After the last day sail on Friday, it had got me in the mood for more sailing, and Sunday was looking good. The forecast was NNW force 3 and Elektra sails very well in a light breeze. One out to the mooring and aboard Elektra, I started getting here ready to leave, what wind there was blowing west out of Gillan Harbour. so I pulled up the full mainsail. I hadn’t started Elektra’s engine, I walked up onto the bow with dinghy and attached painter to Elektra’s mooring before dropping over the side. The wind gently pushed Elektra towards the sea as I walked back to the cockpit from the bow. And turning her out towards Carcroc East Cardinal Buoy, she was logging 2kts, soon after I turned her north-northeast to cross Falmouth Bay, I pulled out and set all her genoa. This only increased her speed by half a knot.
She continued to log 2.5kts in almost no wind across the entrance to the Helford River, and then from nowhere suddenly it was blowing northwest force 4 on a flat sea, and Elektra took off across the bay at over 5kts. The crossing of Falmouth Bay continued like this, wind up and down until we reached Black Rock in the entrance to the Carrick Roads. Then in the Road the wind seemed a little more stable and I rolled the genoa up a little to give me a bit more visablity with other yachts and boats about. Our first tack was under St Mawes Castle across to Falmouth harbour breakwater, before then tacking again onto the making port tack almost into St Just in Roseland. The next tack took us over just south of Mylor, before tacking and oridnaly heading for Turnaware Point but after the deep channel, the wind changed and Elektra’s best heading was west-northwest. The next tack took us back to north of Mylor, over the shallows, there was 1.5m showing under the keel, which was possibly only 1.1-1.2m allowing for heel (bilge keel yachts go deeper when they heel). I hadn’t ajusted the settings on the new sounder because most of the season it hadn’t worked at all. 1.2m under the keel is plenty really, but it makes you think ” I hope there isn’t a sunk boat sitting on the bottom” when logging 4-5kts!
Because Elektra was heading for a group of learning sailors, I tacked her north again, this time heading for Turnaware Point, we were still in shallow water until getting bact to the channel. Knowing Elektra would crossing over the shallows again east of the channel and still 1.5hrs before low water. I decided it was time to turn around and head south. Heading south it seemed like the wind had disappered, except Elektra was still logging 3kts. The dinghy racing had started, I like to keep clear of racing yachts and dinghies, but the problem is sailing south, I had no idea of the course they were following and going towards the back of the fleet quite often ends up where they are going next!
I was happier once we were south of them, so I didn’t have them to avoid anymore. I had pulled the mainsail down, because going down wind it takes the genoas wind, Elektra has a masthead rig and her genoa is twice the size of the mainsail, quite often sailing off the wind she goes faster without the mainsail. The idea would be a mainsail and cruising chute or spinnaker, but with my lack of balance (I crushed my foot with a tree back in 2009), so I don’t like going on the foredeck to deal with those sorts of sails.
We continued on south out of the Carrick Roads and into Falmouth Bay, turning south-southwest the sail angle was slightly better for the sail across the bay back to Gillan, lots of other yachts still on full sail but not going any fasted. We sailed into Gillan, just starting Elektra’s engine to get back on her mooring. She had logged 17.5nm in 5.5hrs
Love Sailing 