Day 4 - A Day at the Races: Dartmouth – Dittisham – River Yealm

Setting off in bright sunshine, we cast off from the Town Quay to motor gently upstream for breakfast at Dittisham. Finding a free buoy, we moored up for cereal and croissants in this beautiful stretch of the River Dart. Reluctantly, we slipped our buoy and turned around to motor downstream towards the river entrance and onwards towards Start Point. After Prawle Point, there wasn’t much breeze, so we paid out the mackerel lines and motorsailed towards the entrance of the Yealm River. There was great excitement when two mackerel took the bait and we reeled them in with great care.



On arrival in the Yealm River, we motored slowly amongst the moored yachts looking for our friends on Bagheera – a Bowman 40. Finally we found them well upstream and rafted alongside for a drink and supper. It was almost like “Ready, Steady, Cook!" as both galleys were in action racing to complete at the same time so both crews could sit down together.

Bagheera came to the finish first with their steak casserole made with diced peppers, onions and tomatoes served with new potatoes whereas I’d opted for Sharon’s sausage casserole in red wine with mustard mash – somewhat tricky on a classic yacht with hardly any work surfaces to use.

Unfortunately, we hadn’t caught enough mackerel to feed everyone and two small fish were enough for 4 as a starter. Baked in foil with freshly ground black pepper and a squeeze of lime, after 15-20 minutes, the mackerel tasted sublime served on fresh wholemeal bread and butter. But we took our sausage casserole and mustard mash over and the two crews had a very convivial meal washed down with red wine and followed by cheese and biscuits. To end, David - the owner of Bagheera - made fresh coffee in his vacuum cafetiere. A great piece of kit if you can find one.

Then it was time to cast off and find our own buoy for our overnight stay with a wee dram of Famous Grouse whisky to finish before turning in.