After Sundays sail the wind had been quite strong and I had got on with jobs at home but we were planning a few days aboard, a little shakedown cruise to find out what we had forgotten. The forecast seemed to surggest Wednesday would be better but the wind continued for another day.
So it was Thrusday when we packed the pick-up and headed for St Anthony, I pushed the dinghy to the waters edge and pulled to trolly back to the top of the beach, we carried the bags of stores and loaded the dinghy, Vicki climbed in and I pushed the dinghy off and climbed in myself, started the engine and motored the very heavy dinghy out slowly towards Elektra. It was clear to see Elektra was bobbing up and down on a easterly swell, Vicki decided before climbing aboard Elektra that she would stow everything after our short passage across Falmouth Bay to the Precuil River. Vicki climbed aboard and I passed aboard the bags, then I removed the outboard and clamped it onto the pushpit engine mount, before linking the davit blocks to the dinghy and climbed aboard myself. Then with Vicki moving the bags to a safe place in the saloon, I pulled the dinghy up onto her davits ready to leave. Then I unwraped the main and pulled the sail up and coiled the halyard and reefing lines.
We then put on our lifejacks and I started the engine and switched on the depth, wind, chartplotter, AIS, VHF. Before heading forward to drop the swing mooring while Vicki unlashed the tiller. The foredeck was pitching quite a bit and I was glad to get back to the cockpit after dropping the mooring. Vicki had the helm the motored Elektra out between Car Croc and Dennis Head (we normally go though this gap, local knollage), while I got ready the genoa, pulled out and set. Inside Gillan Harbour it had seemed quite windy but out in Falmouth Bay not so much, with all her sail set Elektra was only logging about 3.5kts, so it took over an hour to cross the bay into St Mawes and one and a half hours before we dropped anchor in the Precuil River, our favorite anchorage. This day of blue skys, it almost seemed like summer but the wind was cold, So as soon as the anchor was down the cockpit encloser was put up, looking around in the warm of the encloser with a hot chocolate in hands it seemed like summer. Then it was time to stow all the stores, with took the best part of 2hrs to get everything ship shape.
Love Sailing 