INVESTIGATOR 563

Great adventure Ed. Love that area, was down there just before Covid struck. Interested that the nose was low with only four aboard.. relevant to our other active thread on sleeping and weight onboard.

Hi Ed, great read. Good to be cautious , but no real need to worry too much about getting a wave or two coming over the bow. I have had that experience quite a bit and the best thing about boats is that they are boyant, so they always come back up. The water just washes over. As well as at sea, there are certain parts of the Tamar river as David would know, that when you get wind against tide, especially down long reach ( section of the Tamar ) that can happen. Even had that on a 36 ft steel Adams we used to have. Gets a bit wet, but nothing too disconcerting. In your case, having four on board probably didn't help and sometimes it's caused by a combination of the speed you are doing and the timing between the peaks and the length of your boat and the boat gets that rocking motion with the bow gradually reaching higher and then lower in turn until she will poke her nose under. That's why you always need a cover on the anchor well as that full of water won't help it. Best way to manage it is to change speed. ( ease off or fire up the iron headsail) to get off that rhythm that causes it. Sometimes it's better to " quarter " the waves and tack as it were. Usually happens heading directly head on into the waves. Bit hard to tack much in a river with a narrow channel though. All good experience, Enjoy your sailing.

Cheers,
Peter T

Belated good luck Ed, sounds like you had a good first sail on the Bay.

Like to read sailing stories from other places. Good old google Earth helps me make sense of faraway locations and place names, a great incentive for me to learn a bit more geography. Glad you and the crew made it through the big swells ok, found that peace full anchorage and had an easier leg back to the ramp.
Cheers