The day following loading Elektra’s sailing gear looked good for a day sail. The forecast saying almost no wind picking up to easterly force 3, there was a strong wind warning out of easterly force 6-7 for the following 5 days. Normally we would have gone aboard and gone over to the Precuil River before hand, but our car was booked in for a MOT on the Wednesday, so for now, only a day sail was possible.
I awoke early, had some breakfast and drove down to St Anthony. I launched the dinghy, pushed off from the shore and pulled the cord twice before the motor started, pulling away with just a little choke, before shutting it off halfway across to the narrows, 10 minutes I was climbing aboard Elektra. Then unlock the cabin, plug in and fit the chart plotter, plug in and fit the tiller pilot, I put on my lifejacket and took the sail cover off, hook on the main halyard, fill out the header of log sheet ready. Then I had to anchor the dinghy off because I wasn’t taking it with me. I started the engine and switched on the instruments. Then I walked forward and pulled the chain and anchor back aboard, cleaning the mud off it as it came aboard, by the time I got back to the cockpit at 0845hrs, Elektra had drifted with the tide back down stream to the dinghy, so I let the dinghy slide along the starboard side of Elektra and away from her bow before pushing the control lever into forward turning to starboard and heading for the channel, with 0.8m under keel. out over the channel it was 1.4m and once out into Gillan Harbour 2m.
There before getting into the moorings, I pulled up the mainsail and tided the halyard ends and reefing lines. Then motored her though the moorings and out of the harbour, turning to port around Carcrock East Cardinal Buoy. From there I pulled out the genoa and turned off the engine, the wind was showing northeast force 2 and “Elektra was logging 2kts SOG north across Helford River entrance. I tacked Elektra to a starboard under the cliffs between Mawgan Sheer and August Rock Buoy in a east-southeast direction. With the wind being so light she would point tight to the wind, I needed to bear away a bit to keep Elektra moving.
I tacked her again to port once east of Nare Point, from here the wind filled in a little more and Elektra was logging 3kts SOG in 6-7kts of wind from the northeast, with the wind picking up a little more halfway across Falmouth Bay, Elektra would now point better, and we were heading north-northeast. It wasn’t looking like we would be east enough to pass Pendennis Point on the this tack. I would of continued in under the cliff before tacking again, but we were closing in on a some sort of work boat, I started looking for maybe a dive flag, but they are never easy to see when the vessel up wind. The work chap at that moment grabbed end of the flag and turned it toward me, so there was no doubt that she was a dive boat. At which point, I tacked Elektra to starboard and away from her.
We continued in this direction, until halfway across the entrance into the Carrack Roads, before tacking again to port. My plan had been to sail up the Carrack Roads to Channels Creek anchor for lunch and then come back, but when we got into Black Rock, I thought we would be fighting the tide all the way up there and all the way back. So decided to head into St Mawes instead. The wind seemed to change direction to east once in the shelter of the Roseland and Elektra was pointing, and was going northeast towards St Mawes harbour, sailing right into the moorings before starting the engine and rolling away the genoa. With a falling tide I motored Elektra up river though the mooring and droped anchored at 1130hrs having logged 9nm. About half hour later Elektra grounded on the soft level mud bottom, low water of 0.3m was at 1350hrs, but being a lovely day I was quite happy to get on with a few jobs and later sitting in the cockpit and having lunch.
Elektra lifted off again at 1500hrs, and I pulled up her anchor at 1545hrs, motored her back down the Percuil River and out past the moorings before starting to sail again. Nice a still calm inside the Carrick Roads, but once out in Falmouth bay, the swell had built up though the day and it was a quite uncomfortable motion, still very little wind, Elektra was rolling. I thought about motoring but continued to sail back across the bay, until entering Gillan Harbour, I started her engine again and motored her in. With the strong east wind forecast for the next 5 days, I countinued in though the narrows into Carne Creek and dropped anchor at 1730hrs having logged 16nm for the day. It took a while to pack everything away and get back ashore, but I was home by 1915hrs.
Love Sailing 