Studland Bay to Dartmouth

27 – 30 May 2022

We plan to sail from Studland Bay to Babbacombe Anchorage in Torquay, but we now head for Dartmouth due to winds changing when we arrive. The sail is sometimes uncomfortable, as we are healing. When Ava and William feel queasy, they come and lie down in the cockpit. Once these moments pass, they head back down and entertain themselves with Lego, clay, or drawings.

Meals consist of sandwiches, light bites, and cooked dinner. Dinners are mainly an easy pasta and sauce, couscous or noodles as you do not need to stand in the galley for too long.

At 22:00, thirteen hours after departure, we move through the water at 8 knots and are welcomed by bioluminescence and a beautiful star-lit sky by nightfall.

On arrival in Dartmouth, we tie onto a visitor’s pontoon and stay for a couple of days to celebrate Ava’s 6th birthday.

The pontoon does not have water or electricity that bears no consequence, as we have a watermaker and solar panels on board. However, we need to replenish our food stocks and head over to land for bread, milk, eggs, and vegetables. We explore both sides of Dartmouth and Kingswear and welcome two pet snails aboard Susie Jane. Nova, our cat, enjoys stretching her legs and greeting fellow sailors on the pontoon. By Tuesday, we are ready to set sail for Plymouth.

Lessons Learnt:

• Prepare for stronger winds than predicted
  • We keep getting more wind than expected for the last couple of sails. In this case, it means more work and reefing in the sails when your gut tells you to.
• Take it easy
  • We want to plan and sail to the next destination before fully appreciating the current anchorage. If we continue this way, the whole trip will be a memory of fleeting moments rather than a recollection of adventure and fun where ever we have been.
• Let the children participate in sailing activities
  • Sander and I think they are too young to grasp what is happening around them, but we are amazed by how much they can do and understand. By involving them in our sailing activities, they feel part of the team.
• Get enough sleep
  • While we sail, Sander and I take mini-naps (1-1.5 hr) in the cockpit while the other is on watch. We notice that by the end of a 21-hour sail, we do not think as straight as we should. Add to this another 12 hours of general family life and then going to bed; the effect is tremendous.