The Dartmouth Yacht Club has made a motorboat group. Its inaugural barbecue was held at Beesands. A half hour zoom for a rib but for Richard and I, a 13 km paddle from Dartmouth, into a headwind and bouncy chop, with no assurance of a dry landing at Beesands which usually has dumping surf on the steep shingle beach. We took a coffee break at the cafe at Blackpool Sands (also shingle).
Then it was a boring push against the wind parallel to the featureless 5 km of shingle that is the Slapton Line. We reached Torcross, where the Slapton lake drain has been blasted through the rock to emerge from the square hole at the base of the cliff.
We had to push on with just a short rafted-up break, because we wrongly thought that our slow progress would make us late for the fun.
We arrived at Beesands before most of the motor boats and disembarked without trouble, four and a half hours after our departure from Dartmouth. Then the ribs began to arrive, followed at a much more sedate pace by a long retired lifeboat.
The barbecue was on the seaside playground in mingled drizzle and weak sunshine.
It was a pleasant chance to greet the people with bigger craft, whom we kayakers seldom meet.
We took up the offer of a tow back with the lifeboat.
tim