Northerly winds have forced the OGA60 Round Britain Cruise fleet to wait a couple of days before setting off towards Milford Haven. Five boats have arrived in the fishing port of Newlyn where they’ve had a warm welcome. The rest of the fleet is now in Falmouth, with ‘Onward of Ito’ doing two long overnight passages over the weekend from Gosport where he was awaiting new crew. ‘Peggy’ has now left Plymouth after her extended stay and joins the fleet in Falmouth. ‘Louisa May’ remains in Dartmouth, testing out the options for an outboard.
Fleet update: Monday 15 May
Newlyn: ‘Bonita’, ‘Lahloo’, ‘Recipe’, ‘Susan J’ and ‘Indian Runner’
Falmouth: ‘Charlotte Elizabeth’, ‘Cygnet of London’, ‘Hilda’, ‘Letty’, ‘Minstrel’, ‘Moon River’, ‘Onward of Ito’, ‘Peggy’, ‘Step Back in Time’ and ‘Swift II’. There’s a friendly camaraderie amongst the Gaffer fleet and Martin, sailing ‘Charlotte Louise’ single-handed, is grateful for the assistance from ‘Hilda’ for some technical problems: “The wonderful Rob Bo’s of Hilda fitting the new salt water pump to the 1GM in ‘Charlotte Elizabeth’; huge thanks!! Martin.”
Yesterday we sailed from Falmouth to Newlyn. Newlyn is primarily a working fishing port but welcomes the odd yacht if they have room. We had a very enjoyable sail although yet again we had to motor sail most of the time as the wind direction continues to be against us. We wanted tomake Newlyn by last night as strong winds were forecast for today and we wanted to be in Newlyn ready to set off for Lands End when the winds died down. It looks as if this will be the case tomorrow (Tuesday) so we plan to leave at 0800 to catch the favourable tide to take us round Lands End. Many of the write ups about Newlyn are rather damning, citing a lack of welcome for yachts and poor facilities. We haven’t found this to be our experience at all. There was a very helpful welcome from the Harbour Master and the facilities, while a bit basic, are very acceptable. We are here with ‘Susan J’, ‘Bonita’, ‘Recipe’ and ‘Lahloo’, so it is quite a Gaffer gathering. I suspect that gaffers are more welcome here than ‘yachties’.
Chris Harding, ‘Indian Runner’
We spent the day in Newlyn as the forecast is for strong Northerly winds and so we are waiting for something different. Almost anything different would be better. Geoff and I walked along the shoreline of Mount’s Bay as far as St Michael’s Mount and back. Newlyn is one of Britain’s busiest fishing ports but it does seen to be quieter than when I was last here several years ago. If Brexit was supposed to help the fishing industry, it doesn’t seem to have been much of a success, and there are no more fish in the sea, British or otherwise, than there were before. We now have several other Gaffers in Newlyn, all waiting for a favourable wind: ‘Susan J’, ‘Recipe’, ‘Indian Runner’ and ‘Lahloo’. We all had a convivial supper in the Red Lion pub.
Mike. Beckett, ‘Bonita’
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