October 2024

Welcome to our latest newsletter, where we review the outgoing 2024 sailing season for Devon Sailing Experiences and fill you in about our plans for 2025. We are also giving you the chance to win a gift voucher for a day sail by taking a short sailing quiz on our website. Read on to find out more.

What happened in 2024?

In a nutshell: the weather was rubbish, bookings were down and our boats needed a lot of repairs. Not great news for a small, family-run, seasonal business, but we made it through and are looking forward to the 2025 sailing season! Here are some of our stories.

Bewitched to the rescue!

During our recent Milage Building Weekend whilst on passage to Salcombe, Bewitched received and responded to a Pan Pan. It was issued from Falmouth Coastguard regarding a 21ft blue and white angling boat with engine failure drifting NE from Hope Cove.

You can read an account of the situation in our latest blog post.

Well done to Chief Instructor Tim and his weekend crew for their support to a vessel experiencing difficulties.

New Feathering Prop for Bewitched

Following mechanical failure aboard Bewitched, we decided to invest in a prop that will enhance the sailing capabilities of our boat.

Initial tests has shown a 1/2 – 3/4 knot increase in speed.

Thank you to our talented Skippers

As always, huge thanks go out to our skippers who always demonstrate professionalism, expertise and skill. This year they have exceeded any expectations by (amongst other things) diving under boats to recover/fix/check parts, sailing into marinas after mechanical failure (not recommended!), towing/being towed, responding to pan pan call outs from other craft and being flexible to meet the requirements of our guests.

Was your booking postponed in 2024?

We sail in all weather EXCEPT when high winds make it dangerous. When this happens, we may need to postpone your booking to keep you and our boats safe. If your booking was postponed in 2024, please make sure you give yourself plenty of time to re-book your date for 2025.

What is planned for 2025?

Our sailing schedule for 2025 is now live and can be viewed on our website.

Whether you are a regular sailor or have never tried it, we will have a package just for you. Many of our longer sailing experiences and courses are scheduled on demand, so if you cannot see a suitable date, please get in touch and we will do our very best to help.

Before booking, be sure to check the “Additional Information” section for restrictions to avoid booking something that is not suitable for you or is not going to offer what you need. If in doubt, just call or drop us an email to check.

With Devon and Cornwall on our doorstep, we believe you have the best sailing destinations all within easy reach.

Bareboat Charter

We are now taking bookings for bareboat charters in 2025. A 20% deposit will secure your date with the balance due 8 weeks before you sail. Take a look at our Bareboat Charter page and then get in touch to confirm availability.

Take our Sailing Quiz and Win a Gift Voucher

Test your sailing knowledge and have the chance to win a sailing voucher worth £132! You will need to complete the quiz on our website then enter your name, email address and phone number to be entered into a prize draw.

Remember – the quiz is just for fun! It is not too challenging and you do not have to score 100% to be in with a chance to win. You will not be contacted unless you have won.

The closing date is 31st December 2024. A name will be randomly selected on 1st January 2025 and we will contact you by email and telephone call if you are the lucky winner.

Sailing Gift Vouchers – the Perfect Christmas Gift

If you are in possession of a gift voucher, we recommend visiting our sailing schedule to book a date as soon as possible to avoid disappointment as our day and weekend sails get booked up quickly, particularly during the summer months.

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Report by Skipper and Chief Instructor, Tim Sunderland.

During our recent Milage building weekend, whilst on passage to Salcombe, Bewitched received and responded to a Pan Pan. It was issued from Falmouth Coastguard regarding a 21ft blue and white angling boat with engine failure drifting NE from Hope Cove.

For those not familiar with the term, a Pan Pan is a distress call. It is issued by craft when an urgent situation has occurred; it is serious, but not life-threatening. (Not to be confused with a Mayday which is used in an urgent, life-threatening situation.)

Upon hearing the call, the Crew aboard Bewitched started to scan the area with binoculars and located what they thought was the vessel. Communication with the Pan Pan vessel was challenging because the vessel had a bad connection on their VHF radio so were only able to communicate when very close. Bewitched notified the Coastguard that they had the vessel in sight and were proceeding toward them. Bewitched was advised that the Pan Pan vessel was in contact with someone by mobile phone and was relaying information to the coastguard. In the meantime, the crew of Bewitched was preparing to set up a towing bridle if this was required.

Once Bewitched was on the scene, the crew took over communications with the vessel and Coastguard. The skipper of the Pan Pan vessel indicated that he had some comms on the VHF currently. Bewitched spoke to the vessel and they had managed to resolve a temporary jury rig fix of the cooling system and the engine was running, all be it a bit roughly. The Coastguard was notified of this and advised that Bewitched should ‘Shadow’ the Pan Pan vessel to Salcombe and take them in tow if required.  During the next 90 minutes, Bewitched checked in with the vessel and Coastguard every 30 minutes to ensure all things were ok.

As soon as the transit into Salcombe was in view, Bewitched took up station leading the Pan Pan vessel in on a safe course, as the crew was unfamiliar with the port. When we were close to the pontoons, there was only just sufficient space for the Pan Pan vessel to go alongside which they duly did. They called up the crew of Bewitched and thanked them very much for their assistance during their difficulties and that it was comforting to know that someone was there should things turn for the worse again.

Bewitched advised Falmouth Coastguard that the Pan Pan Vessel was safely alongside Normandy pontoon in Salcombe, she then picked up a buoy off the town and the crew went ashore for a deserved drink after their ‘rescue mission’.

Just another day in the life of Bewitched!