We did it!
With a big breath in. we managed to sail down the Exeter ship canal under our own steam yesterday after lowering our masts with our own rig. That makes our berthing in Exeter much easier and cheaper so we will definitely be back there for next winter.
This morning we left the canal at Turf lock and motored the short way around to Topsham onto Topsham Quay. This will be our base for the next month, with three short adventures planned after which we are off on our Channel voyage.