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Voyageur - Leg 3 - Log 7 Back into Britain



20 June

We sailed or rather motored into UK waters this morning, the 18th June, for the first time in over eight years. Pinta are now just 100nm away from Falmouth. Looking at this morning’s grib file we think we will just carry on all the way to Scotland. We have just enough fuel even if we have to motor all the rest of the way which it looks pretty much like we will be doing. We are now just desperate to get home. We cannot ever remember seeing so many dolphins, they come early mornings and evening, sometimes staying for an hour or more. Donald knelt at the bow and waved to them. One jumped right out of the water and almost touched his hand. And during my watch for the last two nights running we have had a wonderful sunset, the sky changing from fiery orange to blood red. The sea is so calm now that I spent most of the day in the galley, first making mackerel pate for lunch, then chocolate biscuit cake (I cannot keep up with the demand), and finally prepared a roast chicken dinner with rum baked bananas and raisins for pud. Now it is early evening and after sailing in a south westerly force four all afternoon things are a bit bumpy down below and I am now beginning to regret the roast dinner....

We have spent the last twenty four hours passing well known landmarks marked on our electronic chart, Ushant, Bishop’s Rock Lighthouse, The Isles of Scilly, Lands End, St David’s Head, Tusker Rock, but I see none of them. We could be anywhere on the sea but the light and the temperature tell us we are most definitely in the northern latitudes. This morning Tuesday the decks are soaking wet with the morning dew. There will be no wind again today but the sun will shine down from a clear blue sky. Only 280nm and two days to go. We now must be the only ARC Europe yacht still en route to our destination. On the 6pm SSB net we learned that Pinta had just 45nm to run to Falmouth. Emilia were just 150nm away from Malahide so they will arrive there today.

We spent the day reading in the cockpit, warmer today in the sunshine. It was another lovely sunset as we swept up St Georges Channel with the tide doing up to 10.1kts. When I came up on watch at 5am we were surrounded by a thick har, a real ‘pea souper’. David was navigating his way by radar through a large fishing fleet and must have counted over three dozen. By 8.15 the fog had lifted, we were opposite the Isle of Man and had less than 100nm to go. The boys are working the tides and so we will now head over towards the coast of Ireland hoping to pick up the favourable current to take us on up through the North Channel. Then keeping over to the west we will lay a course for the south east corner of Arran and Ardrossan.  All going well we will be in tucked up in our marina berth by the early evening.

 

Susan Mackay




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