Breaking a rule at the English Riviera and seeing a dolphin

Whilst the South Coast of England will never be as glamorous as the French Riviera, the  area of Devon that encompasses Torquay, Paignton and Brixham makes a good attempt.

These three towns are clustered around Tor Bay, well protected from the prevailing westerly winds and  the swell that comes from the Atlantic Ocean.

I was to cross Tor Bay, a voyage of about 4.5 miles, and then row along the rugged coast between Brixham and Dartmouth.

The voyage taken by PicoMicroYacht. The English Riviera is defined by the green line

I had chosen a day when there was a full spring tide, going against my usual rule to row at neaps. However, the wind was forecast to be Force 1-2 from the west, and the sea state was reportedly smooth or slight. Also I was capitalising on being shielded by the South Devon land mass, Tor Bay facing east.

As I set off a Sadler 26 was cleaning their copper coated bottom on the main Torquay slipway. The owner had chatted to me as his helper worked on the boat and explained he knew about PicoMicroYacht, having sailed the Devon coast in a 17 foot open boat.

I set off and found it seemed to be slow going crossing Torbay, despite the forecast, as a light headwind got up from an unpredicted direction and the tide had not yet turned in my favour.

Passing Brixham, this all changed and the wind disappeared, with the tide now sizzling past the coast and setting up areas of sea turbulance around the exposed headlands, but not enough to worry PicoMicroYacht. 

As I looked to the side I saw some lobster pot buoys submerged in the water, as the tide tugged on them. A dolpin showed up but was too fleeting to be photographed.

Nearing Dartmouth the sea was near glassy calm.  Start Point is shown in the distance.

Behind was the Mew Stone, a large jagged rock typical of the Devon coast

Soon I was just outside Dartmouth and eating lunch whilst I waited for the tide to start flooding up the Dartmouth Estuary.

The Darthaven Marina were most welcoming and allowed me to keep PicoMicroYacht on their pontoons for a while as I sorted myself out.

When would PicoMicroYacht Capsize?

When doing sea rowing I have adopted three rules about the sea that I try to follow in order to allow going on voyage. Generally, it should be neap tides, so reducing the tidal rate and therefore the likelihood of a confused or breaking sea, particularly past headlands. Secondly, there should be little or no wind. This rule tends to ensure the sea is calmer, but it also means the boat is generally manoevrable in different directions. Finally, the sea shoud be calm, with little or no swell.

Sea state defined in terms of wave height

For sea calmness, I listen out for shipping forecasts that indicate that the sea is ''smooth' or 'slight.'

I had become curious as to what makes it 'slight' and how this was judged. So I checked the criteria and found that there was also calm (glassy and rippled), with below 0.1 metre wave height, and then  'smooth'  was  between 0.1 and 0.5 metres, and slight was 0.5 to 1.25 metres.

I realised that that the online coastal wind forecasts had predictions of wave heights and by chance I had been  using a 'less than one metre' rule as well, which I now realised matched approximately the 1.25 metre limit for 'slight.'

An example is the forecast for next week in the sea area of my next voyage, given below. The wave height is along the last but bottom row and shows a convenient 0.5 to 0.6 metre range, well within my limits.

Windfinder predictions for Torbay, Devon, UK

For me, the reason to have a calm sea in PicoMicroYacht is to prevent capsize. There are generally two causes of capsize; either the wind pushes on the sails to turn the boat over, or the boat gets hit by a higher than expected breaking wave, washing against it with such force that it knocks it over. It is the possibility of the latter that concerns me.

The sort of wave height ranges that I row in are well below causing other problems, such as sea sickness.

But what wave height would cause PicoMicroYacht to capsize and is my approximate one  metre  rule reasonable?

I found out about a study by the University of Southamptom Department of Ship Science. This study indicates that a boat will tend to roll over if the wave hits you on the beam, the wave is breaking and the wave height is 30% of the hull length.

Applying this to PicoMicroYacht, this meant the waves should not be more that 1.14 metres, to avoid the 30% threshold.

However, whether a capsize will take place is of course more complicated. The criteria assume the waves will break and this depends in turn on other sea conditions, including shallowing water and races. Generally, for the sea to break on shallow water at the sort of wave height range I would encounter means I would be nearly aground, such as on a sandbank or beach. More of a problem are races, which I tend to avoid by going further out to sea or by passing through the race area at slack tide. It also depends on how the boat is being manoevred. For example, facing the boat into or away from the waves reduces the likelihood of capize.

Optimist dinghies have fun going through the Fiddlers race in the west end of the Solent. I went through this race in the dark in 2016 on my way round the Isle of Wight, but in very calm weather.

There is also the issue of  the particular boat. Each has it's own right moment, the degree to which the boat will resist being turned over. The resistance tends to increases as a monohull heals, reaching a critical point when it starts to decrease and then the boat will more likely turn turtle. Many boats have their righting moment function plotted, as shown figuratively below.

Stability shown figuratively according to angle of heel (artwork by Andrew Simpson)

Since PicoMicroYacht has no weighted keel, it is more likely to flip over, with less upright stability. Also if capsized, the crew has to right it, as with most dinghies. However, as I have posted before, the PicoMicroYacht has the advantage in this situation of being rapidly self draining and easy to get back in, with very low top sides. The daggerboard is kept down whilst at sea and can then be used lever the boat upright.

Part 1

Part 2

A Pico being righted using the daggerplate; Part 1 and 2 
 (Part 2 shows how to get back on board without falling in the water again)

Why now not to cross the English Channel in PicoMicroYacht

When I crossed the English Channel in 2012, I did so with a support boat. This boat had a professional crew and was well equipped with radar, spending the whole voyage on look out, ready to act if necessary. The English Channel around Calais and Dover is potentially a very dangerous place, with about 400 ships a day passing at speed up and a comparatively small stretch of water. The weather can change very rapidly, increasing the associated risks.

Migrants in a dinghy near Calais in August 2018

Halfway across, I passed through two standing waves, created by the huge container ships that plough up and down relentlessly. I was swamped by these waves, but PicoMicroYacht is quickly self-draining,  so I was able to carry on. I also ran into unexpected fog and my safety depended on the radar system of my support boat.



In recent years, more and more people have been trying to cross the Channel in small boats, unsupported. This is extremely dangerous and, if it continues, will likely end in tragedy.

Sadly the law has  had to change and even supported boats were not allowed to cross  from 2013 onwards, for very good reasons. PicoMicroYacht was likely the last single person rowing boat to cross the English Channel.