Guernsey to Dartmouth UK

We really hadn’t taken Blue Velvet to sea very much since we had returned to Guernsey in June 2020. That was largely due to the Covid-19 travel restrictions but also because we had got ourselves distracted with some fairly major house renovations. So, with the easing of the travel restrictions that came towards the end of the summer, we set about planning a 6 week mini-cruise. The Ocean Cruising Club was running a West Country gathering in Falmouth and so we signed up for that and then looked closely at what was feasible with the Common Travel Area (CTA) regulations. Southern Ireland has always been a cruising ground that we hoped to explore and, as it is part of the CTA, it should be an easy place for us to visit. So, Guernsey to Falmouth was the plan and then onwards towards Ireland, perhaps stopping at the Isles of Scilly on the way. However, as we approached our Friday 20 August departure date the weather forecast offered a nice alternative to aim for. Falmouth would have us sailing close hauled for the whole passage and most likely a beat towards the end. Dartmouth, however, being a little further east would be a shorter and much more comfortable sail with the added bonus of possibly giving us the chance to spend the weekend with our friends Neil and Nici Strevens who have retired there. There was even the possibility of an easterly wind a few days later to get us from Dartmouth to Falmouth.

Approaching the Off Casquets TSS

Thursday 19 August had an excellent 10-15 knot southwesterly wind, perfect for a beam reach all the way to Dartmouth so we slipped out lines in Beaucette Marina at 0535hrs to get a favourable push from the tides around Guernsey. Half an hour later we had hoisted the sails and set course for England sailing at over 7 knots.

If we maintained that speed it would only be a 10-hour passage across to Dartmouth. So, with BV bustling along we settled back into the sailing game and started to learn a little more about our new navigation equipment. Down below at the chart table and at the helm position I had fitted new Raymarine multifunction displays and had replaced the 20-year-old Pathfinder radar with a Quantum Doppler unit which can feed the radar picture to any of the displays and overlay it onto the chart display. I had also updated the autopilot computer and sensors so there was quite a lot of new technology to get to grips with.

The shipping lanes were going to provide the ‘learn about the new radar’ phase of the passage and Mother Nature added extra realism by reducing the visibility down to 1-2km to keep us on our toes. We are already big fans of AIS which transmits ship’s positions and displays them on our chart display. Now with the new radar on we also got paints of any smaller vessels or buoys that didn’t have a transmitter. We could have that with our old system but the radar display was only at the chart table and the radar unit took so much power to run that we tended to only use it when we really had to in fog. All in all we are very pleased with the new gear. It will take a little time to really get fully comfortable with it but it is definitely a step up on what we have been used to in most areas. And, as an added bonus, whilst the autopilot is using the old drive unit, with the new computer in control it is now almost silent when operating; not something we had expected at all. 

Approaching Dartmouth

With BV zipping along on a beam reach which is her fastest point of sail, by lunchtime we were getting very close to the entrance to Dartmouth. There were still patches of low cloud but the cliffs stood out well enough. The entrance to Dartmouth opened up in front of us and the wind allowed us to sail right into the entrance where we dropped the sails and switched to motoring. 

We had pre-notified the Harbour Master that we would be arriving in case there were any special Covid procedures for yachts arriving from Guernsey; provided that we were both double vaccinated there were not. So it couldn’t have been easier. We called them up as we got into the River Dart, they were expecting us and directed us to moor up on one of the mid-stream pontoons on the Kingswear side of the river. 

The Kingswear to Dittisham steam train

We had been slightly concerned that we would have difficulty finding a mooring as the Royal Dartmouth Regatta was due to start on the Saturday after we arrived. But that was not the case and we were tied up on the pontoon with the engine switched off at 1525hrs. A 70nm passage completed in just under 10 hours.

Dartmouth, Devon, UK