Dartmouth to Torquay, days 25, 26 and 27

 

Dear Readers, I haven't blogged for a few days because we haven't been sailing, due to the weather. We spent a lovely few days exploring Dartmouth and surrounding areas. I really like Dartmouth, it has so much to offer. It is an attractive town with its gaily painted houses tumbling down the steep hill right down to the water's edge. There are plenty of old houses left and a small open market, and I love the various ferries constantly crossing the river, carrying cars and foot passengers. Over at Kingswear where we are is the Dartmouth steam train, which runs a regular service to Paignton, so we decided to do the trip to the seaside town of Paignton on Sunday. 

Goliath, the steam engine that took us to Paignton.

To my generation a trip on the steam train brings back many childhood memories; the smell of the coal burning, the chuff chuff of the engine, and the old fashioned carriages. The station at the Kingswear and Paignton ends are still originals too.

Paignton Pier

 On the opposite side of the river at Dartmouth is the old station where the train on the Dartmouth side used to be, and it is now a Champagne Bar and Restaurant. The train ticket included a ferry crossing to Dartmouth so after our trip to Paignton, Celia and I  crossed over to the Champagne bar and had a lovely cold glass of Pol Roger while watching life on the river. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Dartmouth Castle and Petrok Church on the way out of Dartmouth

On Monday we set off at 8am on our short trip to Torquay, and I was sad to leave Dartmouth, I definitely want to come back sometime soon. It was an uneventful trip with a bit of sailing, except for the heavens opening and drenching us as we got into Torquay!

The scenery was interesting; we passed around Berry Head and so into Tor Bay, past the fishing town of Brixham and the lovely sands of Broadsands and Paignton. You can spot Torquay easily as it has a large Ferris wheel on the seafront very near the marina and it was an easy entrance to navigate. The marina is very plush, being on the "English Rivera", there are plenty of expensive rich man's toys here (and rich girls toys too of course.) 

Torquay marina, some of the smaller motor boats and jet skis!

However, when we radioed the marina to get a berth they advised us that it will be closed from midnight for a few days because there will be a salvage operation in process. A £10 million, 26 metre  super yacht , Rendezvous, caught fire and sank some weeks ago. (There are plenty of dramatic pictures on line if you want to learn more.) There are now divers down and a crane ready to salvage it. We are a few boats away from the action so something to keep us amused. 

Today is Tuesday 28th so we said goodbye to Celia, who is leaving on the train to travel back home and we are spending a day hunkering down on the boat because it is a very windy and quite chilly day, with rain forecast this afternoon. What little we have seen of Torquay suggests a very nice seaside town, very well kept with lovely gardens, palm trees, a sandy beach, upmarket hotels and  restaurants. The marina facilities are very good, there is even piped music in the loos, that is a first!

So I will say goodbye for now and I will report in more detail about Torquay and surrounding areas if the weather improves tomorrow, and hopefully the salvage operation will be complete in the next few days and we can continue our journey to Weymouth.