9 June 2018 – Yarmouth to Dartmouth

Start position	Yarmouth	Start time	06:35	Start engine hours
Towards	Dartmouth	ETA	21:40	Distance travelled	85
Finish position	Dartmouth	Finish time	20:53	Finish engine hours	782.9
Skipper	Richard	Crew	Tim, Miles
Weather	E 1-3 Sunshine and cloud		Tide	HW Portsmouth 08:40, 21:10 HW Dover 08:20, 20:30 HW Plymouth – 14:40, (03:00)
New faults	Engine RPM unexpectedly limited		Np->Sp %	14

We’re up at 6am and underway at 6:30, as planned. There’s a gentle easterly, so we opt for mainsail and cruising chute to take us downwind. We soon have them goose winged as we pass Hurst as the tide changes. Once we’re out past the Needles it’s clear that there just isn’t enough breeze, so from then on we’re motoring all the way.
It’s an uneventful day, with light relief provided by a small bird (sandpiper?), that joins us half way across Lyme Bay. It appears to be much further out to sea than it’s comfortable with and returns several times, before eventually heading for a distant fishing boat.
We’re in before sunset. The Dartnav team are still on duty and we’re soon moored on the Deep Water pontoon, opposite ‘Mat Ali’.