Having laid up Badger while in Falmouth, we decided to find a pocket cruiser for weekend sailing, in order to explore the creeks in the area and to keep our sanity. The boat we found was a Westcoaster 20, designed by Cmdr. Rayner and built by the Beacon Boat Co. of cold moulded plywood, in 1964. She was structurally sound, but rather rundown, so as well as some therapeutic sailing, she would also give us some therapeutic maintenance while we put her in good order.

The Westcoaster is a tubby little boat that sails surprisingly well and is something of a classic of her type, being the fore-rumer of the Westerly 22. There is a picture of one ‘squatting happily on the beach’ in “Cruising Under Sail”. We modified her for winter sailing with a double bunk and diesel heater and as the sails were worn out, we fitted a junk rig – the finest short-handed cruising rig. She was then renamed Misee Lee.

Misee Lee proved to be a delightful cruising boat, so much so that my wife, Annie and I decided to take a three month cruise to Brittany, to explore the coast and canals. 

1. Falmouth to Treguier

Having provisioned Misee Lee, we sailed down to Falmouth from Penryn and rowed ashore to pick up some eggs that David and Candia Cox (RCC) had given us. David had left them under Velsia’s dinghy and a local workman watched wide-eyed as Annie transferred three dozen duck eggs, one at a time, to our bag and for the finale, 2 goose eggs. We set out at lunchtime for Treguier, with a forecast of northerly winds of F3 and had fair winds all the way across, sighting Les Sept Iles twenty-four hours later. Working out the tides using a 1985 Macmillan’s” via 1989 Falmouth tide tables (courtesy West Country Chandlers) indicated that the tide had just turned foul for Treguier, Ve decided to make use of the spring tide and head for Perros-Guirec. However, as we rounded les Sept Iles, there appeared to be a discrepancy between the tide and my prediction; a quick check showed that the tide was right and that I was a mere six hours out. However all was not lost, as we could now take this fair tide and the northwest wind and possibly make Treguier before the tide turned. We just made it, anchoring off the town quay (Gent’s WC in line with the spire) at 2000 that evening. 

The following morning we were rudely awoken to be told that it was forbidden to anchor in the river off the town. Having declined a rather expensive marina berth, we had breakfast and tacked downstream with the first of the ebb, to anchor off the chateau. It was a stiff row against the ebb to get back to the town to do our shopping and having bought the wine and bread, we just missed the banks to change some money. After lunch, we tacked down to anchor off Roche Jaune and had a pleasant stroll. through the countryside, in the sunshine. 

2 Ile de Brehat

We set off on Sunday with a light north easterly and sunshine, tacking out of the river on the last of the ebb, We then took the flood through the Passage de la Gaine, still tacking all the way. We only just missed getting swept into the Morlaix river and then sailed round the top of Ile de Brehat to anchor in La Chambre. The next day we pottered round the island, which was full of houses still shut up for the winter and, consequently, we had the island to ourselves. Tuesday brought a fresh north easterly F 5, but it had dropped sufficiently by lunch time to tempt us out and try for Erquy. We had a fast sail across St. Brieuc bay, in spite of having to heave-to once, to empty the dinghy after it had been capsized by a breaking crest. We arrived just before 1900 and picked up a vacant mooring in the new harbour, Another fine sail the next day brought us to St. Malo and the entrance to Canal Ille of Rance. 

We went into the marina at St. Servan in the mistaken belief that they had a crane to help lower our mast. We got over that problem by tying a block to one of the piles at high water and then lowering the mast at low water, the ten metre spring tide giving sufficient height. Missee Lee’s unstayed mast is held in a substantial tabernacle that goes through the deck to a step, set over the floors. Lowering the mast requires only the removal of the bottom bolt and a high point, from which to lower the top of the mast. The top bolt in the tabernacle is then removed and the mast slid forward until the heel is over the bow, The truck is supported by a scissors.

We went into the marina at St. Servan in the mistaken belief that they had a crane to help lower our mast. We got over that problem by tying a block to one of the piles at high water and then lowering the mast at low water, the ten metre spring tide giving sufficient height. Missee Lee’s unstayed mast is held in a substantial tabernacle that goes through the deck to a step, set over the floors. Lowering the mast requires only the removal of the bottom bolt and a high point, from which to lower the top of the mast. The top bolt in the tabernacle is then removed and the mast slid forward until the heel is over the bow, The truck is supported by a scissors type crutch, abaft the cockpit and then the sail and battens are bundled up along the mast, out of the way. It usually only took us half an hour to convert Missee Lee from a sailing boat to a power boat and vice versa. Missee Lee’s engine is a 4 stroke Honda of a modest two horsepower. This was sufficient to give us a cruising speed of three miles per hour and she would travel 25 stature miles per gallon of petrol, which was just as well, considering the price of petrol in France.

3 Through the Barrage de la Rance

The 27th April saw us locking through the barrage at low water and then motoring up the Rance estuary with the flood. We locked through at Le Chatelier, 23 km from the barrage, at the end of the tidal Rance estuary. There is a lifting bridge here and it is possible for a yacht to travel up as far as Dinan without lowering her mast. Having tied up to a stone quay at Etra, we walked to the nearby village of Taden where we found an excellent exhibition on the French Revolution in the Mairie. Particular emphasis had been placed on the commune at the time of the Revolution and it appeared that the area had changed little since then, As we didn’t want to pay to tie up on the marina in Dinan, the next morning we walked the 3 km from Etra to see the town. It is interesting to note that the only charges made to tie up on the Brittany canals are at places accessible to sea-going yachts (with their masts up); elsewhere it is all free and many towns and villages have provided marina type facilities in the hope of encouraging boats to tie up and spend some money there, Dinan stands on a bluff high above the river and to reach it you have to climb a steep cobbled street, lined with half timbered houses. It is a medieval, fortified town, well preserved and quite a tourist attraction in the summer. 

The next three days were spent travelling up the Canal Ille et Rance to its conclusion at Rennes. The canal passes through rural Brittany with alternating stretches of woodland and farmland. We usually travelled about 25 km (13.5 mn) a day, negotiating eight or so locks. This was not particularly onerous, as all the locks are manned and the hardest part of the canals was putting up with the noise of the engine. Unlike the majority of French canals, the Brittany canals have virtually no commercial traffic and hence the lock keepers have a more relaxed set of hours. They start at 0830, stop for lunch from 1230 to 1330 and pack up for the dav at 1920, but they do work Sundays and holidays. 

4 Rennes 

Rennes is the capital of Brittany and a bustling city. The canal passes right through the city and we moored a stone’s throw from the centre. It is well worth a stop here, as there is a large supermarket and several petrol stations nearby. That evening, Francois introduced himself. He recognised  from the Douarnenez festival, having been there in a boat that was in the same class. We invited him on board for a drink and a pleasant evening ensued, As Francois left, fe invited us to dine with him the following day, which invitation we accepted with unseemly alacrity.

Rennes is at the junction of the Canal Rance et Ille and the Vilaine and here we entered the Vilaine, which runs down to the sea to enter the Bay of Biscay a little way south of the Morbihan. The first stop after Remnes was at the small hamlet of La Courbe by a weir and watermill, This was the most delightful spot of our canal trip, with a wooden quay above which was a tree-shaded green, At the top of the hill was the village of Bourg des-Comptes with the traditional church in the centre of the square and the shops dotted around it. By now, it was the 4th of May and the sun had decided to come out on a more permanent basis; I’m pleased to say that we had largely glorious weather for the rest of our summer in France. 

Three days later saw us at La Roche Bernard, but we didn’t plan to re-enter the sea here, as we were going south along the Canal Nantes a Brest, toward Nantes. This canal crosses the Vilaine at Redon. A favourite pastime, when our overnight mooring was near a town, was to saunter around and compare the menus of the restaurants. The merits of the various gourmet meals would be discussed and, on the assumption that each had a decent cellar, we would come to a decision on the best restaurant. We would then stroll back to Missee Lee and Annie would cook a delicious meal, which was washed down with a few drops from the french wine lake. On 10th May we arrived in Nantes and, as at Rennes, we tied up right in the centre of the city. Annie’s brother Mike, was due to join us for a week here, but was unable to come due to pressing business; however he hoped to join us a few weeks later. 

Three days later saw us at La Roche Bernard, but we didn’t plan to re-enter the sea here, as we were going south along the Canal Nantes a Brest, toward Nantes. This canal crosses the Vilaine at Redon. A favourite pastime, when our overnight mooring was near a town, was to saunter around and compare the menus of the restaurants. The merits of the various gourmet meals would be discussed and, on the assumption that each had a decent cellar, we would come to a decision on the best restaurant. We would then stroll back to Missee Lee and Annie would cook a delicious meal, which was washed down with a few drops from the french wine lake. On 10th May we arrived in Nantes and, as at Rennes, we tied up right in the centre of the city. Annie’s brother Mike, was due to join us for a week here, but was unable to come due to pressing business; however he hoped to join us a few weeks later. 

5 Change of Plan 

This caused a change of plan as we had intended to go north along the Canal Nantes a Brest with Mike. Instead we went further south, crossing the Loire and entering the rivers Sevre and Petite Maine. On leaving the Port de Plaisance in Nantes, Annie pulled her back as we manoeuvred out of our berth and appeared to have torn a muscle. This vas extremely painful and took several weeks to mend, especially as a twenty footer is not the ideal convalescent home! Fortunately, there were only two locks to negotiate that day and Annie spent the rest of the day lying down. The head of navigation of the Sevre is at Mommieres, only 16 miles south of Nantes, but in the heart of the Muscadet country. 

The following morning we visited a “cave” to sample and buy some of their wine. We then retraced our steps down the Sevre a short way and proceeded up the Petite Maine. This unattended was real African Queen stuff, as the waterway has been left for some time. Trees overgrow the banks and many have fallen in, so that in several places we only just squeezed past. The end of the line was at Chateau-Thebaud, where the river goes through a gorge. There used to be a lock here, but it has long since been blocked off. We climbed up to the top of the cliffs, on which the town stands, where we had a splendid view of the valley below and over the vineyards on the plateau above. We had tied up to a stone quay, but in the middle of the night we had to repel boarders in the shape of a large rat, so we pushed off and anchored in the river for the rest of the night. The following lunchtime saw us back at the lock at Vertou, which we went through at high water. Once back in the Loire and having passed under the last low bridge, we tied up to a disused bar boat. Half an hour later we had raised the mast and once again Missee Lee was a sailing vessel. 

6 Cruising the Morbihan 

We set off again tacking against the westerly breeze with the snoring ebb flattering her windward performance. At slack water, we had arrived at La Martiniere, where we anchored for the night in the entrance to the disused ship canal. The next day we walked several miles in the hot sunshine to buy provisions, only to find the supermarket was closed all Monday morning – just our luck. We then trudged back to Missee Lee, The tide had by this time just started to ebb, so we sailed down with a light breeze and picked up a buoy for the night, at St Nazaire. We were now on the south Brittany coast and planned to sail to the Morbihan and then to re-enter the canals at La Roche Bernard. Stopping at Le Pouliguen, Le Palais and Sauzon, we arrived at the Morbihan on 20th May. One of the advantages of cruising early in the season was the lack of other yachts – everywhere we went was almost deserted. In fact, it wasn’t until late June that the anchorages started to fill up. We spent two weeks pottering about the Morbihan and had a delightful cruise amongst the islands. The vast number of moored yachts threatened a very crowded August – not, I feel, the best time to visit this inland sea. On leaving the Morbihan we sailed along Quiberon Bay to spend the night at Penerf and the following afternoon locked into the Vilaine at Arzal, It is possible to sail up this river as far as the town of Redon, 25 miles away. The only obstacle is a swing bridge, which opens on request. The town of Redon does not have a lot to recommend it, but the trip up the river is well worthwhile, with otters and coypu to be spotted on the river banks. Shortly before arriving at Redon, we found a handy cliff for lowering the mast. We tied up to some bushes at the base of the cliff and then, scrambling round to the top, we soon had the mast lowered and the sail stowed along it.

At Redon, we rejoined the Canal Nantes a Brest. The plan was to motor along the canal up to Pontivy where we would join the River Blavet which we would travel down to its mouth at L’Orient. ”We took a side trip up “the mysterious River Aff”, travelling through thick reed beds until we came to La Gacilly, a small town with a large community of artists and craftsmen. The high spot of the canal cruise was to moor under the towers of the chateau at Josselin, the ancestral home of the Rohans, There were originally nine towers, but in 1629, Cardinal Richelieu caused four of them to be destroyed, However, what remains is still a magnificent sight, totally dominating the river. 

7 Locks Closed 

When we arrived at the flight of locks which were to take us over the summit level to Pontivy, the Waterways Authority had a surprise in store for us. The summit level locks were closed, had been for two years and would not be open for at least another year! So much for passage planning. We hastily retraced our steps to make the long detour back to the Vilaine. 

At La Roche Bernard, we met Mike and Eve Bonham Cozens (RCC) on Gemervesence, their splendid new yacht. We spent the morning chatting together and after lunch, we all went for a sail on Missee Lee. We then sailed further down the river to anchor for the night. The next morning we saw the burgee flying over White Seal II. We rowed over and were invited aboard for coffee by John and Vera Gray (RCC). We locked through Arzal at lunchtime and sailed out of the Vilaine estuary to anchor for the night at Port de Kervoyal. By now, we had decided that there was insufficient time to travel up the River Blavet, if we wanted to see something of the coast, We sailed on to Houat the next day and we then had a splendid run to Ile de Groix, where we anchored off the beach on the east coast by Point de la Croix. Later that evening, just before the sunset, a nasty swell came in warning of a very uncomfortable night, so we upped anchor and sailed round to Locmaria on the south coast, which gave us perfect shelter. 

We arrived at the River Aven the next day, in time to catch the tide up to Pont Aven. We tied up at the quay here, but only stayed long enough to fill our water containers from a handy tap and then took the ebb down to anchor for the night just inside the bar. We then went on to Concarneau and then the River Odet the following day. The weather had been splendid for weeks and we also seemed to be doing well with the tides, as we had a fair tide to sail up to Quimper: The River Odet is delightful and certainly our favourite in Brittany. The wind was rather flukey in some of the narrows, but the tide carried us on to the next gust and we managed to keep steerage way. We tacked up the last stretch of the river to the bridge at Quimper, just as the tide turned and then had a splendid run down with the ebb, to anchor at sunset, just up from the high level bridge at Benodet.

The following morning we sailed down to anchor in Anse de Trez, bringing up next to HOSHI, We went ashore to shop in Benodet and then sailed over to Loc Tudy for lunch. In the afternoon we sailed through the inside passage to Guilvinec and anchored off the beach to the west of the town. Our arrival at Guilvinec coincided with the return of the fishing boats and we were amazed that such a vast fleet could all fit into an apparently small harbour. 

8 Meeting with Friends 

The north easterlies, which had been giving us fair winds for the past week, turned into the north and on rounding Menhir the following morning, we had the wind on the nose to Audierne. By late afternoon it was apparent that if we wanted to anchor before dark, we would have to motor-sail, so the little Honda was wound up and then Missee Lee began to make some speed. Arriving at the St Evette anchorage, we were delighted to find our friends Paul and Jeanette Watson on their little Harrison Butler, Thuella. We spent the evening swapping news. They told us that they were heading south for the Mediterranean via the Midi Canal and we became the bearers of sad tidings when we told them that we’d heard that the Midi was closed for the summer because of the drought. We heard later that they had circumvented the problem by taking Thuella overland to Sete.

The next obstacle to our progress north was the Raz de Sein, We left St Evette at dawn, to take the early morning breeze along the coast to and anchored in the cove the east of Pointe Feutein, We left just after lunch to catch the tide through the Raz. The wind being just west of north, we could not lay the course for Camaret and so had to resort to motor-sailing again. We eventually dropped our hook in the inner harbour at Camaret at 2200 that evening.

We spent several days in Camaret and left in company with GABRIEL OF DART to sail to Chateaulin. That afternoon we anchored off Ille de Trevenez and the following morning we sailed up the River Aulne, but had to motor the last mile to catch the lock at Guily-Glaz. We then motored under the high railway viaduct to moor astern of Gabriel at Port Launay. The next morning we ‘borrowed’ GABRIEL’s mast in order to lower ours and then motored up to Chateaulin. Annie’s brother, joined us there that afternoon, via Brittany Ferries and S.N.C.F. 

9 Three is Company 

The Canal Nantes & Brest originally ran from Chateaulin to Nantes, but in 1920 a reservoir was built at Guerledan, which drowned a section of the canal between Chateaulin and Pontivy. The western section is open to traffic for 81 km, but the locks are unmanned, with the exception of the tidal lock at Guily-Glaz. The locks are in a poor state of repair, but the canal passes through some delightful countryside. We soon perfected a s system for working the locks – Mike and I would jump ashore to deal with the gates and Annie would motor into the lock and handle the lines on Missee Lee, The locks are situated at weirs, as this section runs along the canalized River Aulne and often we would stop by the lock while Mike tried a few casts of the line. The Aulne is a well-known salmon river and each weir has a set of salmon steps, but Mike never found any fish. We had travelled 50 km when we decided to turn around and head back. One evening, after a heavy rain shower, Mike spied a damsel in distress. With commendable chivalry he jumped into the dinghy to retrieve the waterlogged damsel fly, but slipped and took a header into the river, instead, Once back on board, we wrung him out on the after-deck and then gave him a well-deserved, stiff drink. 

Mike left us when we got back to Chateaulin, as we retraced our steps to Camaret. From there we went over to Plougonvelin and took the tide the next morning through the Chenal du Four to L’Aber-ildut, We anchored next to Celadpre and Bill Ludlow (RCC) invited us over to lunch with his crew. They left shortly after to sail across to Falmouth, but we spent the night there and sailed round to L’Aber Wrac’h the next day.

The wind had been in the north for weeks and, while this was accompanied by fine sunny weather, we were hoping to get a fair slant to take us back to Falmouth. We stayed in L’Aber-wrac’h for Bastille day and were lucky enough to see two fireworks on the skyline – hardly an extravaganza. 

After waiting a further two days, we decided to slog it out with the northerly, although going to windward in Missee Lee is an exercise in killing time rather than distance. However, by the time we had left the river entrance, the wind had veered round to the east-north-east and was blowing a nice F3, The wind went light overnight, but 40 hours after leaving, we were anchored off Customs House Quay in Falmouth.

10 An Extensive Cruise 

The cruise had taken three months and we had visited every canal in Brittany, but for the River Blavet, and had all but circumnavigated Brittany, Although we had found the fresh food rather expensive in April, as spring progressed the prices came tumbling down and, on the whole, we found food prices to be similar to England, We ate very well on our modest budget, but the temptation from the huge variety of excellent food required great willpower to resist. That we never found living aboard tiresome in the three months we were away, says a lot for the comfort of Missee Lee and for the excellent weather that we generally enjoyed. Altogether it was a memorable cruise in and out of Brittany. 

Annie and Pete Hill are now set for embarkation on their next sea-going adventure and far from being laid up and at work full time in Falmouth they have been clocking up the miles in their Westcoaster, Missee Lee.

Pete & Annie Hill

Since we came back to England in June 1987, we’ve managed to keep ourselves occupied. Based in Falmouth, we both got jobs and started to put some money into the cruising fund. We also thought that we’d spend a bit of money on Badger, and the largest job we have done is to remove her ferro-cement keel and to replace it with a Warwick Collins Tandem Keel. Badger was hauled out of the water last March to do this, and, due to the high prices of safe Winter berths afloat round here, she is still out of the water, so we have not yet been able to try out the keel. We’ve done several jobs inside such as altering one or two lockers and we will give her a repaint and varnish all her brightwork before putting her back in. We’ve also treated her to some new bronze winches and stanchion bases, so she looks pretty smart! 

Because of buying Missee Lee (a Westcoaster, 20’ LOA and named after Arthur Ransome’s lady pirate), we have been able to keep our sanity, as most weekends we’ve sailed her and explored the rivers and creeks in this area. Known as a deep water area, we have been delighted by the number of places that are open only to shallow draught vessels, and have therefore been able to get away to lonely anchorages even in the middle of Summer. 

We could no longer put up with Missee Lee’s Bermudan rig and so had fitted a Junk rig to her. This has proved a great success and enabled us to have two splendid holidays in her last year. As well as changing the rig, we installed a bridge deck, which gave room for a sink and raised the cockpit floor, increasing stowage and making the seats more comfortable. We laid iroko decks fore and aft and over the cockpit seats and bridgedeck which had the dual purpose of looking extremely attractive and stopping leaks that had found their way into the corners.

The centre deck we stripped and then coated with WEST epoxy and polyurethane paint, finishing it with deck paint. I stripped the paint off the cabin sides and re-varnished them and we put strips of ‘tongue and groove’ mahogany down the back of the cabin. (In fact they are pieces ¼” thick with chamfers planed on each edge). We replaced most of her galvanised fittings with bronze and painted the hull in the “house colours” of black and cream. Inside, we changed the forward end of the boat, slightly offsetting the mast tabernacle to provide a double bunk to port. To starboard we have a Reflex diesel heater, which means that we can enjoy sailing in Winter.  The offset mast puts the sail on the centre-line of the boat, and doesn’t seem to make any difference to her. Up until now, we have found the tabernacle entirely satisfactory. 

Our first major cruise was in June when we decided to take her to Exeter to the JRA Rally. We day sailed along the coast to Fowey, Plymouth, Salcombe, Dart mouth, Torquay and finally to Exeter. In Torquay we met George and Rachael on Anna Tertius and spent the night alongside them. The following morning there were four junks converging on the River Exe, all quite different from one another and including Tony Richardson’s T’AI-SHAN as well as David Tyler’s LLUITRO with a Swing Wing rig. 

Those of us who attended had such a good time. About half a dozen boats were there and a lot of JRA members came by land making for a very successful occasion. The Exeter Maritime Museum made an interesting venue, although we were disappointed that their Junk was not rigged and looked rather neglected. As ever, Robin Blain put in a tremendous amount of work to make it a success. T’Ai-Shan acted as the “mother” ship, so that we all climbed on board whenever we wanted, with Tony making us all feel at home. 

Due to the early tide, we left our moorings intending to go back just a short distance, but had a splendid breeze off the land, which had us doing 11 miles in 2 hours! This distance was measured by bearings ashore and we had no tide with us, which just goes to show how MISSEE LEE (18’ LWL) likes her junk rig. We reefed after that, but still made sufficiently good progress to be in Salcombe by late afternoon. From there we went to Plymouth and up the St. German River, a lovely trip. We then left for Fowey. Sailing out of Plymouth, we saw a bank of fog rolling in so turned round to anchor temporarily. 

Even as Pete was dropping the anchor, a Customs inflatable came alongside and requested permission to board. Really a rhetorical question, we of course replied in the affirmative. There was only room for two of them so they came into the cockpit and sent the third one off with the boat. Pete finished sorting out the anchor and came back to see what was wanted. In fact, they decided to search the boat, and did a pretty thorough job of it, even emptying out the rubbish. In the end, of course, there was nothing to be found, but we couldn’t help thinking that MISSEE LEE would have been a rather peculiar choice for smuggling! No doubt a combination of a green junk sail and Pete’s beard and ”long” hair would provide the explanation! 

After this little adventure, the fog cleared and we set off again and slowly made our way to Fowey and back to the Fal. We had a lot of very light winds and fair weather. Unfortunately, in this part of the World, that seems to be a recipe for mist and fog, so that we rarely saw the sun. That apart however, it was a very satisfactory holiday. 

Our next jaunt was across to Douarnenez for the festival of traditional boats. We had glorious weather for the crossing, about Force 2-3 on the beam and brilliant sunshine for most of our stay. Our landfall at the Chenal du Four turned out to be the Chenal de la Helle, which the misty conditions did nothing to assist, but once we’d worked out where we were, we were rewarded by the sun’s reappearance and no more fog in Brittany. 

We spent our first night in Camaret, anchored and drying out off the beach, and thoroughly enjoyed the little town that we had never visited before. In our little boat we were much better off than most visiting Yachts who had to either anchor right out in the bay or use the marina, both of which involved either a long row or a long walk in order to get to town.

From Camaret we sailed to Morgat and thence to Douarnenez with a crowd of traditional and beautiful boats.  There was another junk there too. She looked the part, at least! The festival was absolutely wonderful and we were looked after with great generosity. There were over 700 boats there and lots of events ashore. We were given a superb meal with wine flowing like water, and, of course, there was lots of meeting old friends and making new ones. All in all it was more than worth the effort. We had a secret pride too, in discovering that we were the smallest foreign boat actually to sail there.

After the festival was over, we sailed back to Camaret and stocked up with wine, olive oil, etc, before going back to England. The day we left was very hot with light winds, so light in fact that we had a fierce debate as to whether to spend the night in a harbour somewhere at the top of the Chenal du Four or whether to continue on our way. In the end Pete said we ought to continue. So I reluctantly agreed, and, as usual, I was proved wrong. Not long after sundown, the wind sprang up and through the night.

Not having selfsteering, it was watch and watch about steering downwind under a scrap of sail, Missee Lee tore along with the Southerly wind up her tail. 

In the squalls, it was blowing a full force 6 and the odd wave would slop over the aft deck into the cockpit, which was particularly embarrassing, as we had not at that stage got around to fitting a bilge pump, and had to resort to a bucket. However, approaching the Cornwall coast, we were somewhat heartened by the sight of a Morecombe Bay Prawner of 30 feet or so hove to. I gave a brave smile and cheery wave as we passed and concluded that actually Missee Lee could have taken a lot more and been quite happy. 

The weather thickened as we closed the coast, but the RDF bearing put the Lizard somewhere to port of us. Missee Lee doesn’t possess a log, but we had a reasonably good idea of what speed we’d been making and knew when we were close to hand. Eventually, we heard waves breaking and crept towards the shoreline. A few minutes later we saw what appeared to be steam over the water and realised it was the surf; further investigation convinced Pete that we were off Gull rock, to the East of Falmouth, so we hauled our wind and set off towards the West, keeping within earshot of the coast. 

A break in the mist confirmed our position and we eventually anchored off St Mawes late in the afternoon. With good visibility to have permitted a late alteration of course, Misses Lee would have made a splendid passage back. As it happened, Pete’s judgement was proved correct, the wind increasing overnight and blowing very briskly for a couple more days. Had we not left when we did, we’d have had quite a wait! 

Keeping as usual to a 5 days plus weekend way of life, we have tried to go sailing in Missee Lee every weekend. The weather has been uncommonly fine with few gales and not much rain, and our heater has kept the cabin snug in the evening so that we have thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We explored most of the Helford River, Truro River, River Fal and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the season with few boats about and empty anchorages. With such a small boat, we need not worry about overloading anyone’s moorings and can pick and choose, selecting those with a plastic mooring buoy and a well designed pickup buoy! Normally, one does not pick up moorings in this part of the world, as so many boats day sail and will be wanting them again. The leafless trees enable us to see more and the lack of boats means that we can sail through what are normally wall to wall moorings. In a nutshell, we are astonished at how few people sail in the Winter and can’t recommend it too highly, if you are fortunate enough to be situated in a sheltered cruising ground.

Missee Lee has given us so much pleasure, that we feel we owe it to her to have a “proper” cruise in her and so are planning to leave Falmouth in early April, sail along the South coast and, picking our time, cross to St Malo. From there we hope to enter the Brittany canals, which we will explore during April, May and June, working down toward the Baie de Morbihan. After pottering around there for a while, we hope to sail back up the coast and return to Falmouth about MidJuly. Then, alas, we will have to sell Missee Lee to someone else who will appreciate her many virtues. 

Regards, 

Annie & Pete Hill.