Author: Daniel

After a delightful two days in Dartmouth we sailed on to Plymouth, home to Gin since 1793 and start point of the epic voyage of the Pilgrim Fathers to the New World on the Mayflower in 1620. We visited the famous Plymouth Gin Distillery and saw the amazing National Fireworks Championships displayed at the waterfront and witnessed the first yachts finishing the Fastnet Race 2017. We left Plymouth, our westmost station, after a three days break for Salcombe which we reached after a nice 4 hours downwind sail in sunny weather. We arrived on time to see the fireworks of the Salcombe Town Regatta week, and the hilarious Crabber's Race, a traditional drag race of the local crabbing boats.

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One fine day, finally, the weather improved and so did the winds. We could continue our voyage with a 10 hour leg around Portland Bill and across Lyme Bay, our first qualifying offshore passage (>60nm and >12nm offshore). We set foot on Teignmouth, Brixham (where we weathered another storm…) and Dartmouth (which we liked best on our trip so far). Dart Marina Yacht Harbour comes highly recommended!

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Finally, the school holidays have started, once again we have successfully moved house and we are now ready to start our extended summer break on Polaris. Georgette, Felix and Nik are on board for the first episode which brings us from Haslar Marina to Portland via East Cowes and Swanage Bay. We survive our first overnight anchorage and Felix catches a singing Mackerel… In Portland we are stuck for five days due to “a period of unseasonably wet and windy weather” (The MetOffice).

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