What a lovely week we have had since arriving in Cowes and beyond. Cowes was awash with gorgeous classic boats on our arrival which made it even more lovely then it normally is. A few chores had to be done here such as a mountain of washing some of which didn't even survive after a good wash, whoops! New regime of washing now in place, small bucket load done every evening after the days end - slightly laborious. Further car seats also purchased for the kids to have a comfy place to sit in the cockpit when needed, as well as below. A bit of sailing practise in the Solent in between it all. Our first trips out in the tender were had form our mooring up the Medina. Loaded with the washing, rubbish, pram, kids and us, it was a little full but lots of fun. The kids even fell asleep in the tender on the way back from Cowes to the boat!! What a gem of a little tender the tinker tramp is. During our stay up the Medina we had a flying visit from a kiwi sailor, GUY, who came aboard for a beer and a little chat on his ambles up the medina in a borrowed rib.
We also discovered upon our trip down from Dover that our chart plotter touch screen was not working properly. So this had to be exchanged. A swift fix at Raymarine, and all set to go further West, only to discover that upon them fixing it, they buggered up the GPS and so we no longer had any means of tracking ourselves or access to charts etc! Slightly bigger issue now. After a long call to Raymarine venting some frustration with the fact that our brand new chart plotter was not working for the second time in a few days, Rolf managed to ensure that a brand new one was to be delivered and installed to us on Monday. With this in mind we decided to leave Cowes anyway on Friday evening as planned from our very peaceful mooring up by the Folly Inn (thanks Matt and Ornya) as we do have secondary navigation equipment on our iPad. Off to Lymington we went.
Although effectively stuck again for a few days whilst waiting for our new plotter Lymington is certainly a much nicer place to be hauled up compared to Dover. A fab free kids fete was on whilst we were there which Audrey and Bertie both loved, especially the puppet show with the Beatles and One Direction (although a little churchy!) Crabbing, fishermen coming in with the days catches, salt water baths, lovely walks and a brilliant Saturday food market. We also had a fantastic evening with Tommy D who came to see us in Lymington. Was great to catch up, shame we couldn't go for a Sail, but we will hopefully have a chance to take him and the fan somewhere in the Med. James and Harry also came for a flying visit on their super fast Huntsman on Sunday.
After our new plotter was in, we decided to do a further night passage down to Dartmouth, as it worked out better time wise and is also easier with the kids. And what a fantastic night to leave the Solent. A sail past the needles was a dream come true for Rolfy, and we both felt like our trip was really starting to begin passing the Needles. A celebration whisky was had as we passed. The lions share of the night was spent sailing with a lovely North to North West Wind. Sailing at 9.5 knots at times, it was a memorable night. Learning a lot from Skipper Rolfy and my ability and knowledge to sail Maya grew a lot on this passage. We shared the night watches although Rolfy did the lions share and slept in the cockpit with me on my watches, as my confidence grows! My first sailing sunrise and sunset for the trip, and even a few dolphins in the morning to welcome us. Plotter also worked a treat which was brilliant!!
We arrived into Dartmouth midmorning. What a stunning part of England. WOW!!!! It felt like we were sailing into somewhere in the Alps. Beautiful as we rounded the corner of the river, with the village set to both sides, boats all around and glorious sunshine. A late breakfast was enjoyed and the boys had a sleep while Audrey and I had a play in a bucket of river water and did the laundry. We ventured into town later in the afternoon in the tender again and enjoyed some local ice cream as we pottered about town. We decided to continue onto to Salcombe the next day, with the high tide as it wouldn't be an early start, gets us a little further West and makes the last leg to Falmouth a little shorter.
And WOW. So thankful we did come to Salcombe. At anchor now, really feeling like the holiday of our life has just started. Enjoyed a lovely sunsetting with BBQ chicken salad, red wine, dark chocolate and glorious views from all angles of our anchorage. The shore is dotted with little beaches which we will explore tomorrow along with the town and scorching weather for our stay. We will stay here tomorrow and enjoy the town, and move along to Falmouth on Friday. We will let you know what fun we have tomorrow in Salcombe. This could even be the place to sail the Tinker Tramp Tender with the Audrey...!
We also discovered upon our trip down from Dover that our chart plotter touch screen was not working properly. So this had to be exchanged. A swift fix at Raymarine, and all set to go further West, only to discover that upon them fixing it, they buggered up the GPS and so we no longer had any means of tracking ourselves or access to charts etc! Slightly bigger issue now. After a long call to Raymarine venting some frustration with the fact that our brand new chart plotter was not working for the second time in a few days, Rolf managed to ensure that a brand new one was to be delivered and installed to us on Monday. With this in mind we decided to leave Cowes anyway on Friday evening as planned from our very peaceful mooring up by the Folly Inn (thanks Matt and Ornya) as we do have secondary navigation equipment on our iPad. Off to Lymington we went.
Although effectively stuck again for a few days whilst waiting for our new plotter Lymington is certainly a much nicer place to be hauled up compared to Dover. A fab free kids fete was on whilst we were there which Audrey and Bertie both loved, especially the puppet show with the Beatles and One Direction (although a little churchy!) Crabbing, fishermen coming in with the days catches, salt water baths, lovely walks and a brilliant Saturday food market. We also had a fantastic evening with Tommy D who came to see us in Lymington. Was great to catch up, shame we couldn't go for a Sail, but we will hopefully have a chance to take him and the fan somewhere in the Med. James and Harry also came for a flying visit on their super fast Huntsman on Sunday.
After our new plotter was in, we decided to do a further night passage down to Dartmouth, as it worked out better time wise and is also easier with the kids. And what a fantastic night to leave the Solent. A sail past the needles was a dream come true for Rolfy, and we both felt like our trip was really starting to begin passing the Needles. A celebration whisky was had as we passed. The lions share of the night was spent sailing with a lovely North to North West Wind. Sailing at 9.5 knots at times, it was a memorable night. Learning a lot from Skipper Rolfy and my ability and knowledge to sail Maya grew a lot on this passage. We shared the night watches although Rolfy did the lions share and slept in the cockpit with me on my watches, as my confidence grows! My first sailing sunrise and sunset for the trip, and even a few dolphins in the morning to welcome us. Plotter also worked a treat which was brilliant!!
We arrived into Dartmouth midmorning. What a stunning part of England. WOW!!!! It felt like we were sailing into somewhere in the Alps. Beautiful as we rounded the corner of the river, with the village set to both sides, boats all around and glorious sunshine. A late breakfast was enjoyed and the boys had a sleep while Audrey and I had a play in a bucket of river water and did the laundry. We ventured into town later in the afternoon in the tender again and enjoyed some local ice cream as we pottered about town. We decided to continue onto to Salcombe the next day, with the high tide as it wouldn't be an early start, gets us a little further West and makes the last leg to Falmouth a little shorter.
And WOW. So thankful we did come to Salcombe. At anchor now, really feeling like the holiday of our life has just started. Enjoyed a lovely sunsetting with BBQ chicken salad, red wine, dark chocolate and glorious views from all angles of our anchorage. The shore is dotted with little beaches which we will explore tomorrow along with the town and scorching weather for our stay. We will stay here tomorrow and enjoy the town, and move along to Falmouth on Friday. We will let you know what fun we have tomorrow in Salcombe. This could even be the place to sail the Tinker Tramp Tender with the Audrey...!