After a sleepless night on Elektra’s swing mooring in East winds, not really ideal conditions to be aboard but we ran out of time yesterday.
By 0200hrs, l had enough and got out, we had planned to leave at 0330hrs. The night was black as l got Elektra ready to leave, fitting her tiller pilot and switched on her instruments and nav lights. Elektra was bouncing up and down on her mooring and my biggest concern at the time was dropping her mooring and getting back to the cockpit and tiller before Elektra was blown back into the yacht on the next mooring in!
But it worked out fine and l engaged forward in time having dropped the mooring at 0230hrs, l knew there was another motorboat on a mooring ahead of us but couldn’t see it in the blackness of the night, as we passed by l could just make out the waves breaking around it. After that l turned Elektra northeast out of Gillan Harbour between Carcroc and the Dennis Head as l knew from the evening before there was lots of pot markers by Carcroc Cardinal buoy and l wouldn’t see them in the blackness.
Once out clear of Carcroc l turned Elektra east into the swell and the Nare way point. I was having problems with the tiller pilot, in the dark, l couldn’t see the controls so couldn’t put it into action. Knowing Elektra was in safe ish waters l went below for a torch. Once back in the cockpit, l let the tiller pilot take control, so l would be free to set the sails. I waited until we had reached the Nare Point and turned towards Manacle Buoy and then set a reefed genoa, from here we motor sailed to Manacle Buoy, which we passed at 0330hrs. Then turning south-southeast l stopped the engine and pulled out all the genoa, Elektra was now logging 5kts towards Black Head.
We passed Black Head at 0430hrs as it was just becoming light. Turned Elektra southwest for the Lizard Point and she speeded up to 6kts and turned west at the Lizard Point for St Mary’s at 0530hrs 42nm away. Elektra was now logging 7kts SOG for the next 2hrs in the east-southeast 20kts of breeze. The forecast was for east or southeast force 4-5 for the Cornish coast but little or no wind out in Scilly. So l was thinking we would be sailing to Wolf Rock and then have to motor.
As the hours passed the sea became rough and l had to reduce sail so the tiller pilot could cope. At one point we had 2 reefs in the genoa and still logging 5-6kts. But then the wind began to ease and as it did l would unroll a bit more sail
As we slowed l checked the engine and found the coolant level low again, so l topped it up. I started looking for the problem and thought l found it when l discovered the water heater tap was turned off in the cockpit locker so the water couldn’t circulate. I was glad we had plenty of wind to sail. But the wind continued to die away and for 3/4hr around 1000hrs we only logged 2nm. So l knew we had to motor the last 20nm.
To start with we motor sailed but the wind completely died away so l rolled the genoa away and motored, not wanting to press the engine we only logged 4.5kts SOG from here.
As Wolf Rock disappeared behind us we normally expect to see Scilly from 8-9nm away but for some strange reason not today. It wasn’t long before we found out the reason was fog! Scilly was covered in fog and it eventually cleared enough for us to see the islands for the first time from 1-2nm.
We motored into the islands via Crow Sound and having missed the tide to get north into New Grimsby Sound we anchored at Porth Loo on St Mary’s at 1530hrs having logged 58nm.
I drank a bottle of larger and promptly fell asleep for 2hrs in the cockpit sunshine 🌞By then I had been awake 33hrs, after something to eat, I slept very well that night!
Love Sailing 