Please Note. The date in the CS Sailing Magazine is wrong.
The CSD AGM will be on Saturday 27th November at a venue yet to be decided.
We are hoping it will be a combined face-to-face and Zoom meeting if we can find somewhere with suitable facilities, equipment and expertise to ensure it is inclusive of both groups. A formal notice will be posted here, on our Facebook page and by email to CSD/CSSA members when all details are finalised.
Several changes to the availability of Sea Essay in October.
Sea Essay is now not available from November in preparation of the hoped for sale of the SO409 and purchase of a replacement.
The updated Sailing Programme can be found in the menu or here
During the last year or so we have reviewed and combined our syllabus for Boat Handling and Sail Trim to form a new course:
Boat Handling under Sail and Power – For more info please refer to the training menu or download the syllabus
A report on a West Country Cruise on Sea Essay (18-26 June 2021)
I have been wanting to explore the West Country for several years and finally my stars aligned. After checking availability with a prospective mate and other crew, I took the plunge, booked the charter and time off work.
With the rule of 6 in force we sailed with 6 POB. All on board had experience and all but one had previously sailed on Sea Essay. Skipper and Mate had both attended a Skippers Refresher event organised by another club prior to this event.
Since we had heard that restaurants might be fully booked we victualed on the basis of eating on board on at least 4 evenings. This worked out very well in practice.
Saturday
We took over Sea Essay at 1200 and slipped our lines around 1630 for a short passage from Mayflower Marina to Newton Ferrers on the River Yealm. When East of Drake’s Island we raised the main with the intention of sailing with one reef but encountered an issue with tangled reefing pennants. With this resolved we had an enjoyable beat until we made the leading line to Wembury Church. With the wind increasing we took in a reef and then in a light drizzle, we entered the River Yealm under engine. Met by HM near the visitors’ pontoon and allocated a residential mooring for the night.
Sunday
Little to no wind – Carefully exited R Yealm after LW. Passage to St Mawes, Famouth Marina and rafted at Falmouth Yacht Haven. Ate ashore at the Pizza place on the foreshore.
Monday
Inclement weather forecast. Spent day in Falmouth with some crew exploring the town and others visiting the Cornish National Maritime Museum.
Tuesday
Passages under sail to the River Helford.
Then a passage towards Fowey.
Responded to a PAN PAN call from two dinghy sailors in a swamped dinghy. Photo below is of the dinghy after a tow to Portscatho.
Wednesday
Topped up with water – Purchased Gas. The latter is only available at Mixtow Creek which is shallow at LW.
We then took in some of the coastline en-route towards Polpero which turned out to be a fantastic lunch stop.
We then had an exhilarating downwind passage to Salcombe.
Thursday
Took advantage of the Salcombe Yacht Club’s showers. Passage under engine to Burgh Island for lunch at anchor.
Passage under sail to Newton Ferrers.
Issue with the Fwd heads – would not pump in water.
Friday
Tidal Gate at LW in R Yealm at the Bar. We then took the opportunity to for MOB Practice under sail and engine in Plymouth Sound and sailed to an anchorage at Cawsand. After an excellent salad lunch and with a moderate breeze we has an exhilarating sail, short tacking all the way up to Saltash to check our clearance under the bridges.
We then explored the R Lynher ….
before leaving two crew at the Mayflower marina and mooring in QAB. We ate ashore at the Murghai Restaurant close to QAB marina.
Saturday
Collected cars from Mayflower. Scrubbed deck, cleaned, purchased spares, completed handover documentation.
| Day | Destination (Mileage) |
| Sat | Plymouth to Newton Ferrers 8 NM |
| Sun | Newton Ferrers to Falmouth 44 NM |
| Mon | didn’t sail |
| Tues | Falmouth to Helford then Fowey 40 NM |
| Wed | Fowey to Polpero then Salcombe 39 NM |
| Thurs | Salcombe to Burgh Island then Newton Ferrers 19 NM |
| Fri | Cawsand then Saltash then Plymouth QAB 26 NM |
| Total | 176 |
James Savage (Skipper)
No one spotted my deliberate mistake in SNL 02/2021 in identifying the tap for the Aft (No.2) Water Tank. It is in fact the top one on the manifold and is very obvious when you look at the arrangement of the pipework. An update to the second skipper’s newsletter for 2021 has been sent to all regular skippers of Sea Essay.
For reference purposes these newsletters can also be viewed and downloaded from https://channelsailing.org/skippers-newsletters/
Website Author and Administrator is a proposed new role for CSD. It will involve working with the Webmaster and the Programme Sub-Committee to keep the CSD website and CSD facebook group up-to-date.
This website is currently produced using WordPress, a web-based tool for creating and managing blogs and other types of website.
This is not a time consuming role as we do not often receive more than two time-sensitive requests to updates the website each month. However, we are short of people with the necessary skills to make the most of the website and we would like more volunteers to be able to carry out such updates.
If you are interested in discussing this opportunity please complete the form below or contact the Webmaster though other channels.
This is a shameless plug for our Facebook Group. As of today, we have 177 members and it has been quietly growing during lockdown.
There is a button that can be used to invite other CSD/CSSA members you know to join too.
Please use the facebook group to share memories and experiences on board and keep in touch with other members.
Finally, if you haven’t already done so please visit and ‘like’ the CSSA facebook page. This helps spread the word about our parent organisations.
We are always looking for new material and photos for the website.
Were you one of the lucky ones who managed a sail before lockdown? Do you have any photos?
Did you sail on Sea Essay in previous years? If so, please do share any photos or video or written reports / comments on events you have been on.
Please get in touch if you have any material that may be of use.
James Savage – email webmaster@channelsailing.org
Just in are some reports / success stories written by members who have benefited from CSD1-2-1 – the CSD Mentoring Scheme.
Here is the latest Sailing Programme for 2020
Please note that the dates for Familiarisation Sessions have changed and are now on 22 & 23 Feb.
Last updated on 22 Jan 2020
