Search Results

ActivityActivity dateActivity description
River Exe Cafe 2018-04-08 Birthday treat at the River Exe Cafe
Up river to the Goat Walk 2012-04-28 A trip up river to the Goat Walk before the weekend gales came in
Tags: Up river
Up river and back 2012-05-13 Up river to the buoy 24 and back on a fine Spring day with about a F4 sea breeze
Tags: Up river
A Wednesday evening sail in dying winds 2012-05-16 A quick evening sail as the winds dropped away on a Wednesday evening
Tags: Up river
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: Up river
West Parley visit 2021-10-22 Camper vanning in West Parley for a meet up with old school friends. Went for a walk down Church Lane past the Multiple Sclerosis day centre and then on to the River Stour. Lots of Whiteley family memories / connections.
River Avon kayaking 2021-07-16 Put the kayak in at Bantham back beach and then paddled up river to a few hundred yards past the bridge at Aveton Gifford. At AG pretty much at high tide (on a neap tide) - wouldn't want to miss the timings by more than an hour or two given how that pretty much all of the Avon dries out. Lovely trip - very, very hot.
Tags: River Avon
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.
Meandering on Exe Estuary 2012-09-09 Some gusts but mostly lulls on short Wayfarer sail
Tags: Up river
Up river to the Turf 2013-04-28 Only the 2nd dinghy sail of the year. Up river as far as the Turf in a nice gentle breeze
Tags: Up river
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: Up river
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: Up river
Up tide and up wind paddle 2014-06-19 A paddle against the wind and the tide towards the Turf. I would claim we had a reason for such foolery! Much quicker on the way back. Scooby's first canoe session of 2014.
Tags: Up river
Cockwood to the Turf and back 2014-07-20 From Cockwood Harbour to SYC and then on to the Turf, Then back again via Bull Hill Bank so Scooby could have a bit of a run about.
Tags: Up river
Up river sail 2014-08-16 A very pleasant up river sail as far as Topsham Sailing Club. Between F2 and F4 in the estuary but died away to very little when going up the estuary. With the tide having turned, we didn't get much furtehr than TSC.
Tags: Up river
Beaulieu River to Lymington 2019-05-22

A short sail round from Bucklers Hard on the Beaulieu River to the Town Quay at Lymington.

We left the peace and tranquility of the Beaulieu River and after a short sail reached the yachting mega-centre that is Lymington. Because we were so early in the sailing season we were able to tie up at Lymington Town Quay without rafting. Derek's brother and family were keen to try some sailing on his yacht so he took them out for a sail towards Yarmouth. Then a very pleasant dinner at Stanwell House Hotel.

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.
Tags: Up river
Wooton Creek to Beaulieu River 2019-05-21

From Wooton Creek, past Cowes and Fawley and into the Beaulieu River.

We left Wooton Creek and sailed across the Solent to the Beaulieu River. We motored up the river past Bucklers Hard and towards the top of the navigable river. We then moored up at Buckers Hard marina (which we feared would be frighteningly expensive but was actually quite reasonable when compared with the Poole marina and given the excellent facilities).

Lunch and dinner at the Master Builders and a visit to the rather good Bucklers Hard museum.

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
Tags: Up river
Beach cafe sail 2023-09-29 Down to the Exmouth Beach Cafe with Malcolm B in his RS Vision. Gusts not as strong as forecasted but the wind was very shifty. Gorgeous chocolate ice cream at the Beach Cafe (sorry Scooby).
Tags: Beach Cafe
A beach cafe sail 2011-04-22 One of the many SYC to beach cafe sails swinging around a low tide.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Another beach cafe sail 2011-03-23 Down to the beach cafe and then up the estuary a little bit waiting for some tide so we didnt have to pull th eboat up through too much mud
Tags: Beach Cafe
Dart drifting 2022-07-13 A drift up and won the Exe estuary to the Beach Cafe on Nigel H's Dart 18. A little bit of wind occasionally.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
A perfect summers sail 2012-07-22 With the first spell of decent weather this summer the dinghy cruise down to the Beach Cafe and back had an excellent F3 southerly sea breeze and lots of sunshine. Marvellous. All the best photos courtesy of Lizs brother Julian.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Godrevy and Hells Mouth 2017-09-18 From Gwithian Farm campsite, past Godrevy Beach and on past Godrevy Lighthouse. Then on past an inaccessible cove where about 15-20 seals were resting, Then on to the rather splendidly named Hells Mouth where the lonely Hells Mouth Cafe did a great cappuccino.
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
Beach cafe sail 2018-06-30 A lovely sail from SYC down to the Exmouth beach. Glorious sunshine and quite a strong sea breeze to start with.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
Down river dinghy cruise 2012-08-18 To the beach cafe and back. Sunny weather and F2 to F3.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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).
Autumn estuary sail 2012-10-06 An end of summer sail down to the beach cafe and back. Fairly light and variable winds. Six SYC boats.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Breezy Dart Sail 2015-09-28 A breezy day sail on Nigel H's Dart 18. Wind was generally between F4 and F5 but probably touching F6 for a short while as we left the beach cafe.Top speed of 17 knots just below the 18 knots on a sail last year.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
Exmouth and back 2017-02-11 Round to Exmouth and back to meet up with the SYC dinghy cruisers at the Beach Cafe. Temperature was between one and two degrees with flurries of snow.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach cafe
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.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Upton Pyne 2019-04-08 Took the bikes in the camper van when dropping it off for its yearly service and MOT. Then on to the Boatyard Cafe on the Quay for breakfast. Spent a bit of time shopping for bits and bobs in Exeter and then cycled on to Upton Pyne (there a hill on the way to Upton Pyne!). Average speed should be ignored as we were walking round Exeter quite a bit.
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: Beach Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach Cafe
First beach cafe sail of 2016 2016-04-23 First SYC sail to the Exmouth beach cafe in 2016. The forecast was north easterly F4 to F5. However, on the way back from the beach cafe it was really quite gusty and I'd guess that the gusts might just have been F6. Combined with a fairly large tide and the NE wind being against the tide, it made for an interesting sail back.
Tags: Beach cafe
First bike ride of 2017 2017-01-03 Round to Exmouth and back. And today's lesson learned is not to eat a cheese and tomato toastie with chips at the Exmouth beach cafe immediately before heading off back into the wind for umpteen miles...
Tags: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
Down to the Beach Cafe 2022-07-28 A sail in Malcom B's RS Vision down to the Beach Cafe (which is still there several years after Exmouth Council said it had to close). Thought there would be no wind but there was a rather nice F3 for most of the sail.
Tags: Beach Cafe
SYC dinghy cruise 2018-04-28 First down river dinghy cruise of the 2018 SYC programme. Next to no wind most of the time but a pleasant drift in bigish tides. Beach cafe toasties as good as usual.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Exe Estuary sea breezes 2013-08-26 A lovely gentle sail in light sea breezes to and from the Beach Cafe at Exmouth
Tags: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
Sail on Nigels Dart 18 2013-09-02 A super sail out to the beach cafe, out to sea and back via the Warren. A bit of everything in the wind - well from F2 to F4 - and lots of sun. Ideal. GPS battery died on the way back.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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: Beach Cafe
Dinghy Cruise OOD and safety boat 2019-06-15 "Officer of the day" and safety boat driver for a down river dinghy cruise from SYC. The slightly dodgy forecast ended up being fine and a good sail was had by all.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Beach cafe sail 2022-09-24 Down to the Beach Cafe with Malcolm B in the Wayfarer. Gusty on the way down - a lovely tacking sail on the way back.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Liz's first safety boat drive 2018-08-25 Liz's first safety boat drive since getting her "Power Boat 2" training. An out to sea dinghy cruise - out as far as the fairway buoy anyway.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Exeter cycle ride 2019-03-17 Into Exeter with Liz. First day in a week that the winds weren't above force 6! Still windy though so hard work on the way in and Mrs Lutzy's was full! Stopped at Dawlish Warren bike cafe to get the gears on Liz's bike "fine tuned". Met up with Dr John.
Tags: Bike Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach cafe
Dinghy cruise to fairway buoy 2019-06-01 An excellent dinghy cruise. A steady F3 most of the time. Lunch at the beach cafe and then out as far as the fairway buoy. Pretty slow tacking out from the beach cafe to Maer Rocks as a lightish wind and the tide was now starting to flood in.
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
Tags: Beach Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach cafe
Godrevy and Hells Mouth Cafe 2018-09-10 Met up with Ruth and Derek H for a revisit of the walk past Godrevy Lighthouse and on to Hells Mouth Cafe. Lots of seals in the cover just past Godrevy Lighthouse - they are the blurry black blob things in the photos.
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.
Tags: Beach cafe
Spring sea breezes 2018-05-07 Up towards Topsham with a lovely sea breeze is glorious sunny bank holiday weather. Then down towards the Exe floating cafe - at which point the sea breeze pretty much died - most unusual. Then out with the little Honda 2.3 outboard to see whether it still goes and is reliable. Seems to be!
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: Beach Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach cafe
Dawlish Air Show Dinghy Cruise 2014-08-23 "Officer of the day" and safety boat duty on an out to sea dinghy cruise that coincided with the Dawlish Air Show. A few dramas a long the way but saw the Red Arrows and, later, the battle of Britain memorial flight (including two Lancasters, a Spitfire and a Hurricane).
Tags: Beach Cafe
Beach cafe sail 2024-06-20 Sail down to the beach cafe in Malcolm B's RS Vision. No wind until we got some sea breeze. Then hot weather and a reasonable sea breeze. Sail aided by the new mainsail on the Vision.
Tags: Beach Cafe
Dart sail 2016-06-27 First sail of the year on Nigel H's Dart 18. Wind was up and down and we fought the tide on the way back to SYC but some fast speeds out at sea.
Tags: Beach cafe
October beach cafe sail 2014-10-11 Good winds and big tides for a late season sail from SYC down to the beach cafe. Some excellent winds round the Warren and the Docks. Died away a little bit for the last mile back to SYC.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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.
Tags: Beach Cafe
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
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.
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.
Tags: Beach cafe
Beach cafe paddle 2023-06-05 A paddle down to the beach cafe with Marija and Jeremy L. Paddled into some wind on the 2nd half of the way out but hardly paddled at all on the way back and the wind and tide pushed us home.
Tags: Beach cafe
First sail of the year on Nigel's Dart 2015-06-08 Lots of wind going down the estuary. Quite a bit of wind out at sea for a while and some waves to play with. After lunch at the beach cafe the wind died away a bit making the sail back up the channel alongside Exmout beach somewhat tricky (including some fun in the shallow waters just before the Warren point), More wind when back in the estuary but the strength of the ebbing tide made it a "tactical" sail back to SYC.
Tags: Beach cafe
Newport Trophy race 2023-06-17 An SYC yacht "race" in Derek H's rather splendid Westerly Fulmar from the Exe to Dartmouth. Very gentle winds. So gentle, in fact, that the race finish line was moved back to Hope's Nose. We gave up sailing about 3 miles short of Dartmouth and then motored up to Dittisham for an evening meal in the Red Lion.
Tags: Exe
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Tags: Exe
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.
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.
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!).
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.
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.
Tags: Exe
Peter S returns! 2023-08-27 On a rib out to the Exe SWM to welcome Peter S home from his epic trip (through the French canals, around Corsica and other islands in the Med, through the Canal Du Midi and then back round the Britanny coast.
Tags: Exe SWM
Little Russell - Exe Estuary 2023-04-04 A kayak trip down the Exe to look at the channel near buoy 13 and the Little Russel buoy. It is much narrower than previous years. A summary note with photos and notes at https://aidanwhiteley.com/docs/lower-exe-and-little-russel-v1.pdf
Salcombe back to the Exe 2024-08-14 And, finally, back to the Exe from Salcombe. The forecast wasn't too promising with northerly winds so we expected a lot of tacking. It was slow for quite a while after we rounded Start Point - from there to Berry Head seemed to take an age. We idled away the time crossing Torbay watching three large ships in a row come into the bay to take on pilots. As we passed the Ore Stone the wind freed up and we had a lovely sail straight up to the Exe SWM. We arrived an hour before low water but as it was so neapy we progressed up channel to just past the floating cafe where we picked up a spare mooring for an hour waiting for enough tide rise to make it onto Triskelle's mooring
Tags: Exe
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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