David and Debbie asked if they could come sailing with us and of course we said yes. The plan being we could sail from Torquay to Dartmouth, leaving around midday and then they could catch to bus back to Torquay. The forecast was fairly benign with a light westerly wind and we gently sailed across Torbay and round Berry Head. We caught the south going tide as anticipated but then the wind freshened and went more southerly so eventually we were beating into a 20 knots plus wind. After reefing it was all manageable but not the gentle sail we had anticipated!
Once in the Dart everything calmed down and we were able to drop David and Debbie off on the Kingswear side next to the station and the bus stop. Hopefully they enjoyed the sail even though it was a bit “full on” at times and we should have radioed ahead to Darthaven Marina to use their “drop off” pontoon. We were chased off pretty quickly!
We then motored up to Dittisham and, as the day trippers left, managed to pick up a mooring buoy for 11 m boats after initially being on a 8 m maximum length buoy. Tidied up Harvard, paid our mooring fees and settled in for the night, safe secure.