TripSailor.com® Sailing Blogs

Sunday June 13th

1100hrs Depart Fowey for Plymouth approx 20 miles with a forecast of NW 4-5 with cloud building from the west and showers later. Another glorious sunny morning and I opt for going close inshore again to get a good view of the huge cliffs between here and Looe. Light westerly wind as I leave along with a steady stream of other yachts mainly heading East also. Cloud building behind in the west as forecast, but very clear and sunny here. Hope to get into Plymouth ahead of the rain. Ambling along in a slight sea and swell at 3 to 4 knots and enjoying the scenery. By 1400hrs I am off Looe Island and a SSW 2-3 has developed and cloud has filled in over the land but still bright offshore. Its 10 miles to my waypoint off Penlee Point at Rame Head where I turn into Plymouth sound. A couple of Gaffers are slowly gaining on me and we round Penlee point together. The cloud is coming in thick now and I tuck into Cawsand Bay just behind Rame Head at 1525hrs to drop sail and prepare fenders and lines.

I opt for Plymouth Yacht Haven at Turnchapel on the Cattewater, opposite the Barbican and Queen Annes Battery Marina. I assumed that as they are part of the Haven group that run Neyland Yacht Haven they will charge the same. How wrong I was and this has been the most expensive berth to date for this trip. Didnt realise until I started to pay after checking in at the Marina office that they were 50% more expensive than Neyland Marina! Very nearly cancelled the second night and moved around to Mayflower Marina who are cheaper and just as remote. It was the most sheltered of the Marinas for the fresh winds overnight and I had the usual shore power for the laptop and free wifi. For such a large marina there was incredibly little activity on the boats or pontoons, compared to other places I have been. Perhaps they cant afford to use their boats here after paying for their berths!

Monday June 14th

I stayed two nights and the next day caught the Mountbatten ferry over to the Barbican to do some shopping. The ferry runs every 30 minutes and costs £1.50 each way and is a ten minute walk from the marina and runs until 2300hrs each day from June to September. I walked right into Plymouth City Centre to get a cheap 240 volt reading lamp for the boat so that I had some decent light for when I had shore power. Up until now I have been trying to type emails and blogs by oil lamp even when I had shore power available. Should have done it sooner but now I don’t have any excuse for all the spelling mistakes! Walking into a busy city centre after being on the boat for 3 weeks was quite a shock to the system and I was glad to return to the quieter Barbican are for lunch before heading back to the Marina. The facilities at Plymouth Yacht Haven were fine but it seemed to lack the usual marine atmosphere you get in most marinas. It served a purpose during the fresh showery weather and I am well rested and stocked up for my next move up the coast to Salcombe.