Haslar

Vic and I have motor sailed to Haslar, where we are berthed by the green lightship that serves as a bar and shore facilities. We will have a day in Portsmouth tomorrow, returning on Sunday.

A few more pictures

The dolphins were definitely a highlight.  Andy spotted a fin some way off.  Within a few minutes a whole pod of about thirty had joined us and spent half an hour swimming in the bow wave.  Steve got some good pictures:

And here is a shot of the skipper:

Back in Southampton

We left Weymouth at 0900 this morning.  It was a very warm day, with light easterly winds.  We motored along the Dorset coast, past St Aldhem's Head, across Poole Bay, Christchuch Bay, through the Needles Channel and into the Solent.  Toucando arrived in Southampton at 1700 having completed about 434 miles since leaving Howth last Sunday.  Many thanks to the crew, Andy and Steve, who kept us going through many hours of motoring in light airs.  Pictures are being added to previous posts, and the account will be improved over the next couple of days.

Highlights: a few hours of sailing off Lizard Point..being escorted by a large pod of dolphins.. all our ports of call... many helpful people we met along the way, including the crew of Windcat in Arklow, the Newlyn Harbour Master, and the Diesel man at Weymouth.

Toucando is now looking forward to settling into her new home in Southampton and many further voyages.  Now for a well deserved rest.

More detail

Here is a more detailed update… Steve (Gravells) and Andy (Peter) joined Toucando on Saturday afternoon (16/04/11).  We benefitted from some further briefing and discussion with David and familiarised ourselves with the boat.

David Hopkins and Barry O'Loughlin - the builders of Toucando

On Sunday we set off at 0945, with David and Barry escorting us out by motor boat.  As soon as we rounded Howth Head we ran into fog, which rather limited the opportunity for Barry to take pictures.  We crossed Dublin bay and worked towards Arklow inside the banks which lie a few miles off the east coast of Ireland.  The whole day alternated between fog and haze.  We got some good views of the coast when the fog cleared.

The genius of electronic navigation brought us to Arklow, where we moored in the dock alongside Windcat… a big motor catamaran whose job is to service the wind farm on the Arklow bank. We had travelled 33 miles through the water… with about another seven thanks to the tide.  Arklow is very much a working port.  In the dock we were surrounded by fishing boats and other commercial vessels.

In the morning the Windcat people arrived at about eight, shared a weather forecast and chatted.  We set off at 0945 towards Cornwall.  We knew it would be a passage of about 36 hours. We wanted to take advantage of the good weather for our crossing of the Irish Sea.  Apart from a small coaster just after leaving Arklow we saw no shipping, large or small for many hours.  Night fell and we saw The Smalls lighthouse on Skokholm off the SW tip of Wales some 25 miles on our port side.  We continued through the night across the Bristol Channel, with very little to report, only passing a couple of ships.

On the morning of Tuesday 19^th we were able to get the sails up, turn off the engine and sail down to Land’s End.  Visibility at sea was good, but the land itself was obscured by haze until we were a few miles off.  We had a good view of Cape Cornwall, Longships lighthouse and Land’s End itself.  The sea was pretty flat, as it had been for our whole crossing of the Irish Sea and Bristol Channel.  Winds were light easterlies.

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Longships Lighthouse, with Land's End behind

From Land’s End were were using the engine again as we piloted our way to Newlyn Harbour.  The passage from Arklow had been 184 miles. 

Newlyn is a fishing port, and a pretty busy one.  Fishing boats large and small dominate, arriving and departing at all hours.  We were able to find a berth with access to electricity and water.  A helpful harbour master took £18 off us and gave us all the information we needed.

In the morning (20/04/11) we re-provisioned, and secured some fuel for the next leg.  We had decided to do a shorter passage to Falmouth.  Light easterlies meant there was no alternative to motor again, on a flat sea in sunny weather.  The highlight of the morning was when a pod of about 30 dolphins joined us for half an hour west of the Lizard.  They swam at the bows of the boat, leaping out of the water apparently having a very good time. We enjoyed a lunch of mackerel (bought from Trelawney’s Fish shop in Newlyn).  We rounded Lizard Point, crossed a patch of turbulent water and headed up to Falmouth.  We found a berth, but there didn’t seem to be anybody around to collect mooring fees J.  We had a couple of pints ashore at the outside tables at the Chain Locker before eating on board.  The passage from Newlyn had clocked up another 42.2 miles.

Dartmouth

We had another day motoring into the wind. We got to Dartmouth about 2200. It's an early start towards Weymouth/Portland tomorrow. I've been composing a more detailed account, which will get uploaded eventually.

 Dartmouth by night... the only way we saw it.

Arrived at Falmouth

It was a sunny day, but the wind was from the east, so the engine got a lot of use.. We're now at the Chain Locker enjoying pints of Doom Bar

We're in Newlyn

Almost 36 hours after leaving Arklow we have arrived in Newlyn. Beautiful day: sunny, light breezes, quite a bit of sailing and some motoring. More details will be posted as and when. A nice cup of tea first!

Arklow

Arrived about 1600, heading for Cornwall tomorrow. Probably arrive Tuesday evening. Won't be posting again before then.

Underway

Andy and Steve arrived yesterday afternoon. We checked out the boat and set sail at 0945 this morning. Visibility was poor as we rounded Howth Head, but is better now we're off Bray. We hope to be in Arklow late afternoon.

Running rigging

David and Barry came and we worked through the running rigging, raised the mainsail and talked through the mysteries of the topsail. Barry touched up the paintwork. The crew arrives tomorrow: the forecast is good. Everything looks ok for a Sunday or Monday departure.

Drying out

Dried out today - that's Toucando, not the skipper. We motored round to the posts at Howth Yacht Club at 0930. Low water was 1400. Toucando got a good wash and had her anodes replaced. The fin on the steering gear was attached, and her new port of registry was applied to her stern. Things are coming together for the homeward voyage. She's now safely afloat, and back on her berth. (Thanks to David for all the hard work and Gerry for helping in moving Toucando in challenging windy conditions.)

Preparations

Toucando is being prepared for her voyage to Southampton.  All the necessary supplies are being stowed.  All the equipment checked.  The crew will assemble next weekend, ready to catch the tide down the east coast.

History to date

Toucando's hull was built by Martin Heard of Gaffers and Luggers at Mylor in Cornwall.  The 35' hull is made of glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and is strongly laid up.  The design is described as a "Falmouth Quay Punt", although most such boats were rather smaller than Toucando.  FQPs serviced larger sailing vessels entering the English Channel, delivering supplies, ferrying people ashore, taking messages etc..

The late Martin Heard: builder of Toucando's hull

 

Toucando's hull was taken to Howth at the north end of Dublin Bay where her original owners completed the build, adapting the Gaffers and Luggers design to give more headroom below.  The boatbuilding, engineering and joinery skills of David Hopkins and Barry O'Loughlin combined to create a yacht with traditional working boat lines and the advantages of modern materials and technology.

Bought by Andrew Hind in January 2011 Toucando is preparing to relocate to Southampton.  On or about Sunday 17th April she will set sail towards the Solent: the voyage will take about a week.  All sailing plans are weather dependent so we will have to wait and see what it looks like as the big day approaches.

The blog will be updated as and when possible... the availability of a 3G mobile signal being a key factor.  Family, friends and followers are welcome to visit when we arrive home at the Easter weekend.