The GPS Blog| Activity | Activity date | Activity description |
|---|---|---|
| Up and down the Exe Estuary | 2012-04-01 | Down towards Starcross a couple of times and up to the Turf on a gloriously sunny April afternoon. Lovely F3 to F4 wind. An average speed of 4.5 knots in a 30 year old Wayfarer is none too shoddy
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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.
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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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Monday evening sail | 2012-05-21 | A suprisingly breezy Monday evening sail.
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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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-08-27 | Round to Lympstone and back with Liz. Lovely hot summer's day.
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Exe Estuary
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-04-29 | Dinghy cruise was cancelled because the winds were too strong so Liz and I went cycling. Doh! Hard work on the way back from the Swing Bridges as it was straight into the F5 winds.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2017-01-21 | Cold days cycle ride into Exeter and back. Just above freezing. Very gentle ride with Liz - reflected in the somewhat slower than usual average speed.
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Exe Estuary
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| A sunny Monday evening sail | 2012-07-23 | A great Monday evening sail. The tail end of a F3 sea breeze and a strong incoming Spring tide. The average speed over the ground may not win any prizes but a cracking sail down past the floating cafe and through the moorings
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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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Monday evening sail | 2012-07-30 | A Monday evening sail to the Goat Walk - quite gusty.
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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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| Round to Exmouth | 2017-08-14 | Round to Maer Rocks at Exmouth. Started raining just as I got to Exmouth. The last seven miles straight into the wind and the rain were hard work.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exe Estuary Darting | 2020-08-30 | Back on Nigel H's Dart 18 for the first time in a long while. Lovely trip down and up the estuary. Wind was up and down - nothing too strong and it didn't completely die away/ Lovely.
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Exe Estuary
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| More rowing than sailing | 2012-10-20 | The last SYC dinghy cruise of the year. Varied between next to no wind and no wind at all. Rowed about two thirds of the way. Lovely morning to be on the estuary though.
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Exe estuary
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| Another 26 miles | 2016-11-06 | Round to Lympstone and back again. Another windy ride.
Stopped at SYC for the AGM.
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Exe 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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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.
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Exe estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-08-07 | Got rained on
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2016-12-29 | Into Exeter and back. Moving average a little disappointing given how hard I pedaled!
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Exe Estuary
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| Gusty estuary sailing | 2013-05-04 | A sail in the Wayfarer with Derek H. The wind was very gusty and very shifty. Made for an interesting sail even though we only went back and forth across the estuary
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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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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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.
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Exe estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-08-04 | Into work and back
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Exe Estuary
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-02-19 | Round to Lympstone and back with Liz
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exe estuary dinghy sail | 2013-06-29 | A nice sail on the Exe in maybe a F3 to F4 on the day of the Hurricane and Dart opens. Imploded trailer tyre cut short the time available for sailing a little bit,
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Exe Estuary
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| Liz, Jill and Ben stroke Agas | 2013-07-05 | Liz, Jill and Ben cycle to Darts Farm and lust after the Aga cookers. Jills son probably not so impressed. Back via Topsham.
Average speed severely affected by taking GPS with them when Aga stroking.
Rather unbelievable max speed generated when Liz heads towards the till mistakenly believing she can actually aford an Aga.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-08-29 | Work and back
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Sunday evening sail | 2013-07-21 | That rare occurrence - plenty of water, plenty of wind and plenty of sun. A lovely evening sail on the Exe Estuary.
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Exe Estuary
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-01-28 | Round to Lympstone and back with Liz. Got rained on at Countess Wear.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| Bike ride to Exmouth and back | 2013-08-11 | Bike ride round the Exe Estuary from Cockwood to Exmouth and back.
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Exe Estuary
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| Up river paddling | 2023-08-24 | Up river loop via The Turf, the Clyst and Lympstone.
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Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-07-28 | Very windy (WindGuru said 25mph gusting 40) on the way back and wet. Wind was maybe 30 to 45 degrees off being dead on the nose so slightly easier than it might have been.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Start of holiday Scooby walk | 2014-01-11 | Scoobys first walk of our winter holiay
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Exe Estuary
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| Cycle ride and SYC | 2014-01-26 | A basic cycle ride to the A379 and back again with a stop at the sailing club to watch the death and destruction. Some very big gusts of wind going through led to a few capsizes.
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Exe Estuary
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| Basic bike ride | 2014-01-27 | Along the estuary to the A379 and back
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Exe Estuary
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| Straight Point Paddling | 2023-06-15 | A near enough perfect day's paddling. Out with the tide against just the start of a sea breeze. Then along the coast to Straight Point. Flat calm and pretty much no wind.
The Marines were firing otherwise I'd have gone on further.
Then back via the beach cafe (the choccie ice cream not as nice as Route 2's) and then pushed back up the estuary by the tide and building sea breeze. Hardly a cloud in the sky. Just about perfect.
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Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-07-25 | Work and back
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2016-12-18 | Foggy ride into Exeter and back
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Exe Estuary
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| 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
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Exe estuary
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| 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.
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Exe estuary
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| Push The Boat Out at SYC | 2014-05-26 | SYC's "Push The Boat Out" day to offer people a taster of dinghy sailing. A very successful day - about 70 people got to try sailing and the winds were an ideal F2 to F3.
Liz got to try helming a Topper on dry land!
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Exe Estuary
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| Squires Cup safety boat | 2014-06-08 | Safety boat duty on a rather damp and drizzly Sunday in June. Free tea though!
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Exe estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Cycle ride to work | 2017-06-13 | One of those "head wind in both directions" rides. Wind against on the way out and then a sea breeze against on the way back.
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Exe Estuary
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| First Wayfarer sail of 2017 | 2017-04-02 | First time out in the Wayfarer this year. A very gentle sail and then a drift back down with the tide as the wind died away as forecast.
Some noisy scroat was scaring up the birds in a hovercraft between the Clyst and the Goat Walk.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2016-12-17 | First ride in a fortnight - work and the weather put paid to the previous weekend.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-06-16 | Into work and back
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Exe Estuary
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| Bart's Bash | 2014-09-21 | After ten year's sailing at Starcross Yacht Club we've completed our first ever dinghy race (we did start one about five year's ago but got bored half way through and sailed off up-river).
This race was in memory of Bart Simpson who died in America's Cup practice last year and to raise funds for his sailing academy.
Amazingly we weren't last - but pretty close. On the plus side, 68 boats in the water and we didn't hit one of them!
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-07-23 | Round to Lympstone and back with Liz. Liz's first time back on a bike for about a month.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2017-03-10 | Into Exeter and back. Average speed not too bad given that there was quite a strong headwind on the way back.
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Exe Estuary
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-01-22 | Round to Lympstone on a lovely winters afternoon. Enough wind for the sailors at Starcross Yacht Club but not so much as to make the cycling unpleasant.
Photos are from Lympstone looking at SYC and from SYC looking at Lymptstone.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| First cycle ride in months | 2016-10-10 | First bike ride in a very long time. Only as far as the Countess Wear swing bridges over the Exeter Canal.
Work is about half way through the 14 month schedule of work on the swing bridge / roads.
As per the pictures, one of the bridges was open because of the work.
The swing bridges are being retained but re-aligned during the work.
The bridges have history - there's a plaque on them that reads "In May 1944, these bridges played an important part in the preparations for D-Day. They were used over a period of three days and nights, for rehearsals of the famous and crucial glider borne attack on the bridge over the Canal de Caen (Pegasus Bridge) and the River Orne (Horsa Bridge), by the Second Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, on the night 5/6 June 1944"
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Pole Sands Paddling | 2020-08-31 | An ideal days paddling. Wind and tide with us on the way out and on the way back!
Liz fell in when getting out of the kayak on the Pole Sands.
Much screaming from Liz and Scooby when we came back round the outside of the Pole Sands.
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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
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Beach cafe sail | 2024-10-02 | Down to the Beach Cafe in the Wayfarer with Malcolm. Quite big tides and quite variable winds. Good sail overall.
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Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-09-01 | Into work and back
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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
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Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-06-20 | Hot. Very hot.
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Exe Estuary
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| June sea breezes | 2017-06-17 | A splendid sail in the Wayfarer on the Exe Estuary. Drifted about for half an hour waiting for the sea breeze to kick in. When it did it was a splendid steady F4 to F4. Combined with neap tides, it made for a splendid sail. Liz helmed and we went to rescue a pair on a Topper that capsized and seemed to be filling with water. Luckily a passing rib helped as after we had a couple of goes we still hadn't found a spot on the Bull Sands where Liz could stand up in the water!
Then went and had a look at the B14 event and got slightly in the way of one of the crews (oops - apologized later!).
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Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2016-11-28 | A windy ride into Exeter and back. Luckily the wind (F5 to F7 on Met Office forecast) was mostly on the side,
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Exe Estuary
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| Bike ride to the Double Locks | 2016-07-17 | A bike ride along the Exe Estuary and canal to meet up with Rose and Midge for the first time in ages.
Wobbled back along the cycle path and stopped at SYC for a quick view of the 2nd day of the Exe Regatta.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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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Exe Estuary
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| 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
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Exe Estuary
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| 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".
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Exe Estuary
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