From one Oyster Mariner 35 owner to another.....

I just wanted to say a massive "Thank you" to Penny and Stuart Mack for their kind and generous donation on my fundraising page.  I have never met them, but they also own an Oyster Marina 35 - "Meltemi of Rhu" - there were only 17 ever made 30 years ago or so!
And thank you to everyone else that has also donated to EACH in support of my efforts so far - the total is slowly rising..........

Donate by clicking here.

Padstow..........Milford Haven....

Setting off towards Milford Haven

Finally the weather took a turn for the better and there were no longer any Gale Warnings for the Lundy area!

As the Padstow harbour is a lock-bound harbour, I had to wait for the required amount of tide before the gates could be opened and as soon as they were, there were several other yachts scrambling to get out - all of us had been waiting for a break in the wind. 

A puffin taking off...

I was on my way by about 10.30AM.

Milford Haven is just about due North from Padstow and as there is no coast line involved, this was more or less a straight line journey of about 70 miles.

During this journey I only saw one other yacht and a fishing boat, but countless seabirds and I reckon well over 30 different dolphins came to join me, many of them swimming in front of the bow of Brown Eyes or alongside.  Trying to sail a yacht single handed and get pictures of dolphins at the same time is not easy, but here are my best shots.

I managed to use sail power for a few hours and then, when the wind dropped below 10kts I had to resort to using the engine, but at least this meant I would arrive at Milford whilst it was still light.

An angry, but beautiful night sky.

Brown Eyes has an auto-pilot, which allows me to leave the wheel and have the confidence that she will continue steering on the same bearing; it is a belt driven device that is mounted next to the ship’s wheel and linked to a compass.  As you can imagine this is a very useful device, although I must still maintain a ‘watch’ at all times.

About an hour out from Milford Haven that belt snapped!  Not only did it snap, it jammed the wheel so that steering became very difficult and it became obvious to me that I would have great difficulty maneuvering in a tight area if it  remained like that.

I throttled back on the engine and grabbed the auto-pilot manual.  The only thing it said in the manual about the belt was- 'The belt should be replaced by a professional'!  Nothing to say how it could be removed or what to do if the belt becomes jammed! 

  

In the end my solution was to remove the whole auto-pilot unit, which at one point involved removing the wheel so that I could not steer Brown Eyes at all - and while all this was happening the sun was getting lower.

The auto-pilot removed.

Once I had removed the auto-pilot, normal steering was returned and I was able to carry on with my journey.  I decided to find a buoy to moor off and enter Milford Haven Marina the following day - Anita had told me there was a birthday present waiting for me there!!

Milford oil refinery at night.

A tanker on it's way in to Milford Haven.

With the last drop of light I managed to pick-up a buoy in Dale bay about 5 miles short of Milford.

My overnight bay.

So today it was just a leisurely motor further up the river and through another lock into Milford Haven Marina.....simples!

The lock leading into Milford Marina 

Safely in Milford Marina

Just a reminder.......

Just a reminder about why I am taking on these 3 challenges to raise money for East Anglian's Children's Hospices:

EACH support children and their families with the challenges that having a life-threatening condition can bring.  Services may be provided in the family home, the community or the hospices.


The range of services include.....

• Day care in the family home or hospice, or both
• Overnight breaks in the hospice, including families to stay if they wish
• Support for children & young people (including siblings) and parents & grandparents
• Symptom management support and advice
• 24 hour telephone support
• Music therapy
• Therapies - physio, occupational and hydro
• Specialist play
• Spiritual care
• Family information service
• End of life care in the family home or the hospice depending on family preference
• Annual memory days.

Please make a donation to this worthy cause by visiting my fundraising page by clicking here:

Steve's Fundraising Page

Newlyn to........Padstow, via Lands' End

For some reason getting around Lands' End had become a bit of a mental hurdle to me.  It is certainly hyped up in many of the sailing almanacs, talking about tidal gates, riptides, rocks etc, etc.  But I knew it was something I had to do if I wanted to complete this challenge and it had to be soon if I wanted to take advantage of the fair weather.  So off I set.

I was surprised not to see any other yachts heading the same way as me, but then it was a Monday morning and most people would be back at work after the weekend. I had plotted my route carefully, not taking any of the potentially hazardous routes, taking a wide berth around the many rocks and outcrops featured around that part of the Cornish coast.

These guys are crazy......paddling near Lands' End!

It was only as I passed Longships lighthouse that I saw 3 other yachts and none of us were going in the same direction!  Obviously this is quite a junction for passages to the Scilly Isles, Eire and those going N to S or S to N within Cornwall or further afield.

Visibility was getting worse as I rounded Lands' End itself, however I was treated to the spectacle of a helicopter landing on top of the lighthouse - I hadn’t even realised that it had a flat roof just for that purpose until it was going in to land.

Lands' End in sight

Apart from that, rounding Lands' End was uneventful and I had made it in good time, ready to push on to Lundy Island. I celebrated the milestone by eating a packet of Jaffa Cakes.....one of my weaknesses!

Longships Lighthouse

Is he really going to land on there.....?

Several hours later I was still sailing along happily, making good time, I discovered I was loosing electrical power to my instruments.  Checking below deck it appeared my batteries (which I rely on for power when not “plugged-in” to the shore) were almost dead.  No problem I thought, I will just start my engine (it has a separate battery) and charge them up again...........that battery was dead as well!  Thinking back to the last time I had been plugged-in, I had been in Falmouth; I remember unplugging my shore lead and the display at the socket was reading “error” - I had obviously not been drawing power for the past 2-3 days and Brown Eyes had been relying purely on battery power!

Setting up the tow.

So there I was, with no way of starting my engine, no power and a long way to go. My choices were to sail on and try to anchor somewhere (but that would not solve the problem of the lack of power) or ask for help.  Out came the mobile; 999, “Coastguard please.” 

Off we go......

After discussing the problem with the Coastguard the decision was reached to send out the RNLI to tow me into Padstow, I was only about 6 miles away - the entry into the lock-controlled harbour there is too difficult just to sail into.  
And that is what happened; the lifeboat appeared, they launched a RIB which dispatched two members of the RNLI onto Brown Eyes, a towline was set up and we went to Padstow.

Padstow - safe and sound.

So I have to say a massive “Thank you” to the Coastguard, the RNLI and the Harbour Master and his staff at Padstow for helping me out and ensuring both mine and Brown Eyes’ safety.  They were all brilliant!

Brown Eyes in Padstow Harbour

 The batteries are now charged up and one of the RNLI lads has sorted out (removed) my hot water-tank leak - his day job is as a plumber.  This means no on-tap hot water until I get a new one fitted, but that is only a minor inconvenience.

Really???

Falmouth to .........Newlyn

Leaving Falmouth behind

Lighthouse of the day..... 

I had originally planned to make it around Lands' End today, but the wind was not strong enough to give me the pace I required to catch the tidal gates, so after a while I admitted defeat and headed to Newlyn and anchored up outside the Harbour wall for the night.

Brown Eyes has a hot water tank, heated by the engine (when it’s running) but unfortunately one of the ridged joints has sprung a leak and now when I run the engine it starts to lose water.  I have tried tightening the joint and used plumbers tape, but I think I will need to call in a professional when I get the chance.  The tank is not an original feature of this yacht and has obviously been fitted later on and is only held in by a canvas strap and some plywood, the vibration of the engine has obviously damaged the joint and there is no way to isolate the tank.

The entrance to Newlyn Harbour

Tomorrow I will hopefully round Lands' End; this will be the furthest West I have sailed in the UK.  It will be a long day, but one I am looking forward to; all part of the challenge.

Newlyn