Making Way to the South West

Runnel Stone buoy position 50 degrees 01minutes North 05 degrees 01 minutes West.

En route to the Isles of Scilly we left Penzance harbour at 04-20hrs  10th August 2003. Put in a reef at 05-45hrs passed Runnel Stone buoy at 06-40hrs - wind NNW 4/5 occasional rain. 0700hrs due south of Lands End, Wolf Rock lighthouse visible to the south west 5 miles.

 Cannis Rock buoy position 50 degrees 18 minutes North. 04 degrees 40 minutes West.

Approached from the S.W. on the homeward leg from the Scillies Relatively calm on this occasion though I've met her since when conditions have been anything but sedate ! Thirty knots of blow on leg two of the Falmouth triangle race , early May 2011. The good boat  Xstatic [X99] had to be left in Fowey because of damage to the bulkhead caused by falling and slamming off the waves. The next day's forecast was 40 knots easterly, not desirable when heading to Plymouth!

Entered two paintings for the 'Spirit of Porthleven' art competition August  2011

 I was allocated 'the slipway' as a subject to respond to. Managed to get hold of a S.W. chart that had an inset of Porthleven harbour and took photographs of the harbour slipway from various positions. The first painting used the inset as the stabilising backdrop with a viewpoint looking directly down the slip incorporating visual suggestions of the landscape beyond.

 The second painting focussed in more closely on the chart depiction of the harbour, overlaid with a poured image of the slipway from a side view looking towards the west.

 Both paintings were exhibited in the old lifeboat station gallery, which seemed a perfect setting for the subject matter. They elicited a good deal of interest and discussion from people viewing the exhibition which was encouraging. 

Mallard Shoal navigation mark just off Plymouth Hoe is a significant visual ediface and an obvious obstacle to avoid, particularly when taking part in the Plym yacht club, Friday night series, neatly positioned between a cluster of  buoys in that area. 

'Drakes Island' or as it has been reclassified 'St. Nicholas's Island' buoy, north of the island often serves as a windward rounding mark when the breeze has switched to a westerly for the start of the Friday night racing.

All At Sea

This recent series of paintings are entwined with my sailing interest and experience. Deploying admiralty charts as backgrounds, I have introduced images relating to weather, sea conditions, position fixing, buoys and actual events to the paintings, conveying a sense of first hand experience and involvement of sailing.  Using Kevlar sail material as my canvas, applying acrylic paint with a mixture of precision and freedom that reflects the nature of sailing.

Hand Deeps buoy, a few miles west of the Eddystone lighthouse, is the rounding mark for the R.W Y.C charity yacht race in mid July. The weather for the race in 2009 was 'lively'. 20 knots  or so, which made for a bouncy, stimulating ride.

Skerries Bank north east of Start Point, leave to port as you approach Dartmouth. Sometimes features as a mark of the course during regatta week.

Sailing round from Torbay to Dartmouth, West Rock buoy leads on from Mewstone buoy as you approach the mouth of the Dart

A sailing friend took part in the ARC cruising race from the Canaries to St. Lucia in the Carribean. He had framed an Atlantic chart, showing his daily noon-time position,and displayed it in his entrance hall. I was quite taken with the image and decided to use it as the basis for a painting. One bright and sunny day, about this time, whilst crossing the River Plym we were suddenly enshrouded in a thick sea mist. It was possible to see the surface of the water close to or the blue sky directly up above, but nothing at eye level beyond 30 yards. All seemed eeriely quiet and isolating, lost in an expanse of water, almost like being in the middle of the Atlantic on a deceptively hushed mid-day.

Following on from using the Atlantic chart I noted that the 'Arc' voyage had passed through six defined lat. long. boxes from the coast of Africa to the West indies and decided to use each one as a means of recording the epic sea journey in relation to the boat position and either weather conditions or significant events experienced at the time. Leaving the Canaries in warm sunshine and the glow of the setting sun all seemed set fair for a great adventure.

About one week into the passage, a significant problem emerged, with the discovery that the prop had broken or fallen off from the shaft, leaving the boat without any auxiliary power. A detour southward to the Azores for repairs was seen as the safest option. Happily the sun kept shining, the breeze held up and mechanical concerns were overcome.

Stretching away into the Atlantic in solitary peace it came as a surprise one morning to pass close by with a merchantman, container ship ploughing his way across to the African shipping lanes. The relative size and scale of the encounter was impressive and memorable.

As the voyage pushed closer to the Caribbean, clouds gathered and darkened. The wind grew and the ocean swell rose. Ahead the waves climbed and fell in mounting succession as the distance between the noontime position fixes lengthened.

Surging down the rolling crests the sea broke white behind and still the nautical miles powered away into the distance.

The latter days sped by as the boat cut its way through a deeper blue sea with a friendlier breeze to chase her on her way towards the final berthing of the voyage in St. Lucia, washed in the exhilaration  of having crossed the great divide.