St Mawes

The winds as usual were being a little uncooperative so we decided a few days spent in St Mawes wouldn't go amiss.

It's a pretty place and one I have fond memories of from a couple of years ago when I was sailing Dark Tarn back to Preston from Portsmouth. I remember the Victory Inn as being a good pub and when we popped in all was as it should be, the personable young man behind the bar poured us a perfect pint of " Doom Bar". However he then left leaving the manager in charge who unbelievably couldn't pour a decent pint. By the way this isn't rocket science you fill the glass from the bottom and let it settle, I pointed this out after the disappointing second pint but he just looked at me as though I was a bit of an annoyance and let the excellent beer pour from a height into the glass leaving a flat and disappointing beverage. Needless to say we were the only customers at this point and then we left. An empty pub at 10.30 on a Saturday night................when we return he won't be here.

We had a further explore of the town the following day, and discovered the obvious attractions of the town.

The fort dating back to Henry the eighth.

The fabulous ( non working ) old petrol pumps, not to mention several other hostelries and eateries.

However the real find was the sailing club, very pleasant atmosphere and the cheapest beer in town.

The best library of yachting books I have seen in a long time. Also very quiet........

The following day, drinking my dinner time coffee I noticed an occurrence on the harbour, it seemed that the local diving club were giving the public the opportunity to play around with old diving equipment, namely lead booted, copper helmeted, and fed by a hand pumped compressor to a diving suit circa 1920.

At first this all seemed to be going well.

The willing participant went into the water and presumably had a bit of an underwater experience blissfully unaware that that the compressor feeding them life giving air was being cranked by a couple of 8 year old children.

Needless to say when we returned an hour later a woman was being administered oxygen and an ambulance was on its way. On the bright side she was alive. No idea what had occurred however this would have definitely been frowned upon by BSAC!

However the next step in our voyage was looming and I suddenly realised we had no paper charts of Brittany.

We had electronic charts but I always like to have paper charts as an electricity free option, we decided that rather than take Dark Tarn to Falmouth, just across the Carrick roads, it would be as easy to just get the ferry.

We could also take the opportunity to search for Charlie's house with the flagpole marked on Admiralty charts.

Found it fairly easily, but we're not sure until auntie Mary confirmed the location.

Also took the chance to get a last look at the beautiful " J" class yachts berthed at Pendennis Marina.

So tomorrow we are away to France.

Downriver to St Mawes

 An interesting selection of boats was sharing our pontoon near Malpas.

Our immediate neighbour was a converted barge that was obviously a " live aboard"

Forward of him was another quite eccentric looking yacht that was made from ferro cement, however no matter how tatty she looked the fact was she had been sailed here from Hong Kong.

As the sun came out and the wind dropped we considered going up the river in our rubber duck ( inflatable dinghy ) we thought we could spy a pub through the trees.

 It was the Heron and turned out to be quite nice and not very busy considering it was Friday night,

The view from the outside seating was splendid however.

The following morning we decided to drop back down the river to St Mawes, as we got closer to Falmouth we began to realise it was weekend as everyone seemed to be out on the water. Too busy in fact for me to photograph. As we got closer to Pendennis Castle we heard over the VHF that one of the J class yachts that had been racing in the bay all week, " Ranger " had two injured crewmen on board and was returning to Falmouth.

Racing had been abandoned and this unfortunate accident meant that we got a close look at three of these magnificent yachts as they returned to Pendennis Marina. Ranger, Lionheart and Velsheda.

Beautiful yachts, but the sheer size of the sails and associated gear means they are always going to be risky for their crews.

 

This is the lighthouse at the entrance to St Mawes with I think Ranger in the background.

We then found a vacant visitors mooring as just as we arrived a motor yacht that had stopped for lunch left.

P.S.

Dear auntie Mary, I think this is the flagpole marked on the charts that Charlie mentions,

My guess is top left but I'm sure Charlie can confirm.

It is this one then, top left, close by the slip at Little Falmouth.....saw it today when we were picking up some charts for Brittany from Falmouth.

River Fal

Decided that before we set off for France we should have some quiet time. A trip up the river Fal seemed ideal. The weather was a bit drizzly and overcast but we didn't care. Mylor had been quite nice but to be honest it isn't really our scene, so we paid out bill and took our last trip in the water taxi.

We followed the channel up river past Turnaware point where Paul had dried out and anti fouled Ti- Gitu and inspired us to build our legs. It seemed a nice anchorage but we wanted to go up the river as far as we could to explore.

As we rounded the next bend we began to see Dolphins, not the cute creatures we were used to but rather massive yellow steel mooring buoys, these are used to " mothball " large ships in times of economic crises. We only noticed a few old fishing boats and a rather splendid yacht.

I did consider the anchorage at Church Bay, just past the car ferry but in the end we continued up towards Maggotty Bank, again another splendid anchorage in a lovely Cornwall creek, with forested banks right down to the waters edge. As we approached Malpas reach, this was about as far as the depth of water would allow us to go on this tide and as we were approaching high water we moored to the last pontoon in the centre of the river.

This was now the Truro river, Truro being only a mile and a bit further on.

We were all set now for an afternoon chilling out. We came up the river on a rising tide and after a brief shower the sun even made an appearance.

Lynne relaxed in the cockpit and brushed up her French in preparation for the next big crossing.

Wind generators, the final chapter!

We had been putting this off quite successfully or a few days but at last we decided the time had come to grasp the nettle.

The basic plan as it was still a little bouncy out on the moorings at Mylor Yacht Harbour was just to start by dismantling the wind generator from its mast at the stern of the boat. Every boat that passed left us swaying in its wake and  I'm afraid some profanity was occasioned.

However once I had taken off the blades and slackened the set screws holding the head into the stainless mast and lifted the head bodily into my grasp wobbling at the top of our telescopic ladder I was struck by the fact that the wiring didn't look right. I had seemingly wired the turbine live into the ground or earth.  I could have kicked myself! How on earth had I done that? 

We carefully reassembled the generator wiring it correctly and this time cleared the holes for the through bolts to hold the head on. Proper Job.

We reconnected the battery bank and switched the stop switch to RUN.

Hey Presto........amps registering on the ammeter, it was light winds but still a couple of amps registered.

So after days of worry it all suddenly, was fixed........

This called for a celebration, however Lynne was insisting on a shower, so loaded up we went ashore and showered. We then walked along the roads towards Mylor Bridge completely missing the footpath we walked along the road about a mile or so before we walked past a parked car with a couple on the phone who bobbed out and asked us if we needed a lift. We agreed and they dropped us in the pub car park. How nice!

The pub turned out to be a bit of a find, initially it appeare to be a local, everyone was very friendly, particularly the land lady " you alright my darlings "

Out of a clear blue sky, half the pub began to sing............in perfect harmony, I was cheeky and filmed a wee bit, a particularly relevant tune.

The walk back was ' interesting' we only got lost once, I think........

Helford river

We arrived on a peaceful evening and had planned to move around and deliver Annandale to David by sailing to Mylor creek which is in the beautiful harbour of Falmouth, unfortunately it is also in the grip of the Falmouth Harbour Authority who charge £10 a night just to anchor.

Even a mooring buoy picked up is a rather startling £17.50 a night.

Luckily we got a message from Dave and Carol that they intend to come around to the Helford river from Penzance so we changed the arrangements with David so as to be able to remain to welcome Hocus Pocus. Dave and Carols large (50ft) catamaran.

She duly arrived that afternoon.

We were anchored just of a small beach which seemed to have a small cafe building at one end. We decided to explore.

First we decided to investigate the upper Helford river, once past the forest of yacht moorings at Helford passage the river has a much calmer character, moorings are few and far between because of the bylaws pertaining to the oyster beds. Consequently the upper reaches are a quiet delight with white Egrets and herons lining the banks.

We went as far as Frenchmans creek, made famous in the novel by Daphne du Maurier. We also explored the myriad of small creeks off the main river and had a generally swallows and Amazon type afternoon. It was also going to be our last trip in Annandale for a while.

We landed back on our beach to have a look round the Trebah gardens after of course all the tourists had left.

The gardens are a kind of tropical lost world and have an amazing variety of plants and trees.

There are giant rhubarb plants from Brazil.

Bamboo trees.

Interesting places to sit.

All too soon we had to return to the boat lying peacefully at anchor. Lynne had already negotiated access to the rubbish bins on the beach with the local squirrels who have taken up residence in them. The previous night had given her quite a scare! This time she was ready for them......

We did have a pint in the Ferryboat Inn, but to be honest any pub that offers shredded pigs ears with bacon jam on the menu isn't really our cup of tea!

So we retired aboard Hocus Pocus for a very convivial evening with Dave and Carol. Dave had somehow acquired an extra SSB radio which he very generously offered to give us, so we were well loaded going back to Dark Tarn, luckily Dave shone his 3 million candlepower light so we could see what we were doing.

All too soon we had to leave for Falmouth, a short hop across the bay to deliver Annandale to what would be her new owner David Chidell.

We left early in the morning accompanied by Hocus Pocus. Winds were very light and as we entered the bay Dave and Carol headed off towards Plymouth.

We were about to exchange the peace of the Helford for the hugely crowded yachting centre of Mylor Yacht Harbour.

Bristol Channel

Spent a week in Milford Marina as it was actually cheaper to stay a week than a few days, it is also possibly the most expensive marina in wales.

The new wind generator was installed and once the wind actually began to blow for a change it produced zero amps.........ummm time for a rethink, I now suspect a break in the wiring somewere between the generator mast and the switch panel, after a lot of looking around we sourced some 8 mm cable to replace the runs from the wind generator however it will have to wait because we need to get going.

The forecast looked good for a trip around Lands end to Penzance, it's a long way , a day and a night for us, about 120 miles.

The trip was enlivened considerably by numerous visits from pods of Dolphin, these enchanting creatures spent a long time playing ariund the boat and sometimes leaping completely clear of the water. 

We approached Lands End and the Longships light as dawn approached, the wind had been a fairly constant 4-5 all night, sometimes we were doing over 7 knots careering through the darkness Lynne isn't a fan of this, however with the dawn light the wind died and in order to " get round the corner" we resorted to the engine. The plan had been to push on to Falmouth but now it made more sense to enter Mounts bay and seek shelter in Penzance.

Lands End.

Lynne radioed the harbourmaster to enquire about the visitors moorings outside the south wall of the harbour only to be told they hadn't been laid yet but we were welcome to anchor there if we wished. We did! We dropped anchor and tried for a fitful sleep which wouldn't come, sometimes it's best to just keep going and get an early night. So we went shore to explore.

The weather was beautiful and much warmer than it had been in Wales, Lynne was finally able to wear a summer frock.

Later we were joined by our friends on Hocus Pocus, Dave and Carol who arrived from the Scillies, we had a pleasant evening ashore in the ' Admiral Benbow'

The following day we carried on towards the Helford river, within a couple of hours of setting off for the Lizard we were enveloped in thick fog.

However the upside was it brought some wind so the sailing was good, the sea state was also a lot kinder than either the Irish Sea or Bristol Channel. We approached the Lizard and the horn on a buoy made a mournful companion as we rounded this notorious headland. We never saw it in fact the first bit of land we did see was Black Head, which is about five miles from Falmouth entrance.

As we approached the Manacles buoy marking the seaward end of yet another notorious set of rocks the wind increased and along with several other boats all converging on the buoy rule number 1 came into play,

Rule no1: any two boats under sail in close proximity are in fact racing.

We rounded the buoy in the lead and doing 9 knots!

We quickly took in sail for the few miles to the entrance to the Helford river jogging along nicely under mainsail alone. As we approached Nare Point we phoned David Chidell ( our dinghy minder ) who we knew would be on duty as a coast watcher in the lookout. He came outside and enthusiastically waved us in. We were also accompanied yet again by Dolphins playing under the bow, by now we were getting quite blasé about it.

As the light began to fade we entered the Helford and looked for a likely spot to drop our anchor.

We decided on polgwidden cove which was nicely sheltered from the westerly winds.

It was a fabulous days sailing that really did have a bit of everything.

 

This is our AIS track as we were passing the Manacles.