06:00 Set off to catch an early morning breeze from the north. We need to make a pit stop and fill the water tanks. Stop and think of running out of water after 10 days away at sea. Fowey harbour has a tap on the quay.
Fowey in the sunshine was hot without the cooling effects of the sea that we were used to. The helmsman manoeuvred Liquid Asset through the busy harbour, against a strong tidal river flow, and touched against the quayside. Time to fill the water tanks.
The helmsman is responsible for steering and could be considered the link between the navigator/skipper and crew/sail trimmer.
Experience is built up over years and every situation is different. Arriving and departing, sailing close hauled, beam reach or down wind. High waves crashing over the bow or calm flat seas. Hazards, lobster pot and navigation buoys, and other moving vessels. Tidal flows and shifting winds.
The yacht has to be helmed at all times and experienced helmsmen use their senses to check the sails, listen out for flapping and sensing the breeze on their face (or back of their neck)
And the reward is having the best feeling of the boat, feeling its power or balance through the wheel.
Goosewing sailing is when the mainsail and the foresail (code 0) are set outwards on opposite sides forming a 180° angle, to maximise the area of the sail exposed to the wind.
A full day sailing east in light winds.
18:00 Arrived at Cawsand Bay and dropped the anchor in 7 metres. The anchor chain stretched out and held fast as we swung to and fro in the fresh evening breeze.
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Experience Sailing 