Christmas Sail on the Dart

I’m always up for a sail on the Dart , but in the middle of winter, between Christmas and the New Year? I wouldn’t of considered it but a suggestion by Stephen Cullis on the OCSG facebook page had me readily agreeing to meet up for a sail on the Dart on the 30^th of  December . I had spent xmas in Ireland, where I think it was actually dryer then the UK (Must be a first!) A day after returning to London I was once again on the road heading West into a strong headwind and torrential rain. Reports from my siblings sounded like they were going slightly stir crazy as the rain had kept them indoors most of Christmas. Once past the Blackdown hills however the skies lifted and the rain stopped.Looking at the non tidal Dart  it was obvious there was a lot of water about!

 On arrival to Devon I was out again almost instantly for a couple of hours walk on the coastal path on Berry Head. 

The sea conditions looked a bit bouncy and I was pleased that Stephen and I had arranged to sail inside the confines of the Dart Estuary rather then sailing out to the mouth at Dartmouth Castle. Fortuitously the following day was bright and dry with a brisk North Westerly wind. I arrived at our meeting point of Stoke Gabriel; free parking during these winter months. 

I immediately noticed that the floating jetting had been renewed, the stairs at the shore end replaced with a ramp and the business end the dock made much wider.

 The old dock used to dry out at the bottom of low tide, I’m not sure if this one will or not but I think it might be a bit longer and so may stick into the small channel that just about remains right at the bottom of the tide, I’ll find out next summer.
 I proceeded to set up my canoe smugly thinking I would be on the water by the time Stephen and Phil arrived. But somehow I managed to break my rudder pin as I assembled the canoe on the dock, luckily I had a couple of coach bolts and nuts that would fit through the pintels perfectly so the issue was resolved, although it wouldn't be the last of rudder issues on the day.

Stephen and Phil assembled the Green Bean , a Selway fisher Peterborough with outriggers, I meanwhile hummed and erred as whether to put my outriggers on, normally I don’t bother on the Dart as its relatively sheltered and although the non tidal dart was the fullest I ‘d ever seen, I couldn't see what difference that could make on the tidal part. 

However Stoke Gabriel sits in a hollow on a little creek that feeds into the main dart and is always sheltered from the wind unless it’s a Southerly so it can be deceiving,  you can walk to the head of the creek to get an idea of the conditions on the main estuary. I didn't bother this time and even from the jetty I could see the tide, aided by the wind  flowing out of the estuary like a express train, on the outriggers went! With tide and wind going in the same direction it was decided to attempt to beat up the estuary first to try and get to the mouth of Bow creek, which is about a kilometre upstream.

 I set off with a couple of  turns on the sail and started to tack up, the strength of the tide made progress very slow, the tide was now racing out encouraged by the wind and no doubt the volume of the dart discharging from the moors, progress was only possible by keeping out of the main channel as much as possible and keeping close to the right hand edge of the estuary. Tacking torwards the shore saw progress being made, tacking away from it and into the channel meant no forward progress and being pushed down the estuary the further out to the middle you went, still it was all good fun sailing, though after about an hour of this my thoughts turned towards the Ferry Boat Inn at Dittisham and so I suggested to Stephen & Phil that we consider heading down to Dittisham  

so we turned around and began a fun 2.5 mile run with the tide, I unfurled my sail to its maximum and let rip , very strong gusts added to the fun, I put my weight to the back of the boat, angled back the leeboard and both canoes flew down the estuary, doing this one handed with the other trying to film Green Bean was taxing to say the least, when a gust hit the Curlew snaked all other the place as I over compensated on the rudder to get back on course, sailing the canoe in these condition it felt a bit like riding a bicycle keeping the balance dead centre. 

The wind tends to follow the estuary on the Dart and as we passed Gurrow Point, the last bend in the river before Dittisham, the wind  was suddenly changed direction from a run to a reach as the wind vectored down the hills above Ditisham with great force, a very quick reef was need to bring things under control, the estuary was very lumpy at this point. I elected to keep close to the Dittisham shore, out of the bigger waves under  the shelter of the lee of the shore, Stephen and Phil in the more seaworthy Green Bean worked their way down the centre of the estuary , we were both tacking upwind again now, with the added hazard of numerous buoys and moored craft to dodge.. Before too long we had landed at Dittisham. I had brought my watertight barrel with me so and had put my land gear inside, namley my boots and anorak so did a quick change out if my drysuit before we headed into the FBI to warm up and drink coffee. (although I had to also have the pint of Doom Bar I had missed on my sail on the Dart earlier in the year). After an hour or so the tide had turned and it was time to head back up to Stoke.

 We were able to run the first part from Dittisham back to Gurrow Point but from then on it was a hard slog beating upwind, I reefed my sail down once again,. Tacking out into the middle of the estuary exposed the canoe to massive windage, it was difficult to get drive in my sail and it seemed I needed to turn the canoe almost downwind and  sail back down the estuary, to get momentum;even with the tide in my favour.The other tack forward progress was easier as it was almost parallel to the eastern shore, however the waters were very shallow with rick of running aground. At this point I left Green Bean behind me somewhat, concentrating on making progress back to Stoke. Little did I know that in the middle of the maelstrom during a tack their rudder blade decided to let go. With two of them aboard they were able to paddle steer and sail the canoe back towards Stoke. I did wonder if something was amiss as they had fallen back some way, but as they were still making progress up the Estuary so I wasn't going to run back and loose the valuable upwind distance I had made. At times like this I really missed my lost VHF radio.After a while I made it back into the shelter of Mill creek and docked at the end of the new jetty,Green Bean came into port a few minuets later. As we hauled the canoes out onto the dock my family arrived en-mass but didn't hang about for long and were soon having coffee in the quayside café that had opened up out of season for the Christmas break while I packed up my canoe.
I had a great day out on the Dart, many thanks to Steve and Phil for making the journey down from Stroud for the day, hope to see them back there later in the year.



Some footage from the day: