Day 1 -17th may

Leading up to the departure,I had many anxious moments, especially as the wind was so strong all over the country ,However sorting stuff out kept my mind occupied and there was so much to do. Today after getting Hylje loaded up I had the engine serviced and wanted to watch to get some tips.The poor lad had a real struggle putting the lower half of the outboard together, "This is the worst one I've worked on" he said as he tried to line everything up.His boss moaned and muttered about most people getting their engines service in the winter and it was all interrupting the other things he had to do.

Finally I took the car back home said goodbye to my lodgers,Nairere and Aziz, then cycled down to the boat with my new folding bike. It was high tide and there was a full moon yesterday,so the tide was high, lapping at the top of Vire Island.

I motored down to Dartmouth as the sun was setting,It was still and beautiful, but halfway I hit a large submerged log, which damaged the  the paddle wheel on my log,so unless I fix it I won't know what speed I am doing through the water or how far I've travelled . The GPS will tell me how far I've travelled, but its really useful to be able to compare the speed though the water with the actual speed over the ground,

In Dartmouth I had a pizza at the Dartmouth Arms and studied all the photos on the wall of the various times Bayard's Cove had been used as a film set. The Onedin line, was only one example and there was an unrecognisable photo of a very young Kris Kristopherson. I wondered what these stars made of Dartmouth and whether they still remember the place.