Sailing across to Plymouth, was a marvellous experience. It was a daytime sail, with winds slightly behind us but mostly on the beam, blowing at 15 - 18 knots. Sail trim wasn't a big demand - very much 'set and forget' sailing.
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| The last part of our route into Plymouth |
We chatted, read a bit and and even (gasp!) caught up on social media. As we faded out of and into cell phone coverage, occasionally our devices would ping and pong with notifications that had been trying to get through to us. One of these messages was from Arriën, a future Garcia owner that we had met at the Tatihou seminar in 2022. He wanted to know if we were on our way to Plymouth - he was, too!
We hopped on the VHF and decided to have a chat the old-fashioned way. It would break the boredom AND test the range of our radio. Arriën is Dutch but living in Curacao. He loves being at sea and was sailing on a boat called Lazy Otter. He had recently bought this boat in Spain and was sailing up to Plymouth as a shakedown cruise, to do some work on the boat and prepare for a big race. During our chat, we agreed to catch up in Plymouth once we were all established at anchor or tied up to a pontoon.
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| We tied up at the Mayflower Marina, across from the Royal William Yard ... but probably not the Royal William you are thinking of. It was once a Royal Navy victualling dock - now it is being gentrified. |
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A very civilized post-journey drink in the cockpit.
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Plymouth is a beautiful, well-protected natural harbour that has been home to mariners for hundreds of years. It is best known (in North America) as being the jumping-off spot for the Pilgrims that eventually settled in what would become the United States. The Plym, the Tamar and the Lynher Rivers all converge here. There are many great anchorages, shipyards and docks here. There is a large naval (military) presence, as well as fishing, cargo and private pleasure boats here. Plymouth is home to a well-known powerboat factory - Princess Yachts.
Plymouth is the home port for Pete and Tracy Goss. We met them at the Tatihou seminar and Pete gave advice to the team last year when Kate was racing The Fastnet. He and Tracy also commissioned and owned an Exploration 45 six years ago. They know the boat well and offered to come for a sail and give us some tips and pointers when we had possession of Chinook. That was an offer we couldn't pass up!
We also planned to take care of some back-home life administration, deal with some boat issues and now check in with Arriën.
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| Having Arriën over for dinner ... and looking at charts, as sailors tend to do. |
Arriën was in town to prepare for and then depart on a trans-Atlantic ocean race - the Twostar 2024. This is a two person, handicapped (for the size of the boat) competition from Plymouth to Rhode Island, Maine. Arriën and purchased a 36 foot sloop specifically to do this race (with the previous owner) and after sailing double-handed over, planned to single-hand sail back across the Atlantic to Europe. What a feat! We were in awe of his daring.
After we had settled at our marina, we walked through Plymouth to the marina where Lazy Otter was tied up and was undergoing provisioning and repairs. We toured Lazy Otter and felt it was safe, sturdy and capable ... but lacking some of the creature comforts we enjoy on Chinook. As Arriën was doing most of the repairs and upgrades himself, he was staying onboard alone, too. We invited him over for dinner and then for a meet-up with Pete and Tracy.
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| Pete give us some advice for the next few weeks of our explorations. |
During our stay at Mayflower Marina, we:
- submitted our Canadian taxes (yes, that still has to happen)
- practiced pulling out our depth and speed sensor, opening a hole in the bottom of Chinook. This was quite nerve-wracking to do for the first time and (hooray!) we didn't sink the boat!
- made a weighted log for checking the depth manually
We also explored the old town, visited the lighthouse and took in the many monuments and plaques honouring the famous that have arrived and left from this port over the centuries.
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| All the way to Australia |
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| We found a navy surplus store that I could have spent hours (and hundreds of GB Pounds) in. |
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| Everything you can think of. Seriously. |
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| Centuries-old buildings that look the same as when they were built |
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| One of the original houses (from 1600's) along New Street by the wharf |
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| Pirates! Lots of good historical info during our walks. |
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| A view of the inner harbour and fortifications |
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| The wharf where the Mayflower left for The New World |
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| Sutton Harbour |
Arriën and his wife have signed up to purchase a Garcia Explocat, but he is keen to go for a sail to try out the Exploration 45 and we have some progress to make, so he will be accompanying us to Fowey.
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