15/06/2012
Taransay Mhor anchored off Lundy while we rest after a pub walk
Eventually Padstow and the weather allowed us to set sail for Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. Stopping overnight here is very weather dependant, we were lucky and managed two nights at anchor in the hook created by Rat Island.
A step track winds straight up to a small hamlet where we found the island shop and Marisco Tavern but it was early and we had an island to explore. At 3.5 miles long and less than a mile wide there is enough room for summer visitors who stay in the National Trust cottages and a lot of livestock. Sheep, deer, ponies and goats were everywhere. The puffins live at the very furthest northern end and despite the perfect June day we didn't get that far.
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15/06/2012
Around 50 played round the boat for an hour on passage from Padstow to Lundy Island.
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Extreme Walking, Chris, John and Colin on the beach we sailed over on the way in here
Life did not stay quiet for long, this morning we took an extreme walk in a gale along the sands of the estuary, the views of coast and countryside are extraordinary.
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Padstow Harbour in sunshine
A rough exit from The Scilly Isles became a fair sail as we closed the Cornish coast, reaching St Ives by early evening. Another anchorage where we had to hang on to our tea cups, otherwise they would have been on the floor. Colin found a leaflet we had picked up in Penzance 'Visit St Ives by Train'. Good idea.
Our entry to The Camel Estuary, Padstow was greeted with a Jubilee gig race, and a crowd of local boats covered in flags zig-zagging across our bows. "Yacht in the approach channel, Padstow Harbour" Our VHF sprang to life and it was calling us. "Make best speed I have to close the harbour gate" The sea was about to flood the streets of Padstow.
We were thankful for a quiet harbour and fish & chip supper.
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Bryher looking towards the west.
Whilst moored off St Mary's we took a ferry over to Tresco and spent a day admiring the famous Abbey Gardens and getting sand between our toes paddling on the beaches.
Later in the week New Grimsby Sound between Tresco & Bryher offered better shelter for the SW F6- that was expected. It was raining as we threaded our way across Tresco Flats, they look like a beach at low tide and a lake at high. The moorings were sheltered from the wind but the swell still found its way in making Taransay dip & sway for the two nights we stayed here.
Bryher's winding lanes and magnificent scenery took our breath away, we would have liked to stay longer. Such a shame that the 07.10am forecast indicated a severe downhill trend in the weather, we left by 10am aiming to anchor off St Ives in Cornwall for the night.
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01/06/2012
Taransay Mhor moored in St Mary's Harbour
Two years ago our visit to The Scilly Isles was put on hold due to inclement weather, in early May it was still in doubt, when will summer arrive. However on Tuesday we had a good sail from Penzance, managed to navigate in through the rocky approaches to St Mary's Harbour, mooring up at 17.30pm. The weather has held and we plan to explore other island anchorages after today.
From the pilot books you would imagine supplies were hard to find or expensive in The Scilly Isles, we have not found that to be the case in Hugh Town on St Mary's where there is a Co-op, fuel, water and showers available, what more does a cruising sailor need, a pub maybe, we found several of those too.
Wednesdays, the ladies gig racing can be watched from the quay. The gig sheds are on a beach near our mooring and the ladies rowed out past us to lots of encouraging cheers. Then it was a mad dash ashore to see them race across the Bay. Tonight we have a repeat performance for the mens teams.
I have been beguiled by The Isles of Scilly and do not want to leave, they are on our 'must visit again' list.
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01/06/2012, Penzance
Halfway Up
Two days of divers and pumps a lot of talk some effort and endless tea, raised the sunk boat from the bottom of Penzance Harbour. A noisy compressor running from dawn till dusk to fill airbags stuffed inside the hull slowly raised her inch by inch.
There are no pirates and parrots in Penzance but a pub on every corner compensated for my disappointment.
Happily Chris and John on Raggamuffin have caught up with us after fuel & engine problems delayed the start to their journey.
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Our view in Penzance Harbour
A lack of wind found us motoring round The Lizard which looked more like a mill pond than its reputation would have you believe was possible. Phew, another notable headland behind us, but many more to come.
The waiting buoys outside were useful for us as we arrived a couple of hours early. Penzance is a locked harbour with a sill gate that drops down at high water to allow boats in or out. The harbourmaster was very welcoming, this is a working port full of commercial boats and there are no pontoons for yachts, every boat is rafted out from the quay with the little ones like us on the outside of the big fishing boats. Access ashore is a scramble over other boats and up the quay wall.
We took a walk along the beach to St Michaels Mount the wind was full of sea spray and sand. The kite surfers were enjoying the blow. The wind blew hard from the east all day and through the night. At 1am the sound of metal rasping on stone woke us, at first it was difficult to see what had happened. But a steel yacht on the raft behind had sunk on its mooring; there are more photos in the Gallery. At the moment a committee is meeting on the quayside but no action has been agreed. Their kettle is working overtime as they try and decide what to do.
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Anchored in Ponsense Cove
After a quick pit stop in Falmouth for Diesel and Food we enjoyed a perfect sail in evening sunshine down the coast to anchor off Coverack for the night.
Good visibility in the morning would allow us to sail on, round the notorious Lizard Point. The sea bed shelves steeply here and the rocks off The Lizard are the first obstruction to swell and tide, it has an unenviable reputation for rough water. Even at Coverack there was a slight swell running in all night.
Of course next morning the hilltops was obscured by fog. The Helford River became our new destination; we anchored in Ponsense Cove just before lunch. The rocky shore and sandy beach were close but a delightful backdrop for a G&T.
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21/05/2012, Plymouth
An extra night in Plymouth to see the Olympic Flame at the end of Day 1
Yesterday we sailed to Falmouth and are now looking at the weather to visit The Isles of Scilly, it looks good.
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