Brixham Pirate Festival | 29 Apr - 1 May 2023

With 3 boats confirmed, Boni and Shogun set out from their CCSC moorings at 07:00, with Cwac following from Weymouth.

The passage to Brixham, in the light Southerly Breeze, became a leisurely motorsail with blue sky and Sun all the way!

We all arrived in good time at the Brixham Sailing Club pontoons, a short 10m tender row to shore, in time to get scrubbed up to see the sights of Brixham Pirate festival. Following the leisurely passage, the merry festivities in Brixhams' streets, rammed with Pirates of all shapes and sizes, was a little surreal. The sounds and sights soon became the norm for the weekend, helped by a few jars of local brew while listening to sea shanties.

We had our evening meal at the BYC on Sat eve with excellent food and great company with the bonus of finding the narrow secret gate to access the club.

On Sunday we all decided to board a 17th Century Spanish Galleon Replica. 'El Galeon was built during 2009 to 2010 by the Nao Victoria Foundation. Designed and developed by Ignacio Fernández Vial at the Punta Umbria shipyard (Huelva, Spain), the boat was launched on November 30th, 2009 and then the masts were added at the beginning of 2010. El Galeon has covered more than 48,000 nautical miles between 2010 to 2016 along the world's largest seas and oceans, visiting ports in four continents and participating in many cultural projects'. El Galean was an impressive sight in many ways and thoughtfully set-out for visitors to get a good feel for times abord such a vessel.

Safari supper on Sunday evening included a Masaman Curry prepared by PhilW and eaten aboard Boni a great evening catching-up on stories, ranging from Sailing to the crimes of a Gordon Ramsey.

We departed around 08:00 on Monday, the first bank holiday of the three in May this year. The return passage to Portland in the light NW breeze became another leisurely motorsail. After rounding the Bill, the wind picked-up in time to end the trip with an hours sail back to Harbour.

Lessons learned - double check when packing underpants! the only place in Brixham I could find a supply, outside of checking the charity shops, was SaltRock at £10 apiece, but at least they had Mermaids on them.

Penmapship & Pics: Nick Berry (Shogun)