Back in early 2022, Mary and I stood on Barnstaple Quay and admired its row of smart ladders, timber fender posts and rings for mooring warps. But something was missing: there were no boats, and locals confirmed that visiting yachts were very rare. We had come by road, for a recce, and were determined to re-visit by water, although charts and pilot books were highly discouraging.
An expedition to Barnstaple, on the estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge, is hard work – a passage to a notorious lee shore, across a dangerous harbour bar, up a tricky river, over drying banks and finally under a not-very-high bridge. Despite the natural obstacles, the town served as a busy port for more than a thousand years, largely because the southern shore of the Bristol Channel has no harbours with all-tide, all-weather access. Estuary silting restricted commercial shipping and, in 2007, a bypass bridge created a new obstacle, downstream of the town.
THE LEE SHORE
The north coast of Cornwall and Devon (Diagram 1 and 2) faces Atlantic weather, with all harbour entrances dry or very shallow at low water. Outside the Taw-Torridge estuary, Bideford Bay can become a nasty trap in strong winds from the NW, and a prudent skipper won’t close the coast unless confident the entrance is passable. In July 2022 we sailed into the Bristol Channel, rounded Hartland Point, and were lucky to arrive in the bay with a light breeze and a placid sea, so we could heave to near the Fairway buoy until we judged that it was time to go in.
This story is from the June 2023 edition of Yachting Monthly UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the June 2023 edition of Yachting Monthly UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How to rig preventers and boom brakes
Rigging a preventer or using a boom brake is just good seamanship when sailing downwind, but doing so badly is asking for trouble, says Rachael Sprot
Don't let Thames sewage kill off this lovely boat
Samuel Pepys mentions oysters in his diaries 68 times, but that was when they were as common as winkles along the banks of the Thames and when they were a source of cheap protein for the masses.
I finally found the magic of the sea
I won’t be in theatres with a notebook as much as usual this month – time for some wider, wetter horizons – but may be musing, as I often do, on how rare it is for theatre to express a convincing reality about the oceans and the trade or pursuit of seafaring.
TECHNICAL GOLDEN OLDIES
Ken Endean looks back on the boats he has owned over 50 years and explains why the hull lines of older yachts continue to offer first-class handling
HOW IT WORKS MARKING
Many cruising yacht skippers mark very little on board their boats.
TECHNICAL INSTALLING A NEW ENGINE
When a mysterious loss of coolant jeopardised his sailing, Andy Du Port knew the time had tome to replace his yacht’s:veteran Volvo Penta
NEW GEAR
Dennis O’Neill rounds up the latest marine innovations, including developments in women’s sailing jackets
MARIE TABARLY HONOURING HER FATHER
Marie Tabarly took line honours in the Ocean Globe Race, surpassing her father’s record while racing aboard his famous 73ft ketch Pen Duick VI
HEATHER THOMAS SMASHING RECORDS
In leading her all-female crew to victory in the OGR, Heather Thomas has broken records and taken women's sailing into the stratosphere
MAIDEN MAKES HISTORY AGAIN
Being the first all-female crew to win a round-the-world race is seismic in itself, but the diverse nationalities of the crew are just as significant for the future of sailing