December 2019 - Devon Sailing Experiences

Dec 30

Enjoy a Southwest Bareboat Charter

By Katie Core Info

With our yachts being based in Plymouth, Devon, we are ideally located for you to explore and enjoy a southwest bareboat charter. Whether you are chartering for a weekend, 5-days or 7-days, we can help you devise an itinerary that is right for you and your crew.

Weekend Bareboat Charter

We will meet you at Mayflower Marina or King Point Marina (depending on the yacht you are chartering) at 16:00 on Friday. After a yacht handover, you are free to settle aboard the yacht for the evening. The locations of our marinas mean that you have easy access to some fabulous areas to enjoy for the evening: Royal William Yard and The Barbican offer a good selection of pubs and restaurants to suit all tastes. Alternatively, depending on the tide times, you may choose to head over to the River Yealm to visit Newton Ferrers and Noss Mayo for the evening or alternatively anchor in Cawsand Bay.

Because of the ideal location of Plymouth for your southwest bareboat charter, you have plenty of choices about where to head for the weekend. If you have an easterly, Fowey and Helford River are popular destinations for our guests. A westerly, and you may decide to head to Salcombe. All of these destinations are easily accessible for a weekend bareboat charter, giving you plenty of time to return to the marina, refuel and clean your yacht before returning it by 17:00 that evening.

5-day Bareboat Charter (midweek)

You will be able to access your yacht from midday on Monday. We will meet you at the marina for the yacht handover, and after you have loaded your gear and provisions on board, there are plenty of sailing options for you.

Depending on wind directions, tide times and the abilities of your crew, you could head as far east as Dartmouth or Torbay and as far west as Falmouth; some charterers have reached the Scillies, but this can be quite a challenge and needs very careful planning with sailing conditions and timings to ensure the yacht is returned on time, so we would recommend a minimum of 7-days to try to achieve this.

Your yacht will need to be returned to us at the marina by 11:00 on Friday, refuelled and cleaned. For this reason, many of our guests like to spend Thursday evening anchored in the shelter of Cawsand Bay, a short sail from the marina.

7-day Bareboat Charter

Our 7-day bareboat charters can run from midday Monday to midday Friday or 16:00 Friday until 11:00 Friday. Again, we will meet you at the marina for the yacht handover and then you will have a week to explore the stunning coastline of Devon and Cornwall.

Possible destinations may include Cawsand Bay, Helford River, Fowey, Falmouth or the Isles of Scilly to the west, and River Yealm, Newton Ferrers, Noss Mayo, Salcombe, Dartmouth, Torquay or Brixham to the east.

Again, your yacht will need to be returned to us refuelled and cleaned by the arranged time.

Tempted?

A 20% deposit will secure a date for you, with the remaining payment due 4 weeks before you sail. Further information about what is required for a bareboat charter can be found here: Bareboat Charter FAQs.

If you are a returning customer, you will be offered a 10% discount on our prices during 2020.

What are you waiting for? Book your southwest bareboat charter for 2020 by emailing info@devonsailingexperiences.co.uk or call 01752 424514.

Dec 03

An Environmentally Friendly Christmas Gift

By Katie Core Info

Many of us are looking to have a little more environmentally friendly Christmas this year, and Devon Sailing Experiences may just have a solution if you are looking for an environmentally friendly Christmas gift. The answer is a gift voucher for a Day Sail or Weekend Sail.

Listed below are the points that make a gift voucher for a Day Sail or Weekend Sail a great gift for you or your loved one, whilst looking after the planet.

No Christmas wrapping paper.

When you order a Christmas sailing gift voucher, we will post your card voucher to you or direct to the recipient of the gift. As it is made of card, it can be easily recycled. You can present the gift in a paper envelope so there is no need for Christmas wrapping paper which may have hidden plastics inside. If you would prefer to not even receive a paper voucher (to cut down even more on waste and postage) we can simply email your confirmation which just assigns a booking reference. (You will need to state this preference when you purchase your voucher online.)

Sailing is an environmentally friendly mode of transport.

Greta Thunburg (environmental activist) chose sailing as her mode of transport to take part in the UN Sumit in August this year, and we know that she would have meticulously carried out her research. Greta made the non-stop 2-week voyage in a 60’ yacht, choosing this method of travel over flying and cruising. The only difference is that the yacht Greta sailed aboard (Malizia II) was stripped down to the basics – Devon Sailing Experiences will continue to offer you the luxury of onboard toilets!

Wind is a naturally occurring source of power.

Sailing is all about letting the wind fill your sails and using this natural power source to travel and enjoy the beautiful coastline that Devon and Cornwall offer. Although a diesel engine is required to enter and leave the marina, our ultimate aim is to sail for as much time as the weather permits. (It is worth noting that even Greta’s yacht had an engine on board for safety purposes.)

We are actively trying to reduce our single-use plastic

Devon Sailing Experiences is pledging to take steps to reduce our single-use plastic. You can read about our first step for 2020 here: How we are trying to reduce our single-use plastics.

Dockside facilities to reduce waste

Our guests are encouraged to use the dockside facilities when mooring overnight. This means making proper use of recycling bins and using marina toilets/showers to avoid waste going straight into the sea, as well as using mooring buoys instead of anchors (where there is a chance of disturbing natural habitats).

Feel closer to nature

Our natural environment is not only visually stunning but supports life and therefore needs protecting. There is no denying the positive effect of being close to water; research has shown that bringing nature into your life can benefit your physical and mental wellbeing. There is no better way than sailing to give you the space to escape your day-to-day pressures and direct your thoughts towards how beautiful our surroundings are and appreciate how important it is to protect it.

We can’t think of a better gift for Christmas 2019.