Getting settled back in

Back in Penarth it all felt like home somehow. We ended up on the same berth, the same nice neighbours, all was well. We checked out the genset, giving it a run to do a lot of washing and cooking and also used the neat feature on the new meter boards to check the  frequency of the AC power that the genset was putting out. Here it is at a very light load:

a couple of Hertz above the normal UK supply. As the load increased, so the frequency dropped a bit:

and at the full load of around 50 amps, it was sitting nicely on 50 Hz. No need to adjust the genset rpm setting even after many years and hours of service (it has done over 2700  so far).

Life deteriorated a bit when we headed through the city for a bike ride. It seems that folks have to smash bottles and glasses after consuming their contents nowadays and leave the debris all over the paths and roads. The captain had a nice shard of glass that slit open the heavy duty front tyre and made a mess of the tube too: He was delighted to have to remove the wheel (with the motor inside it) and exhume the poorly tube:

The little Brompton tool kit is great - having all the kit needed to do the job and good quality stuff too. The nice little lump of glass was duly removed and photographed for posterity too:

Then it all went wrong. We had a nice new inner tube with us as an emergency replacement in case of a puncture. The old rather shredded one was removed and the captain then tried to pump a little air into the new tube to help insert it into the tyre. Only the standard pump supplied with the bike would not fit onto the valve properly. Some bad words ensued. Having carted around all the things we needed (so we thought) and got suitably grubby as well, we couldn't complete the job. No other cyclists around to borrow a pump from so we gave up. The crew cycled back (amazing really as she had to find her own way) and the captain folded the bike, caught the train and wheeled it back to the boat. The repair then took only a few minutes, using a different pump.  We live and learn.

To collect our car, we booked a train ticket back to Hythe. We'd never done that during the summer holiday season and have no desire to do it again. The train was busy, plenty of annoying children squealing and running around although we have no idea how as the corridor was full of luggage. Why? Because they are using old commuter trains that used to run from Reading into London and guess what, commuters were packed in tightly and didn't tend to carry luggage. Horrid rolling stock, not at all suitable for the longer Cardiff to Portsmouth services. They were not looking too good either, this was one of the notices, hanging down from the ceiling:

The double sided tape gave up between Salisbury and Romsey and the thing half fell out of the window, luckily not hitting anyone on the way. However, we had the very best "Train Manager" ever. He really tried to make folks smile on the overcrowded unsuitable old train. As an example, here is one of his announcements which he delivered with excellent comic timing:

"Ladies and gentlemen we are now approaching my favourite place, one that I would love to live in but will never be able to afford to. Each time I go through on the train it is like a dagger being driven into my heart. Where is this glorious place I hear you ask? Well, we are now approaching the lovely Bath Spa".  

He was the best bit of a grim GWR service.

We recovered the car from its summer captivity and had a much nicer ride back - quicker too. Suddenly it felt as though we had settled back in.

The local man who took several great pictures of us arriving by boat sent us these too. This one shows the Cardiff Bay barrage, the three entrance locks, protected by the breakwaters and immediately to the left, Penarth Marina. You can see how horribly muddy and brown the Bristol channel water is compared to the fresh water in the bay which looks appealing and blue:

Our resident photographer also captured us during the monster polishing session that was needed on the port side of the hull. Look carefully and you can see the join:

Luckily the transom was done, although you can still enjoy the half fender stopping rain from getting into the exhaust pipe - classy stuff:

Plymouth to Penarth

As the three day weather window was rapidly turning into a two day version, we opted to head straight to Penarth from Plymouth. The trip is around 215 nautical miles from berth to berth, which is 398 Km or so for the land based folks. Planning said it would take about 33 hours to complete. The run west on the south coast of England would involve a lot of contra tide so that we could take advantage of a fair tide at Land's End and, most importantly, on the final leg to Cardiff where the tides are VERY strong.

We departed Mayflower marina at a most unsociable 5:30am and headed out to sea in fog. Great way to start a trip. Based on the forecast, there would be plenty of fog banks to negotiate too. At least it was way calmer then we had seen in ages:

6.3 knots wind speed was amazing. The sea had almost calmed down from the prior gales / strong winds so we only had a metre or so of wave height and some residual swell on the nose. Quite a nice trip, only we were glued to the radar / AIS and keeping a good watch out ahead of us for pot markers as they loomed out of the fog. Visibility varied from poor to non existent. 

The trip had plenty of dolphin fun to watch as the fog cleared a little and we approached the Lizard peninsular:

This video only captures one of them playing in our bow wave but gives you an idea of how the Nordhavn managed the swell left from the strong winds:

The iconic Land's End area looked like this to us:

and we only "saw it" on the radar screen:

as we followed this path around Longship's lighthouse

;

chasing a vessel of some description that didn't have AIS but showed up nicely on our radar and was tracked by the ARPA function (green circle no 13 on the image above)

Amazingly, once clear of the lighthouse and rocks, the visibility started to improve and we saw some hazy sun:

As we overhauled the radar target, it turned into a ghost like yacht:

By the time we reached here, things had brightened up dramatically:

as you can see:

Nice calm seas, a gentle following wind, sun, the north Cornish coastline to watch (first time we saw land since leaving Plymouth despite the route not being that far offshore). We were almost sad when sunset came, but as it was a spectacular one, we forgave it:

During the long haul up the Cornwall / Devon coast, we were aghast at the conversation between the coastguard and a pleasure vessel near Lundy. They reported that they had lost their electronics, but the engine and propulsion system was fine. Basically they were lost and either didn't have a chart and a compass or didn't know how to use them. The Appledore lifeboat was called out to the position they reported as just west of Lundy Island. As you can see from the lifeboat track, they actually found the casualty well to the east of it, and then escorted it into the harbour:

An uneventful run followed - little other traffic but the FLIR saved us a couple of times, spotting pot markers that we had to divert around. That piece of kit is worth each one of the many many pounds it cost. 

Sunrise was quite beautiful too:

but as we approached and passed Hartland Point, the wind ignored the forecast and came from the wrong direction - ie right on the nose or only just off it. It also managed gusts to 38 knots and a regular 30. So, it was a bit bumpy. As we headed further up the Bristol Channel, the wind strength dropped but stayed stubbornly in an unexpected direction, making us nod our way through the waves that it was pulling up as it blew against the direction of the strengthening tide:

Frustrating - it also meant that we lost a lot of speed bashing through the waves at the planned cruising rpm. It is important to get up to Cardiff before the tide turns against you so we ran a little harder for the last couple of hours or so to make up for the speed loss thanks to the sea conditions. Yes, a wild 1800 rpm which many owners treat as their normal coastal cruising power anyway. Approaching Cardiff, we made the only diversion that was needed on the entire trip for another vessel. This strange looking cargo guy cut very close inshore across the spit at Lavernock - an area normally frequented by pleasure craft only, not commercials:

So, we had to jink around his stern which meant missing the 14:15 lock into Cardiff Bay. They are every 30 minutes so we gently pottered up to the barrage ready for the 14:45 instead in glorious sunshine but with a salt encrusted filthy boat:

As you can see, we had a personal photographer too. John is the man who kindly posted some pictures of us on Marinetraffic before and he happened to be fishing as we entered the lock.The captain and crew looked suitably tired:

Yes, before you ask, the crew did end up with a salty bum from sitting on the foredeck lockers.

Departure from the lock was captured too:

Cue the old line of "does my bum look big in this?"

Here is the last part of our route:

It was satisfying and good to get back into the marina in Penarth, although it felt strange to be here so early in the summer. We say summer but as it really hasn't been anything like normal weather, hence our early return.

The trip took nearly 34 hours berth to berth. Most of it was at 1650 rpm doing just under 6.3 knots through the water - we are still very full of fuel and hence heavy. We had also picked up some hull fouling from  our two week stay in Plymouth. There is no maintenance news to report. We didn't even manage to blow a navigation light bulb. Sorry. 

A social whirl, of sorts and a summer storm

Enjoying our unexpected extra  time in Plymouth, we dug out the little Brompton bikes and headed into the City. A stop at the rather good coffee stall that also sells good cannoli was a must:

spoiled only by a woman on the next table sucking away at a cigarette and making clouds of noxious smoke. The sooner it is banned outside as well as inside the better.....

We met up with Michael, the owner of Coracle a Nordhavn 40, chatted about the ever lengthening list of things to do on a boat and had an excellent lunch together in the Barbican area, going to a restaurant that isn't dog friendly. Sorry Izzy, sometimes we do frequent places that don't like you.

On a (rare) totally dry day, we cycled to Saltram house, a National Trust property outside the city. The route involved some nice waterside paths and the odd bit of unpleasant local road. Only around 15 miles but most enjoyable. The house is pretty impressive:

but the queue for the tea room was less so. After an eternity, (the National Trust really need to look at how they organise such places!) we enjoyed our coffee and scones as far as the local wasp colony would allow. Kind of a half successful trip. Good exercise though. Overtaking a "proper road bike" on the way back when climbing a steep hill impressed / amazed the other cyclist. He didn't spot the electrical assistance we enjoyed on our tiny Bromptons. 

Excursions got curtailed a little thanks to storm Antoni. Rather unseasonal to have a named storm in August and forecasts like these:

and even before it arrived, stuff like this:

Since the weather wanted us to stay locally, we decided to take the train to Exeter. We've visited before and really like the city and area, plenty to see and do and some lovely old buildings like these:

It still seemed suitably "prosperous" despite having the usual smattering of closed shops and restaurants. 

The arrival of the storm meant a day staying on board. Plenty of baking and tinkering and not much more. The wind gusts at Berry head were measured at 78 mph. Berry Head is only 25 miles away from our mooring so you can imagine that it was a "bit fruity". Plenty of little waves and the boat rolled a bit in the bigger gusts. Apart from the creaky rope noises, all was well though. The following day was rather a relief - a relatively tame force 5 to begin with which felt like a calm day in comparison, despite being officially a "fresh breeze"

We continued our local exploration on foot and by bike and were delighted to finally see a nicer weather window for a trip around Land's End coming up. Not a long one and more strong winds afterwards but maybe there would be three days of relatively (yes, everything is relative) calm winds, allowing the seas to decrease and a more pleasant trip to be undertaken. Of course, forecasts can be wrong and based on this year so far....

So, we had  a last "day out" on the train to Dawlish, a proper old school seaside town resort. It reminded the Captain of how Great Yarmouth used to be in his childhood,  Yarmouth is rather different today and not in a better way. Great walk around the seafront promenade and along the river, In the older part of the town we just felt that this place was not a good advert for the company that inhabited it:

Yes, the sign does say builder and decorator. We don't think that corporate identity and advertising are their strong points somehow.

After some final weather checks, boat checks and a supermarket raid, we felt that the time had come to officially give up on the pretty grim summer of 2023 (way too windy) and head back to Penarth.