The weather stayed wet and windy in Wales. We hired a car for a couple of days and drove to Gloucester to see M’s Dad who had fallen over at the shops. He was in a bit of pain and had some cuts and scrapes but otherwise OK. On the way to Gloucester we stopped off briefly in Tockington to see Karen & Keith and their puppy Bluebell. Their daughter Kirsty was also there with her boyfriend Dave. It was nice to see them. M&N stayed with Sue & Colin overnight then had a pub lunch with M’s Dad before driving back to Milford Haven. They decided to use the prettier but slower A40 through the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons and stopped off to see Veronica & Steve. Their son Olly and his wife Rachel and their two children were also there. A nice catch-up. M&N arrived in Milford Haven and found that the marina staff hadn’t moved me!
Monday was still damp and, though the wind had dropped, it was foggy with very poor visibility forecast. Certainly not suitable for our passage across the Bristol Channel and around Lands End. The northerly winds that had been promised for the last week or so changed to south easterly then south to south westerly, the direction we were heading! Tuesday morning’s weather was much brighter so we decided to fill up with diesel and go.
It was a long passage and the first half we had big seas and a wind that blew up to a force 6 so close to the nose that we had to motor sail. We had several dolphin visits and we are amazed how the mothers and children can swim so close together and coordinate their jumps out of the water. It was dark by about 21:00 and no moon, but quite a few stars came out. We could also see the lights from lighthouses appearing more or less where we expected them to be. We were “Billy no mates” with no other boats in sight for much of the crossing. We dropped behind schedule a bit with the big seas on the nose and the tide against us for 6 hours. As we neared Cape Cornwall the sky lightened and we could see the fishing pots we needed to avoid, and the seas calmed a bit as we were in the shelter of the Cornish shore. We timed the tide ok for the inside passage close to the shore. M&N had read in the nautical almanac the strategy for rounding Lands End using the inside passage. It was strange to see a tide against of 3 knots just outside us on the chart plotter but just a few hundred yards further in we had a tide with us of nearly 3 knots, whisking us past Cape Cornwall, Longships lighthouse and the spectacular rocks of Lands End. The tide carried us down towards Penzance and we dropped the anchor just off Mousehole for some much-needed rest after our 25 hour passage.
The anchorage was quite rolly but very pretty. We caught the early tide and bounced through some rough water round the Lizard peninsula then it calmed down to go into Falmouth. Mark & Sarah were still there on their motor yacht Nelly on their last day this far west on their holiday (see photo of me arriving, taken from Nelly). It was nice catching up with them including drinks on board their friends Colin & Carol’s 47 ft Nordhaven motor yacht. They all left the next morning catching the tide to head east.
M&N had a lovely day in the warm sunshine. They took the little ferry to Flushing then walked the 7 miles on the coastal path to the Pandora Inn on Restronguet Creek. The initial intention was to call a taxi to get back, but they decided to walk off lunch and walk back. Nice to stretch their legs after a lot of time on board.
It is a lovely day again today. M&N have been doing jobs including N stitching up some of the UV strip on the foresail which had come adrift. We are staying in Falmouth at least one more day. M&N will do some passage planning and decide, factoring in the August bank holiday weekend, when to head east to Fowey or Plymouth and the last leg of the voyage.
Bye for now.
Katrina
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