Met Office | The Crusoes Sailing around the UK

Tuesday 14th May

Since arriving here has been very windy, blowing from the west and effectively stopping our progress westwards. We have been anchored opposite the Salt Stone about a mile up the estuary above Salcombe in a peaceful sheltered spot with cormorants and egrets for company and just the sound of the tide tinkling past the hull at night. We have been venturing down to town once a day to charge up the battery and get water & provisions.

Over the past 2 days we have passed our time doing jobs on the boat including greasing two winches that showed signs of seizing up, re-buttoning some of the upholstery, fixing catches and so on – there are always things to do on a boat!. The big job has been dismantling the electric anchor winch which has stopped working. This means we have to lift the anchor by hand which is a good physical exercise given that we have been putting 25 meters of chain out to ensure we are firmly fixed to the bottom of the estuary when the wind blows! A new pair of leather gloves are purchased to help with this task. The motor has to be removed from within the anchor chain locker in the bow of the boat which is a really confined area accessed through a small hatch. Much huffing & puffing by Paul & John sees the motor out. It appears that the Italian manufacturers have gone out of business so we motor the mile or so to Salcombe to go to Island Street where all the chandlers and proper old-fashioned workshops are located to find an electrical engineer. The motor is dismantled and made to run again by Andy J. Further huffing and puffing finally sees the motor back in, only to find that it works for about 2 seconds under load then jams up again. Back to square one! Telephone conflab to other co-owners for help to locate spares or a new one. The story continues…

Tuesday brings an even worse weather forecast – rain and a storm force 10 warning and a weather map looking like a training exercise for Met Office forecasters wannabees! So another day hiding from the weather.

We decide to shower at Salcombe Yacht Club – a fine establishment with a proud history stretching back to gentlemen racing their yachts in the Victorian age. The club is situated on the hill with a prime view over the Fairway (the principle part of the waterway in front of Salcombe) – this is millionaires territory with property prices to match. The showers are new and very welcome. We are amused by the door signs.