'South by South West' Summer Cruise, 2017
OGA fleet reach Falmouth, 1 August 2017
After a day of racing in Plymouth, the OGA Sou'by Sou'West fleet continues on passage westward, some return to Dartmouth, to join OGA SW Gaffers River Dart Rally at Dittisham.
Ahead of the fleet, Dutch OGA boat ‘Jan Blank’ is now in Penzance. We hear that most of those heading west have now reached Falmouth: ‘Hester’, ‘Gwenili’, ‘Moon River’, ‘Betty II’, ‘Corncockle’, ‘Carlotta’, ‘Minx’, ‘Annabelle’, ‘Susan J’ and ‘Alice Pellow’. They’re bracing themselves for the next Cornish storm!
Cruise fleet stormbound, 3 August, 2017
Being philosophical, and deferring to common sense, the decision has been made by the OGA Cruise in Company Sou’ by Sou’West fleet not to depart Falmouth for the Scilly Islands. The local forecast for the next week is dominated by strong winds from the southwest and Falmouth ‘old salts’ shake their heads on the quayside advising against setting sail without three days of clear calm weather to get there and back ‘with yer vessel and souls still floaten’.
Meanwhile, in Padstow, the Celtic contingent are still waiting for the south westerlies to abate, but hoping to reach south Cornwall later in the month. ‘Jan Blank’, joining the fleet from the Netherlands, is sitting out the storms in Newlyn, visiting Mousehole by bus.
The pictures tell some of the story from racing in Plymouth to the gathering in Falmouth, forced to be ‘journey’s end’.
OGA Solent Member Ben Collins reflects on Journey’s End for the OGA Sou’ by Sou’West Cruise in 2017.
Some called it a ‘rolling snowball’ – a fleet of Gaffers going westward, gathering in size as it tacked down Britain’s south coast collecting and dropping boats as it travelled. By the end over 40 OGA boats had taken part. All types and sizes.
A core of ‘toughies’ set the pace from Yarmouth to Falmouth. All boats were definitely rocked, shaken and stirred as the weather challenged us, pinning us in port.
We adopted a short dash approach to cope with the seas. Plenty of pontoon drinks parties at day’s end to celebrate our progress and fret over tomorrow’s forecast. Older boats to nurse and fix, thank goodness for the shipwright among us! Camaraderie all round, new friends made.
By the time we got to Plymouth the warm receptions of the South West OGA members along the way had invigorated us. It felt that we had been climbing a mountain but the peak was now in view.
All we needed were a few clear days of gentle winds to get to that Atlantic archipelago at journey’s end. It was not to be. As Falmouth was reached the rains returned and only the brave contemplated passing hissing Lizard gateway to the Atlantic swell. Three buccaneers took on the challenge, their stories yet to be told.
| Drinks on ‘Hester’ at Dittisham ©Ben Collins | ||
OGA boats reach the Isles of Scilly
Despite reports to the contrary, members of the OGA Sou b’Sou’West Cruise in Company, representing four OGA areas, have reached the Isles of Scilly!
As the forecast improved on Thursday 3 August, three boats made passage westwards. ‘Gwenili’ (East Coast) and ‘Jan Blank’ (Netherlands) arrived at the Isles of Scilly on Saturday and reported an enjoyable evening at the Turks Head, St Agnes.
‘Susan J’ (South West) departed Newlyn at 0400 Saturday and arrived into Hugh Town 2030 after another epic windward plod alleviated by mass dolphins and multiple gannet dives. They joined ‘Gwenili’ at St Mary’s on Sunday.
‘Capraia’ (Bristol Channel) arrived a couple of days later having had to wait out the storms in Padstow before leaving for the Isles of Scilly from Newlyn.
The remainder of the fleet have all enjoyed a few more days along the coasts of Cornwall, from Dartmouth in the East, through Plymouth, to the Helford and Newlyn, before making their plans to return home.
‘Carlotta’, ‘Hester’ and ‘Betty II’ rafted up on a buoy at Restronguet, while ‘Minx’, ‘Corncockle’ and ‘Alice Pellow’ gathered in the Helford River before sailing on to Mevagissey. ‘Betty II’ took a 12 mile sail up the Tamar River for a quiet evening listening to rustling reeds and hooting owls at Calstock.
‘East Breeze’, ‘Swift’ and ‘Step Back in Time’ started their return eastwards on Sunday across Lyme Bay departing Dartmouth 0500 and approaching Weymouth Harbour 1750. The first Solent boat to reach her home port is ‘Moon River’, arriving back in Shoreham on Monday after overnight stops at Dartmouth, Weymouth and Haslar, while South West based ‘Susan J’ returned to her home port at Helford Passage on Tuesday evening, 8 August.