Let’s Go cleaned, victualled and ready for inspection by Maire. It had been a most enjoyable seven days.

The huge tidal ranges were really something to witness and added to the challenge of passage planning. All of the marinas were staffed by helpful people and by Solent standards were unbelievably inexpensive at about €20-25 a night. And the sheer variety, flavours and value for money offered by the multiple restaurants en route were worth the trip alone. But after seven days cruising on my own it was wonderful to see Maire again and enjoy a rather more relaxed and relaxing schedule.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Cruising Brittany: We cruised to seven ports in seven days appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

My mid-life crisis cruise has seen me get as far as Salcombe, but there was still plenty left to see in my quest to visit every harbour possible on my way to the Scillies.

Day 31 3 June

Today was going to be a big day. Destination Salcombe, the furthest west I’ve ever been with pleasant conditions of calm waters and a dash of early sun. My mate Ben was with me for the next couple of days and we departed Torquay at a gentle 5-knot chug then picked up the tidal stream to push our speed over ground up to 6-7 kts.

When the tide started to change after covering 13 miles in 2.5 hrs, we blasted the final 9 miles into Salcombe. Taking care to steer clear of the notorious sandbar at the entrance and following VHF comms with the harbourmaster, we picked up our allocated buoy opposite The Ferry Inn and tendered ashore.

A quick tour of the shops and a couple of hours R&R looking out over the estuary from the comfort of a local pub followed before it was time to head back to the boat. Only disaster struck! A gentle(ish) pull of the Yamaha outboard engine’s starter cord sparked the engine into life but the it failed to recoil, leaving a metre of cord lying on the tender’s deck.

The route

Taking great care not to stall as we pottered back to the boat, my mate Ben was just about to step onto the bathing platform, iPhone in hand, when I suggested he leave his phone in the tender until he was safely on the mothership.

Placing his phone carefully on the tender’s deck, he then stepped onto the bathing platform. At the exact same moment, I put the engine into neutral, causing the cord to whip back into place, catapulting the phone straight into Davy Jones’s locker. Oops!

Day 32 4 June

Following advice from the harbourmaster, we relocated upstream to a secluded midstream pontoon in The Bag, where the only noise was the bleating of sheep in the nearby fields. Once secure, we launched the tender to explore Salcombe further, walking to North and South Sands beaches near the harbour entrance.

Article continues below…

If we’d wanted to do that exact trip any faster, we’d have needed a helicopter

Boating around Britain in 26 days: How our charity challenge came to an end

In the afternoon we tendered 2.5 miles up the estuary in the other direction to Kingsbridge. We’d been told The Crabshell Inn was a must-visit pub but got soaked heading into the wind and waves. We made it on a rising tide and tied up outside, enjoying a restorative pint or two before returning on the ebb to cook up a steaming plate of pasta and meatballs.

Day 33 5 June

Woke up to glorious sunshine with a stereo soundtrack of baaing sheep from both sides of the estuary. The plan today was to depart Salcombe for Plymouth.

The harbourmaster confirmed the sandbar still had clearance a few hours before low tide at midday, which gave us time to lunch up the River Yealm enroute. A 13-mile chug round Bolt Head and across Bigbury Bay saw us arrive at the Yealm dead on low tide.

Taking advice from the Yealm HM, we waited 40 minutes for clearance over another sandbar before negotiating the twisting channel to pick up a mooring buoy for a sausage sandwich brunch and a couple of hours chillaxing before pushing onward to Plymouth.

Simon and Ben – one of many friends and family who joined the cruise. Photo: Simon Ellis

I was a bit apprehensive about negotiating this naval harbour with its eastern and western approaches but once there, it proved to be relatively straightforward. Aided by my attentive crew mate Ben, who was due to be heading back home that afternoon, we were soon berthed up on the visitor pontoon at Queen Anne’s Battery marina.

Day 34 6 June

Today I was on my Jack Jones so I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. After spending a poignant few hours watching the D-Day 80 coverage, I reprovisioned the ship’s stores then walked along the harbour seafront.

The Lido redevelopment looked enticing as were the lounging pads in the sea swimming area outside. I enjoyed some great views of Drake’s Island and the Sound and then found myself at King Point marina, where a small fleet of brand new Princess yachts were awaiting delivery to their lucky new owners.

Berthed on a pontoon in The Bag. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 35 & 36 7/ 8 June

My plan of taking the tender out to explore the harbour from the sea took a hit as QAB marina wanted me to leave at noon. I was booked into Sutton Harbour, just 400m away, but accessed via a lock. From previous experience I knew this could be tricky on my own. However, as I was about to leave, a yachtie called Tony kindly offered to help, making the short trip that much easier. Once secure in my new berth, I wandered back to QAB with a bottle to thank Tony for his help.

The following day was sunny but chilly so I left the boat in the marina, exploring the Historic Quarter by foot before walking along the seafront to West Hoe for a fine Chinese meal at the Wet Wok restaurant overlooking the harbour.

Exploring Royal William Yard. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 37 & 38 9/10 June

I took a walk to the Royal William Yard at the start of the Tamar river in gloriously summery conditions. The development of the old Grade 1 listed naval buildings didn’t disappoint and I even found its small but very beautiful marina. Spotting a couple of empty berths I pinged off an email to see if I could book one but sadly not. I continued round to Devil’s Point on the southwest extremity to enjoy a panoramic view of the Tamar, Drake’s Island and across the Hoe.

Departing Sutton Harbour while the lock was on free flow, I enjoyed a sedate two-mile chug arcing round the Hoe shoreline, past Drake’s Island and into the Tamar towards Mayflower marina. It was another beautiful morning with gentle wind so I had all the covers off to help with solo docking manoeuvres.

I needn’t have worried, the marina staff welcomed me in and took my lines. My new berth was the perfect spot from which to explore the Tamar, so I launched Little Distraction and pottered upstream, taking care to keep out of the way of a French frigate!

Ben and Simon chillaxing. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 39 11 June

The next day was sunny but windy – ideal for all those little jobs I never normally have time to do! After nine years of ownership I had never properly cleaned the tender’s inflatable tubes. So I purchased some RIB cleaner and UV protector and after a few hours of elbow grease the 22-year-old Little Distraction was looking the best I’ve ever seen her. I also made her a proper anchor line with some neat splicing, a skill I had taught myself during lockdown.

The one place I’d missed on my travels around Plymouth so far was Torpoint Yacht Harbour, so with that as my aim for the day, I set off in Little D. It didn’t start well, getting stopped by the police boat for allegedly coming within 50m of the Naval Buildings, but after a virtual slap on the wrist I soon found Torpoint opposite the Devonport naval jetties.

No wonder I missed it, it’s tiny, too small to get a 40-footer inside without a risk of damage. With that ticked off the list, I explored up a marked channel in St John’s Lake only to discover what looked like a boat graveyard!

Back onboard, I amused myself with some fettling, making up beer can holders for the new bow seats using two aluminium holders stored in the bowels of the boat intended for but never used on our first boat. A couple of self-locking screws to some stanchion clips and hey-presto followed by an immediate test of their beer-holding abilities – passed with flying colours!

On Easily Distracted while moored in the River Yealm. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 40 12 June

My next stop was King Point marina, tucked behind two marine basins and the Brittany ferry terminal. The advice was to be through before 1pm when the ferry arrived from Spain. I inched carefully past the brand new Princesses and prepared to solo dock when one of the marina staff suddenly arrived to make life easy.

A spot of paddleboarding around the basins and into the adjacent private Millbay marina, which sadly wasn’t accepting visitors, before my brother-in-law Tony joined me for three days crewing. After some of Tony’s legendary Negroni sundowners, it was into town for a slap up meal at the Barbican Pasta bar, returning around midnight to deathly still waters – which turned out to be the calm before the coming storm.

A stunning morning at Mayflower Marina. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 41 13 June

As predicted the next morning brought driving rain and winds gusting 37 knots. Just the excuse we needed for a tour of the Plymouth Gin distillery – very educational with the added bonus of some tasting and a free G&T in the bar. At £15 it was cost neutral and a very enjoyable hour!

The wind finally abated around 7pm, allowing us to walk the Hoe and listen to Gabrielle playing live on stage at the Summer Sessions festival. Back at King Point marina, sleeping proved challenging as the swell rolled into the marina causing the ropes to squeak and groan all night.

Tony pointing out Drake’s Island. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 42-48 14-20 June

The weather was brighter so we made the move back to QAB in the hopes of a quieter night. Looking for an adventure, we took the tender up the Plym river. This wasn’t the best decision I’ve made as the weather soon changed and we ended up getting drenched by rain and spray.

The next few days continued in much the same vein. We watched Madness headlining the Summer Sessions music festival on the Hoe, then when Tony departed, I took advantage of the brief gap in my diary to catch up with a few jobs, including a rapid repair of my leaking cover by the helpful staff at Octagon Marine. Two more old friends, JB and Tim, then visited for 24 hours each. One of the joys of this trip was the chance to spend quality time with friends and family.

Before leaving, Tim helped me move back to Mayflower marina via a tour of the Sound. It was during this tour that I noticed my boat’s drives seemed reluctant to get on the plane again.

Berthed alongside at Queen Anne’s Battery marina in Plymouth. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 49 21 June

Not a day I will forget any time soon. I had planned to move back to Sutton Harbour for the weekend with my wife Pamela, eldest daughter Beth and some of her mates. After my previous entry through the lock, I was feeling confident. The wind was moderate and in a favourable direction for tying up inside the lock.

After receiving permission to enter the lock, I eased in and engaged reverse to pull me alongside. Having looped the stern line onto a cleat, I stepped onto the pontoon to sort the bow line out with the remote thruster in my hand. Immediately, I sensed something was wrong.

The bow was pulling away from the pontoon and no amount of thrusting was helping. I’d left both engines in reverse rather than returning to neutral! Jumping back onboard, I rushed to the helm, engaged neutral and thrust the bow back in before tying up.

Mercifully, the low tide meant I was well below the pedestrian bridge so the only witnesses were a pair of swans and the lock operator, who was doubtless having a great laugh. Once on the berth, I was relieved to find the only damage was a black fender mark which would easily polish out.

Watching Madness perform at the Summer Sessions music festival. Photo: Simon Ellis

Day 50 22 June

The last time I hadn’t worked for 50 days solid was after sitting my O’levels in 1985! Pamela arrived yesterday evening as planned and now Beth was here too, celebrating the end of her first year of uni with her friends Ella and Grace.

This was turning out to be the perfect mid-life crisis – three months off work, an extended stay on the boat and a constant stream of friends and family. After another weekend of sunbathing, pottering and frequent trips to the seafront bars, I would finally be leaving Plymouth for Looe and Fowey. There was even the promise of a heatwave expected. At last!

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article Salcombe and Beyond: My Mid-Life Cruise Hits the West Country Coast appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Two weeks into my mid-life crisis cruise, and I had made it as far as Torquay with the help of various family and friends. Today brought the first official crew change, and who better to welcome aboard than three old university mates? Enter Jack, Nige and Del(boy). What do such mates do when they arrive? Obviously, toast another rendezvous on board with some beers and then head out for a few more!

This lads’ weekend on the boat has been an annual diary date for years, although this time they were planning to spend a week on board…uh oh!

No need for them to check the safety document again, so it was straight out to enjoy the delights of Torquay. The evening culminated in a live showing of the Fury vs Usyk boxing match, which almost induced another live showdown in the pub.

It’s amazing how easily blokes pick up where they left off 12 months previously.

Drinks with the lads at the Cary Arms in Babbacombe Bay

Day 16 Sunday 19 May

Waking at a reasonable time to a forecast of sun and minimal wind, it looked ideal for a day and night at anchor in Babbacombe Bay. We arrived at 1130 to an onshore easterly swell from Lyme Bay, so we picked up one of the Cary Arms mooring buoys rather than dropping anchor, to ensure we could relax without fear of dragging our anchor towards the rocky shoreline.

We enjoyed the usual banter and jokes, assisted by a drink or two, but the 13°C water temperature and murky surface debris failed to entice us to swim on what was otherwise a superb day. A short tender trip ashore for some sundowner drinks at the captain’s table in the Cary Arms seemed like a much more tempting option.

Positioned perfectly to oversee the cove, we enjoyed our drinks while watching school kids launching themselves off the small breakwater. On the other side of the cove a seal was feeding close to the shore, framed by the beautiful backdrop of Lyme Bay.

Back on board, we fired up the generator for a BBQ as the sun started to descend, accompanied by the satisfying pop of a cork being pulled from a rather nice bottle of Malbec. It was as close to utopia as it gets.

Article continues below…

Boating across Europe: 'A tale of drama and near disaster on the crossing'

Boating around Britain in 26 days: How we overcame East Coast troubles

Day 17 Monday 20 May

We awoke to another day of clear blue skies.

Firing up the genny, we soon had a breakfast of tea, coffee and toast on the go to help overcome our late night ‘discussions’.

The sea temperature had now edged up to 16°C [my threshold is 14] but still looked rather murky so we returned to Torquay and set off on a leisurely walk to Paignton, where we drank in the views from the terrace of the Redcliff Hotel.

Back at the marina, some nesting swans were doing their best to look after a clutch of eggs at the base of the pontoon ramp despite all the passing foot traffic.

View through the cannon turret at Baynard’s Cove Fort, Dartmouth

Day 18 Tuesday 21 May

The easterly swell into Tor Bay continued, making my aim of anchoring and a swim far from ideal despite the sunny conditions, so we explored the coastline and pottered into Brixham instead.

The crew weren’t keen on stand-up paddleboarding but Del did manage a brief paddle on his knees before cooking up a fabulous Thai curry on the boat’s griddle. Then it was back into Torquay to see a beautiful rainbow, followed by a round of spot-the-most-neglected-boat-in-the-marina – we soon found a clear winner.

Day 19 Wednesday 22 May

We bid a sad farewell to Del after a fry-up at Below Decks just outside the marina and then made a slow 6-knot chug across the bay to Brixham Marina to make use of my MDL freedom berthing and the fuel discount that comes with it. After topping up the tank and finding our berth, the rain came lashing down, ‘forcing’ us to take shelter at the nearby Prince William pub.

Once it cleared, we enjoyed a sightseeing tour of the delightful harbour, then treated ourselves to some tasty fish offerings at Rockfish on the seafront, which must win the award for the urinals with the best view in the world.

The only complication of berthing at Brixham was an outbreak of cryptosporidium in the local water supply that meant we couldn’t top up the fresh water tanks. However, crates of free bottled water were being offered instead, so we loaded up with what we could.

Brixham harbour front

Day 20 Thursday 23 May

We said goodbye to the Brixham mermaid statue on a calm, sunny morning with a mixed forecast ahead. We blasted round Berry Head to find the mouth of the Dart, with Andy on helming duties and Nige on lobster pot buoy alerts, having seen a Facebook post about one lurking just beneath the surface.

Once safely inside the estuary, we pottered up the river hoping for a berth at Dart Marina on the west bank, where the water supply was unaffected by the outbreak. Disappointingly, their only visitor space was already occupied so we had to make do with a basic walk-ashore visitor pontoon without water or shore power.

We launched the tender for a trip up the Dart to see Agatha Christie’s Greenway retreat and boathouse before finding a good old curry house for supper.

Day 22 Saturday 25th May

The second bank holiday weekend started with another dry day and alternating sun and cloud. My uni mates were leaving later that day, to be replaced by my wife Pamela, my daughters Beth and Megan, and her boyfriend, Freddie.

Knowing Pamela would want superior mooring (bathroom) facilities, I booked a berth at the newly built Noss on Dart marina for the next three nights. Being on the east side of the Dart would also make the crew change easier, as it was a more direct route from our home in Dorset and a quicker trip back to Torquay for Andy and Derrick. However, this meant we were back on the contaminated side of the river so I still couldn’t fill the fresh water tank.

Changing marinas to Noss on Dart

A quick potter 0.3 miles upstream to Noss and we were safely tucked into our new berth. The crew even got congratulated on their docking skills by the marina staff – I’ve rarely seen grown men look so pleased! A quick clipper haircut on the bathing platform to smarten up before Pamela arrived, and then a brisk walk to Kingswear to find some refreshment at the Royal Dart Yacht Club, which has a reciprocal agreement with the Cobbs Quay Berth Holders Association.

Returning via the west side of the river, we granted Nige his wish for a Devonshire cream tea, followed by a fine curry at the Spice Merchant, before Pamela and Beth arrived later in the evening.

Day 23 Sunday 26 May

As usual, the bank holiday weather was mixed at best. We managed a short walk through Dartmouth to Bayards Cove Fort and enjoyed a chilled evening eating pizzas at Noss Marina. Then disaster struck: my first breakdown since leaving Cobbs Quay and it was a bad one – the toilet!

Luckily (or should that be unluckily) my boat has form in this department so I was at least au fait with what was needed. It was on with the mask and gloves, off with the outlet pipe and in with my fingers to remove the crystallised urate build-up – a grim job, but a necessary one.

At least a beautiful evening’s vista soon erased my memory of it as we spent a happy few hours playing cards and chatting prior to Pamela’s departure in the morning.

Steam train approaching Kingswear from Paignton

Day 24 Monday 27 May

A sunny but gusty start didn’t stop us hopping across the river to the pricey Dart Marina so we could finally fill up our tank with clean, fresh water. The outside hammerhead berth we were given suffered a bit from the wash of passing traffic but it offered excellent views of the river and the noisy yet magnificent steam train that puffs in and out of Kingswear every hour or so.

We spent some time in the RNLI shop reading the poignant stories of famous lifeboatmen such as Henry Blogg, who in 1917 spent 24 hours leading his team of oarsmen through the breakers off Cromer beach to rescue the crew of a Swedish vessel that had struck a mine during a fierce storm.

Day 25 Tuesday 28 May

I heard the rain from the early hours, even with earplugs in, and felt the boat rocking from the sudden gusts. With full water tanks but an empty wallet, I was anxious to move across to the more affordable Darthaven Marina at Kingswear.

I knew it would be an unpleasant 30-minute crossing but my young crew of Megan and Freddie did well sorting the lines out in the pouring rain with a helping hand from the dockmaster. We spent most of the rest of the day mopping up drips coming through the canvas and decided to cheer ourselves up with some hot grub at the Ship Inn.

Megan and Freddie re-enact the famous Titanic pose

When the rain finally stopped, we enjoyed a pleasant walk along the coast in the setting sun, hoping that the red sky at night boded well for the following day’s weather.

Day 26 Wednesday 29 May

The day dawned bright and clear, so we hiked up the hill to take some photos of the Dart before another fine BBQ breakfast. I use a disposable tin tray on the BBQ griddle to make cleaning easier and like to do my eco warrior bit by cleaning it and trying to get through the whole season with a single tray despite it only costing a few quid!

Following a rendition of the classic Titanic scene, we tried a quick blast out of the river to Blackpool Sands, only to be met with grey skies and more wind so, disappointingly, we returned to the last of my planned berths – a midstream pontoon. I tried to launch the drone for some aerial shots, but swiftly thought better of it when the warning alert came on because of the Naval College opposite. Oops!

Annoyingly, my main camera’s telephoto lens also decided to malfunction, but not before I’d captured a seal sunbathing on a mooring buoy and a very unhappy seagull. I’d never noticed their technique of dropping mussels on the pontoons to crack them open before; after repeatedly bombing the pontoon 10 feet away, the seagull in question then missed the target and launched itself into the water in search of the errant mussel. From the look on its beak, the mussel had a lucky escape.

Heading off in Easily Distracted’s tender Little Distraction

Day 27 Thursday 30 May

The day started bright and sunny but was still frustratingly windy. Dartmouth had been fabulous, but it was time to move on. The Torquay airshow started tomorrow and Megan and Freddie were leaving the day after so we decided to head off early.

We departed in the lee of the land, but our promising start soon turned into a bumpy wind-against-tide ride over the next 10 miles. And just to make things interesting, the north-northwest wind was blowing straight into Brixham harbour.

Luckily, the marina staff changed our berth at the last minute, making the entrance to it a little easier, but Easily Distracted still rocked all day on its finger berth. At least it was tempered by another lovely sunset and a chilled evening on board watching Pirates of the Caribbean!

Rain batters the covers at Dart Haven

Day 28 Friday 31 May

It felt like the wind blew all night. We decided to leave early before the wind got any worse, and amazingly, the young crew got up, casting the lines at 0815 and, making full use of the upgraded 80kg bow thruster, managed to exit the marina with relative ease.

The wind in Tor Bay gradually built up, but there were no waves of note as we chugged across to Torquay marina, managing an unflustered stern-to docking. We spent a chillaxing day at the marina sorting out domestic chores before Pamela returned in the evening.

Day 29 Saturday 1 June

Today was the first of two days of an airshow in Tor Bay, and right on cue, clear skies arrived. Pamela and I took advantage of the weather to walk to Cockington Country Park, where we took in a local cricket match and admired the various craftspeople at work, including a blacksmith, a glass blower and a carpenter, leaving Megan and Freddie to do some paddleboarding and sunbathing.

The locals advised me that the marina was the best place to watch the air show from. It didn’t disappoint, culminating with a spectacular display from the Red Arrows and a horn ensemble applause from the viewing boats.

Red sky at night… View up the River Dart from Darthaven

Day 30 Sunday 2 June

Another scorcher of a day and more remarkable aerobatics before bidding farewell to my family and welcoming my old mate Ben on board to take their place. Once we’d removed all the canvases, I went through the usual docking procedure, but somehow forgot to untie the rope on the non-pontoon side and arced slowly and embarrassingly into a neighbouring boat!

Apologies made, we joined the waiting fleet in the safety zone. Four delightful hours flew by – literally – with the highlight being a heart-stopping flyby from a Typhoon Eurofighter.

Back at the marina, Ben had a first attempt at paddleboarding. To cap it all, we treated ourselves to a superb meal at the Ephesus Greek Restaurant and revisited my passage plans for the following week. Excited? Absolutely, especially as I had a good friend by my side to enjoy it.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

This article If we’d wanted to do that exact trip any faster, we’d have needed a helicopter appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Early in 2020, with Covid not even a cloud on the horizon, two Broom Owners Club members, Keith and Carole Rowe, were developing plans for the summer. Their idea was to organise an international gathering of Brooms in Dutch waters, leading the British contingent across the North Sea from Norfolk, the home of Broom Boats.

We all know what happened next. With lockdown scuppering all activities for 2020, they postponed it to the following year and used the time to develop the idea further. They identified a suitable location, a picturesque marina next to the historic town of Naarden, and got others involved to bolster attendance.

As committee rep for Europe, I was brought into the discussions and offered my support, although I was not initially planning to take our boat there. With La Strega based in southern France, the journey through the canals and rivers of Europe would take too long, so we would instead be flying over to join them.

Then came the second lockdown and by Spring 2022 Marjorie and I were ready for a challenge, even if it meant 1,200km across four countries and 150 locks in 26 days. The story of that voyage has been recounted in the previous articles:

Article continues below…

Boating across Europe: 'The sun was illuminating the hillsides with familiar names of Moselle wines'

Boating across Europe: 'Traffic was very light and by lunchtime we had covered 25km and passed three locks'

Sinking feeling

We made it to Zaandam marina, the agreed assembly point for boats coming from the UK, on Monday 6 June, three days ahead of schedule. Keith’s boat was already there, having crossed the North Sea in April to get everything organised. The four other UK-based Brooms we were expecting (three 415s and a 39) were waiting in Lowestoft for better weather. Ideally, they wanted a sea state that would allow them to complete the 105-mile crossing to IJmuiden in around six hours.

Marjorie and I spent a few hours exploring Zaandam, enjoyed an excellent meal in one of the many restaurants, then decided we should use our free time to recover our car from St Jean de Losne. This involved a complicated train journey, an overnight stop in Dijon, then a 600-mile drive the next day.

Back at Zaandam, late Wednesday, we found the four Brooms had recently arrived, but with a tale of drama and near disaster on the crossing. Despite rougher than ideal conditions they had been making steady progress when, with about 25 miles to go, the crew of the Broom 39 noticed they were losing speed.

La Strega reached Zaandam marina three days early

Looking below decks they found water in the aft cabin.

A check of the engineroom soon revealed the source, water spraying uncontrollably from the starboard engine cooling feed. Attempts to stop the engine failed, as the solenoid switch was waterlogged. It was only by closing the fuel feed that they eventually managed to stop it. Listing heavily from the weight of water, they limped into IJmuiden on one engine, with the other three boats standing by.

Once in harbour, with the remaining water pumped out, the cooling hose fixed and the electrics dried off, they got the starboard engine restarted and completed the last few miles up the North Sea Canal to Zaandam. The atmosphere that evening was understandably a bit subdued.

The fuel convoy heads off on a collective bargaining hunt

Fuel for thought

Happily, Thursday morning dawned bright and sunny, lifting everyone’s spirits. As we got to know the new arrivals and learned more about the previous day’s experiences, the conversation moved on to preparations for the weekend.

All four boats had arrived with near empty tanks and refuelling was a priority. That reminded me that we were in a similar position. The skipper of the 39 knew of a fuel barge close by and suggested we all go together, as big volumes usually meant a lower price per litre.

Collectively, we reckoned we would need over 2,000 litres, so we set off in convoy to see what sort of deal we could get. I never heard the initial price but was happy to get our tanks filled (390 litres) for E2.00 per litre. That worked out at 4.2mpg for the second half of our journey, record economy for La Strega, illustrating the advantages of travelling downstream at moderate speed.

A tailwind made Oranjesluizen tricky to negotiate

Back at Zaandam, the crew of the “nearly sunk” 39 invited everyone on board to celebrate their survival. What started as an informal drink developed into a party that went on well into the evening, leaving a few of us feeling less than fully fit for the short cruise to Naarden next morning.

The plan had been to reach Naarden around noon, in good time to welcome the “Continentals” (Broom owners with boats based in mainland Europe). But by the time the hangovers had cleared enough for us to get going, it was already the afternoon.

Nevertheless, we enjoyed cruising through Amsterdam in company with five other Brooms. There was a little difficulty getting the fleet through Oranjesluizen due to a fresh tailwind pushing us into the lock, but we made it through in two batches.

Event organisers Keith and Carole Rowe

Pride of place

Once out into the IJsselmeer, the cruising became a bit more ‘competitive’, leaving La Strega trailing in the wake of the larger, faster boats. Arriving last at Naarden, we saw 16 Brooms moored in pairs, filling what looked like all the available space. Getting closer, we were greeted with the news that they had saved the prime mooring for us – brilliant but for the fact that it meant reversing past all the double-moored boats, in front of a friendly but critical crowd of observers!

Actually, it was not a problem and once moored, I was truly grateful for the prime space saved for us. Stern-on to the main quay, we had easy access to all the marina facilities. It also gave us the chance to meet everyone else as they walked past. There were no formal plans for the Friday evening but it was great to meet all the new faces and to entertain a good number of them on our (relatively) tiny aft deck.

Saturday morning, after coffee and croissants on deck, we got out our folding bikes and set off for our first visit to Naarden town. Amongst the pretty cobbled streets, we found a busy open-air market close to the ancient citadel, now converted to an events venue. Preparations were under way for a wedding there, and the whole town looked ‘en fête’.

Broom boy racers on IJsselmeer

For the afternoon, club members were divided into two groups for guided tours of the town, by boat and on foot. The boat took us on a canal, originally a moat outside the town walls and part of the impressive defences against attack from land or sea.

We enjoyed an excellent commentary on the design and construction of the fortress, before swapping with the other group for a guided walking tour of the town and historic buildings. Their efforts clearly worked as Naarden never suffered an attack from land or sea, unlike several less well defended Dutch towns which were destroyed by Spanish raiders during the Middle Ages.

After the tour we lingered over coffee in the Cathedral square, chatting to an English couple who moor their Broom in Holland, and a Dutch couple, Rene and Elsbeth Gorter, who had spent time exploring French inland waterways in their Broom Continental. We also discovered that Elsbeth is an artist, who painted some lovely watercolours of the gathering.

Pampus Island looks calm but strong winds are on their way

By the time we returned to the marina, the fires were already lit for the evening’s group barbecue. We gratefully accepted an invitation to share cooking facilities with an Australian couple, who keep their boat in Holland, and after dinner, spent time with the German couple who had given us invaluable help, planning our trip down the Moselle and Rhine. We enjoyed a tour of their splendid 415, chatting over a few more beers before bed.

Sunday was reserved for a visit to Pampus Island, another historic fortification, but much more modern than the walls and moat surrounding Naarden. Pampus is an artificial island created in the 1870s, just 60 years before the Afsluitdijk enclosed the IJsselmeer, effectively eliminating possible attacks on Amsterdam by sea.

Painting by Elsbeth Gorter showing the windy Pampus moorings

Tunnel vision

Built to similar standards as the Maginot Line, and equally ineffective in preventing the German advance in WW2, it is now a historic monument, accessible only by boat. The harbour was only big enough for the regular service craft and one other, but Keith had obtained permission for our party to make the four-mile crossing in four of our boats, conditional on three of us mooring between piles on the outside.

Mooring in calm conditions was straightforward and we enjoyed our guided tour of the facilities, designed to enable the fortress to withstand an extended assault. However, when we emerged from the tunnels, looking forward to lunch on the island, we saw that the wind had got up and waves were now threatening the boats moored outside, blowing them onto the jetty.

Lunch was forgotten, and it was all hands to the jetty. With some impressive teamwork and excellent throttle control by skippers, all three boats were reversed out to open water. Thankfully, no damage was done but it was a good lesson on the risks of being caught in open water on the IJsselmeer.

A final atmospheric dinner in Naarden Citadel

European reunion

Safely back in the marina, we had time to get dressed and ready for the formal dinner served in Naarden Citadel, the venue of Saturday’s wedding. There were 40 members round the table that evening, 35 of us from the 17 boats, plus five who had come by car. Collectively, we represented at least five European nations.

For Marjorie and me it was a great experience, making new friends and catching up with others we had known since the Club was formed in 2004. It’s amazing how people bond over a shared love of boats, perhaps even more so when it includes shared appreciation of owning a much-loved but no longer active marque like Broom!

As we assembled for the group photo on Monday morning and said our farewells, plans were already being made to do it all again next year. We may have had the ‘Longest Journey’ by boat, if not the toughest, but it was well worth the effort.

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article Boating across Europe: 'A tale of drama and near disaster on the crossing' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Regular subscribers may remember reading about my voyage of a lifetime from Sweden to the Lofoten islands, inside the Arctic Circle, which I wrote about last year. We made that journey in our Grandezza 40 Fly, Deamare, but I also have a second smaller boat which I use for shorter trips all year round.

Until recently, this was an aluminium-hulled Buster Magnum, which I’d owned since 2014 and have been very pleased with. However, I was tired of constantly having to take off and erect the canopy at the start and end of every journey.

Its successor would have to have a cabin and be faster but preferably have only one engine to keep the weight and fuel consumption down – I often trail the boat behind my car, so it needs to be light. A place to sleep would also be nice, but not if it came at the expense of a second engine, and ideally, I’d like suspension seats to improve ride comfort in rough weather.

I looked at the XO DFNDR 8, but it was just a bit too big and heavy. The Hydrolift X27 SUV also tempted me, but I’d heard its stepped hull can be prone to spinning out during high speed turns, so I crossed that off my list too. The Viggo C8 and Anytec A27 are fantastic to drive, and built out of lightweight, maintenance-free aluminium, but I discounted both of them when I realised I wanted a sliding door next to the helm to give the feel of driving an open boat.

I’d heard good things about Iron Boats, especially the speed, efficiency and seakeeping of its Mannerfelt-designed hull, but originally they were only available as open sportsboats. Then I stumbled across a prototype of an 827 Coupé at a boat show in Gothenburg in 2023.

It was a bit rough and ready, but in March 2024, I got to see the finished production Coupé at the Stockholm boat show. It looked the business, so in early April, my son Martin and I went to Gothenburg to meet Henrik Petersson, one of the founding partners of Iron Boats, for a proper sea trial.

A proud Per gets ready for a sea trial of his new fully loaded all-weather sports boat

Feature-rich build

Henrik explained that it was possible to set up a pair of temporary berths in the wheelhouse by wedging them over the seats. More importantly, the driving characteristics proved to be fantastic, with almost no planing threshold, and although there was no option for suspension seats, the ride quality of the hull was so good that it wasn’t a major issue.

With the seat cushion folded up, I could brace against the backrest with my head well above the cabin roof and both side doors propped open for the full wind-in-the-hair experience. A basic toilet under the sofa was there for emergencies, but most of the time, I prefer to bucket-and-chuck-it anyway, and there was plenty of dry stowage space under the cabin seats and deck, as well as a sociable dinette in the aft cockpit for al fresco meals.

When Henrik printed out the quote (as usual, I’d ticked the entire list of extras), I was pleasantly surprised. We were well under £130,000, even with the largest engine option of a 450hp Mercury Racing outboard.

A month later, I ordered an 827 Coupé in grey with a radar, dual Simrad screens, VHF radio with AIS, extra lights, and almost every extra going.

When it was ready for collection, I drove up to the factory in Mölndal with a view to completing the engine’s 10-hour running-in period in the local area so it could be serviced before I towed it back home.

My son Martin and I went to Gothenburg to meet Iron Boats founder Henrik Petersson for a proper sea trial

My new boat was ready and waiting for me in the factory. It looked immaculate, the only thing missing was an extension bracket to raise the steaming light above the radar.

The nearest launch site was 10km away in Hovås harbour, so a couple of guys from the yard towed behind their pick-up with me following in my car. Half way there, I saw the trailer come loose.

Luckily, it landed on the raised jockey wheel and came to a halt without damaging the boat. The guys were mortified but helped hook it up to my car, and we reached the launch site without further drama.

With the boat safely launched, I pottered out of the harbour into Gothenburg’s lovely archipelago. Even with the limited revs of the run-in period, it drove beautifully. The hull cut through the waves like a hot knife through butter and responded instantly to steering inputs. I was also pleased to discover that the helm position offered excellent protection, even with the doors open.

I threaded my way through the islands east of Klåverön, then west to Marstrand, where I picked up my friend Jörgen, who had joined me on my trip to Lofoten. Our plan was to run in the engine and get to know the boat properly. We took turns at the wheel, driving at a brisk pace. Iron Explorer, as I’d named her, felt wonderfully well-balanced with no need for trim tabs.

The 827 Coupé sits ready for its maiden voyage

We tried the sofas and the table in the cockpit, where a meal of cold pancakes with strawberry jam and coffee tasted all the sweeter for being on board my new boat. After just over six hours at sea I dropped Jörgen back where I’d met him and motored across to the nearby guest harbour of Marstrand, where I’d booked a hotel for the night.

The following day, I made an early start, hoping to complete the 10-hour running-in period before lunch. With no canopy to wrestle with, I just unlocked the doors, opened the sunroof, started the engine, and set off. It was bliss.

Disaster looms

After a couple more hours flitting between the islands, it was time for breakfast, so I pulled into the port of Vrångö. I found a cafe and enjoyed a coffee and a shrimp sandwich overlooking the boat, allowing myself a smile of satisfaction at how good it looked and how well everything worked. I called Iron Boats to say that everything was running like a dream and I’d be ready for collection in Hovås a couple of hours earlier than expected.

I returned to the boat and started the engine but as I made my way out of the port, the steering felt strangely sluggish. As it’s a fly-by-wire system rather than hydraulically assisted steering, I tried a complete restart in the hope of resetting the system, but when I switched the main power back on, everything went dead. I tried turning it off and on again – no result. I was still inside the harbour but the wind was now blowing me towards a pebble beach.

Preparing to launch in Hovås harbour

I dropped the anchor but it didn’t bite so I had no option but to jump into the shallow water and try to stop my new boat from beaching itself. No one seemed to have noticed my distress, despite me waving frantically while trying to prevent the hull and engine from grinding against the rocks.

Rescue operation

Eventually, I managed to Google the number of the local shop and call a staff member, who promised to send help. A small fishing boat came to the rescue, but the water was too shallow for him to pass me a line. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, but was in reality only about half an hour, a smaller open boat pulled me free and towed me back to safety.

Per chose a deluxe helm station with dual Simrad screens

After thanking them and paying for the rescue, I called Iron Boats to tell them what had happened. Henrik apologised profusely and immediately organised a rescue mission. Minutes later, one of their open boats arrived in the middle of a fierce rainstorm with a mechanic, a spare battery, and a replacement circuit breaker on board. They soon had my boat up and running again. A lithium-ion battery had died but then mysteriously woke up again once it was back in the yard.

We cruised back to the factory in company through the pouring rain, thankful that I was sheltered from the worst of it by Iron Explorer’s wheelhouse, unlike the driver of the other boat, who arrived soaked to the skin. Back on land, I headed out to lunch in a local restaurant while Iron Explorer went straight into the workshop for her engine service and a thorough investigation of what had happened. They also promised to repair any scratches and deliver her directly to my home as soon as the work was done.

It may have been an unfortunate end to a very promising start, but Iron Boats’ willingness to get everything sorted as quickly and painlessly as possible reassures me that its customer service is every bit as good as its boats. I am now looking forward to the summer season with even more excitement than usual and many more, hopefully trouble-free, hours of fun!

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article 'No one noticed my frantic waving as I tried to prevent my brand-new boat from grinding against the rocks' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.

Given the wonderful weather we’d been enjoying, it was an unpleasant surprise to wake up at 7am on 29 May feeling perishingly cold. This was meant to be prime cruising season. But perhaps what had stirred me so early was the thrill of anticipation. We were 13 days into our voyage from the South of France to Amsterdam and after one night in Luxembourg, were now leaving the French Moselle to enter Germany.

All that I had read indicated that while this might be the same river, there were subtle differences in the navigation rules and customs. My first act when I woke up was to take down the faded French courtesy flag and hoist a fresh new German one.

As I cast off and pulled out into the stream, I reflected on what lay ahead. We were 240km from Koblenz, where we would join the Rhine, and I anticipated making four overnight stops along the way.

This German section of the Moselle was only opened for navigation in the 1960s and the 12 locks which made this possible were designed to accommodate 1,500-tonne barges.

With this emphasis on large commercial craft, marinas for small craft were few and far between, meaning careful planning was required.

A German friend who knows the river had helped me identify possible stopping places and advised me to make advance reservations. My plan was to reach Schweich, a small town just downstream from Trier, a city we would have loved to visit but had no suitable moorings for us.

The resort town of Remich in Luxembourg

Barge queuing

We set off in bright sunshine but with a biting north wind on our bow. For the next 35km the river marked the border between Luxembourg and Germany so we were keen to take in as much of this unique little country while we had the chance.

Just a short way downstream, we passed Remich, a lively holiday town with a couple of campsites. There was even a party boat moored there but no sign of small craft moorings. A few minutes later, approaching our first lock of the day, we met a barge loaded with scrap metal.

The lock gates were open but a red light indicated we must not enter.

Article continues below…

Boating across Europe: 'Traffic was very light and by lunchtime we had covered 25km and passed three locks'

Channel Islands boating: Local’s guide to Guernsey and its stunning neighbours

I called the lock keeper on our VHF but got no response, so we simply had to wait. After a frustrating 25 minutes delay, we finally got the green light to enter. It was only when the bottom gates opened and we saw a laden barge coming upstream that we understood the lock keeper had been waiting for this commercial customer to arrive.

The Luxembourg side of the river was relatively hilly and lined with vineyards, including the splendidly named Wormeldange Vineyards Cooperative, while the German side was notably flatter and dedicated to conventional agriculture.

Reaching Grevenmacher, our second lock, we had the same experience but this time we were kept waiting for 45 minutes before the lock keeper finally relented and allowed us through. We passed Mertert, Luxembourg’s commercial port, then 2km further downstream, we spotted the river Sauer, which marks the end of Luxembourg’s border with Germany.

Heading towards Trier lock behind a Moody 38

Minutes later, we came to the junction with the Saar, a major tributary which enables 1,500-tonne barges to access the Saar coalfields. Upstream of the mining area, a canalised and heavily locked section of the river climbs through the Vosges, allowing smaller craft through navigation to the Rhine/Marne canal and a more attractive route to Strasbourg and the upper Rhine.

Due to the delays at locks, it was nearly 2pm as we approached Trier Lock, squeezing in behind a coal barge, alongside a Moody 38 yacht on passage from the Med.

Leaving the lock, we found ourselves in a narrow valley, with a hotel ship and several smaller craft queuing to pass upstream. We tucked in behind the other boats and watched with bated breath as a vast barge squeezed between the ancient stone piers of the Romerbrucke. Dating from Roman times, this bridge was the first recorded Moselle crossing and although the arches had been rebuilt a few times over the centuries, the piers themselves were 2,000 years old.

The famous vine-clad slopes of the Moselle river

Sleepless in Schweich

The weather, which had been deteriorating all day, finally turned to rain as we negotiated the tortuous twists and turns of a deep valley, carved out by the river over millennia. The south-facing valley sides were now covered with vines, planted on slopes so steep the grape pickers have to rope themselves on like mountaineers.

After an hour of slow progress, we were relieved to reach Schweich marina and moor at the first berth we saw. It was only after we’d paid a very reasonable 19 euros for our berth including electricity, that I discovered our mooring was too far from any power supply.

I found another vacant berth a few boats away but in the fresh wind had to moor bow first once again. With only a very short jetty and no possibility of getting stern ropes ashore, I had great difficulty securing the boat satisfactorily. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Marjorie told me the couple in the neighbouring boat had been watching my antics disapprovingly. I went over to speak to them and was advised that my boat was not secure enough to cope with the wash from passing barges.

The Wormeldange wine cooperative in Luxemborug

Quite why they hadn’t offered to lend a hand when they saw me struggling was beyond me. Even now they were not offering any actual assistance so I was left to solve the problem myself with extra lines ashore and pegs in the ground.

When I finally settled down below, it was to an uncomfortable night, as much due to the unwelcome feeling our neighbours had created as to the rocking from the passing barges.

Valley of Vines

After a restless night, we were happy to be up and underway early. It was a grey morning but the forecast seemed promising and the interesting-looking town of Bernkastel-Kues was only 48km and two locks downstream, so I hoped we would have time for some sightseeing.

The skies brightened as the morning wore on, helping us appreciate the beauty of this spectacular river. Just 12km downstream, we came across our first lock and were pleased to see the gates open and the Moody we had been following yesterday, tied up as if waiting for us. The lock operated as soon as we arrived and we were on our way again in 15 minutes.

Now the clouds were clearing and the sun was lighting up the hillsides with familiar names of Moselle wines picked out amongst the vines, the most recognisable being Piesporter.

Detzem lock is extremely deep

We were now meeting a steady stream of hotel boats, working their way upstream and perhaps because of this, we also found our second lock open and happy to operate, just for our two little boats. With this good fortune, by 1pm we were turning into the lovely sheltered Kues marina. Other boaters were already queuing to be allocated moorings, so we were pleased that we had reserved a place.

It was only a short walk from the marina to the bridge across the Moselle to Bernkastel, so we decided to wander into town for lunch. Bernkastel is famous for its ancient timber frame buildings and narrow streets, climbing up the steep valley side.

Finding an attractive Gasthaus in the town square, we ordered flammkuchen (a pizza-like dish) and sat outside in the sun, sipping our wine and watching the tourists go by. It felt almost like being on holiday!

Pre-booked berth in attractive Kues marina

Twists and turns

Feeling nicely refreshed, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this quaint town. We didn’t have the time, or energy, to make it all the way up to the castle but we did admire the neat rows of vines leading up to it before retiring to the boat for dinner on deck and spot of forward planning.

From here I reckoned we could reach the Rhine in just two days or we could take an extra day and explore Cochem, recommended as one of the main tourist attractions on the Moselle. I thought that we might be able to reach Cochem the next day but was concerned to learn that it only had a sportsboat moorings and it wasn’t possible to book a place, so a late arrival could be dodgy. We agreed the best plan was to start early and see how we got on.

Despite the fine weather, we woke to another chilly morning, setting off at 8am into a fresh northerly wind. We were now following a particularly sinuous stretch of river, winding through deep valleys with endless twists and turns. On one occasion we motored 13km to return to a point less than a kilometre from our starting point as the crow flies.

A deep wooded valley just north of Piesport

Our pleasant morning cruise was interrupted when, nearing the first lock of the day, the river widened out into open water, exposing us to the full force of the wind. Our bimini was acting like a sail, making it hard to control the boat, and the bollards were set so far back from the quay wall that it was impossible to throw a line. This meant that Marjorie had the dangerous challenge of climbing down onto the quay while hanging onto a stern line.

After a very similar experience at the next two locks, we decided against pressing on to Cochem. Instead, we had an hour’s cruising through deep rocky valleys and because there were no more locks to worry about we could relax a bit and enjoy the scenery to the full.

Shortly before Senheim, our alternative overnight stop, the valley opened out revealing the roofless ruins of Stuben Abbey, a 12th-century monastery. It was now just before 4pm and we were still 25km from Cochem when we turned off the river into Senheim marina, which had been touted as being in a beautiful setting, with an authentic restaurant serving good-quality and traditional German food.

Negotiating our second exposed lock

Like many Moselle marinas it shared facilities with a busy camping and motorhome park. Sadly for us, the bustling restaurant had no vegetarian option for Marjorie, but we were happy to spend some time exploring the beautiful village and prepare a meal on board, enjoying a relaxing evening in very pleasant surroundings.

The big question for the next day was should we go the short distance to Cochem and spend a day there or continue on to Winningen, our last stop before joining the Rhine?

Thinking of the challenges that still lay ahead for us, we made the wise decision to press on, seeing what we could of Cochem as we passed through.

Castle country

The next day was 1 June and as if recognising it was now officially summer, the weather was much calmer. We were delayed for 30 minutes at the first lock but once through we quickly reached Cochem with its dramatic setting and 1,000-year-old castle perched 300ft above the town.

The picturesque village of Zell

The sportsboat moorings were centrally located and, being early in the day there was space for a couple of boats, but we resisted the temptation and headed onwards.

Despite the constant stream of barges, we did find time to enjoy the constantly changing scenery. In this flatter, more open countryside, there were a lot of pretty little towns, almost always with a castle on the hillside above.

By 3pm we were mooring, at Winningen, just 121km from Koblenz lock and recommended as a better launch point for the next phase of our journey, running down the Rhine.

It was a small marina but with excellent facilities, supported by an extensive caravan and camping site. There was even a swimming pool, but sadly, the persistent north wind meant we could not be tempted to take the plunge.

Senheim marina’s picturesque location at the end of a short valley

We contented ourselves with a walk round the village and then, before dinner at the restaurant, filling the water tank and carrying out engine and filter checks, conscious of the very real danger of losing an engine in the Rhine current.

The Moselle had been fascinating – full of interest and crying out for more time to explore than our circumstances had allowed. Tomorrow was no doubt going to bring a very different boating experience for us both but as always we were excited by the challenge of what lay around the next bend.

Read the first part of Donald and Marjorie’s journey across Europe by boat

If you enjoyed this….

Motor Boat & Yachting is the world’s leading magazine for Motoryacht enthusiasts. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams, as well as tests and news of all the latest motorboats.

Plus you’ll get our quarterly Custom Yachting supplement where we share the last on offer in the superyacht world and at the luxury end of the market.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

This article Boating across Europe: 'The sun was illuminating the hillsides with familiar names of Moselle wines' appeared first on Motor Boat & Yachting.