The Joys of Cruising - The saga of the tiller pilot and other stories

Octogenarian Stuart Lyall was determined to reach Falmouth, cruising solo along the West Country coast. In this three part series, Stuart recounts his singlehanded exploits, with weather and adventures that would make even those younger than he pause for thought!

In episode two, after a false start, Stuart achieves his goal on his second attempt, but neither trip is without challenges and the saga of the tiller pilot continues...

"So, we were all ready, all stored up for the 2021 trip which was the big one, but that poor tiller pilot only got as far as Salcombe, I’m afraid, and I needed to replace it. At one point, I had three tiller pilots! Now Termaric has two. One was repaired by Raymarine and the chap said the guarantee had just expired but they still did it for free and it was actually better when it came back than when I bought it new, so it’s fantastic! But I bought another one as well so I had a spare in case it happened again. Then we were well armed with tiller pilots and ready for the trip again.

The second attempt was all that we could ever wish for, although this time a heatwave set in and the whole return journey was dogged by flat calms or very light winds requiring the engine for most of the voyage, with some notable exceptions.  After the by now usual bumpy first night  bouncing around on a buoy outside Lyme Regis harbour, subequent sailing conditions were great all the way west and we got into Falmouth on 9th July having visited various places along the way. Several times whilst going across Start Point from Dartmouth, I’ve seen these orange marker buoys like lobster pots, moving in packs. The first thing that drew my attention to them was because there’s loads of dolphins there. They’re beautiful and when you’re on your own and the dolphins are there it’s a different world, it really is, it’s lovely. But I saw on the horizon a large sailing boat that had left Salcombe heading south and I thought ‘that boat is moving at some speed’. It's difficult to tell a boat's speed on the horizon, except there was an orange lobster pot a couple of hundred yards from me in line with it and what I was actually seeing was that moving. I believe it was some kind of experimental thing, an electronic underwater device. I don’t know, but I’ve seen several of them several times, it wasn’t just a one off, and usually they're moving in the same direction and in the same area. I’ve seen them very close up, within fifty yards of the boat and they’re going faster than us but in the opposite direction, probably doing about 4 knots, I would guess. I’ve mentioned them to other people but nobody else has seen them. "

"Anyway, we did Salcombe to Fowey in one hit. That was lovely sailing going west on that second trip. A following wind, when there was any, all the way down to Falmouth.  When we got there I was still having some difficulties with the engine. But I only stayed at Falmouth the one night, I had a message that I was needed at home. It looked like the easterlies were going to set in again for the foreseeable and I didn’t want to be pegged down a long way from home either. I think the total trip took me three weeks and I had only allowed four with provisions, but I managed to get back. I stopped off at Salcombe on the way east and picked up a buoy at The Bag up river from the town quay. The forecast for that trip was very unfavourable and it was a 12 hour trip singlehanded. I mean I was 80 then and I felt it as well! But then I went on to Dartmouth and from there to anchor off Babbacombe, which I’ve done quite a few times, it’s a lovely place. I did it in three tacks, I think, from Dartmouth. Half way across Torbay, I thought there was a lobster pot in front of me, but it turned out to be a seal’s head as it went past, poking about. The sailing conditions were what you dream of and we were doing, oh, five or six knots, something like that. Nice sea, very easy sailing and I put my friend the tiller pilot on and it didn’t complain, so I could go and sit on the coach roof in the shade of the sails and enjoy the world and watch the dolphins playing around the boat and that. it was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous, just what I’d dreamed of! That day wasn't without drama though, as I managed to dump the entire anchor chain over the bow in 15 metres of water and had to sweat it all back onboard and of course I didn’t know at that point that the engine was going to cut out at the Bill, but it was just an exceptional day and topped off with a Stuart Lines boat passing by with all the passengers singing 'Sweet Caroline' (the name of my daughter)!

Before heading back to Portland, we popped into West Bay and had a very dramatic entrance into the Harbour with a following swell and west wind building up through the day. Theres a fairly long, narrow entrance which is only about 30 metres wide. Due to the shallowness of the water and with the wind and swell from the south west, it must be approached with a certain boldness on a NNW bearing to avoid hitting the wall. Once inside, though, all was complete tranquility. It's a lovely setting and the harbour staff are very friendly and helpful. There's lots going on for a tiny little harbour!

The final leg of that trip was from West Bay to the Bill and back round into Portland. I had the timing of the tide right but there was a very strong westerly and I was trying to run down the west side of the Bill for that last mile, close in. Although the tide was with me, and it was quite a strong tide, it was probably over 5 knots running south along that cliff, but the wind was a strong south westerly, probably force 5, so it was wind against tide and right tight in, within a hundred metres of the cliff and the wind blowing you into it. The sea conditions were dreadful and it was chucking the boat about something chronic and, of course I couldn’t use the tiller pilot, it was just out of the question, so I had the preventer stay on the boom with the main sheet in my left hand and the tiller in my right hand as we went round the tip of the Bill within shouting distance of the people the engine cut out. The new diesel tank didn’t have enough baffles in the bottom of it and it had managed to drag air into the engine. So there I was, hanging on. I couldn’t get to the key to try and start it because both hands were full and it wasn’t until I got a mile or so up the east side of the Bill that I managed to get the tiller pilot back on and finally restarted the engine, what an epic! So that was coming back round the Bill after the first successful attempt of getting to Falmouth. "

Photos;

Above - Left: Fowey Harbour, Right:Stuart Line Cruise boat in Babbacombe Bay

Below - Left: The cliff railway at Babbacome, Right: Anchored off Lyme Regis