We've spent the last week opposite Jupiter Point on the river Lynher with a training navy ship for company for Emerald. The ship provided entertainment watching trainees jump off the side in their immersion suits.

The weather has been a constant westerly, with gales at times, not giving us a chance to move on. The weather has been quite wet too so trips ashore wouldn't have been very pleasant but we did get a day out in Plymouth and yesterday visited Saltash regatta.

Plymouth has a lot of sea faring history being the place where Sir Francis Drake played bowls when he got news of the Armada and in 1620 where the pilgrims boarded the Mayflower to set sail to America. We wandered around the Barbican, an area of 16th century houses and narrow cobbled streets with cafes and specialist shops. Colin's favourite shop was the Plymouth gin distillery, I preferred the chocolate and cake shop next door (the yellow building in the photo below) which had a huge selection of yummy looking cakes that were just too tempting, so we had to have a slice (huge) each. They tasted yummy too! The Elizabethan garden is a pleasant space for a rest where a courtyard has been restored to how it would have been in those times.


A happy chappie at the Plymouth Gin distillery

At the harbour's edge we stood in the approximate location where the pilgrims had their last step in Britain, then walked around to the Hoe where Smeaton's Tower stands. This was the third lighthouse that stood on the Eddystone rock from 1759 to 1877 when it was dismantled and rebuilt on the shore as a memorial to its designer, John Smeaton. It was removed when it was discovered that the rocks under it were being eroded. The weather was clear enough that we could see out to Eddystone and could just about make out the base of Smeaton's light next to the current lighthouse.


Smeaton's Tower on Plymouth Hoe

15th June
We walked to Saltash and down to the foreshore under the Tamar road and rail bridges where the Saltash regatta was taking place. The sun was shining and we were sheltered from the strong westerlies so it was quite pleasant watching gig racing, live bands and winning a bottle of wine.


Gig racing under the Tamar bridges