Sou-Souwest by 60 Scallops

www.cattewatercruisingclub.org.uk SOU-SOUWEST BY 60 SCALLOPS Another year had gone by and it was time for the 2015 "Two Men in a Boat" saga. Rodders, the Scurvy Crew, managed to avoid the wildcat strikes at Calais and made it across the Channel to arrive in Exmouth on time for coffee on Tuesday, 9 Jun 15. We downed the coffees; we even washed up as Lian was away!! We then shot down to PYH, via a lightning shop at Morrison's, and had Isotope packed, rigged and ready to slip at 1440 hrs. The forecast was NE F4-5 and we set off across the Sound under jib alone; I was being properly cautious as always!! However, even I accepted that we needed a little more sail power to keep her moving with all the extra weight onboard and to overcome the "sea-anchor" effect of towing the large rubber dinghy. We raised the mainsail, with all 3 reefs in, off Cawsand Bay. On rounding Penlee Point, the wind picked up and we had an exhilarating broad reach across Whitsand Bay, making Fowey in 4 hrs 30 mins, pontoon to buoy, which was my fastest ever passage time to Fowey. We did have the tide with us, which did help a bit, I admit!! We had catered to eat onboard that night and had my home made pheasant, ham and mushroom pie. When we came to on the Wednesday morning, it was actually quite pleasant with a gentle breeze. It was hard to believe that there was a gale warning in force for Plymouth with an Inshore Waters forecast of NE F4-5 occ 6. I knew that the weather for Thursday and Friday was going to be even worse, so the decision was whether to sit it out in Fowey for 3 days or make a dash for Falmouth. I admit that, under normal circumstances and without the Scurvy Crew to lead me astray, I would still have been tied up in PYH!! But then we noticed a number of other yachts casting off and, remembering the old saying about "running before a storm", we decided to head for scallops!! Many of the other yachts set off under full sail and we could see they were being very hard pressed. So again, it was unfurl the jib and raise the fully reefed main. Clear of Fowey entrance, it was another scorching broad reach down to Dodman Point. The seas had risen considerable overnight, but were still quite comfortable at this stage. We averaged nearly 6.5 kts all the way down to Dodman. We had realised soon after clearing Gribben Head that there was no turning back and that we were committed to Falmouth. On rounding Dodman Point, the wind became a little more ENE with a lot more than just the occ F6!! Unfortunately, with her relatively small jib, Isotope does not goose wing, so it meant that we could only bear off until the jib started to collapse. This put us on a course direct for the Lizard. Should we go to the Scillies after all!!?!! Thus commenced 2 hours of the wildest roller coaster ride I have ever experienced. Why people pay to go to Alton Towers, I will never know!! The seas seemed enormous and on more than one occasion I looked aft to see a great breaking wave towering over us and wondered how wet I was going to get!! But each time, Isotope hoisted her skirts and flew off on the crest of another wave, thereby avoiding the monster behind. I would have loved to have captured some of it on camera, but I needed one hand to hang on while the other remained ready to protect the family blood line just in case Rodders' bracing foot slipped again!! Helming was also very hard work. You normally need a very sharp instrument to prise Rodders off the helm, but in these conditions he was pleading to be relieved after 30 mins, as his shoulders were aching so much!! It then became time to gybe and head for Falmouth. Easier said than done and we spent several minutes waiting for a relative lull in the wave motion before we achieved the manoeuvre. Over went the sails, properly controlled, and Isotope raced off on the new bearing. This put the waves more on our beam and I swear that on one occasion Rodders was sitting vertically above me on the other side of the cockpit!! (Val: this is not a problem when riding up the face of a wave with all the weight of the keel still balanced in the water - believe me it's true!!) There were also a couple of occasions which required two hands on the tiller, one each, to keep her straight and level!! My tiller pilot would never have stood a chance in those conditions. I also said several thank you's to the man who introduced me to the concept of having a permanent preventer rigged. I do not know how the mast and rigging would have survived in the wild rolls we experienced so far off the wind, if we had not had the preventer on and tight. Five hours after casting off in Fowey, we were secure up the Penryn River in Falmouth Marina, bruised and exhausted, but revelling in the excitement of one hell of a sail. We did not even blink that we were in berth J13!! Isotope was well toasted that evening in thanks to giving us so much fun and delivering us safely to Falmouth. Again, we had catered to eat onboard and had Waitrose's lamb rump with a crispy herb crust, a particular favourite of us both. Thursday morning was quite pleasant. As soon as we were up and breakfasted, it was off to SW Fisheries. He only had frozen scallops and crab meat. He tried to give us some weak excuse about the seas having been too rough for the scallop dredgers or crabbers to go out!! Scurvy Crew forgot that there were a dozen scallops in each pack; it was hard to see through the frosting!! So we returned onboard with the first 24 scallops, a kilo of white crab meat and a prepared monk fish. We knew rain was due in the afternoon and decided that we would walk into Falmouth and round Pendennis Point to see if any idiots were at sea. It was so rough and windy, that the Culdrose helicopter crews were doing their deck winching practice inside Carrick Roads!! We did see one very well reefed yacht rolling its way in past St Anthony's Head though. It was still only late morning, but it started to rain as we came down from the Point. By the time we reached the Maritime Museum, we were well soaked. The Museum must love days like that, because the queue to get in must have been 50 deep!! Instead, we shot across the courtyard, where they were setting up for the weekend's Sea Shanty Festival, to join the crowd sheltering under the archway outside Rick Stein's. After half an hour of "the rain is easing - no it isn't", the Scurvy Crew decided that if he was going to be wet on the outside, he might as well be wet on the inside as well; so we set off in search of a local beer to suit his taste. By the time Rod had finished his beer, the rain had stopped and we set off for the walk back to Isotope. On the way, Rod spotted a barber's shop and decided to stop for a haircut. This came as quite a shock to me, as throughout his service career Rod had been renowned for his longer than regulation length full head of wavy hair, which had become even longer with his retirement. I left him, walked on and the rain started again. By the time I was back onboard, I was soaked and had to change into dry clothes. Thankfully, we had put the cockpit tent up and had a dry area to leave the wet gear. Rod arrived not long after, soaking wet too and in an even greater sense of shock; he had a real short back and sides!! Later in the week, I had to give him some E45 cream for his ears, which had become sunburnt having not seen the light of day for many a year!! The rain continued all afternoon and became so heavy at one stage that it was driving through the zips of the cockpit tent!! It had eased and stopped by gin time, but by then it was time to commence the fishfest: 6 scallops each for starters with another 6 each with the monkfish. I forgot to mention, we had also purchased a dozen raw king prawns which were also cooked and shared out with the monkfish!! We had initially only intended to stay two nights in the Marina, but as Friday was going to be another wet and windy day and to ensure we had a berth for Saturday night, we extended our lease for another two nights. We made another run to SW Fisheries Friday morning, but decided that a dozen scallops and half a dozen prawns were probably sufficient to accompany a very nice filleted brill. The rest of the day was spent being bored and fed up with the weather, although we did manage to walk into Falmouth and back without getting wet. It was a Classic Boat Rally that weekend, to coincide with the Sea Shanties, and we needed a sail!! Having told the Marina that we would be back, we cast off and headed down to Falmouth Docks, where we raised the main with only 2 reefs, before heading off up Carrick Roads to avoid the Classics who were racing in the lower section.

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