Sea Myth Goes West - The HOEOCA Fringe Spring Rally 2024

Sea Myth left Shamrock Quay on Saturday afternoon, intending to meet up with the HOEOCA Spring Rally en-route, or if not, to make Plymouth for the Rally Dinner.

Saturday night was at anchor at Colwell Bay.  A first for SM.  A quick snorkel for some then dinner on board.

A 5am start on Sunday for Portland Marina with time for lunch in Lulworth Cove. Snorkelling gear allowed a raid on the local ice-cream parlour.

Portland Marina on a Sunday night……we had Uber Eats Fish and Chips.  An early arrival into Weymouth on Monday morning allowed some shopping -  new cockpit cushions from B&M, but a Buddha to bring calm to the chart table was vetoed.

Back to the boat to dodge the rain and watch a movie. The weather gods announced we should remain in Weymouth an extra night, although this would make it difficult to catch up with HOEOCA before Plymouth.

Tuesday in Weymouth. Sunny, but the wind was strong. We hired e-bikes and went in search of Mr Hardy (that’s Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy to you, of “Kiss me, Hardy” fame, not the other Thomas Hardy, famous for miserable books). Beautiful country lanes and steep hills to Hardy’s Monument – 780 feet above sea level.  Thank goodness for e-bikes. 

The RNLI celebrated their 200 anniversary with a sail past of over 200 boats led by the Weymouth lifeboat.  In the sunshine we hoisted the HOEOCA battle flag, blasted the fog horn and cheered along with everyone on the quays to thank the RNLI for what they do for us! We would have missed this on our original itinerary. 

A 5am start on Wednesday for Brixham. The sea state had not quite dissipated and was uncomfortable. Working ourselves round Portland Race was a challenge, then we settled in for a long passage. Brixham brought the colour back to our cheeks – until we heard about the polluted tap water!

The only way to make the HOEOCA dinner was now to go straight to Plymouth – another early start and long day to arrive with minutes to spare. We felt the weather gods in Weymouth had made the decision for us (and then roughed us up in Lyme Bay), so we cancelled the dinner, deciding on Dartmouth for Thursday.

Some set off for an early morning coastal walk to check out Berry Head by land, before we left for beautiful Dartmouth. The friendly staff of Dart Marina Yacht Harbour were there to take our lines and offer us vanity packs - shampoo, shower gel, shower caps – what were they trying to tell us!!! They asked about the club burgee, not recognising the bear and ragged staff as a local sailing club, and they were impressed by HOEOCA’s distance from the sea!

The plan was to slip at 8am Friday for Plymouth, but during the night, one of the crew had a vision instructing Sea Myth to remain in Dartmouth for the Dart Music festival which was starting on Friday.  Waking early, the visionary nipped out for a programme of events, in case the rest of the crew hadn’t been blessed by the same revelation. The day took in accomplished but aging bluesmen and rockers in pubs almost as old as the musicians, sea shanties on the shore and modern day “Pogues” on the main stage, with pit stops for refreshment and sustenance.  The sun shone all day. 

We left Dartmouth on Saturday, for Plymouth. A lightning storm outside Plymouth, but no issues except wet raingear. Too late to meet up with the HOEOCA Rally. We were moored next to one of the rally boats, but everyone had gone home. A Spanish Galleon was in for the Plymouth Pirate Festival. Pirates everywhere and more sea shanties etc.

We said goodbye to one of our crew and headed to the Sailing Club to drown our sorrows. We then made for the Distillery, to have our rally dinner two days late – we mentioned we were the last of the HOEOCA crowd, but were still allowed in.

Sunday for Fowey. Another town another festival. Unfortunately, as it was now evening we had missed the Fowey Arts and Literary festival but it might have been a bit too high brow for us (see “Thomas Hardy”, above). The Sea Myth library is limited to an almanac and a dog-eared copy of Winning Tides. We sometimes read them.

Fowey was as far as we got on our Sea Myth goes West trip, and we began our return trip, next stop Newton Ferrers. This inlet is truly stunning and peaceful. We blew up the tender to find some food (NB only one pub open on Monday!). The tender was high and dry when we returned, and we realised why the locals use such long shorelines for their dinghies. Thankfully not far to lift it back into the water. 

To Salcombe on Tuesday, and a visitor’s buoy. Salcombe Yacht Club was only offering Yoga that night. We all passed on this and moved on to taste the famous Salcombe Gin instead. At £8 a tot, one was enough. Back to the boat for dinner and a lovely sunset watching the Salcombe yawls race between the moorings. 

The following morning forecast dictated another night in Salcombe. “Sensible”, said the Harbour Master. No other boats had left and more were coming in. Sadly another of the crew had to leave us, to return to the Midlands. The remaining four consoled themselves with ice creams after exploring the Co-Op. 

Thursday saw a relaxed start for Brixham (drinking water now safe, apparently). Running under genoa to Prawle Pt, then reaching up to Berry Head and some close-hauled fun round to Brixham.

Friday was the long push back across Lyme Bay to Portland. Very calm, very little wind. A few maintenance jobs and some nav. challenges – comparing EPS with GPS positions over eight hours or so. A pod of 20+ dolphins joined us. Portland Race was almost imperceptible.

Saturday was a prompt start towards the Solent, with a pleasant lunch stop on the eco-moorings in Studland Bay, waiting for the Needles Channel to open. A great sail across to Hurst Castle put us off Yarmouth at 1930 on a sunny Bank Holiday weekend – even the mooring buoys were full, but we squeezed into Lymington, courtesy of a cancellation. Chilli and rice!

Away before the Bank Holiday crowds on Sunday, we made good time on the tide, arriving back at Shamrock Quay for lunch, cleaning and the drive home.

Sea Myth achieved a long list of firsts for all or most of us:

Totland Bay (at anchor)
Lulworth Cove
Portland Harbour marina
Portland Bill both ways
Brixham
Dartmouth (and the Music Festival)
Plymouth (and the Pirate Festival)
Fowey (and nearly the Literary Festival)
River Yealm
Salcombe
Studland Bay

We were disappointed to miss all our HOEOCA friends, but we tried our best! What turned out to be a one-boat fringe rally was very enjoyable and dear Sea Myth looked after us impeccably.

The Sea Myth Crew