...and we're off, though not very far

Current Location: Mehalah, Mylor Marina, Cornwall. Us, Ebley, Gloucestershire.

Finally it was time to leave Sutton Harbour. Fuel pontoon first, throttle seems a bit fast. Fill up with diesel, no problem. Throttle seems VERY fast before engaging gear. Something is very wrong and the harbour lock is not the time to find out that we can't control the boat! So we reverse back into our old berth and I went down to look at the engine to try and see what's wrong. Ah, the pesky Morse cable has slipped. That's my fault I'm afraid. Fixed it whilst Gilly made coffees for our friends on Cofdrop and Twenty 3. Off again, locked in and then locked out of Sutton Lock and out into Plymouth Sound, all at the sedate speed that you need in a marina. Phew!!

The twin aims of the next few days were to get the boat to the River Fal ready for jumping off to France or Spain and to try out everything we had fixed or added since October.

First off, Fowey. A gentle sail and nothing broke. We called up our friends in the Rame Head Coastwatch station and they confirmed a good radio signal and that they could see us on AIS. Rounding the corner in drizzly weather we took a visitor's mooring ball very neatly and got the dinghy ready for a trip ashore. Damn, the engine won't start and it's leaking petrol. Not good Jenny after all that work over Christmas. So we chilled out and watched the dinghy racing. I think we were a mark as they all tacked past us.

Racing all around us at Fowey.

We opted for another day in Fowey doing odd jobs. I spent time trying to fix the dinghy engine and also sorted an issue with the autopilot which was happily turning us to starboard but not to port. One of the connection blocks had come loose in the control box (we had to find the control box first)!

Fixing the autopilot contol box. Connector block had come loose.

It was the time for jobs that were pushed down the list whilst on the hard or in Sutton Harbour. Gilly spent a very energetic afternoon using neat white vinegar to clean up the blue topsides which have been painted with Awlgrip, a proprietary paint system. Very smart she looks too now. But the dinghy and Gilly smelt like a fish and chip shop at the end of the excercise!

Using the magic white vinegar to clean the blue topsides.

It's peaceful and sheltered in Fowey harbour and we enjoyed our 2 days there.

Sunset in Fowey.

Next it was a slightly longer sail to St Mawes at the entrance to the Fal river. It was slow to start with so we checked our newly repaired bilge pumps were operating [they were, thanks Dave], confirmed the autopilot was fixed and tested out yet another solution to stop the prop shaft rotating. It's a long story but basically with a hydraulic gearbox which we have discovered is the type we have then the prop shaft wants to continue rotating when we are sailing as opposed to motoring. Normally you can stop this by putting her in reverse but with a hydraulic box this does not work. It whines and vibrates as it rotates and wears the bearings. There's loads of debate as to whether stopping the rotation slows the boat down or not but we decided that for us it was more important to stop the rotation. Mark 1 solution was really neat using a modified Quashqai disk brake [thanks Chris] but we were concerned it could fail 'on' when we wanted to drive the boat forward. Mark 2 [thanks Mike] was effectively a wide jubilee clip clamped across an anode but that solution requires some delicate positioning of the band (you can see the anode in place below awaiting the band). Mark 3 was simply a piece of string from the Morse cable bracket to a bolt on the rotating shaft. It worked great until we got to 4.8 knots when the string broke. I think we need a thicker string!

'Almost' the final shaft brake solution.

We had a cracking sail as we approached St Mawes. 13 knot N wind, flat sea and a smooth, smooth ride at 6-7 knots briefly touching 8.3 knots. She sails beautifully.

After a night in St Mawes at anchor for the first time we motored up the Fal and anchored in Channel Creek below the famous National Trust house of Trelissick, just south of the pontoon we had stayed on last year. We launched our dinghy and I got its engine going again and we started off against the current to the main house entrance. After 200 yards it stopped and we just managed to catch hold of the pontoon before having to row hard back to the boat. Drat and double drat. I finally admitted defeat. Not the float, not the needle valve, petrol dripping in the water. Not good.

Back at Trelissick House with Mehalah anchored in Channel Creek.

That night we heard a nightingale singing. At least we thought we did until we realised it's a) the wrong time of the year, b) they are extremely rare in Cornwall and c) it sounded exactly like a robin's song.

Without a dinghy engine we needed to stay out of the tidal flow so next day we rowed to the edge of the bay and walked up and down the coast for few miles, taking in a coffee at Trelissick House on the way. Then back to the boat where Gill completed the steering chain servicing. Now the wheel doesn't stick at all when you turn it.

Gilly at work cleaning the muck from the steering sheaves.

All the time we were finding odd things we still needed to buy so a big internet shopping order was sent off, hoping that the various bits and pieces would get to either Ebley or Mylor marina before we set off for France. We had decided not to leave Mehalah on the pontoon this time when we returned for the last time to Ebley so we booked her into Mylor Marina just south of our anchorage. It's quite a hairy approach when you don't know it. Hundreds of moored boats, shallow water and a narrow and difficult channel, especially as we hadn't been able to recce it by dinghy first. All went well though. A beautiful but foggy early morning gave way to a flat calm morning and we picked our way through almost at high water.

Gorgeous Mylor Marina, gorgeous weather and gorgeous wife! 

Now it was time to chill, drink coffee and put the engine in for repair. Mylor is a super marina, privately owned, well run and very friendly (if a little on the pricey side). More packing and ordering of the last small bits and pieces and then a five mile walk along the coastline to Flushing close to Falmouth town. Very nice.

Next day was departure day. Final jobs and then Trevor and Karen (whose boat is called Twenty 3) arrived to take us back to their house in St Austell and to reunite us with our car. We spent a great evening with them capped off with a meal at Wreckers in Charlestown, the home of the TV programme Poldark.

Charlestown, home of Poldark of TV fame.

Next morning after an excellent fried breakfast (thanks Trevor) we drove back to Ebley via Plymouth where we picked up the shortened stainless steel bars to hold the wind steering gear.


Since then, back in Ebley we've been watching the weather forecast for a window to cross the channel and possibly head on down across Biscay to north western Spain. Friend Linda hopes to join us, weather and timing allowing and hopefully we'll meet up with JoJo and Simon (first met in Dominica) on the way. We shall see. Tomorrow we are back to Cornwall before finally setting off south hopefully on Friday or Saturday although at present it's not looking too good!

The darker the colour the windier the weather!

For previous posts see: www.yachtmehalah.blogspot.com