24 hour distance traveled 5:30am 11/08 to 5:30am 12/08: 126 nm Position: 47 41.23'N 5 59.28'W (Our position is current position at time of posting blog).

It was only just coming light at 5am when we reluctantly got out of bed to finish getting the boat ready. At the sky lightened it turned out to be grey and overcast. Just after 5:30 we upped anchor and with a wave off from the Toucans we were off motoring down the river, the weather throwing a bit of Cornish mizzle at us for a last farewell.

There was barely any wind as we got the main up so it was motor sailing out into Falmouth Bay and out towards the Manacles buoy. The sky started to clear and blue sky replaced grey. Colin reckoned he saw a dolphin but it didn't come over to play.

Out beyond the Lizard we looked west and saw some humps of land in the distance that we reckoned were the Isles of Scilly - so we had sort of got to see them. There was a bit of a swell from the west and with the light winds we weren't able to keep the main filled to sail. Oh for a cruising shute!

A few big ships crossed our path and as land faded away behind us we had a last wave to Blighty. By 1ish we had the sea to ourselves, the wind increased a little and we were able to sail at last, so much nicer with the engine off.

Off to the south east we started to see a huge container ship growing bigger as it headed for the Ushant TSS (for non saily types this is like a dual carriageway traffic separation scheme for ships). Our plan was to cross to the north east of the TSS as we weren't then restricted as to our course (if crossing the TSS itself yachts have to go at 90 degrees to the big ships) but with the benefit that the ships would be lining up to enter their lane rather than being straggled about all over the place. Once on the far side we'd then be clear of most of the big ship traffic all the way to Spain. Then it would just be the pesky fishing boats to worry about. But, having seen only 2 big ships heading for the TSS up to now, just as we start to cross in front of it, along comes a line of 8 south bound ships all heading towards us! There must have been someone on watch as those that might have caused problems changed course sightly to go behind us.

Chilli for tea and then by 8pm the wind dropped and with tide against us our speed fell right off. We couldn't decide whether to motor for a bit to get through the shipping lane so I went for a pre-watch nap. When I woke, just before 10pm we were rolling and bouncing all over the place with the wind up to F5 and tide now with us. We decided on a reef which went well in the dark and made Emerald's movement smoother.

Having had a good look round for any ships and seeing nothing I allowed myself a few minutes lying on my back looking for shooting stars. Within a minute I'd seen one! Then two more, super-bright, their trail staying visible for a few seconds. I had a few more shooting star counting sessions during my watch, but didn't see any as good as those first few.

We were about 20 miles offshore but could see the arcs of light from the lighthouses along the Breast coast slicing through the sky.

I was more than ready for sleep by 1am and managed to fall asleep amongst the various creaks and rattles below. Every so often there would be a bigger swell and Emerald would roll violently setting off more rattles.

At 4am the faintest hint of day could be seen in the east as we passed through a group of ships leaving or heading to the inner lane of the TSS. Sunrise about 5:30 and as far as I can see we have our bit of water all to ourselves.

PS. Dolphin-tastic!