In the early morning light, Brixham is slowly coming to life among the brightly coloured houses …

…and in the harbour.

The plan is to sail to Plymouth to have a look at the green boat show…and to pick up Chris and Yee Tak who plan to join us there. We set off with absolutely no wind at all, which is sort of OK, as although it means motoring initially, at least we can bear away and sail once the predicted south easterly picks up and we round Berry head.

We round Berry Head and pick up a light southerly…with a hint of west in it…dead on the nose. We consider just sailing and doing what the wind allows, but sadly we feel that we ought to make some effort to meet our wives as agreed and we continue to motor. Nothing is lost though, as once we round Start Point, we will be able to sail properly and may be pick up a bit of sea breeze as well. The late morning passes happily in the sun and the engine chugs along helped by the early ebb. Start Point looms as we finish lunch and prepare to get the sails up…to find that the wind now has significant west in it! Never mind, Bolt Head will come along soon and then…

Bolt Head does indeed come along and once again the wind god watches us carefully and follows us round. S/he doesn’t get the malevolence quite right as we can at least use the main a bit as we motor sail. Ha! John ges on with a bit of ropework as the red cliffs slide past…

We round the Mewstone rock just off the pretty Yealm and have the wind right where we want it.

At least we’ll have an hour or so of sailing. Engine off and peace reigns…for all of a minute as the wind dies completely. We slat to and fro in the gentle swell and then its back on with the engine to take us up the Sound into Queen Anne’s Battery.

The irony of going to a green boat show in a boat designed to make use of wind power but burning diesel all the way is not lost on us. We’ve come to this marina as it is where the boat show is to be held, but at over £40 per night, we assume that the showers come with a personal masseur and a welcoming band….or are we just grumpy old gits?

It is lovely however to meet up with the feminine bit of the crew and we pass the evening with a few drinks and dinner in the restaurant by the marina office…and the grumpiness dissolves.