UKC

Tonight's Friday Night Video is another great piece of work from UKC user David Linnett of Bald Eagle Productions. Climber and accomplished sailor, Captain Bob Watson had a long-held dream to combine his two great passions of climbing and sailing to "belay from the boat" on one of the UK's greatest HVS's - Moonraker at The Old Redoubt, Berry Head near Brixham.

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In reply to UKC News:

Nice mellow Friday night video,

cheers


Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

An inspirational video, especially now that i've got myself a yacht, though not sure I want to risk bashing her against any rocks....

In reply to UKC News:

Nice one Dave - some excellent camera angles.

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Beautiful - just beautiful. Visually stunning but/and, far more importantly, it catches the feeling of doing a classic route (which shockingly, I've still not done) with mates. Particularly liked Cap'n Bob. This is what great climbing is all about. You do routes like these with mates; not only is it brilliant but the memories are with you always.

Mick

In reply to UKC News:

Another awesome video Dave I haven't stepped off dry land since, but it was a great day!

In reply to UKC News:

Anther superb video Dave,if I can't be there then this is the next best mate, thank you, Roy

In reply to UKC News:

nice Video Dave.

In reply to UKC News:

I really liked this.
A nice mix of shot angles, good editing and pleasant music combine to elevate this short film above others of its ilk.

Strikes me that are not making the most of that boat though. There must be plenty of properly inaccessible cliffs which really warrant the use of a boat and where you could put up some epic new routes. How about Shetland or greenland or the pharoe islands for your next marine climbing expedition?

In reply to Sl@te Head:


Yup, looked proper sketchy to me too but apparently an ingenious system of rock anchors and anchor anchors kept the good ship Erin from harm.

In reply to Sl@te Head:


Hi Ian thanks a million for posting and as Bobling alluded to lower down the thread there was a pretty cool system in place to stop the boat being crunched against the rock face! The lovely MS Erin was looked after by Able Seaman Sandy whilst the 3 of us were climbing and the boat was properly anchor anchored, but also tethered by 2 climbing runners (a Friend and a Sling thread placed by Rusty) which were easily adjustable so the boat could be moved close into the rock for the 1st pitch and then moved away for the rest of then climb! I know nothing about sailing, but according to those who do, this is <laughs> an extremely sketchy thing to do... Cheers Dave

In reply to Kafoozalem, Chris, Nick, zig zag, puppythedog and Bobling:


Thanks a million guys for taking the time to post some positive feedback as it makes all those long hours editing away all worthwhile! Cheers Dave

In reply to Mick Ward:


Hi Mick and a big thanks for the kind words and Cap'n Barb is a legend plus a great guy to spend the day with and we already have another sailing meets climbing extravaganza in the pipeline later in the year so watch this space!
About time you took a trip down south, when the bird ban ends at the end of July, to pay the Old Redoubt a visit and a date with the mighty Moonraker as it is a route you will remember for a very long time... Cheers Dave

In reply to BALD EAGLE:
Did you do a trial run on was it a coincidence..... There was a very similar boat doing (well anchored to the rock not sure about the climbing/climbers) on 29/Aug/15 on this occasion the boat looked at risk of being hit by rocks that climbers where knocking off from above by climbers, I believe these rocks were coming from the team mentioned by Ian MK in his logbook, I think this could have made for some interesting climbing drama film.

"What an experience! Overtaken by two clueless young lads "Simul" climbing. The leader knew everything about climbing but couldn't understand why everyone else on the crag were using double ropes. His second had only been climbing for 2 months. The leader arrived on P1 behind my partner and bragged how he only placed on piece of gear. There were already two teams on the belay but he refused to clip in as he wasn't stopping. He told the belayer of the team ahead of us that his partner had obviously reached the belay and was just pulling up rope so it was ok to take him off belay even though he hadn't heard "safe". Apparently he had said the same to my partner whilst i was climbing. It all got a bit exciting when he kicked off the 6" cube of rock he was stood on and his partner started yelling "put me on belay..take!!" He then took about 10 minuets to set up a very marginal belay. I fiddled in a nut to try and protect my partners and me who had there rope running over our feet. There must have been a mountain of slack in there system. If the second had fallen off we would have all been in serious trouble. We decided to let them pass kicking off every loose bit of rock you could find on there way! They told my partner they were training to do the longest route in Scotland, only possible to do in a day if (Simul climbed)! Good luck with that one boys!! "

we were the last team on the route that day having only just made the tidal window due to traffic and traverse round. luckily my partner was having a wee in the cave so she didn't get scarred by the leader of the party ahead of us slipping into the water on the traverse in and getting a full dunking, fair play the guys carried on and he led the first pitch. We did however get to watch horrified from below the above incident and watch quite a few rocks get knocked off in the vicinity of the boat.

Anyway great video, and ps I also liked your video a while back of the Green Bridge in Pembroke, a route that looks really worthwhile adding to the Pembroke hit list for the atmosphere and rock feature it climbs even if the climbing isn't top notch by Pembroke standards.

In reply to BALD EAGLE:

I enjoyed that, very professional!

Brought back memories of a weekend in maybe 1977 when I went down to south Devon with three others from the Oxford Uni climbing club with the intention to climb Moonraker having seen it in the (then) recently published Hard Rock. Unfortunately, whoever was supposed to have checked the tides completely screwed up & the route was inaccessible, not helped by a strong swell (it was just after Easter). Instead we climbed at Long Quarry Point (Ruby in the Dust, Grip Type Thynne & (I think) Magic Carpet Ride, I suspect early repeats as all were a bit vegetated), later that year I moved to Scotland & have never climbed in Devon again.

In reply to henwardian:




Hi henwardian and glad you enjoyed my wee video!
I know very little about boats and sailing and as great an idea as it is, I believe places such as Shetland, Greenland or the Pharoes are way beyond the range of a smallish boat such as MS Erin, as wonderful as she is! Cap'n Bob may be along later and he can explain all things marine...
Cheers Dave

In reply to Graeme Hammond:



Hi Graeme and a big thanks for your kind words and it sounds like you had quite an "exciting" outing in late August last year! I can confirm that we did no trial run at all, and although Cap'n Bob's boat is moored at Starcross (a few hours sail away) I'm pretty sure that would not have been MS Erin you saw, so just a coincidence.
Bob and I had this trip planned for many months and it was just a case of waiting for the bird ban to end and then picking a weekend of high pressure, calm seas, the wind blowing from the right direction and when we were all free to make the trip down South!
Cheers Dave
Ps The Anti-Classic "Isambard's Kingdom" on The Green Bridge is surely one of the most photogenic HVS's in Pemby....

In reply to Mick Ward:

Thanks for those kind words, Mike. It was enjoyable doing the climb again after 20-25 years, and gave great satisfaction. I'll say a bit more about the anchoring in reply to Bobling's post. I only just registered as a UKC user, so will have to get used to navigating around. Can't be harder than gauging the approach and timing to the Little Russell Channel between Guernsey and Herm, though.

In reply to Bobling:

Hi, folks - now up and running and able to give a bit more detail on the anchoring side of things.

In the bay below the Moonraker stance It is sandy about 50 metres out, so I first dropped a plough anchor there, and dug it in by reversing and progressively increasing engine revs. You know when you have the anchor in, as two ‘transit’ sight marks on your beam stop moving relative to each other, once it has buried itself in the sand.

There are rocks nearer the crag and anchor chain can wrap around these, so I left a tripping line and buoy at the anchor end, thus giving you the choice of two ends of chain to pull on if things become tangled (though we didn’t have to resort to this).

However, we avoided grief in this area by backing up to the rockface, and sending Nick out on two boat’s ropes (old climbing ropes, of course) with a rack of old-style rigid friends. Whist hanging from one arm, he got a placement near sea level and attached an old crab and running rope back to the boat. Nick then traversed 15 metres to the right and repeated the operation, leaving Erin with a good long taught anchor chain and two friend placements - something I’ve never seen on Cloggy, or even Tremadog, for that matter.

Anyhow, with that set-up in place, Sandy (a recent yacht owner himself, but born in Fort William, and with a few decades of ice climbing [and adrenalin experience] behind him), was able to work the boat back and forth on its three good points of contact, depending on the sea state and climber’s needs. The friends were considered as expendable, and at any time Sandy could have aborted, putted in the back ropes, pulled out to sea and retrieved the anchor, and beat it to the shelter of Brixham harbour.

The day was clear, but the inland waters forecast had the wind increasing during the day, so I put several contingency plans in place, should Sandy have to abort the anchorage. On viewing the boat from the top of the climb, the sway looked alarming. Before abseiling, I said to Nick and Dave that I’d give a long blast on the ship’s horn if it was ok for them to come down, or two short ones to say ‘stay on top, retrieve your gear and help Emma up from her filming ledge, and we’ll meet you in Brixham. Fortunately arrival at the boat wasn’t so bad, due to Sandy’s deft use of a boat hook, so all three of us managed the abseil.

It was too lumpy to pick up Emma as the sea was now quite spirited, but Sandy and I managed to drop Nick and Dave on the other side of the headland, with me circling in Erin, and him manning the dinghy. From their welcome return to dry land, they soon recovered their balance and were able to get back over to Emma and retrieve all gear. Sandy and I then had a cracking good sail back to the Exe Estuary, where Erin lives.

All in all, a Grand Day Out.

In reply to UKC News:

I love the top out footage right into the full sun beautiful end to and amazing adventure.
I topped out staring into the sunset on my last route of the day the first and only time I climbed on cloggy.

In reply to Bob Watson:

Wow, thanks for the technical detail. A remarkable piece of seamanship. Just shows how much thought and preparation goes into a job like this. It was wonderful to see your huge smile at the end of the route!

In reply to Bobling:


Agree. It was great up to this. But that just made it!

Mick

In reply to Bob Watson:
Thanks for the explanation, though my comment above was more to do with my lack of experience and not wanting to risk my own yacht (Moody 27) which I only purchased 2 weeks ago! As I said a very inspiring video, once I've gained some experience and confidence I'm sure there are a few routes up here in North Wales.....Orme, Anglesey, & Lleyn which would have some exciting challenges of a similar nature! Keen to sail down to Lundy at some point in the future, I'm sure it would be an awesome trip from North Wales passing Pembroke on the way... Out of interest what type of yacht is Erin?

This route was high on my to-do-list before. Now its even higher on the list. What a great video!

In reply to UKC News:

As always, inspiring stuff. I want your life.

In reply to BALD EAGLE: Another great video from BEP; keep them coming, they really show the fun of climbing.

The drone views of the Old Redoubt are the first piccies I've seen that properly allow you to see the whole crag.

In reply to Julesthe1st:

looks fun, maybe one for easter jules?

In reply to robbiebrookie:


There is a bird ban effective on the cliff 1st March - 31st of July which unfortunately includes easter. As seen in the video there are CCTV camera/(s?) that help ensure it is enforced and hefty fines as well as potential to jepodise access.

In reply to Graeme Hammond:

Hi, Graeme. While I was looking up the Moonraker combined pitch length on UKC the other week, I saw the Ian MK post, and replied to it, as I was indeed doing a reccee on 29 Aug. I can’t find my reply of access it on the UKC website, so I’ll give the ‘view from the water’ here.

There were plenty of people around that day, and the team that Ian MK mentioned arrived as I did, and kindly made a thread near to tide level on a bit of old boat rope that I threw across, and passed me back both ends one of my old climbing ropes, so that I had an anchor out to sea, and the rock belay.

The one lad started the first pitch, and the other belayed him. Just before the the leader traversed above me (leftwards across to the stance at the top of pitch one), I saw that I was directly under any potential stonefall, so let go the landward rope a lot, and pulled myself well out to seaward. Just as well, as, instead of anticipated guano and small stones, a 5-10 kg rock plunged from the leader’s position into the sea, where I had just been.

The next bit was perplexing, as seen from the sea. At the stance, the leader seemed to be making no attempt to place gear, and this didn’t change for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, the second started up the route (I think that the slack had been taken in, but the leader still didn’t appear to be on belay). At this point I thought that, maybe the leader was a bit inexperienced, but that the second was happy soloing 5a, so was going up to sort things out, or something similar.

Fast forward another 10-20 minutes, and the second is 40-50 ft above the sea, just at the steep pocket holds, with a massive loop of rope below him, as none had been taken in since he left the sea-level belay. At this time, calls of ‘are you belayed?’ and similar, but with escalating urgency, started to come from the second, still without results. Eventually rope was taken in, the second reached the stance ok, and I sailed off, continuing my passage from the river Dart to the river Exe.

When I read Ian MK’s logbook account, I realise that I might have been very close to assisting with retrieval of one or both of this team from the sea.

In reply to UKC News:

I knew I was going to enjoy this, Dave ! Glad you decided against bringing a small dinghy and all used the big boat as the water looked a bit choppy !
Great video as usual
Cheers
Richard

In reply to Bob Watson:

From the Moonraker log you can work out who the likely "culprit" on the 29th Aug is. Looking at this person's logbook, I hope he survives to become an experienced climber.

In reply to Julesthe1st, Doug and bede west :



Many thanks folks for all the positive feedback and glad you enjoyed the video!
Cheers
Dave

In reply to olddirtydoggy:


Thanks Mr Doggy muchly appreciated!
Cheers
Dave

In reply to UKC News:

Great film, I watched it laying in bed this morning. One observation though; the film is about moonraker but the music at the start is from you only live twice.

In reply to Michael Hood:



Thanks a million Michael and I was very happy with the drone images of the Old Redoubt from above and out to sea! Just goes to show what an amazing crag it is...
Cheers
Dave

In reply to Bob Watson:


Ha I completely forgot you did a recce Bob! It all happened last September and I can just about remember you saying you had a cheeky solo cruise around The Old Redoubt prior to our visit!
Cheers
Dave

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Hi, Ian.

Thanks for your comments, and some details about your own sailing/climbing opportunities. In replying to you, I’ll also try to address some of henwardian’s questions. And thanks to Bobling’s response to the Moonraker sea belay explanation.

I bought a small but very seaworthy Corribee bilge keel yacht on moving to Devon 25 years ago, and thought “great - I’ve now got a campervan that I can drive on the sea and park under crags” What I actually got was a small child who needs almost constant supervision, and wants to run in any direction when you are least expecting it!

Its no surprise that sea cliffs are generally made by pounding waves, and most of ours still face the Atlantic swell. You can do what we did at for Moonraker on many sea cliffs, but only when the weather and sea state are good for it, and if you have several contingency plans in place (such as, is there a clear passage to a safe haven if the wind picks up, and would the ‘safe haven’ still be safe if a gale were to follow, as few small yachts can even motor into the wind and waves above force 6 or so)

A second consideration if climbing from a yacht is whether you can trust the sea state to remain stable, or have a competent person left on board who can get the boat away if conditions deteriorate. Getting someone to drop you at the belay can save a whole lot of angst on the route!

The third thing to think of is how long it takes to get anywhere. I can drive from Devon to North Wales in 4-5 hours, but when I took Erin (Westerly Pageant) there last year, I left in late May and returned in early June. I can do 4-5 knots in a favourable wind, and a bit less if motoring on a calm sea - walking pace is a good rule of thumb for my passage planning, and tides around our coasts often flow faster than this, so there can be a lot of passage planning for such slow progress. The winds had to be in the south, north, or east sectors to get to Penzance, then south, west, or east for a week or so to get to Anglesey. There can be a lot of waiting involved!

Ian - I had a great time last year, especially from Bardsey to the Menai Strait and through to Liverpool, then back to Milford and Penzance via Porthmadog. I’d love to get back and would happily join you on your boat sometime, or come south and see the Devon coastline or Channel Islands if you’d like to.

In reply to Graeme Hammond:
Not for Easter then

In reply to Bob Watson:
Thanks for your advice and comments, I'm getting back into sailing so I'm right back at the bottom of the learning curve again!

By Yacht is currently in Aberystwyth and will hopefully make her way up here over the Easter period (weather permitting) she will be moored off Menai Bridge ready for many adventures.

I would be very happy to take up your offer if you are ever up in North Wales as I'm sure I would learn so much from meeting and sailing with you. (I'm a teacher so have long school holidays, and work a 4 day week the rest of the year so plenty of opportunities to meet up).

I'm not likely to rush in to any combined sail / climbing days just yet, though prior to seeing your video I had already thought about getting a bouldering mat on board to explore the potential of some rocky islands and sherries which are only accessible by boat.

In reply to I like climbing:





Hey Richard thanks a million for your kind words and definitely one for the "Big" boat and not the dinghy...
Cheers
Dave

In reply to Big Steve:

Hi Steve, glad you enjoyed my video and you are absolutely correct with your observation but it was all intentional! The opening was just meant to be a tongue in cheek skit on James Bond and I have always loved Nancy Sinatra's You Only Live Twice (I used the karaoke version) and it just felt right and seemed to fit the opening images so well! I cannot even remember the Moonraker music to be honest...
Cheers
Dave

In reply to UKC News:

Thanks Dave, great video as ever, very mellow. Rocks and sea, my favourite places. Soon be back. Reminded me of great days on both Moonraker and Dreadnought.

In reply to BALD EAGLE:


"Wheeeerrree aarreee yooooou? Why do you hiiiiiide..."

In reply to BALD EAGLE:

Fantastic bit of film with some lovely crag shots.

The drone stuff looks very good, you could get some fantastic dws footage from that.

In reply to UKC News:

Out of interest, how do you get to the base of the climb if not by boat?

In reply to philhilo:

Hi Phil many thanks for taking the time to post some kind feedback and you cannot beat some rocks and sea on a warm summers day!
Cheers
Dave

In reply to ChrisBrooke:


Aah it was Shirley wasn't it? An amazing singer with an amazing voice but not a very memorable Bond theme! IMHO of course...
Cheers
Dave

In reply to BALD EAGLE:

I only noticed as I am a huge bond fan. It wasn't meant as criticism by the way, it's the nicest climbing film I have seen for a while.

In reply to Phil79:



Hi Phil79 I'm very glad you enjoyed the video and I really appreciate your appreciation!
Cheers
Dave

In reply to Derry:


Hi derryclimbs there are 2 other approaches if you do not use a boat!
It is at least 10+ years since I have done this so I may not have this absolutely spot on but the normal "atmospheric" approach is by an exposed Mod downclimb on big holds to the splendid Great Cave, where you scramble around the back of the cave, before a low level sea level traverse (make sure you have absolute low tide!) at about Severe to the hanging peg belay at the start of the route . Alternatively you can approach by a 60M abseil (50M ropes will not reach!) from the large metal pole at the top of the route, a few metres back from the edge.
Hope this helps!
Dave

In reply to BALD EAGLE:

Cheers Dave. This has been on the cards for a while and now I've been re-connected with an old climbing partner, I think we can have a crack at it!

In reply to Bob Watson:


I was going to tell you that's not hard until I saw how fast you can go in your boat! I spent a memorable evening trying to get back to St.Sampsons harbour from Brehon tower on a high spring in a fishing 15 that would only do 5-6knots once!
If you're heading over this way again feel free to get in touch if you want any tips about local boating - I run a Pirate 21. If you're thinking of climbing from the deck here then there's only really 1 suitable crag (Atlantic wall) which is only 50feet high. Myself and a couple of guys here have seriously considered crossing the channel and doing Moonraker in a similar fashion to you, except I'd drop the lads off and nip round to Brixham for fuel before picking them up again.

In reply to Toerag:

Hi, Toerag

Yes, for me, any Channel Island passage needs a lot of planning to avoid going backwards. I’ve seen a lot of the Great and Little Russell channels and the Alderney Swinge over the years.

I’ll doubtless get to Guernsey this year, either solo, or with climbers. I’ll look you up when in St Peter Port - I saw your link to the GMC, so it shouldn’t be hard to get in touch.

In reply to Big Steve:


No problem Steve
I did not even think you were being critical and thanks a million for your kind words + glad you enjoyed the vid!
Cheers
Dave

In reply to Derry:


Nice one derryclimbs and I hope you get on the route this year, if it ever bleedin' stops raining, and of course when the bird ban ends at the end of July...
Cheers
Dave

In reply to UKC News:

What a glorious adventure you had! Thank you for filming it for us all to share!. Really beautiful video and an inspiring endeavour - the filming, the sailing, and the climbing.
Lxx

In reply to UKC News:

Great video, Moonraker has just jumped up the to do list and is close to the top....anyone know a person with a boat?

In reply to Bob Watson:


Please do. A good time would be our climbing festival on the August bank holiday weekend, but (as you'll appreciate) it can get too windy for boating at that time of year.

In reply to Graeme Hammond:

this old post gives a bit more info about the simul climbing, and it wasn't us (foxjerk/wiwwim), We wouldn't climb 9a with noone looking.

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=623768

In reply to BusyLizzie:



Hey Lizzie apologies for the delay in responding as I have just got back from a week's tradding in belle Maroc! Anyway I'm very glad you enjoyed my wee video and thanks a bunch for your kind words. There is hopefully another "sailing meets climbing" extravaganza planned with Captain Bob later this year so watch this space...
Cheers Dave

In reply to stevethomas:


Hi Steve many thanks for taking the time to post some feedback and I hope you manage to get on Moonraker later in the year, when the bird ban ends, as it is a route you will remember for a very long time!
Cheers Dave