Lobie II lost the top 6ft of her mast off Lowestoft early in the voyage, but rather than abandoning the trip, they carried on regardless, via France and the Channel Isles before storming up the Irish Sea under staysail, too fast to stop. That's the spirit!
Here's Maddy's account of the last leg of the trip (unexpurgated).
ALDERNEY TO ULLAPOOL
Leaving the crowded moorings of Braye harbour on Alderney, we had an uneventful motor sail across the grey Channel to Dartmouth having met a contrary tide and wind, unable to make a course for Salcombe. We headed for Dartmouth making our way up the river at dusk looking for a place to stop, I have never seen so many boats. We rafted up on the quay at Kingsmere. When Steve Ledger rang to say he and Sally Lidden were camping up river at Dittisham. He knew we would never make Start point and had sent a message that we did not pick up till we arrived so here we were in the right place at the right time. Luck or what? Lovely morning to motor up a couple of miles on the beautiful still, deep green river passed docks, the Naval College, woods and creaks with romantic boat houses and big houses surrounded by trees.
We rowed in at Dittisham to collect Sally and Steve for breakfast. Steve suggested landing at Agatha Chisties house and walking through the National Trust gardens to Dartmouth with a picnic in the woods where the steam train passes. It feels very nice to be back in such a peaceful autumn landscape of the south of England on such a beautiful day with old friends. so safe and comfortable after foreign ports the wild roving sea. We return to the boat by ferry and go to the trendy pub in Dittisham and have fancy pizzas on the beach. Peter and Livy arrive back from Coulmore where they have been on holiday. Peter was persuaded to go and collect another sail to make Lobie go faster.
Livy is coming on to Fowey with us Peter leaves to go back to Dartmoor and we walk back for a night cap with Steve in his camper van.
Dartmouth is full of the holiday crowd, we return down the river with John Chan up the mast adding another block for the new stay sail which is to be laced on to the temporary fore stay . He is like a monkey and does nt want to come down despite dropping his shirt which blows off and we have to do a tricky man over board practise. We have to wait for the west tide sitting on the town quay eating ice cream.
Another slow sail with this west wind along the Devon and Cornish coast of coves and fishing villages clinging to the cliffs. We get to Fowey at dark and puzzle our way in with the lights . It is Fowey Regatta so it is stuffed with boats . Following the channel the sea black against the shimmering lights of the town with the 2 castles marking the entrance we arrive in the river in the calm warm night . Finding the only free mooring with a notice saying it is not safe we tie up.
There is a band playing Rock and Roll on the Quay which we get the benefit of blasting across the water as we enjoy a dram. Our neighbouring yacht makes us raft up with them as they dont want us to bump them in the night.
We can find a mooring in the morning because everybody is fleeing up the river as the wind gets up and we have to take a sea sick Livy off the boat . We wait for my sister Claire at the busy sailing club the Gallants, the members are very jolly and polite not a bit like the wicked pirates they are named after who terrorised all the seas as far as the Barbary Coast.
Claire takes us back to Pinsla Lodge and we have a walk in the mature wood behind her house take shelter from the rain and see her garden and do a bit of pruning on an apple tree I get a little over enthusiastic but it is a constant battle with nature in Cornwall where things never stop growing so I should think it will recover.
Next day we have to be rescued again by Claire and Kaori in the torrential rain It pours like a burn down the steep streets of Fowey we take shelter in a doorway to eat our Pastie abandoning our plans to go walking we retreat back to Pinsla to eat their cake. Peter arrives to collect Livy. I am glad to talk to Kaori before she goes to California. We leave John behind who goes to Whales by train.
Peter takes us down to Cardinham where Richard Harrup wants to leave his car while he is away he is coming on the next leg . We return to the boat on the pontoon in Fowey where we say good bye to Peter and Livy.
Leaving Fowey on the evening tide the sails hard in heading across the bay counting the lights of Falmouth . Richard who is an engineer doing a job on tidal energy in Falmouth has spent the summer here and knows the coastline well. We pass the entrance to the Helford river where he is staying and then on out to get around the Lizzard. Richard is such a good sailor that Neil goes off to bed and leaves us to tack when we reckon the lighthouse is far enough away.I off course mess it up in the dark putting the sheet around the wrong way then letting go of it . Takes me ages to catch the wayward sheet , flying off in the wind and the boat loosing way till we have to tack again. Richard improving on his day skipper is left to sail all night across Mount bay and I go and join Neil below.
The morning is blue and sunny and St Michael's mount is on the starboard as we make our way to Newlyn . There is a new pontoon where we can tie on . Richard throws his bag together and we walk along the promenade to Penzance station where we say goodbye. It was very nice having a professional crew .
We walk back through the tropical gardens with the Sunday papers and Neil and I set of for Lands End. Then at last after 1500 NM of head winds the SW is on our beam and Lobie flies along. It is exhilarating surfing down the waves making fine progress to Wales. By nightfall the wind is blowing 7 or 8 and we take down the main and sail on the small staysail making 7 knots. Having to steer with the waves which by dawn are enormous surfing down the slippery slope with your heart in your mouth before being lifted up on the next wave. By the afternoon it was loosing it fun as I was so tired from being thrown against of the lee clothes or bumping on the ceiling and not being able to sleep in the short time I was below decks. I was feeling sick and sorry for myself and wondered why I wanted to sail at all The wind was now an 8 or9 and there was no hope of stopping in Wales as we could not turn across the waves so had to sail on to Ireland . At dusk it was a great relief to find the entrance to the river and come into the calm blinded by the lights we made our way into a smelly fishing harbour and tied to a prawn boat that we were told was nt going out in the morning.It is amazing how quickly one recovers from seasickness.
In the night another yacht came and tied to us he had been set adrift by a fishing boat who had left early. He was a retired Danish man and sailing south on his own
We walked about Arklow feeling glad to be so far up the Irish Sea we went to see their quirky local Maritime Museum and looked at all the houses for sale. Shopped in a green grocer had coffee in a small cafe but could nt find anywhere for a shower,
Catching the north going tide across Dublin Bay we anchored in the dark behind the Hill of Howath. Sailing inside Lamby Island towards the Rockabilly lighthouse and out across to St John's point looking for the markers for the narrow entrance to Strangford Lough in a stiff southerly . Lobie bucking over the breaking waves we must of miss timed the tide as the sea rushed out through the narrows against the wind. She held her course with the help of the engine and we passed into the calm shallow lough making our way up to Strangford we saw the tide turbine that Richard had worked on .
Tieing up to a mooring under Castle Ward the terns dancing around Lobie we rowed ashore in the sunset and walked to the village where we talked to some sailors in the pub.
We walked around the estate in the morning and came to the entrance of the house that is run by the National Trust having had to buy a ticket we might as well stay and get our moneys worth on such a lovely day. The gardens and park are beautifully laid out and the farm has antique machinery that we are still using at Coulmore. Neil and I have the most disgusting soup in the cafe in the courtyard with a party of loonies on a church outing and we queue to go on a tour of the perfect Georgian house with a amusing cleaner who s family have been servants here and had some interesting stories about the Ward family.
Neil did some more of last years accounts while we waited next morning for a tide . But even when you get it right it is still a different world outside the lough in the Irish Sea.
A dull grey day crossing to Scotland I get a call from Heather who says she will meet us in Port Patrick. It takes an age to get there in the dark looking to line up the green lights before darting through the tricky entrance into the harbour there is Heather re organising the boats so we dont squash a tiny Catamaran against the harbour wall.
Heather takes us back to Wendy Macmasters farm where she is living for a much needed bath. There is a bad weather forecast and it is nice to have a walk around the Rhinns farm and we get back to Port Patrick too late for the tide . A sailing race from Bangor is coming in to the tiny harbour and we find ourselves pinned to the wall trapped inside a dozen boats till the harbour is chocker block .With no hope of leaving we have to join the party . Port Patrick is having a music festival. Lobie has a fan club she has a visit from Tom who knows more about her than we do and his poor wife is abandoned for a boat.
Next morning a more subdued lot of sailors try to extricate themselves from a cats cradle of warps and ropes as they leave the harbour. I see one raft let off from the wall slowly drift forward into the next one. But amazingly the tangle clears and we can stop reading the Sunday papers are free to go out . Heading north round the Mull of Kyntrye the tide turns and we slog on slowly to the sound of Gigha where we creep about till we find a mooring.
It is much colder and rather damp in Scotland Neil and I have a walk around Gigha it looks very well cared for the community buyout really works here with windmill projects, a dairy farm and a wonderful garden All the people are friendly but we are not on the comity which may make a difference . We pick brambles on the way back to Lobie. Sailing up the sound of Jura into the strange bumpy seas as we approached Luing and the Corrievreken whirlpools.
Anchored at Toberonichie and walk over the Island on a stormy evening to the Gannons stripping of our water proofs and being welcomed into their lovely hot house we sat and steamed with Kirsty Ann and her parents in front of a roaring fire. Neils old Friend Richard Chuff lives next door so we dropped in on them too and it didnt take much to persuade us to stay so we had dinner and enormous whiskys and he drove us back to a dinghy which flew back to lobie in the dark windy night.
A very early start next morning to catch the tide for the Doris mor Neil complained as I woke him every hour thinking it was dawn in the bright moonlight. We got into Oban in plenty time for sleeping and tidying Iona was meeting us with cousin Richard . They arrived full of fun and news so now I have someone else to talk to. We set off up Loch Linnie around Lismore and across to Kingarloch where Jamie is working . There is quite a wind as we pick up a mooring buoy but Jamie is there to reassure us Iona and Richard zipped up in their sailing gear try to disguise themselves but Jamie has been had to many times to be fooled by them. He takes us back to dinner in his cottage and we all walk back to the boat in the dark Next day he shows us around the estate and gardens before we depart for the Sound of Mull where we get plenty practise tacking. Tobermory and the Mishnish Inn look tempting by evening the harbour and a new Marina has plenty room for us so we stay a night.
There is a full gale by the time we reach the point at Adnamurchan and we fly up the Sound of Sleet Lobie is in her element in a strong wind and following sea but it is misty and the land is worryingly close Neil goes below because of the rain . There is a deluge running down the main and blowing in the cockpit.
I manage a jive which brings Neil up pretty quick he takes over to go through Kyle Rae and under the Skye bridge. I hide below and get out of my wet clothes leaving Iona to persuade him to go west to Raasay where her friends John Mac beath and Ian Hill live. A reluctant Neil agrees to catch the mooring in the bay and john is there to greet us when we land on the shore in the dinghy. We walked passed Raasay house that is being renovated for the second time after a disastrous fire when it was nearing completion.
John lives in an amazing house made out of a row of cottages that look out across the Sound of Raasay to Skye . Such a clever design, a lovely big room with a stove at both ends and beautiful rugs and furniture with windows on both sides. The main attraction is he is building his own Hydro electic plant out of paper clips and old fish cages. John and his sweet collie dog take us for a walk to the new power house he is making out of rock and turf and up the hill to the little burn he is capturing in the unruly fish farm pipes.
He also has a lovely bath and Neil is quite happy to stay the night and discuss the ins and outs of making an alternator out of some magnets and knitting some copper wire .
The last morning of our 2000 nautical mile voyage around Britain we sail up the Sound of Raasay on a reach, sun and blue sky, clear mountains and chill wind.
A slight feeling of dread at having to return to the real world and all the complications that go with it . Neil does his best to delay but Iona and I know we have to be back to do the change over in the lodge tomorrow. The mist comes down and darkness falls and still we sail on passed Caillach head and the Summer Isles feeling our way home on this darkest of nights. Not seeing anything but the phosphorescence caused by the bow wave and an amazing fireworks display of shooting lights as we cut through shoals of Mackrel that dart away from the boat.
At midnight we silently drift in to Lobies' mooring and drop the sails safely home where we started if, due to the mast not exactly all in one piece.
Best Wishes
Maddy