Molia

We chose another calm and sunny day to cross back to the UK from Guernsey, taking the tide into account. With high water in St Peter Port at 0527 we were able to leave (0445) with the tide positive between Guernsey and Herm, and past the Casquets then right into the TSS. Sunrise was at 0505.

We arrived at the entrance to Dartmouth (Kingswear Castle) in 13 hours.

We identified Sunday as a good weather day with the tide right for both leaving Portland and arriving in the channel between Guernsey and Herm.

We left the marina at 0450 and watched the sun come up as we were accelerated down the side of the Isle of Portland. After leaving the Bill, we slowed down in a very calm sea.

At the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) we temporarily increased the engine revs to negotiate the shipping. We slowed down in tide-against adjacent to Alderney, but this soon let us go and the breeze increased to allow us to sail for an hour on the approach to the Guernsey-Herm channel.

We arrived at the hopelessly overcrowded and disorganised St Peter Port holding pontoons at 1915 – however as usual the other yachtsmen were helpful and friendly, and the facilities onshore are accessible, so our overnight outside the harbour was comfortable. We were finally tied up inside the Victoria Harbour around lunchtime on Monday, next to a lovely older French couple from Brittany.

26 June 2926

Friday

A cooler day so we ventured up the hill in St Peter Port to visit the 3 towers visible from Castle Cornet yesterday, and the Candie Museum. The garden behind the Victoria Monument (pictured above) has two trophy German WW1 artillery pieces. The art gallery had an excellent exhibition of paintings of the Guernsey landscape.

25 June 2026

Thursday

Castle Cornet has defended St Peter Port since the middle ages with various degrees of success. The French captured it several times, it was besieged in the Civil War (but survived remarkably intact), and was taken over without force by the Germans in WW2.

Our water pump has been making a strange noise – not really stopping as soon as it should. On closer inspection it has been leaking from the shut-off switch on the bottom for a while. This explains the little puddle of water that appeared on the saloon floor whenever Molia was heeled over.

When we arrived in Portland, the pump completely failed to stop after the galley tap was turned off – so I decided to replace it. We have a few days here to do the work.

The original Jabsco ‘Sensor-max 14’ pump is the 35 psi 12V version, with a flow rate of 14 lpm (litres per minute). Its closest replacement is the Jabsco ‘Par Max 4HD’ with an output pressure of 40 psi – but I do not want to stress our plumbing, so chose the 25psi version that delivers 15 lpm.

The new pump was shipped overnight from the Marine Superstore in Portsmouth – we are very grateful for their efficient postage and packing, so I fitted the replacement this afternoon. Less than 48 hours from fault to finished job.

The new pump is a direct replacement – it has the very similar dimensions (perhaps its very slightly longer), but it has the same plumbing connections and even the same screw spacing!

We set off at 0900 from sunny Torquay in a light southerly wind to catch some remaining good tide into Lyme Bay. However there were larger than expected waves against us at this stage, making it a bit slow.

At lunchtime the predicted moderate wind arrived from the southwest and the waves reduced to allow us to make better speed, even as the tide turned against us in the middle part of the bay crossing.

We approached the middle of the Isle of Portland to pick up the earliest tide that flows towards the Bill on the western side. We got there at about 1730 and began the fast ride round past the lighthouse. On the eastern side we encountered a patch of fairly rough water – this is the famous race – which made the necessary gybe more difficult than it really needed to be!

Very soon we were round the Bill and back in calm water, with only a few miles to the Portland Marina. 51NM in 10 hours 15 minutes (average 4.97 kts).

Visit to Abbotsbury

19 June 2026

Waiting for good tide to go across the channel, and for the weather to get better, we took the bus to the lovely village of Abbotsbury at the other end of Chesil Beach.

We visited the Tythe Barn (and its cafe) and the abbey pond where the swans were sitting on the path and not in the water! Then the church and the Ilchester Arms for lunch, before climbing the hill fort to see St. Catherine’s Chapel on its summit overlooking Chesil Beach and Lyme Bay.

We had all day so we sailed most of the way in the light to moderate breeze, and against the tide. There was sunshine for the whole passage.

We have not been into Torquay for many years – we would recommend the marina for its excellent shelter, good facilities and very warm welcome.

On our second day in Torquay we were delighted to have Kirsten and Andy onboard for drinks in the evening sunshine.

An early slight moderation in the forecast encouraged us to make a break for Dartmouth before Thursday’s forecast of much higher wind. Added to this the sea state continued to look manageable with a maximum of 1.2m around Salcombe.

We found the forecast generally accurate, with the exception of 24kt gusts just outside Plymouth! We motored with the jib up (in various states of reefing) with the wind, waves (not too high) and tide behind us. Mostly the wind was force 5 gusting between the bottom and top of its range (17-21kts) with a few more brief showings at 24kts.

So we were at Bolt Point at 1300, Salcombe at 1400, Start Point at 1500, and Kingswear Castle at 1615. The whole trip (36.6NM) including tying-up at Noss Marina done in 6 hours and 20 minutes.

We set off early as we were aware that the weather might be chasing us! The south-westerly breeze was light to start with, gradually increasing, but did not get above moderate.

We were inside the relative shelter of the Plymouth Sound breakwater by 1315.

Overnight Storms

Luckily the berth we have at the Mayflower Marina came equipped with nylon dock lines that also have big rubber shock absorbers fitted. So to relieve the snatching from our own mooring lines, we used those provided and our night in force 8 gusts was comfortable.

Monday

Jono was with us, but the weather was not suitable for going to Dartmouth – so after a quick trip to the fuel quay, we sailed into the sound briefly, and it was windy! We had to wait outside Sutton Harbour while a Royal Navy ship manoeuvred out of Devonport, rounding the corner past the Mayflower Marina. It had several tugs and a police boat escort.

In the afternoon we made crossed on the Cremyll ferry for a walk around Mont Edgecombe. We recommend the Orangery behind Edgecombe house for a cup of tea (view of its garden above).

Tuesday

Due to high winds persisting at Salcombe and Start Point, we were not going to Dartmouth today either. We walked to the Barbican across the Hoe, and had some brunch before returning in time for Jono’s train.

We managed to sail for half this leg. We had planned sufficient time to go slowly across Mounts Bay, and were rewarded with enough wind to make a little over 4kts across the ground.

Once around Lizard Point we added the engine for an hour before the Falmouth breeze filled in with 15kts on the beam. This gave us 40 minutes of Molia’s best sailing speed under full sail, with a boat speed touching 7kts at times and an average well over 6.5kts.

As there was a Falmouth Packet race in the entrance to Carrick Roads, we took down our sails a bit earlier than usual for this location, and manoeuvred to avoid the fleet on our way up to Mylor.

We are in Mylor until the end of the week, while the poor weather goes past.

We left Padstow as soon as it was light at 0440. The sea state was smooth and there was a light SW wind mostly against us at the start, so we had to motor – the engine was on all day!

A dull morning turned to sunshine around St Ives. Jo got her fifth ‘Longships Lighthouse’ photo, and we rounded Lands End at 1330.

We arrived in Newlyn at 1600 as planned.

We left Swansea in the first lock available and felt our way out of the harbour as it was only an hour after low water. The depth showed 1.9m briefly!

A light westerly wind did not help the boat speed very much, and we motored all day.

Arrived Padstow Bay at 2105 and waited until 2200 and darkness before heading up the river. This strategy paid off as Alan opened the gate as soon as we arrived, and we tied up for the night on the wall.

24 May 2026

Sunday.

The ship in Padstow harbour turned out to be a replica of Columbus’s Santa Maria.

Today we were allowed to move Molia from the wall to the central pontoon. Having wedged Molia between two other yachts, and secured the stern, Jo inflated the tender and rowed out to the mooring buoy to secure our bow.

The new location made our stay in Padstow especially comfortable.

25 May 2026

Monday.

26 May 2026

Tuesday. Another very hot day! We went round the Santa Maria, which was well presented, and gave us a great view of the harbour.

The Waverley visited Padstow at high water, so we went to the outer wall to watch her leave. And the cormorant was back – this time doing his characteristic wing drying pose.

28 May 2026

Thursday. The Santa Maria left Padstow early this morning – it only just fits through the harbour entrance!

The weather was cooler today, so we walked to Wadebridge for lunch (and got the bus back). The sun was out later in the afternoon