Ducking Gales, Teignmouth, England

After leaving the Yealm River, I thought I would be able to make it to the Solent, by the Isle of Wight. No such luck. Rocky sailing and on the VHF radio they kept forecasting Gale warnings. I’m still not familiar with the forecasts here but the warning is for within 6 hours. That would hit me before my target and no safe anchorages on the way. I decided to tuck into Teignmouth. On hindsight I should have gone to Dartmouth, but it worked out OK.

Teignmouth is a very small harbour. It’s a circuitous inlet rife with sandbars. I entered on the ebb and and had to steer 70 degrees off my bearing to counter the current. Even the deepest is not much more than I draw and I have to enter near high tide. There is a low bridge 1/4 mile from the mouth that prevents any but the smallest boats from going up river. Most of it is shallow and dries out at low tide. It is full of fast moving water, sandbars, moorings for locals and little room for visitors. Luckily, being past high season the one place I could go was vacant. It’s a pontoon (dock) anchored in the river and it was available. I tied up, a little worried about having to get off the boat in the swift current. If she got away from me I might have to watch her careen down river!!  Goldilocks behaved like a lady, I was able to tie her up without a tantrum. It was cold, dreary, windy (Gale warnings after all). Since I was after the high season nobody approached me to pay. I met some very nice people in the pub whilst taking care of my internet needs. I got to overhear an old gent who just moved there talking about the damage in London during the Blitz, when he was a child versus the damage in Teignmouth. Not much longer may we hear first hand accounts of WWII.

A couple nights there and I had the winds I needed to get east. Just.

One thought on “Ducking Gales, Teignmouth, England”

  1. Just found your site by chance when searching for Shannon 38’s. I owned a Cape Dory 30 for many years, and sailed it up and down the California coast. I saw my first Shannon 38 as a 14 year old in 1978 at a boat show and still have the brochure to this day! It’s always been my dream boat. So excited to see someone my age out there doing it. Keep telling myself my turn is next. I live on Maui and enjoy Hawaii for now, until my kids are out of school,
    My name is Tim, God speed Captain Hoy Aloha

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