The GPS Blog| Activity | Activity date | Activity description |
|---|---|---|
| Dawlish and Exeter | 2017-12-18 | Into Dawlish with Liz to pay a bill and then up to Lutzy's on Exeter Quay. A lovely sunny winter's day with next to no wind.
Liz says "bad back and snotty nose" the reason for the slightly low average speed.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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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!
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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| Floods, a puncture and a disputed cupcake | 2018-03-04 | Post snow flooding on the Exe cycle path meant a bunch of walking. Liz didn't want the gorgeous Lutzy's cupcake bought for her so it was half each - the first "snack" this year! Then a blowout on the way home on Lizzie's rear tyre. Not helped by the poxy pump we had with us only being able to half inflate the tyre. A trip to the LBS tomorrow for a replacement.
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Mill On The Exe
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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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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2017-12-26 | Easy ride on teh way out. Wet and windy on the way back. Stopped at SYC on the way back to fix the webcam and weather PC. Weather station recording 20 knots of wind right on the nose for the remaining part of the journey home.
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Mill On The Exe
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| 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.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2017-02-21 | Another "fast for me" ride into Exeter and back. Fast - as in more than 14mph average. There was a sod of a headwind on the way out so made up time on the way back (although I could swear that the wind changed direction just as a I started back from Exeter).
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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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.
Tags:
Mill on the Exe
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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.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2018-02-16 | Into Exeter and back with Liz. Straight into a headwind on the way home.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Xmas day bike ride | 2016-12-25 | A ride with Liz into Exeter and back. Lots of kids on the cycle path with shiny new Xmas present bikes.
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Mill On The Exe
Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2016-11-27 | Liz's first time back on the bike at the tail end of a two week lurgy.
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Mill On The Exe
Exe Estuary
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| Exeter and back | 2017-12-04 | A ride into Exeter and back with Liz
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2018-01-28 | First time on the bike after the gears were mended. All good.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back - quite fast | 2017-02-18 | A very fast (for me) ride out to Exeter (averaged 16.2mph - would have been faster but for the hordes of pedestrians on the last couple of miles) and a somewhat slower ride back into quite a strong head wind. Stopped briefly at SYC to watch the dinghy instructor pre-prep course.
Fastest overall average I've managed on the 20 miles "Exeter and back" ride. First time averaging over 14 mph!
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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| Xmas eve ride | 2016-12-24 | Into Exeter and back. First solo ride for a couple of week and the slightly higher speeds made it hard work!
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Mill On The Exe
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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.
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Mill on the Exe
Exe Estuary
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| Exeter bike ride | 2021-10-20 | Liz post work
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Mill On The Exe
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| Lutzys cafe | 2017-11-11 | A cycle ride into Exeter and back with Liz. Stopped at Lutzy's Cafe for the rather nice custard tarts and some coffee.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2018-01-29 | Into Exeter and back with Liz to do a bit of shopping.
Bit windy and had to walk past the people putting up a new fence along the railway along the estuary.
There was a new cruise boat - The Spirit Of Loch Ness - in the Turf Lock. Not seen her before.
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Mill On The Exe
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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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Mill On The Exe
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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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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter cycle ride | 2017-10-22 | Into Exeter with Liz. Strong headwinds on the way out - faster on the way back.
Saw a Bentley with a bike rack on the back at the Swan's Next park.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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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:
Mill On The Exe
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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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2018-02-12 | A gentle cycle ride into Exeter with Liz.
First time on the bike in nearly two weeks due to a winter lurgie that refused to go. Still not 100% right yet!
Lutzys was still closed.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2017-12-23 | Into Exeter and back with Liz
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2017-03-04 | A gentle wide into Exeter and back with Liz.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2016-12-18 | Foggy ride into Exeter and back
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2017-10-07 | Too windy for us to want to go sailing (F4 gusting F6) so Liz and I cycled into Exeter and back.
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Mill On The Exe
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| 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.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2018-01-20 | Into Exeter and back with Liz. Picked up some free tide timetables from the very nice people at Bridger Marine on the Quay.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2018-04-23 | Into Exeter and back with Liz. Stopped for a coffee at Lutzy's.
Watched the dredger deepening the channel out from the Turf Locks.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter | 2018-05-18 | Into Exeter and back with Liz.
Coffee at Lutzys and then a fairly strong breeze to contend with on the way back.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2017-04-17 | In to Exeter on the Marin bike. Stopped at SYC on the way back to watch Liz and Nigel on the safety boat.
About the same strength and direction wind as yesterday so it seems that the posh bike makes me about 1.5 mph faster.
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Mill On The Exe
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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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Mill On The Exe
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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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Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2017-08-26 | Into Exeter and back. On the posh bike but far too many blind and deaf walkers, kids and doggies on the paths to be able to go too fast.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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| Bike ride into Exeter | 2017-07-02 | A leisurely bike ride into Exeter with Liz. Liz's first time on the bike in a while. Combine that with hundreds of ISCA Academy 10 year olds vying to see which one of them could throw themselves under Liz's front wheel first, and the average speed makes more sense. Stopped at SYC on the way back.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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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.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
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| Exeter and back | 2016-12-05 | To the Mill On The Exe and back
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Mill On The Exe
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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Mill On The Exe
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| 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.
Tags:
Mill On The Exe
Exe Estuary
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| New Years Eve bike ride | 2016-12-31 | Exeter and back
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Mill On The Exe
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| Into Exeter and back | 2017-08-05 | Too windy for sailing so we went cycling. Quite a big bit windy said Liz after her first time on the bike for quite a while.
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Mill On The Exe
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| 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.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Bike ride to Exeter | 2016-10-18 | Start of a possible attempt to maybe get a little fitter.
A twenty mile round trip ride into Exeter (Mill on the Exe area) and back again.
The final climb back up Cockwood Hill nearly killed me.
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Mill On The Exe
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| Another twenty miles | 2016-10-19 | Another ride into Exeter and back.
Hard work!
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Mill On The Exe
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| 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.
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Mill On Th eExe
Exe Estuary
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| Bolberry Down and Soar Mill Sove | 2019-09-07 | First day of hols! Whiteley's off to new camp-site near Salcombe - remember for family happiness mobile signal not great for route finding! New camp-site with very friendly owners.Walked to Saw Mill Cove lots of dog swimming & ball throwing. Views of Rame Head (Liz's favourite headland!), Burgh Island & the Eddystone. Expensive pints at newly furbished bar on way back.
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Soar Mill Cove
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exe Passages | 2023-04-06 | Derek H's Thalmia launched from Topsham Quay at the ungodly hour of something past seven.
Then a trip down the "inner passage to the south west corner of Bull Hill. Back via the marked channel.
A summary of what the channels look like this year at https://aidanwhiteley.com/docs/lower-exe-and-little-russel-v2.pdf
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Exe
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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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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| Brixham to the Exe | 2022-07-31 | Back from Brixham after the Drew trophy race. From Brixham to Ansteys Cove where we anchored for lunch. Then a lovely sail back to the Exe with the wind picking up a little bit as we closed on the Exe. Marvellous!
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Exe
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-07-31 | Round to Lympstone and back (via the Turf Locks again).
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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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| 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!!!!!!).
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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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| Drew Trophy race from Exe to Brixham | 2013-07-27 | A very slow cruise from the Exe to Brixham for the SYC Drew Trophy race. Came 2nd! Partly due to some boats giving up and motoring due to lack of wind. The photos show the flat as a millpond sea at the start of the race.
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Exe
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Work bike ride | 2017-04-28 | Into work and back.
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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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| 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!
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Exe Estuary
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| Cycle ride to work | 2017-04-25 | First cycle ride to work in many years. Strong headwind on the way there (white horses on the estuary) but tail wind on the way back. Not easy though on the way back as I hadn't eaten in the 5 hours before ride. Need to plan that a bit better!
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Exe Estuary
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| Work cycle ride | 2017-08-01 | Into Exeter and back
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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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| SYC safety boat | 2024-01-28 | Crewing on an SYC safety boat
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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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| 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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| Work cycle ride | 2017-09-28 | Windy and slow on the way back
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Back from Brixham to the Exe | 2015-07-19 | A slowish sail back from Brixham to the Exe after the Drew Trophy Race.
Wind was up and down a bit from 5 knots to 15 knots but mostly around about 8 knots.
Sailed past the practise race for the 2015 Wayfarer nationals being sailed out of Brixham Yacht Club. Only 7 boats of the water???
Managed to sail the whole way - whenever we threatened to put the motor on, the wind picked up a bit.
Very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon listenening to Genesis and Pink Floyd on the boat cockpit speakers with the sun out.
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Exe
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| SYC beach cafe sail | 2015-08-01 | We haven't been out on the Wayfarer for quite a while. That sounds bad given that it's the height of summer but a quick check shows that I've actually sailed over 490 nautical miles since our last Wayfarer trip so I haven't exactly given up sailing!
A breezy sail down to the beach cafe - we put in a reef for the way back which wasn't too cowardly as there were a couple of capsizes on the way back.
Big tides which is the main reason for the quite fast average speed.
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Exe
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| Beach cafe paddle | 2024-06-23 | A paddle down from SYC to the beach cafe with Marija and Jeremy L.
Very pleasant paddle around the low tide.
Strangely, a very foggy day for some of it.
Passed Nigel H's "office" on the way back and then Nellynui once last time (before she heads off to her new home).
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| Exe Regatta canoeing | 2019-06-09 | A paddle from Generals Lane slipway in Starcross up to the Turf. Stopped at SYC on the way back to watch some of the Exe Regatta and to let the tide get a bit stronger to help us back against the wind.
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Exe Regatta
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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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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!
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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!
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Exe Estuary
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| Beach cafe sail | 2017-04-15 | Down from SYC to the beach cafe at Exmouth. Two very different forecasts - this time the Met Office was right and it was F4 with gusts to the top of F5. Wind was from the NNW so an easy sail with a couple of gybes on the way down. A lot of tacking on the way back but a really great sail for the Wayfarer with one reef in.
A max speed of 9.5 knots isnt bad for an old Wayfarer - OK there might have been a little tidal assist at that point! One day, we'll make 10 knots.
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Exe Estaury
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| Lympstone and back | 2017-03-06 | Round to Lympstone with Liz. Liz impressed with the new Aldi at Topsham and less impressed with the rain on the way back.
Took some photos of a well preserved old fishing boat in the Turf Lock - later spotted heading off towards Lyme Regis way.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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.
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Exe Estuary
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| 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!)
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Exe Estuary
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