Search Results

ActivityActivity dateActivity description
Lympstone and back 2017-07-31 Round to Lympstone and back (via the Turf Locks again).
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.
Exeter and back 2016-12-05 To the Mill On The Exe and back
Monday evening sail 2012-05-21 A suprisingly breezy Monday evening sail.
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.
Channel Islands - Alderney to Exe 2012-06-06 The return sail from Braye Harbour Alderney to the Exe Estuary. The second half of the sail was very breezy as we sailed across in a gap between two lows. Unfortuantely only the 2nd half of the track was saved on the GPS.
Exe estuary drift 2012-06-17 Downstream against the incoming tide. Over on the Lympstone side for a change as there was some water. Got about as far as the Duck Pond before the tide started to change.
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.
Work cycle ride 2017-08-01 Into Exeter and back
Exeter and back 2017-03-04 A gentle wide into Exeter and back with Liz.
Exeter and back 2016-12-17 First ride in a fortnight - work and the weather put paid to the previous weekend.
Down river dinghy cruise 2012-08-18 To the beach cafe and back. Sunny weather and F2 to F3.
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.
Meandering on Exe Estuary 2012-09-09 Some gusts but mostly lulls on short Wayfarer sail
Down river dinghy cruise 2012-09-15 Down to the beach cafe and back. Very light winds most of the time but the sun was shining.
Messack Point 2022-09-04 For a change, we went north from St Just In Roseland round to Messack Point for lunch. Very nice walk slightly spoiled by Scooby Hound trying to eat sheep shit and to play with electric cattle fences.
Up river paddling 2023-08-24 Up river loop via The Turf, the Clyst and Lympstone.
Exeter and back 2017-02-27 A gentle ride into Exeter and back. A mixture of sunshine and showers but at least the wind was from the side. Most impressively, Liz managed to come off her bike but still remain standing at the end of the manoeuvre!
Brixham to Exe 2017-04-23 A lovely day sail on Derek H's Fulmar. First a quick trip with Liz on board round Berry Head. Mostly motor sailing and watching the wildlife. Then, after dropping Liz off back in Brixham, a sail back up to SYC on the Exe. Light winds - but enough to sail most of the way. A chance to "play" with some of setup on Thalmia including the cruising chute and a think about how a preventer might be rigged.
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
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.
First dinghy cruise of 2013 2013-04-20 On safety boat duty for the first SYC dinghy cruise event of 2013. Lovely weather and a good wind but not much water on the neap tide. Upriver to the Goat Walk at Topsham.
Car buying bike ride - part 1 2013-04-21 Bike ride into town to look for a new old car given that our Citroen has just dies with only 77k on the clock.
Exe Estuary paddle 2022-07-06 Across to Exmouth for a paddle up the east side of the estuary. Just past Lympstone the wind picked up to a F4 and paddling became hard work. Pleased and surprised to see I was still doing about 2mph against a F4. Stopped at SYC on the way back for lunch.
Exeter and back 2017-07-16 It was going to be a longer ride round to Lympstone but it started raining and the wind got up. Still - first time ever with an average speed of over 15 mph! Would have been faster except for having to slow down so often for huge numbers of kids and walkers. They are also digging up the cycle path at Exe Bridges which meant walking round various diversions and not getting the full 20 miles in.
Lympstone and back 2017-02-19 Round to Lympstone and back with Liz
Kayaks and canoes with Jacqui and Carol 2023-06-03 A lovely June day, bottom of the tide paddle down the estuary with the Canadian canoe and the inflatable kayak. A top picnic lunch and then across the estuary to Lympstone in the inflatable and the Triumph single seater kayak.
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.
Walking the hound to the Turf 2013-05-26 A hound walk to to the Turf Pub with Scooby Lizzie and Julian
Brixham to Exe 2013-06-02 A light wind sail from Brixham to SYC on the Exe Estuary. Light winds but that was better than the forecast of next to no winds.
Liz and Jill go large 2013-06-14 Too much talking too much wind and too much carrot cake to make for a respectable average speed but not bad on the distance front. Next week the girls will be cycling to Exmouth and back apparently.
Last hurrah of the summer? 2021-10-10 Lovely morning on the estuary on Nigel H's Dart 18. The wind filled in a bit - nay just have guested F4 occasionally.
A drift and a sail to TSC 2017-07-15 Light westerly winds and little tide so we sailed and drifted towards Topsham Sailing Club. Ran out of wind just before TSC. Sitting having coffee at SYC afterwards and we spotted a yacht where it shouldn't have been. Alan W's yacht had broken its moorings and was drifting down past buoy 29. There was already a safety boat moored up to the slipway so we took that and returned the yacht to a mooring. Can't believe we did 5.9 knots at any point today (but that would mean my code is wrong so maybe we did!!!!!!).
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.
Exeter and back 2016-11-26 Another twenty miler into Exeter and back.
Sunny summers evening sail 2013-07-10 A lovely summer evenings sail. Just enough wind to go down estuary against the incoming tide.
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
Monday afternoon on the Pole Sands 2013-07-15 A canoe trip from Cockwood Harbour to the Pole Sands off Exmouth. Scooby loved it.
Post work paddle 2013-07-17 A paddle down the Exe Estuary and along the Pole Sands with Nigel after work. A lovely sunny evening in the middle of the heat wave. Photos by Liz from a distance!
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.
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.
Lympstone and back 2017-08-27 Round to Lympstone and back with Liz. Lovely hot summer's day.
Another twenty miler 2016-11-20 Well almost a twenty miler. The 2 inch rain fall in Exeter meant that the last part of the cycle path ride was under water. Hard work cycling in to the head wind that was the remnants of Storm Angus. Disappointing that the winds dropped away for the homeward leg - as shown by the drifting boats when stopping briefly at SYC.
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
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
Paddle round Pole Sands 2013-10-06 A paddle from Cockwood, out of the estuary and round the Pole Sands. There were even some little waves at times.
Start of holiday Scooby walk 2014-01-11 Scoobys first walk of our winter holiay
Exe estuary paddle 2022-09-20 A short paddle across the Exe estuary.
Work cycle ride 2017-08-04 Into work and back
Wayfarer sailing 2024-04-27 A free sailing event at SYC. About F3 to F4 but quite cold and overcast. Turned the Wayfarer over to check its buoyancy and to have a look at the centreboard (which seems to still be in quite good condition).
Exeter and back 2016-11-19 Another 20 mile ride into Exeter and back. First ever average of 13 mph on a twenty mile ride. Storm Angus had left the flood prevention overflows in full spate in Exeter.
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.
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.
First beach cafe sail of the year. 2014-05-03 A lovely F3 south easterly for a sail down to the Exmouth Beach Cafe and back again
Sunny beach cafe safety boat duty 2014-05-17 A lovely sunny May sail down to the beach cafe and back. Light winds but just enough.
Return to the Exe 2020-05-15 First time back on the Exe Estuary after many, many months. First trip out on our new inflatable kayak - a Sea Eagle 465 FastTrack. Overall - very pleased with it.
Clyst paddling 2023-08-26 A paddle with Marija and Jeremy L up the Clyst as far as the Bridge Inn at Topsham. Quite neapy so not a lot of water at the mouth of the Clyst (even near the top of the tide). Wind was probably the F3 gusting F5 advertised so some good exercise!
Darts Farm and back 2017-01-07 Off to Darts Fram to hire a tandem for Liz's birthday next week. Liz bought a leek! Average speed distorted by the time spent shuffling round Darts Farm while Liz looked for other stuff to buy.
Another 26 miles 2016-11-06 Round to Lympstone and back again. Another windy ride. Stopped at SYC for the AGM.
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
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
Up river - twice 2014-08-31 A lovely sunny day. Wayfarer sail up river and then up river again. Winds got a bit light going up the Exe towards Topsham and the Clyst so just sailed round and round.
The Helford and Frenchman's Creek 2014-09-08 From Helford Passage via Frenchman's Creek up into Mawgan Creek towards the top of the Helford Estuary. A little windy on the way back meant plenty of exercise!
Scooby's last summer holiday walk 2019-09-23 Your activity description here
Exeter and back 2017-06-12 Quite hard work as I hadn't been on the bike for the last three weeks and there was a bit of a head wind on the way out.
Exeter and back 2017-01-05 Quite fast on the way out but a bit of a head wind on the way back slowed things down a bit overall.
Exeter and back 2016-12-18 Foggy ride into Exeter and back
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.
Lizzie bike ride 2015-04-17 Liz's first bike ride in ages
Tags: Estuary
First beach cafe sail of 2015 2015-04-19 A down river sail from SYC to the Exmouth beach cafe. Strange winds - a bit of everything. Off Cockwood the NE wind met a sea breeze and shifted 180 degrees! It did this on both the way down and the way back. Coming back to the Club the wind got a bit lively for the last 5 minutes of the sail.
First SYC dinghy cruise of 2015 2015-04-25 An upriver dinghy cruise to start the 2015 season of SYC organised dinghy cruises. Pleasant wind - maybe F3
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.
Work cycle ride 2017-05-23 Into work and back. Not much wind which made it a bit easier.
New Years Eve bike ride 2016-12-31 Exeter and back
Exeter and back 2017-04-24 A fairly gentle ride into Exeter and back. Had the Marin loaded up with a pannier and computer bag as though I was going to cycle into work. After a bit of adjustment it all seemed to work ok.
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.
October dinghy cruise 2015-10-10 An iffy weather forecast (F4 gusting F5 with occasional F6) didn't tie up with the conditions at the start time so we went out with one reef. In the end, it turned out to be a lovely sail.
Beach cafe dinghy cruise 2015-10-17 A mid October dinghy cruise to the beach cafe. Winds of mid F4 forecast but mostly a bit lower than that. Broke the tiller extension universal joint which made sailing back a bit different to usual.
First dinghy sail of 2016 2016-04-02 Weather forecast was for F5 gusting F6 and that was about right when we got to SYC. As this was the first dinghy cruise of the year, it was cancelled and replaced with a sail near the club. Put lots of reefs in so the crew didn't mutiny and then banged about across the estuary and back a few times. Turned out to be a fun sail.
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.
Work cycle ride 2017-05-12 Into and Exeter and back to work.
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.
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.
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!
Squires Cup Safety Boat 2016-06-12 Safety boat for the Squires Cup racing for dinghies and cats on the Exe Estuary. Not a lot of wind so not much call for our services. Some rain at times.
Up river dinghy cruise 2016-07-02 An up river dinghy cruise. The weather forecast was about right with its F4 gusting F5. The "fleet" got spread out quite a bit and, as the weather wasn't great, we headed back to the club quite early. The camera was on the wrong settings when the photos were taken so they've been over HDR'd to see if they can be made slightly interesting.
SYC Mystery Dinghy Cruise 2016-07-13 "Officer Of The Day" for the SYC "mystery dinghy cruise". What the mystery was to be was, er, a mystery to us. So we decided that it would be cricket and drinkies on the Bull Sands in the middle of the Exe Estuary at low water. F4 gusting F5 a fair bit of the time but it seems a good time was had by all.
Beach cafe sail 2018-05-19 SYC dinghy cruise to the beach cafe. Great winds and plenty of sun! Heading towards Springs so plenty of tide so quite a fast speed over the ground going past the Warren.
River Clyst paddling 2023-06-09 Up the river Clyst for a couple of miles and then back via Topsham. There was still more navigable water to be explored on the Clyst but left that for next time.
Work cycle ride 2017-08-29 Work and back
Round to Exmouth and back 2016-10-25 I missed out on yesterday's cycle ride due to the incessant rain and being a wuss. To make up, today's ride was round to Exmouth and the start of the Jurassic Coast. On the way out I told myself that I'd catch the ferry back. When I was there I thought "that wasn't so" bad so I rode back. It's a long way for someone like me!
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.
Free Sailing Safety Boat 2016-08-13 Doing safety boat for a Free Sailing at SYC on a lovely summer's afternoon. A pleasant F3 with the occasional gust made for almost ideal sailing conditions with just a few things to keep us slightly busy. A surprising overall distance as we spent the first 15 minutes at anchor (and expected to remain there for much of the afternoon!)
A tale of two ferries 2016-08-14 Up to buoy 45 at Topsham (off the Goat Walk) passing the Topsham to Turf ferry and then down to Starcross (to the Starcross to Exmouth ferry pier). Then round the floating cafe and back to SYC. A gorgeous day's sailing. A strong F3 up near Topsham and one of those rare days that it was warm enough to sail without a spray top. Marvelous.
Topper Open At SYC 2016-10-09 Junior Topper Open event at Starcross Yacht Club. Safety boat crew for the 4 back-to-back races for the 23 boats at this open sailing event. Decent winds all day between F2 and F4 from the north east. GPS battery ran out after only a couple of hours so most of the track is missing.
Exeter and back 2017-12-09 Into Exeter and back. Just got bike back from a big service by Jon S. Combination of a freshly serviced bike and not much wind made the moving average a bit better than some other recent rides.
Exe SWM dinghy sail 2023-08-30 A lovely sail with Malcolm B in the Wayfarer. Out to the Exe Safe Water Mark and a little way beyond. Lunch on the beach and an ice cream at the Beach Cafe. The wind was mostly F3/F4 with occasional gusts to F5. A lovely sail. And then used the new electric winch at SYC to retrieve the Wayfarer.
Lympstone and back 2016-12-19 Round to Lympstone for a very nice and rather spicy tomato soup in the Swan Inn. This ride takes me just over 500 miles since I started this regular cycling stuff back in mid October.
Hundred miles this week 2016-10-22 The fifth 20 miler of the week. I'd expected this to be a gentle cycle ride with Liz but she was all gung ho! Way faster than I was expecting and I wasn't allowed my usual stopping places to have a breather. This was the fifth day out in a row doing 20 miles meaning that the target of doing 100 miles in a week was reached with 2 days to spare.Day off tomorrow!
And another twenty miles 2016-10-21 To the Mill On The Exe and back again. This one was very slightly easier than yesterday but that's probably because it was such a still day. Average of 12mph!!! I don't think I've ever averaged that before. Cheating slightly by stopping to read a chapter of a book at the Exe Quay (safe water mark) and at the Turf Locks - as it was such a nice day.
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