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 19th 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.
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.
