St Peter Port to Plymouth

Although we were having a great time in Guernsey and Jersey was tempting not having been there for many years, we had a dilemma. We needed to give the doglet back to her owner and also there was a wonderfully settled spell of weather for a return trip across the channel:

Also in the neighbouring sea area:

For the non boating folks, slight is a dream! Only up to 1.25m which is rare in the channel area. We wanted to go into Dartmouth initially but were messed about by the marinas when we called them (handy to have a walk ashore spot with a dog on board) and even more frustrated by the harbour authority - as we've been many times before. They had a classic yacht race going on and these rather grand old ladies were occupying the mid-river buoys: 

but although the mid-river pontoons were almost empty, they didn't want us there - too long / heavy despite being on them for many years in the past. So, the decision was to head to Plymouth. Handy spot (in the Yacht haven) for Izzy as there is plenty of beach and grass nearby. Also great for Anne who would came to collect her dog as there is plenty of parking space too.

A lot of head and TimeZero software scratching went on, working out the best route over. As we wanted to wait for high enough tides to get out of the Victoria marina and over the cill, the debate was do we go north and around the top of Guernsey or south and around the bottom of the island before heading towards Plymouth. Then what course do we steer as the tides would initially take us to the east, then a long spell to the west, then back eastwards again as we approached Plymouth. The final decision was that north was faster. Tide times meant a 4:30am departure from the berth, which forced Izzy the dog to have a very early morning toilet trip ashore.

We were treated to a glorious start to the day and calm seas heading up the Little Russell channel as the sun peeped out:

which only got better and better:

and richer in colour:

Here is our track heading across, showing the lazy S bend you get by steering an almost constant course and letting the tides do their thing to optimise the trip time:

We were so lucky once again - we didn't need to alter our course at all to avoid the many ships leaving / converging on the separation zone nearby. This big container guy was the closest but we passed very safely astern:

Settling into the gentle cruise in fair weather and gentle seas, Izzy discovered a love of junk food:

even if it didn't quite taste like a burger. Her new toy kept her very amused and the crew was happily catching up on rest:

As we got closer to the English coast we decided to complete the trip on the flybridge as the weather was so lovely. Izzy is not keen on her lifejacket but has to wear it when outside of the accommodation. As you can see, she finds sea trips very stressful and struggles to settle down:

She continued to be a very chilled and sleepy dog until we spotted a pod of dolphins. This rather poor video that was quickly taken shows you a tiny part of what we / the doglet saw:

and of course, she was then totally awake, scanning the sea for the next lot:

only they didn't come. Instead we headed into Plymouth sound, passing the various old Naval installations:

giving the wing engine a run and the main engine a wide open throttle burn. As we approached the marina, a ship was being swung around and berthed ahead of us so we had to hang around for a while until the fairway was clear again:

We knew that we couldn't manage the trip without diverting for a ship somewhere!

The berth we were allocated on the outer breakwater had four huge buoys tied to it that were floating in the water. They were so large that we could not get the boat close enough to the pontoon for the crew to step off properly. So, they got hauled out of the way. The spot also had some massive captive mooring lines fitted to the cleats. No idea what normally lives there but it must be considerably larger than us.

We all settled down for food and then a chilled evening, some more so than others:

The trip over took around 13.75 hours to do the 88 nautical miles plus the harbour bits at either end. No maintenance news to report, except that the new sat dome was a pain - we were listening to a radio station through it whilst crossing the channel and it was breaking up from time to time. Most annoying, it should track the satellite OK in quite rough conditions and our trip was pretty calm. Time to tinker with the settings or get expert advice.