Gratitude coming home

Sea passage from Borth to Poole

  • We are home !

    So Gratitude, it’s skipper and crew are all home in Poole now (nearly 24 hours ago but I’m only just finding my land legs again !) The passage from Falmouth to Weymouth went well and after a good night’s kip we were joined by family so as to spend a day out at Nothe Fort ………. if you haven’t been, you have to go !

    We then started the last leg of our endeavour to get Gratitude home to Poole in the early evening. We were just behind the lifeboat going out on a shout – you have to admire them, they were scrambled so quickly and who knows what life saving event they were going to, I have nothing but admiration for their dedication and courage.

    It’s very comforting seeing landmarks you know along the coastline as you approach home:- Lulworth Cove, St Aldhelm’s Head, Durlston and then Old Harry Rocks outlined under a beautiful red sky. It’s not long before we are along side at Parkstone Yacht Club. Gratitude is most certainly home but there are more adventures to come !

    Approaching Old Harry Rocks
    Nearly Home !
    Gratitude in Weymouth Marina
    Advertisement

  • So the journey home continues

    Back overland to Milford Haven Marina where Gratitude is waiting patiently to be taken home. So the time to cast off is planned for 06.30 to negotiate the lock and then out to sea, we expect to be around 36 hours until we dock again. This is all well and good but as it turns out we are cursed with the Friday the 13th ! the autopilot develops an issue which is expertly fixed by the skipper, then we have a breakage on the aft locker (this will have to wait until we get home to be fixed) and then there is a malfunction in the heads ! well they say it all happens in threes – again, this is expertly fixed by skipper (my son) but we do hope nothing else occurs. Thankfully, as we sail through the night we pass Friday the 13th and then we make the monumental pass around Lands End (see video) – we are now travelling east and it seems so much more like we are coming home ! In to Falmouth for a well earned bit of R & R before we set off again later today, heading for Weymouth and home.

    Never too much rope !

  • Next Stage but not the last stage…….yet !

    So we left Aberyswyth as per plan, all was going well, some motoring overnight which included night watches – there is no better place to be to watch the moon and then later watch the sunrise. Oh, and also, the sighting of a shooting star brought a smile too ! We still had a way to go but the weather was coming in and a decision had to be made. Milford Haven marina seemed the best choice so we took a heading this way. An interesting place to come in to via a lock and then a pontoon berth. Ah, the bliss of a hot shower on land in the marina facilities. We need a rest now so we are going home (via road !) so look out for next instalment when we come back to make the last leg of our journey !

    https://youtube.com/shorts/6rmeGqKZOt0

  • Is Gratitude coming home ?

    So we bought a boat in Borth, north Wales which is a long way from home in Poole ! Gratitude is a 31 foot Dehler, built in 1986 and it was first registered in Poole so bringing it home seemed about right but it was going to be quite a sea passage to get it there. Having the boat lifted in to the water after being up on it’s cradle in the boatyard for 18 months was the first step. We motored out of the estuary and then turned south and hoisted the sail ! As with all things shipshape not everything goes to plan every time, we experienced a reefing issue and decided to call in to the next marina so as to sort. So here we are in Aberystwth on a beautiful sunny day in mid April, the reefing issue sorted and we set sail again later today.

    https://youtube.com/shorts/trClR330jOs?feature=share