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ActivityActivity dateActivity description
Messack Point 2022-09-04 For a change, we went north from St Just In Roseland round to Messack Point for lunch. Very nice walk slightly spoiled by Scooby Hound trying to eat sheep shit and to play with electric cattle fences.
Work cycle ride 2017-08-01 Into Exeter and back
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.
Exeter and back 2016-12-17 First ride in a fortnight - work and the weather put paid to the previous weekend.
Channel Islands - Exe to Brixham 2012-06-01 A sail down from Starcross Yacht Club on the Exe to Brixham ready for an 0200 departure from Brixham to Guernsey. Average speed an estimate as GPS time data lost.
Channel Islands - Alderney to Exe 2012-06-06 The return sail from Braye Harbour Alderney to the Exe Estuary. The second half of the sail was very breezy as we sailed across in a gap between two lows. Unfortuantely only the 2nd half of the track was saved on the GPS.
Exe estuary drift 2012-06-17 Downstream against the incoming tide. Over on the Lympstone side for a change as there was some water. Got about as far as the Duck Pond before the tide started to change.
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.
Exe estuary paddle 2022-09-20 A short paddle across the Exe estuary.
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!
Exeter and back 2017-03-04 A gentle wide into Exeter and back with Liz.
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.
Scoobys second canoe trip 2012-09-08 Sccobys second canoe trip. To the Bull Sand and then down to the Warren. First trip out of his depth.
Meandering on Exe Estuary 2012-09-09 Some gusts but mostly lulls on short Wayfarer sail
Down river dinghy cruise 2012-09-15 Down to the beach cafe and back. Very light winds most of the time but the sun was shining.
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.
Teign Estuary Paddling 2022-07-08 First paddle on the Teign Estuary. Having lived so close for so long, it is surprising that this is the first time I've paddled on the Teign. Pretty much a perfect paddle. Lots of sun, round the top of a neap tide and cooling sea breeze on the way back. Marvellous!
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.
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!
Work cycle ride 2017-09-01 Into work and back
March safety boat 2013-03-24 Safety boat at SYC. A cold march day - two degrees centrigrade. The windchill factor made it feel like minus four. GPS data anomalies account for the three or four short peaks in speed.
First dinghy cruise of 2013 2013-04-20 On safety boat duty for the first SYC dinghy cruise event of 2013. Lovely weather and a good wind but not much water on the neap tide. Upriver to the Goat Walk at Topsham.
Car buying bike ride - part 1 2013-04-21 Bike ride into town to look for a new old car given that our Citroen has just dies with only 77k on the clock.
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
Exe Estuary paddle 2022-07-06 Across to Exmouth for a paddle up the east side of the estuary. Just past Lympstone the wind picked up to a F4 and paddling became hard work. Pleased and surprised to see I was still doing about 2mph against a F4. Stopped at SYC on the way back for lunch.
Exeter and back 2017-07-16 It was going to be a longer ride round to Lympstone but it started raining and the wind got up. Still - first time ever with an average speed of over 15 mph! Would have been faster except for having to slow down so often for huge numbers of kids and walkers. They are also digging up the cycle path at Exe Bridges which meant walking round various diversions and not getting the full 20 miles in.
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.
Exeter and back 2016-11-27 Liz's first time back on the bike at the tail end of a two week lurgy.
Walking the hound to the Turf 2013-05-26 A hound walk to to the Turf Pub with Scooby Lizzie and Julian
Brixham to Exe 2013-06-02 A light wind sail from Brixham to SYC on the Exe Estuary. Light winds but that was better than the forecast of next to no winds.
Liz and Jill go large 2013-06-14 Too much talking too much wind and too much carrot cake to make for a respectable average speed but not bad on the distance front. Next week the girls will be cycling to Exmouth and back apparently.
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,
Last hurrah of the summer? 2021-10-10 Lovely morning on the estuary on Nigel H's Dart 18. The wind filled in a bit - nay just have guested F4 occasionally.
A drift and a sail to TSC 2017-07-15 Light westerly winds and little tide so we sailed and drifted towards Topsham Sailing Club. Ran out of wind just before TSC. Sitting having coffee at SYC afterwards and we spotted a yacht where it shouldn't have been. Alan W's yacht had broken its moorings and was drifting down past buoy 29. There was already a safety boat moored up to the slipway so we took that and returned the yacht to a mooring. Can't believe we did 5.9 knots at any point today (but that would mean my code is wrong so maybe we did!!!!!!).
Lympstone and back 2017-08-27 Round to Lympstone and back with Liz. Lovely hot summer's day.
Exeter and back 2016-11-26 Another twenty miler into Exeter and back.
A sail, paddle and drift to the safe water mark 2013-07-13 More wind in the Estuary than out of it on this sail to the safe water mark at the mouth of the Exe
Monday afternoon on the Pole Sands 2013-07-15 A canoe trip from Cockwood Harbour to the Pole Sands off Exmouth. Scooby loved it.
Post work paddle 2013-07-17 A paddle down the Exe Estuary and along the Pole Sands with Nigel after work. A lovely sunny evening in the middle of the heat wave. Photos by Liz from a distance!
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.
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
Work cycle ride 2017-08-04 Into work and back
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.
Another twenty miler 2016-11-20 Well almost a twenty miler. The 2 inch rain fall in Exeter meant that the last part of the cycle path ride was under water. Hard work cycling in to the head wind that was the remnants of Storm Angus. Disappointing that the winds dropped away for the homeward leg - as shown by the drifting boats when stopping briefly at SYC.
Autumn beach cafe sail 2013-10-05 An autumn sail down to the beach cafe. The sun put in an appearance and there was occasionally a bit of wind to use in the big springs tide
Paddle round Pole Sands 2013-10-06 A paddle from Cockwood, out of the estuary and round the Pole Sands. There were even some little waves at times.
Start of holiday Scooby walk 2014-01-11 Scoobys first walk of our winter holiay
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Up river to Topsham Quay and back 2014-04-19 Second sail of the season up the Exe as far as Topsham Quay (where the winds got a little too light and fickle to go much further). A high tide sail so straight over "Greenland" on the way up.
First beach cafe sail of the year. 2014-05-03 A lovely F3 south easterly for a sail down to the Exmouth Beach Cafe and back again
Sunny beach cafe safety boat duty 2014-05-17 A lovely sunny May sail down to the beach cafe and back. Light winds but just enough.
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!
Return to the Exe 2020-05-15 First time back on the Exe Estuary after many, many months. First trip out on our new inflatable kayak - a Sea Eagle 465 FastTrack. Overall - very pleased with it.
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.
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.
Exeter and back 2016-12-18 Foggy ride into Exeter and back
Sail on Nigel's Dart 2014-08-18 A decent wind (gusting maybe F5) for a storming sail on Nigel's Dart. Some excellent speeds with a top speed of over 17 knots - probably the fastest I've been under sail. Top stuff
Up river - twice 2014-08-31 A lovely sunny day. Wayfarer sail up river and then up river again. Winds got a bit light going up the Exe towards Topsham and the Clyst so just sailed round and round.
The Helford and Frenchman's Creek 2014-09-08 From Helford Passage via Frenchman's Creek up into Mawgan Creek towards the top of the Helford Estuary. A little windy on the way back meant plenty of exercise!
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!
Scooby's last summer holiday walk 2019-09-23 Your activity description here
Exeter and back 2017-06-12 Quite hard work as I hadn't been on the bike for the last three weeks and there was a bit of a head wind on the way out.
Exeter and back 2017-01-05 Quite fast on the way out but a bit of a head wind on the way back slowed things down a bit overall.
Exeter and back 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.
Lizzie bike ride 2015-04-17 Liz's first bike ride in ages
Tags: Estuary
First beach cafe sail of 2015 2015-04-19 A down river sail from SYC to the Exmouth beach cafe. Strange winds - a bit of everything. Off Cockwood the NE wind met a sea breeze and shifted 180 degrees! It did this on both the way down and the way back. Coming back to the Club the wind got a bit lively for the last 5 minutes of the sail.
First SYC dinghy cruise of 2015 2015-04-25 An upriver dinghy cruise to start the 2015 season of SYC organised dinghy cruises. Pleasant wind - maybe F3
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
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.
Work cycle ride 2017-05-23 Into work and back. Not much wind which made it a bit easier.
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.
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.
October dinghy cruise 2015-10-10 An iffy weather forecast (F4 gusting F5 with occasional F6) didn't tie up with the conditions at the start time so we went out with one reef. In the end, it turned out to be a lovely sail.
Beach cafe dinghy cruise 2015-10-17 A mid October dinghy cruise to the beach cafe. Winds of mid F4 forecast but mostly a bit lower than that. Broke the tiller extension universal joint which made sailing back a bit different to usual.
First dinghy sail of 2016 2016-04-02 Weather forecast was for F5 gusting F6 and that was about right when we got to SYC. As this was the first dinghy cruise of the year, it was cancelled and replaced with a sail near the club. Put lots of reefs in so the crew didn't mutiny and then banged about across the estuary and back a few times. Turned out to be a fun sail.
April Free Sailing 2016-04-16 A pleasant sail back and forth across the estuary. Started about F4 gusting F5 so we went out with one reef. Wind eased so we shook out the reef. The offshore lifeboat came up the river.
SYC to Pole Sands 2018-07-14 A canoe paddle down from SYC to the Pole Sands in company with Ellie T and Marco F (and the hound). Strong Spring tides both ways but a sea breeze made the paddle out hard work and super easy on the way back. Scooby enjoyed having four different people to throw the ball for him on the Pole Sands!
Work cycle ride 2017-08-07 Got rained on
Work cycle ride 2017-08-29 Work and back
Another twenty miles 2016-10-26 Out with Liz for another cycle ride into Exeter and back. Trying to "power" up the bridge at Powderham, I broke 3 spokes on the rear wheel. So the last 2.5 miles are Liz alone as she went home to get the car to rescue me and the broken bike. That means the "reserve" bike tomorrow - the almost unridden Ridgeback Genesis Day Two.
Squires Cup Safety Boat 2016-06-12 Safety boat for the Squires Cup racing for dinghies and cats on the Exe Estuary. Not a lot of wind so not much call for our services. Some rain at times.
Up river dinghy cruise 2016-07-02 An up river dinghy cruise. The weather forecast was about right with its F4 gusting F5. The "fleet" got spread out quite a bit and, as the weather wasn't great, we headed back to the club quite early. The camera was on the wrong settings when the photos were taken so they've been over HDR'd to see if they can be made slightly interesting.
SYC Mystery Dinghy Cruise 2016-07-13 "Officer Of The Day" for the SYC "mystery dinghy cruise". What the mystery was to be was, er, a mystery to us. So we decided that it would be cricket and drinkies on the Bull Sands in the middle of the Exe Estuary at low water. F4 gusting F5 a fair bit of the time but it seems a good time was had by all.
Exe Regatta Committee boat 2016-07-16 On a rather nice Westerly acting as the Committee Boat for the catamaran racing of the 2016 Exe Regatta. Knowing nothing about dinghy racing, we were pulling up and down various flags at the request of the endlessly patient PK. No real idea what most of the flags meant and I suspect a very goodly proportion of the competitors don't (I think they just listen for the alternate sound signals). Still a very pleasant way to while away a Saturday afternoon on the Exe.
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.
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).
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!
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!
Free Sailing Safety Boat 2016-08-13 Doing safety boat for a Free Sailing at SYC on a lovely summer's afternoon. A pleasant F3 with the occasional gust made for almost ideal sailing conditions with just a few things to keep us slightly busy. A surprising overall distance as we spent the first 15 minutes at anchor (and expected to remain there for much of the afternoon!)
A tale of two ferries 2016-08-14 Up to buoy 45 at Topsham (off the Goat Walk) passing the Topsham to Turf ferry and then down to Starcross (to the Starcross to Exmouth ferry pier). Then round the floating cafe and back to SYC. A gorgeous day's sailing. A strong F3 up near Topsham and one of those rare days that it was warm enough to sail without a spray top. Marvelous.
Topper Open At SYC 2016-10-09 Junior Topper Open event at Starcross Yacht Club. Safety boat crew for the 4 back-to-back races for the 23 boats at this open sailing event. Decent winds all day between F2 and F4 from the north east. GPS battery ran out after only a couple of hours so most of the track is missing.
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"
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.
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!
Lympstone and back 2016-12-19 Round to Lympstone for a very nice and rather spicy tomato soup in the Swan Inn. This ride takes me just over 500 miles since I started this regular cycling stuff back in mid October.
Hundred miles this week 2016-10-22 The fifth 20 miler of the week. I'd expected this to be a gentle cycle ride with Liz but she was all gung ho! Way faster than I was expecting and I wasn't allowed my usual stopping places to have a breather. This was the fifth day out in a row doing 20 miles meaning that the target of doing 100 miles in a week was reached with 2 days to spare.Day off tomorrow!
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