Search Results

ActivityActivity dateActivity description
Powderham bike ride 2021-08-31 Down to SYC to do some race webcam fiddling.
Tags: SYC
First Wayfarer sail in a long, long time 2020-06-14 Back in the Wayfarer for for the first time this year! A free sailing day at SYC. Back and forth across the estuary for a couple of hours checking that the boat is still properly seaworthy. No breakages and a lovely steady wind.
Tags: SYC
Up to Topsham Quay 2018-10-08 Putting Thalmia to bed for the winter! Up to Trouts pontoon ready for Thalmia to be lifted out for the winter later in the week.
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
Exe Estuary dawdle 2013-05-12 Not quite the F4 gusting F5 that was forecast. That and the fact we managed to get the furling line wrapped round the head sail furling drum means that we didnt go very far.
Tags: SYC
Super summer sail 2013-05-18 A lovely sail up to the Goat Walk at Topsham. We had planned to go as far as the motorway bridge but the wind didnt have the west in it that the forecast said it would. Met Malcolm and Graham at the Goat Walk. The max speed of 6.9 knots isnt bad given that there was no tide to speak of.
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
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: SYC
Up river cruise - safety boat duty 2021-09-04 Safety boat duty for a very enjoyable up river dinghy cruise from SYC. Thought there was a pretty good chance the wind would drop and we'd be towing lots of people home. The wind mostly held so so good day out!
Tags: SYC
SYC safety boat 2022-06-04 Forecast of F4 gusting F6 and heavy rain meant that we turned the dinghy cruise into a sail around the club. But then there was actually very little wind and no real rain. Can't win sometimes.
Tags: SYC
Down to SYC 2018-10-08 A ride to SYC and back in a buoyancy aid and carrying sailing wellies
Tags: SYC
SYC safety boat crew 2019-03-31 At SYC to pretend to be an experienced safety boat crew for Rebecca B on her first drive of a club safety boat. Rebecca was more than fine and there were no "customers" as it was about a F3 to maybe F4. However, just as we were picking up the race mark buoys, a request from Solent Coastguard reached us via the club (Solent had rung SYC) to go the aid of "a cruiser stuck in the mud off Topsham". So we dropped the marks back into the water and hared off to Topsham where we found a Cornish Crabber (or something similar) stuck in the mud just yards outside of the channel. The water was down to about two foot so it was hard for us to do anything and the cruiser was well aground. After about 5 minutes the real RNLI inshore boat turned up and took over (they took the folk off the Crabber after re-deploying the anchor).
Tags: SYC
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.
Tags: SYC
Cycle Ride to sailing club 2013-08-24 Shared commiserations for cancelled dinghy cruise
Tags: SYC
Paddle from Cockwood Harbour to SYC 2013-09-01 Light winds forecast so we took Scooby for a paddle from Cockwood Harbour up to Starcross Yacht Club and back again. Watched a boat sink (again) and it is not the one in the photographs!
Tags: SYC
Topsham bike ride 2023-08-09 Lunch at SYC and a choccie ice cream from Route 2 on Topsham Quay.
Tags: SYC
Exe Estuary Meandering 2021-07-21 With Nigel H on his Dart 18 avoiding the heatwave. Just enough wind for a cooling breeze.
Tags: SYC
SYC cycle ride 2020-02-01 Down to SYC for a working party digging trenches!
Tags: SYC
Scooby's first kayak session 2018-09-29 An all important first session with Scooby on our new sit on top kayak. If Scooby refused to get on board that would have been a big blow to our plans to take the dog and kayak in the camper van doing "exploring south west estuary weekends". Happily Scooby did jump on board and started to get the hang of it. More practice needed before we take Scooby into deeper water.
Tags: SYC
Pole Sands paddling 2020-08-01 With ball action on the Pole Sands and Bull Hill, this was doggy heaven. Apart from the kayaking bit and getting a wet bottom when a few waves came over the side of the kayak.
Tags: SYC
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!
Tags: SYC
Out to sea dinghy cruise 2014-05-31 An SYC dinghy cruise out to sea that actually made it out to sea! It looked as though there would be no wind at all for quite a while but gentle F2 / F3 filled in for most of the time.
Tags: SYC
Squires Cup safety boat 2014-06-08 Safety boat duty on a rather damp and drizzly Sunday in June. Free tea though!
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
Exminster work bike ride 2021-07-20 Liz work cycle ride - back via SYC.
Tags: SYC
Exeter and SYC 2019-12-01 Into Exeter and then back via SYC for the AGM, Windy.
Tags: SYC
Back from SYC 2022-07-12 Ride back from SYC
Tags: SYC
Down river paddling 2022-08-09 With Nigel H in the inflatable Sea Eagle. Down against some tide and sea breeze to Bull Hill Bank. Then a lovely drift back with the tide and wind. Thanks to Derek H for the drone pics!
Tags: SYC
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!
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
Pole Sands picnic 2014-10-25 A late October down river dinghy cruise. Destination was the Pole Sands for a picnic. Bit late in the season for a picnic but the planned trip earlier in the year didn't work out. Lovely sail - decent range of winds. Big tides assisted the top speed of 9.2 knots.
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
Exminster bike ride 2021-07-13 Back past SYC for some minor boat fettling
Tags: SYC
Round to Topsham 2019-11-25 Coffee on the Quay at Topsham. Another puncture on the Estuary cycle track - at almost exactly the same spot I had a blowout about a month ago! Popped in to SYC to see why the gate was open - ongoing maintenance.
Tags: SYC
SYC bike ride 2020-07-26 Down to SYC to look at poorly router
Tags: SYC
Lympstone and SYC 2018-03-30 Round to Lympstone and back. Stopped for a chat with Derek H whose Fulmar was on the edge of Topsham quay waiting to go in. Back via SYC to do some boar fettling. But after some coffee and a natter the weather was so grotty I gave up after replacing one jockey wheel on the launching trolley!
Tags: SYC
Safety boat for cancelled dinghy cruise 2015-05-16 The weather forecast was for F4 with F5 gusts and that is pretty much exactly what we got. The NW F5 gusts were too strong for a safe down river dinghy cruise so it ended up being replaced by a quick sail near the club
Tags: SYC
CI & France 2015 - Sail down to Brixham 2015-05-21 A sail from Starcross down to Brixham ready for an early morning channel crossing to St Peter Port - Guernsey. Wind went from near enough becalmed to a F5 in about 15 minutes. Made for an exciting sail across Torbay
Tags: SYC
CI & France 2015 - St Peter Port to SYC 2015-05-30 A stonkingly fast sail back from St Peter Port to Starcross Yacht Club on the Exe. Plans changed late as we were concerned about getting back to SYC before predicted high winds late on the Saturday night (also trying to miss low water on the Exe). So up at the hideously early hour of 02:30 and up through the Little Russell channel in the dark. The Little Russell was just a tad "bouncy". After a couple of hours of motor sailing (to keep up the average speed as required), the wind picked up a bit and started to back round to the west. The final third of the sail was with 14 to 20 knots (force 5ish) of wind aft of the port beam and with full sails up. Derek's Sadler averaged over 5.4 knots - way ahead of what we could have hoped for. Back on the mooring by about 18:30 - maybe 3 hours ahead of planned.
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
Lympstone bike ride 2021-09-07 Very windy on the way back. Stopped at SYC for a 2nd lunch and to take some boat measurements.
Tags: SYC
Paddle down to Starcross 2020-06-16 The plan had been to paddle up past Topsham on the rising tide but the wind was a little strong to want to paddle back against it (and the tides were small). So it was a short paddle down to Starcross and the a float back with the wind and the tide.
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
Tospham cycle ride 2018-03-25 Round to Topsham.with LIz. Had a drink and watched some boats. Back via SYC. Had a drink and watched some boats.
Tags: SYC
Safety boat at Laser Open meeting 2015-08-08 Safety boat with Bob J at the Laser Open meeting at SYC. The day started flat calm so we tied up to a buoy and listened to England retain the Ashes. A sea breeze started about 12:15 and the sailing started shortly after that. Four back to back races. We spent all our time at the leeward mark - hence the "ball of wool" GPS track. All in all, a very pleasant way to idle away a sunny August Saturday.
Tags: SYC
Pole Sands picnic 2015-08-15 Sail down from SYC to the Pole Sands. A bit of everything wind wise. From nothing to about a F4 and quite a lot of gusts in between, Put first reef in for the trip back which made things easier
Tags: SYC
Dawlish air show dinghy cruise 2015-08-22 "Officer of the day" for the Dawlish air show dinghy cruise. A good day out even though not everything went to plan. The thunder and lightening was a bit of a surprise and curtailed the "out to sea" bit of the dinghy cruise a bit early and stopped the later parts of the show from happening e.g. the Red Arrows. The Vulcan bomber on its last ever visit to the Dawlish show was very impressive. All in all a very good day out!
Tags: SYC
Centaur to The Retreat 2023-10-20 Taking a Westerley Centaur with a poorly engine up to The Retreat Boatyard at Topsham. A mixture of towing and escorting but a quick "recue" needed as the Centaur's engine stopped working just short of the trots at The Retreat boatyard. Very nice morning on the water overall.
Tags: SYC
Mooring hunting 2021-04-28 Out at low Spring tide to hunt for the missing SYC01 and SYC09 moorings. Amazingly, we found both of them - the GPS co-ordinates we had been given were pretty much spot on.
Tags: SYC
Back in the Wayfarer 2022-06-05 Back in the Wayfarer after an awfully long time. Very little wind but at least we were able to get out and check that we'd found all the right bits and the boat didn't sink.
Tags: SYC
Sit on kayak - first time out 2018-07-25 First time out on our new sit on kayak.
Tags: SYC
Starcross Steamer 2018-02-25 On photo / safety boat on David A's rib. A lovely cold day on the Exe Estuary in February. 93 boats on the water. Plenty of wind but not the fearsome gale of some earlier forecasts. After nearly three weeks laid up by two consecutive lurgies, this was just the thing to blow away some of the cobwebs. Even got a bit sun burnt - in February!
Tags: SYC
March Safety Boat 2016-03-13 Shamefully, this is the first time we'd been on the water in 2016. A safety boat duty at SYC. Very little wind to start with but it filled in to be a nice south easterly (after half the fleet had given up due to lack of wind). First sailing photos with the new camera.
Tags: SYC
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.
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
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: SYC
SYC network fettling 2021-04-26 Back from SYC after poking network
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
Kayak shopping 2018-07-22 Into Exeter with Liz to AWS Watersports looking for a sit on top kayak to complement our canadian canoe! Hot.
Tags: SYC
Liz's first safety boat drive 2018-05-20 Liz doing safety boat duty for the Squire's Cup at SYC. No capsizes but a bit of interest right at the end when it was briefly thought that one of the Darts was unaccounted for.
Tags: SYC
Dartmouth race 2016 2016-06-25 A sail to Dartmouth in Derek H's Sadler 26. The wind was in all directions including not there at all. The "dog leg" at Torbay was us searching for wind that wasn't there! Moored up for the night at Dittisham on the Dart.
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
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.
Tags: SYC
Up river paddle 2023-05-11 Lunch on the beach at Hannaford's Quay
Tags: SYC
SYC network fettling 2021-04-26 Down to SYC to poke the network
Tags: SYC
Scooby Kayaking 2019-07-28 After a little "Scooby Wobble" in the Canadian canoe on the Fal, we wanted to get his confidence up in the kayak. After a bit of a nervous start, he got his mojo back and even jumped onto the kayak when offered a little extra time on the water at the end of the day. Result!
Tags: SYC
Lympstone and back 2018-07-21 Because there was no wind, Liz and decided to cycle round to Lympstone rather than go sailing. The sea breeze kicked in of course! Stonking chocolate and orange Salcombe ice cream in Lympstone.
Tags: SYC
Wayfarer Sail 2019-04-07 A quick sail round the estuary on an SYC race day to check that everything still works on the boat after a few months off the water. Out with one reef as the the weather forecast had a F6 in it. Wind was a bit gusty but not to F6 (at least until after we came off the water).
Tags: SYC
Summer Sail 2016-07-30 Went up river to about the Goat Walk and then back again. Liz did some helming for about the 3rd time in the 10 years we've been sailing on the Exe. Then some on water reefing practice and then back to SYC for the "Commodore's BBQ".
Tags: SYC
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: SYC
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!)
Tags: SYC
Launching Thalmia 2024-04-09 A very blustery day to launch Thalmia and other SYC boats at Trouts. Saw gusts to 32.5 knots - so just a smidge under force 8. The "best" bit of the GPS track is the route back from the mooring to the slipway - zoom in to see our path westwards (eventually)!
Tags: SYC
Powderham bike ride 2021-10-26 At SYC decking fettling
Tags: SYC
Brixham to the Exe 2019-07-21 Back from Brixham after the Drew Trophy. Another day of ideal winds and we decided to scoot back to the Exe to get in on the falling tide. Some lovely downwind sailing with the cruising chute up much of the way after the Ore Stone. As it was heading towards Springs, there was the usual Exe estuary tides against us on the way in. Back on the mooring with time to spare - time used figuring out how to release the tender from the mooring chain - after it had managed to solidly wrap itself around the chain.
Tags: SYC
SYC bike ride 2021-11-03 More decking replacement work at SYC
Tags: SYC
Starcross bike ride 2021-10-27 SYC decking fettling and Starcross flu jab
Tags: SYC
Another 26 miles 2016-11-06 Round to Lympstone and back again. Another windy ride. Stopped at SYC for the AGM.
Tags: SYC
SYC safety boat 2016-11-27 A last minute replacement safety boat duty at Starcross Yacht Club. No boats to rescue except us when the rather nice 50HP fuel injected outboard stopped working. Towed back to shore by the other safety boat!
Tags: SYC
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.
Tags: SYC
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
Tags: SYC
Down to SYC 2020-09-29 Down to SYC for some mooring raft fettling.
Tags: SYC
Pole Sands Paddling 2020-06-23 Down to the Pole Sands around a low tide. Back with the wind and the tide. Lovely.
Tags: SYC
SYC cycle ride 2020-07-28 Down to SYC to repair the phone network
Tags: SYC
Down river dinghy cruise 2022-08-13 Safety boat duty on a down river dinghy cruise. Twenty one boats, a big spring tide and a few minor dramas. And my first double scoop of ice cream in about 3 months. Lush.
Tags: SYC
SYC cruisers lunch 2017-03-25 A short ride down to SYC for the yotties lunch. A strong following wind on the way back.
Tags: SYC
Thalmia moored at SYC 2017-04-06 Helping Derek put Thalmia on her mooring at SYC for the first time. In fact, when I missed getting the pick up on to the cleat, we proved that Derek can moor her OK single handed anyway!
Tags: SYC
Second Wayfarer sail of the year 2017-04-14 A short sail in the Wayfarer. Sail somewhat shortened as replacing the forestay with a new one took longer than expected - the mousing line was shorter than the mast so we ended up with no stay or mousing line in the mast! Light winds so we practiced some on water reefing.
Tags: SYC
SYC safety boat 2020-09-27 Late request to do a safety boat duty at SYC. Quite a short drive as the wind got up so the course was shortened to just one lap to comply with RYA Covid recommendations. Attended one rather good capsize. Camera decided that some photos would be better in black and white!
Tags: SYC
First Dart outing of the year 2022-06-21 A nice gentle wind for a shakedown sail on Nigel H's Dart 18.
Tags: SYC
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).
Tags: SYC
SYC safety boat 2017-08-28 Safety boat for free sailing day at SYC
Tags: SYC
Exmouth Marina to SYC 2017-05-09 Bringing Derek's Fulmar back to SYC from Exmouth Marina.
Tags: SYC
SYC boat fettling 2017-05-20 Down to SYC to do a little bit of boat fettling
Tags: SYC
SYC to Brixham 2017-05-26 Down from SYC on the Exe to Brixham ahead of the channel crossing to St Peter Port on Guernsey.
Tags: SYC
Anstey's Cove - Shake Down Sail 2024-04-11 A lovely sail on Derek H's Fulmar. First one of the season. Wind was mostly dead on the nose or dead aft - mostly a F3 to F4 but with occasional big variations.
Tags: SYC
Exe Estuary and the Clyst 2020-09-12 No wind so we decided on a paddle. We wanted to go up the Clyst but high water at neaps doesn't give enough water for even our canoe to make much progress.
Tags: SYC
Exe to Weymouth 2019-05-15

A sail from Starcross Yacht Club on the Exe via the inshore passage at Portland Bill and on to Weymouth.

Because Portland Bill sticks out into the English Channel and has a shallow underwater ledge that "squeezes" the currents, it has a somewhat fearsome reputation (see here for a Youtube video of when it was "angry" at the end of a storm). Therefore, we needed to be off the end of the Bill at the right time for mostly slack water and a "lift" up the eastern edge. That meant setting off at the hideously early time of 04:30 to allow some contingency for being off the end of the Bill at 14:00. Given that we had to sail and motor (against the easterly wind) over 35 nautical miles, we were pleased to be off the Bill at about 14:15.

Going round the Bill was happily uneventful but the large number of appallingly marked lobster pot buoys still means that great care is needed. The photos show us rounding the end of the Bill with the front obelisk aligned in the nearly in the middle of the red band of the lighthouse (as recommended). On the eastern side of the Bill, the 5 metre depth contour is typically a good guide to avoiding the race / overfalls.

Tags: SYC
Down to SYC 2018-05-21 Down to SYC to try to do some phone line maintenance with Ian P
Tags: SYC
Up to buoy 45 2017-08-19 Quite a "feisty" sail as the weather did pretty much what was forecast - which was F4 gusting F5. They were fairly big gusts on the way out. Ran aground near the Turf Locks - whoops - and mutinous crew made the captain get out and push us off.
Tags: SYC
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