The GPS Blog| Activity | Activity date | Activity description |
|---|---|---|
| Up river sail | 2016-10-22 | First time out on the Wayfarer for quite some time.
The wind didn't manage the promised F3 / F4 and we ran out of wind trying to get past Topsham.
A seal popped its head out the water about 10 yards away from us and watched us sail by the Turf. Liz would have taken a photo but was too preoccupied trying to retrieve the Double Decker she'd dropped down the centre board casing.
Pleasant sail/drift in the autumn sun.
Tags:
Ese Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2016-12-05 | To the Mill On The Exe and back
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Sail with Liz and Julian | 2012-04-14 | No wind but some thunderstorms. Not the ideal sail on the estuary for Lizs brother.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Up river cruise to Goat Walk | 2012-05-19 | An up river dinghy cruise from SYC to the Goat Walk. Light winds on the way back. About 15 boats out.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Monday evening sail | 2012-05-21 | A suprisingly breezy Monday evening sail.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Channel Islands - Exe to Brixham | 2012-06-01 | A sail down from Starcross Yacht Club on the Exe to Brixham ready for an 0200 departure from Brixham to Guernsey. Average speed an estimate as GPS time data lost.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Exe paddling | 2022-08-06 | Ended up being a tour (past) most of the Exe estuary sailing clubs. So past Exe Sailing Club and Lympstone Sailing Club. Stopped at Starcross Yacht Club for lunch and then back past Starcross Fishing and Cruising Club. Would only have had to go past Topsham Sailing Club to get the "full set".
Watched a little of the Solo and Laser Opens at SYC.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Commodore's Cruise | 2017-07-29 | The weather forecast was rubbish - no winds and heavy rain. Turned out to be a nice wind and only occasional rain.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Up to buoy 45 | 2017-08-19 | Quite a "feisty" sail as the weather did pretty much what was forecast - which was F4 gusting F5. They were fairly big gusts on the way out. Ran aground near the Turf Locks - whoops - and mutinous crew made the captain get out and push us off.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Lympstone and back | 2016-12-04 | Round the Exe Estuary trail to Lympstone and back.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| A very gusty sail | 2012-07-29 | A very short sail as Liz wasnt too keen on the gusty conditions. It was windy as the top speed of 8.2 knots was actually against the tide. It felt fast for an old Wayfarer with a lot of the front of the boat out of the water as we planed down wind.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Monday evening sail | 2012-07-30 | A Monday evening sail to the Goat Walk - quite gusty.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Down river dinghy cruise | 2012-08-18 | To the beach cafe and back. Sunny weather and F2 to F3.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Scoobys second canoe trip | 2012-09-08 | Sccobys second canoe trip. To the Bull Sand and then down to the Warren. First trip out of his depth.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Down river paddling | 2022-08-09 | With Nigel H in the inflatable Sea Eagle. Down against some tide and sea breeze to Bull Hill Bank. Then a lovely drift back with the tide and wind.
Thanks to Derek H for the drone pics!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Exmouth and back | 2017-07-30 | Round to Exmouth and back. Stopped at the Turf Locks for a pint on the way back. And then another pint when Gerry H appeared. Quite a strong wind but mostly on the side until it moved to being dead on the nose after leaving the pub!
The birds in the photos were by the Turf Locks. I thought they only "grouped up" like this just before they headed south for the winter and it's too early for that...
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Pole Sands paddling | 2024-02-27 | Down to the Pole Sands for lunch.
Going to have to be renamed The Pole Pebbles - it is much more pebbley this year.
Tags:
Exe estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2016-12-03 | A windy ride into Exeter and back, Liz still in post lurgie mode.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Slow bike ride | 2012-12-09 | First time back on the bikes for quite a long time. Ride was slow and painful and painfully slow
Tags:
Estuary
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| Safety boat at SYC | 2013-02-17 | Too windy for us to go out sailing as we havent been out for a couple of months. So ended up doing safety boat. Good fun - a little bouncy. Suspect the occasional max speed peaks are GPS data anomalies.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Swing bridges and back | 2013-03-03 | Along the estuary and canal to the swing bridges on the newly serviced bikes. Stopped for a cup of coffee at the Turf on the way back
Tags:
estuary
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| March safety boat | 2013-03-24 | Safety boat at SYC. A cold march day - two degrees centrigrade. The windchill factor made it feel like minus four. GPS data anomalies account for the three or four short peaks in speed.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Morning dog walk | 2021-08-10 | Checking out new battery in Montana 600 GPS. Old one was about 7-8 years old and had probably done 500-600 recharges so can't complain too much.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Beach cafe sail | 2023-08-16 | In Malcolm B's Vision down to the Beach Cafe for a choccie ice cream. Saw Colin and Avril Y in their inflatable kayak.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-02-19 | Round to Lympstone and back with Liz
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| First Wayfarer outing of 2024 | 2024-04-21 | A late start to this year's Wayfarer sailing but quite a good one. Mostly F4 so one reef in the main and then backwards and forwards across the estuary umpteen times to get the a feel for the boat again.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Exe Estuary dawdle | 2013-05-12 | Not quite the F4 gusting F5 that was forecast. That and the fact we managed to get the furling line wrapped round the head sail furling drum means that we didnt go very far.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Super summer sail | 2013-05-18 | A lovely sail up to the Goat Walk at Topsham. We had planned to go as far as the motorway bridge but the wind didnt have the west in it that the forecast said it would. Met Malcolm and Graham at the Goat Walk. The max speed of 6.9 knots isnt bad given that there was no tide to speak of.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| First beach cafe sail of the year | 2013-05-25 | From SYC down to the beach cafe and back. The forecast said next to no wind but a lovely sea breeze kicked in.
Top sail.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Walking the hound to the Turf | 2013-05-26 | A hound walk to to the Turf Pub with Scooby Lizzie and Julian
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Exe Estuary Meandering | 2021-07-21 | With Nigel H on his Dart 18 avoiding the heatwave. Just enough wind for a cooling breeze.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Safety boat at SYC | 2017-06-24 | Safety boat for SYC dinghy cruise. Nearly an out to sea cruise but it was a little lumpy just out towards the fairway buoy.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2017-02-06 | Super fast on the way out. A bit slower on the way back. The last five miles were into a fairly strong headwind right on the nose. That and pouring rain and the cold put a slight damper on the last quarter!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Exeter and back | 2017-04-16 | Into Exeter and back. A fair old head wind on the way out but speedy on the way back. Not a bad average for me given that I'm still not fully over the lurgie I've had for the last couple of weeks.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Scooby's first canoe trip of 2013 | 2013-07-07 | Up river to the new wreck just north of Starcross and then back down to the Bull Sands where Scoobie ran non stop (when he wasnt digging). Luckily we were too early for the Olly Murs sound check!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Canoe trip from SYC to Turf Pub | 2013-07-08 | A canoe trip from SYC to the Turf Pub on the Exe Estuary. Set out near low tide. Journey follows the just greater than paddle depth contour on the way out and later, with the higher tide, on the way back.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Sunny summers evening sail | 2013-07-10 | A lovely summer evenings sail. Just enough wind to go down estuary against the incoming tide.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| A sail, paddle and drift to the safe water mark | 2013-07-13 | More wind in the Estuary than out of it on this sail to the safe water mark at the mouth of the Exe
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Dawlish Dart sail | 2021-06-23 | Around to Dawlish with Nigel H on his Dart 18. A lovely sail. Took a while for the sea breeze to come in but once it did it was a pleasant, steady force 3 or so. Sun as well!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-06-23 | In to Exeter and back. Stopped at SYC on the way back.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Starcross Steamer 2017 | 2017-02-05 | Down to Starcross Yacht Club for the annual Starcross Steamer dinghy pursuit race. One hundred boats on the water.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Down river paddle | 2023-05-24 | Down river but I was short of time. So that meant paddling back against the last hour of the outgoing tide. A sea breeze helped though. Lovely day - good exercise!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| The not-Topsham sail | 2013-08-18 | Thought the westerly wind would be ideal for a sail up to Topsham. However, it turned out to be too gusty and with large wind shifts to make that a good idea.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Exe Estuary sea breezes | 2013-08-26 | A lovely gentle sail in light sea breezes to and from the Beach Cafe at Exmouth
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Trelissick on the Fal estuary | 2013-09-16 | A woodland walk round the Trelissick estate on the Fal estuary. The last part of the walk was to the Iron Age fort and Roundwood Quay
Tags:
Fal Estuary
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| Autumn beach cafe sail | 2013-10-05 | An autumn sail down to the beach cafe. The sun put in an appearance and there was occasionally a bit of wind to use in the big springs tide
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Down river dinghy cruise | 2022-08-13 | Safety boat duty on a down river dinghy cruise. Twenty one boats, a big spring tide and a few minor dramas.
And my first double scoop of ice cream in about 3 months. Lush.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Work cycle ride | 2017-06-20 | Hot. Very hot.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Second Wayfarer sail of the year | 2017-04-14 | A short sail in the Wayfarer. Sail somewhat shortened as replacing the forestay with a new one took longer than expected - the mousing line was shorter than the mast so we ended up with no stay or mousing line in the mast!
Light winds so we practiced some on water reefing.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Exe to Dartmouth | 2024-07-03 | The plan was to get to Salcombe but the fairly strong westerly winds would have made the Start Point to Salcombe bit quite arduous so we stopped in Dartmouth instead. Dartmouth was "full" so we picked up a buoy in Dittisham instead.
Tags:
Exe estuary
|
| Lizzie bike ride | 2014-03-07 | First time back on the bike after a couple of very wet months. To the Swing Bridges and back again.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Swing bridge and back again | 2014-03-08 | A lovely cycle ride to the Swing Bridges. Bit of a sod on the way back straight into the southerly force 5 all the way. Aidans first time back on the bike for a couple of months.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| First sail of the year | 2014-03-09 | A lovely breeze and some sun for the first dinghy sail of the year in the Wayfarer. Pottered round the club for a while to see if anything would break after the winter period without any sails. All fine - so headed up river. Bang! The port hand shroud parted company with the boat! A quick tack and then Liz repaired the problem (the circlip had come away from the pin holding the stay to the boat - luckily the pin was still hanging there). Lovely sail then back to the club.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Up river to Topsham Quay and back | 2014-04-19 | Second sail of the season up the Exe as far as Topsham Quay (where the winds got a little too light and fickle to go much further). A high tide sail so straight over "Greenland" on the way up.
Tags:
Exe estuary
|
| Down river safety boat | 2019-08-17 | Safety boat for the Jim Vallis Memorial dinghy cruise.
Down to beach cafe.
Wind between about F1 and F4.
Tags:
Exe estuary
|
| Lympstone and back | 2017-07-31 | Round to Lympstone and back (via the Turf Locks again).
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Round to Lympstone | 2017-08-20 | Round to Lympstone and back with Liz. The remnants of a lurgy for Liz and the headwinds on the way back contributed to the single figure average speed!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Another 26 miles | 2016-11-06 | Round to Lympstone and back again. Another windy ride.
Stopped at SYC for the AGM.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Evening up river dinghy cruise | 2014-06-12 | A lovely evening's sail up to the Goat Walk at Topsham. Sun and a decent wind (which only died as the last couple of boats arrived back). We had a brief detour a little way down the Clyst taking advantage of the high tide.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Beach cafe sail | 2014-06-16 | A sail down to the beach cafe in our Wayfarer with Bob and Andy in the Wanderer. Big tides and some lovely winds. Top sailing.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Sail on Nigel's Dart | 2014-07-14 | Beach cafe and just a bit beyond on Nigel's Dart 18. A day of lulls and gusts. A max speed of 14.6 knots is just a bit faster than I'm used to with my Wayfarer
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Sail on Nigel's Dart | 2014-08-18 | A decent wind (gusting maybe F5) for a storming sail on Nigel's Dart. Some excellent speeds with a top speed of over 17 knots - probably the fastest I've been under sail. Top stuff
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| SYC Dinghy Cruise | 2019-08-03 | SYC dinghy cruise down to the beach cafe.
Slightly stronger winds than forecast - about F4 much of the time - and a big 4.4 metre tide resulted in a top speed of 9.4 knots. Not bad for a 40 year old Wayfarer but we still haven't broken the 10 knots barrier yet!
Unfortunately the battery in the GPS ran out half way back.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Round the Pole Sands | 2023-08-22 | Lovely days paddling. Down and then out along Dawlish Warren a bit. Then around the Pole Sands and the back up with the incoming tide.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Bull Sands paddling | 2024-04-18 | After tailing the safety line while Derek H went up the mast of his Fulmar, down to the Bull Sands against the wind and tide (only F3 and neaps). Lunch on the Sands and then an easy paddle back as the wind and waves got up a bit. Top paddling / exercise!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Lympstone and back | 2016-11-05 | A windy ride round to Lympstone and back.
Back on the Marin after its trip to the LBS for a new rear wheel.
Not a happy bike - gear change was really sloppy, the chain came off and the rear brake rubbed. No wonder it all felt such hard work.
Stopped at the Swing Bridges to watch them open to let yachts up to the canal basin.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Starcross Steamer 2015 | 2015-03-15 | First cycle ride in ages. To SYC and back again for a brief watch of the Starcross Steamer pursuit dinghy race.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Estuary sailing in the Wayfarer | 2015-04-10 | A near enough perfect spring breeze made for an ideal morning's sailing on the Exe Estuary. Maybe 12 to 14 knots of steady south to south easterly wind made for a great morning's sailing in the Wayfarer with Liz's brother Julian. Chose the right day to take off work for once!
The average speed isn't too bad but reduced a little by having to sail back up the estuary against the tides.
Tags:
Exe estuary
|
| Breezy day's sail | 2015-04-13 | A decent wind. Started mostly about F5 ending up more like a F4. One reef in and a great sail. Anne Knight joined us for the second half of the sail. With 3 on board, we took out the reef in the genoa. Quite a good average speed for an old Wayfarer and no tidal assistance.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Lizzie bike ride | 2015-04-17 | Liz's first bike ride in ages
Tags:
Estuary
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| Carrick Roads and Restronguet Creek | 2019-07-14 | With the promised easterly being more like a southerly, there was a long enough fetch for some waves that weren't to Scooby's liking. So after lunch and some icecreams (which were to Scooby's liking) we diverted into Restronguet Creek for some quiet top-of-the-tide paddling past The Pandora and onto Point. Then back below the rather marvelous Tregunwith Farm campsite (£9 / night for 2 adults, 1 dog, 1 camper van, 1 car and a canoe) and back to Mylor Yacht Harbour.
Tags:
Fal Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-05-12 | Into and Exeter and back to work.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| New Years Eve bike ride | 2016-12-31 | Exeter and back
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Another 100 mile week | 2016-10-28 | Exeter and back - bringing up the 100 miles for the week.
For much of the ride, the smoke from the large fire from the buildings surrounding Cathedral Green was visible. Very sad.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| SYC trip to the beach cafe - by bike | 2015-09-05 | A first SYC organised cycle ride. From SYC on the west back round to the beach cafe at Exmouth on the east bank. Ten participants.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Wednesday evening safety boat duty | 2015-09-09 | A Wednesday evening on the Exe Estuary crewing for Bob J on safety boat
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Sunny Corner Quay and the Tresillian River | 2015-09-23 | From the small Sunny Corner Quay on the edge of Truro round to the Tresillian River on the Fal Estuary.
Not too far today as there was a keen wind to be paddled against on the way back down the Tresillian.
Tags:
Fal Estuary
|
| Beach cafe paddle | 2024-11-01 | Too little wind to go sailing so Malcolm B and I headed down river in the Sea Eagle kayak
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Beach Cafe dinghy cruise | 2023-05-20 | A downriver dinghy cruise. All sorts of wind - from absolutely nothing in the 4 knot tide past the Warren with the Tudor Rose approaching to a good F4 for the 2nd half of the trip back.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Exeter and back | 2017-05-08 | Cycle ride into Exeter and back with a stop at SYC on the way back.
Not a bad average for me as I was on the Marin hybrid loaded up with a pannier, locks and a book.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Exeter and back | 2016-12-29 | Into Exeter and back. Moving average a little disappointing given how hard I pedaled!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Work cycle ride | 2017-08-22 | Windy on the way back - hard work. The wind was against and small white horses were starting to develop on the estuary. Not a good combination for the ride home.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Beach cafe sail | 2016-05-07 | Wind forecast was for a F4 gusting F5 and, after a slow start, that's what we got. Stopped half way down to put in one reef. Top choccie ice cream at the Beach Cafe. With the wind well behind us on the way back, put two reefs in the main and had full headsail on the way back. Still went quite fast on the way back.
The top speed of 9.8 knots - in a Wayfarer - is a clue to the size of the tides.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| St Peter Port to SYC | 2016-06-04 | Up at the hideously early hour of 03:00 to catch the first of the tidal flow up the Little Russel at 04:00. A lovely clear night at 4am with all the navigation lights clearly visible. After Platte Fougere we "turned left a bit" to allow for the strong Spring tides. For much of the time the weather forecast was correct and what little wind there was was on the nose. However, the visibility was good making crossing the shipping lanes a lot easier than on the way out.
The photos of the Channel Light Vessel show an absolutely flat sea. The wind did pick up for a bit after this which made for a lovely sail with flat seas. A while north of the shipping lanes we were joined by about 6 to 8 dolphins for about 20 minutes. An hour or so later a much smaller porpoise made an appearance.
Amelie's engine held up well and we were back on the mooring at SYC by about 19:30.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| SYC to Topsham SC | 2016-06-11 | A paddle up the Exe from SYC to Topsham Sailing Club and back. First paddle of the year - a poor do indeed!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Down river Wayfarer sail | 2024-08-30 | Down to the beach cafe with Malcolm B. From some wind to no wind (and paddling). When the wind was there it couldn't decide whether it wanted to come from the north or the south!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Lympstone and back | 2017-11-05 | Strong winds from the north (force 6 maybe gusting a little more) made this quite a slow ride with Liz.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Work cycle ride | 2017-05-02 | Cycle ride to work and back. Not that windy but the wind was against on the way to work and against on the way home!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Exmouth and back | 2016-12-28 | A slightly longer cycle ride than usual. Average speed would probably have been a fair bit better if it wasn't for a strong wind right on the nose for the last 6 miles.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Up river paddling | 2023-08-24 | Up river loop via The Turf, the Clyst and Lympstone.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Mackerel for tea | 2016-07-18 | A glorious summer sail on a Dart 18 with Nigel H. Caught some mackerel for the first time ever - a few hundred yards off the safe water mark. Blisteringly hot and light winds - ideal for a summer sail / drift
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Summer Sail | 2016-07-30 | Went up river to about the Goat Walk and then back again. Liz did some helming for about the 3rd time in the 10 years we've been sailing on the Exe. Then some on water reefing practice and then back to SYC for the "Commodore's BBQ".
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Jim Vallis Cruise | 2016-08-06 | The first Jim Vallis Memorial Cruise. A dinghy cruise in memory of our friend Jim Vallis who started up the organised dinghy cruises at SYC. A lovely sunny day with the wind varying between nothing and about force 5 - but with no big gusts so very sailable. Joined at SYC by many from Jim's family and Sandra joined us on our Wayfarer for a sail.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Down river sail | 2024-07-31 | A down river sail in Malcolm B's RS Vision. Against the fairly weak tide and down to the floating cafe.
Tried helming the Vision on the way back. After all these years, it's the first time I'd used a centre sheeted main sheet. Very odd!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Lympstone and back | 2017-10-15 | Round to Lympstone and back again. Choccie bar near Lympstone Sailing Club, said 'hello' to Graham A at Topsham Sailing Club (who was putting Celtic Breeze to bed for the winter) and then round to Starcross Sailing Club for a coffee and a look at the Topper Open Meeting. A bit slow as Liz had some aches and pains and the wind was starting to get up.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Wayfarer to Topsham Quay | 2023-05-28 | Lovely sail to just past Topsham Quay. Wind was getting a bit flukey so we didn't go further.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Exeter and back | 2017-04-14 | Wanted a nice gentle ride as it was the first time back on the bike in three weeks - a camper van trip and a slow to end lurgie having got in the way.
And a nice gentle ride with Liz it was.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
| Work cycle ride | 2017-09-28 | Windy and slow on the way back
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Another twenty miles | 2016-10-19 | Another ride into Exeter and back.
Hard work!
Tags:
Exe Estuary
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| Another twenty miles | 2016-10-20 | Third day in a row of cycling into Exeter and back.
Every day is getting harder - surely that's not right!
A couple of "reading breaks" on the way back.
Tags:
Exe Estuary
|
