Just a quick update to let you know we're now in Plymouth Sound. We sailed (and I mean sailed!) from Salcombe to here yesterday with Force 6's on the stern. We were making good time but as we approached Plymouth the wind dropped and the the motion worsened (it was already bad as it often is with wind from behind) so instead of making it to Fowey we chickened out and dropped anchor in Jennycliff Bay (Plymouth Sound) where I sit right now doing a VAT return while Rose and Nina enjoy a free trip the aquarium (using last year's ticket which lasts a year for some reason).
Another reason for cutting the trip short was that our autohelm was unable to handle the conditions so we were having to hand steer. It's amazing how tiring that is - and tiresome - and a problem when the sails need regular trimming, and Nina needs attention, and I need a fried egg sandwich, all at the same time.
Turns out the autohelm is set to a maximum angle of steer of 15 degrees each way from dead centre... the rudder can do more like 45 degrees so I'm going to play with the literally dozens of settings to see if I can't improve things for our next trip.
Must dash, VAT return beckons...
2nd July 2014 - Plymouth Sound
2nd July 2014 - Plymouth Sound
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Hope the weather is good in Plymouth. I suspect that downwind is not the favourite point of sail for a boat like yours. Ours is a bit rolly downwind, much better upwind. Sounds like your biggest issue is a lag time between orders being sent down to the galley and stuff coming back to the helm. Not sure there is an easy fix for that!
Good luck with the VAT man!
Good luck with the VAT man!
Towser didn't seem to mind. We were making nearly 7 knots at times (including about 1 knot tide assist). Just a tad faster and we'd have been surfing those waves!
Galley staff problems are even worse today, had to make my own fried egg sandwich!
Galley staff problems are even worse today, had to make my own fried egg sandwich!
To join our mailing list and receive notification of blog updates, please send an email to watchblog@yacht-forum.co.uk and we'll keep you posted. You do not need to sign up to the forum to do this, and we absolutely WILL NOT share your contact details, or send you anything but notifications of new blog entries.