POOH BEAR REPORT - 08 Aug 2002 
 
Across the South Coast of England - Part 4 
Yarmouth to Dartmouth, England, June 2002 
 
Weymouth 
 
>From Yarmouth, the channel is well marked and we had no trouble 
exiting the Solent via the Needles. But we were disappointed as in the 
inky blackness we could see nothing of the famous, or should I say 
infamous Needles rocks.  These are a string of gigantic vertical rocks 
that project way above the sea like a…. a needle.  We have seen them 
from land and they are awesome.  Many a ship has come to grief on the 
Needles and a lighthouse with an incredibly bright light flashes a 
warning.  The light flashed so brightly we were actually blinded and I 
had to make a point of not looking even close to the direction of the 
light or I would be unable to read the compass.  Of course, Otto, who 
was doing the steering has no such problem, but still…. . 
 
The wind actually lightened all through the night so we motorsailed all 
the way arriving in Weymouth with it already quite light at 0500.  The 
bridge into the marina did not open until 0800 and we did not want to 
disturb any boat in the outer harbour by rafting at such an hour, so we 
tied to the closed fuel dock.  As Judy fixed breakfast we downloaded 
the new Navtex weather broadcast.  It promised continued light winds so 
we dropped our lines and motored back out of Weymouth without ever 
setting foot on land.   
 
 
Dartmouth 
 
Out of Weymouth I plotted a course giving a wide berth to Portland 
Bill, notorious for its tidal race, overfalls and whirlpools.  We saw 
no sign of such things, but the wave action was certainly different 
until we were almost three miles away.  We motored west making good 
time with a fair tide and a glassy sea.  The visibility was fair with a 
hazy outline of hills to the north until early afternoon there was 
suddenly nothing to see, but a fair wind sprang up so we turned on the 
radar and rolled out the jib.  By mid-afternoon we turned into what we 
hoped was the river Dart using the radar, the GPS, the Capn Navigation 
System displaying our position on the computer screen.  Only darker 
areas in the fog confirmed cliffs on each side.  Thank goodness for the 
high tech stuff.  Without them, it would have been a nightmare.  In 
fact we would have stood out to sea to await better weather.  Which 
would not have materialized before another gale arrived.   
 
Never before have I set out on a voyage and had so many changes in 
destination before completing it.   
 
We took a slip on the east side of the river Dart, so technically we 
were in the town of Kingswear, Dartmouth being on the west side.  
Again, due to weather we were in port for five nights at Dart Haven 
Marina.  Not good considering our time crunch, but we had a great 
time.  To start with, we got to spend time with Ken Shelvey.   
 
I don't know if I have told you about my English cousin.  Last year my 
American cousin, Nancy, found that we have an English cousin by the 
name of Bill Griffin.  He and his wife Mary live about sixty miles west 
of London where we visited with them twice and hit it off quite well.  
And as a matter of fact, they have since made their first trip to the 
US to visit Texas kinfolks.  In any case, Mary's brother is Ken Shelvey 
and he is an active yachtsman with a new 47' Moody that he kept at 
Dartmouth.   
 
One evening we were Ken's guests at the Royal Dart Yacht Club where we 
had a fine meal with pleasant company.  From the yacht club dining room 
window, we saw the results of, what I call, imprudent sailing.  Two 
days earlier about 40 yachts set off from Plymouth on a yearly event, 
The Round Britain Yacht Race.  The weather was atrocious with head 
winds over 50 knots and mountainous seas.  6 boats withdrew in the 
first 24 hours and 7 in the second 24 hours; most due to equipment 
failure.  We watched as two of the high tech racers limped into 
Dartmouth with masts broken or gone.  We understand a few boats went 
into port to wait an improvement in conditions rather than risk damage 
or loss of life.  They then resumed the race.  Ken invited us to spend 
the night at his home, but we declined, wanting to ready for any break 
in the weather. 
 
One day we made a sort of packaged round robin tour.  We rode an old 
steam train from Kingswear to Paignton, less than an hour's ride.  
After walking around Paignton, we caught a bus to Totnes and again 
walked around town.  We found Totnes to be a delightful little English 
village.  We went out to Totnes castle before returning to town and 
catching a tour boat back down the beautiful river Dart.  A most 
satisfactory day. 
 
Judy and I also braved wind and rain to walk out to Dartmouth Castle on 
the cliff overlooking the entrance to the River Dart. There we had tea 
and toured the castle, trying to visualize what it would have been like 
to live in such a place; no electric lighting, no central heating, no 
indoor plumbing, etc.  Pretty grim I think.  But we enjoyed our picnic 
lunch in a little shelter, walked up to the former coast guard station, 
then back to a nice warm, dry Pooh Bear.  In between visiting and 
touring I worked hard at the computer and Judy did the fun things like 
washing and shopping.   
 
Finally the winds abated a bit and, despite a heavy fog, we left 
Dartmouth about noon for a rather short trip to Salcombe.  We motor-
sailed almost all the way in dense fog and again entered Salcombe late 
in the afternoon completely dependent on the GPS, the Capn chart 
display on the computer and the radar. 
 
End of Part 4, Part 5 to follow. 
 
Bob & Judy (aboard s/v Pooh Bear at Oban, Scotland)