Around Land's End
Ted Davenport joined the crew in Bideford. We had an evening meal ashore with the French crew on ‘Ambrym’ next to us, and even persuaded them to relive their youth on the bumper cars at the funfair! The next morning, we were very nearly ‘neaped’ on the mud but Dave got us off with a bit of oomph from Mr Gardner (the engine!). We headed out over Bideford Bar, where an impressive swell was rolling in, and headed for Hartland Point.
Ted was put straight to work hoisting the sails and we were soon cruising along at 6 knots. This increased to 10 knots as the tide swept us around Hartland Point, kicking up messy seas, but once away from the headland, the sea settled down again. We had a good Force 5 from behind so poled out the staysail and goosewinged our way down the north coast towards Lands End. There was barely a cloud in the sky and it felt great to have the wind in our favour for a change.
We dined on chicken curry before watching the sun go down, still not a cloud in the sky. This was our first overnight trip since arriving in Ireland and we were expecting the seas to pick up around Cape Cornwall. As it turned out, the wind dropped a little and we had a lovely sail around Lands End with a clear starry moonlit sky. There were plenty of lights on land, flashing buoys at sea and lighthouses to identify and a constant stream of ships passing in the distance.
We decided to carry on around the Lizard while the going was good and passed it three miles offshore with a ship either side of us heading in the opposite direction. From that point on, we lost the shelter of the land and the wind soon picked up to a force 5 gusting 6 from the NE - right on the nose! Our speed dropped to under 4 knots as the gusts kept stopping us dead so we decided to take the easy option and head in to Falmouth.
It is typical that we have been fighting westerly winds all the way to Ireland and now that we need them, we are faced with strong easterlies for the next few days! At least we have the sunshine…
Ted set off home soon after we anchored up, filled up with pasty, beer and lots of ideas for his forthcoming novel. We caught up on a bit of sleep before meeting local friends Graham & Heather in the Chain Locker pub, along with Ed & Maria, who happen to be holidaying in St Mawes! Sadly, our friends have to work today but we have spent the day relaxing in the sun with the Twittons, Archie and the bump.
I will be abandoning ship tomorrow to watch my sister run the half marathon in Nottingham, so it’s up to Dave whether to wait for better weather or bash through the seas back to Topsham.
Ted was put straight to work hoisting the sails and we were soon cruising along at 6 knots. This increased to 10 knots as the tide swept us around Hartland Point, kicking up messy seas, but once away from the headland, the sea settled down again. We had a good Force 5 from behind so poled out the staysail and goosewinged our way down the north coast towards Lands End. There was barely a cloud in the sky and it felt great to have the wind in our favour for a change.
We dined on chicken curry before watching the sun go down, still not a cloud in the sky. This was our first overnight trip since arriving in Ireland and we were expecting the seas to pick up around Cape Cornwall. As it turned out, the wind dropped a little and we had a lovely sail around Lands End with a clear starry moonlit sky. There were plenty of lights on land, flashing buoys at sea and lighthouses to identify and a constant stream of ships passing in the distance.
We decided to carry on around the Lizard while the going was good and passed it three miles offshore with a ship either side of us heading in the opposite direction. From that point on, we lost the shelter of the land and the wind soon picked up to a force 5 gusting 6 from the NE - right on the nose! Our speed dropped to under 4 knots as the gusts kept stopping us dead so we decided to take the easy option and head in to Falmouth.
It is typical that we have been fighting westerly winds all the way to Ireland and now that we need them, we are faced with strong easterlies for the next few days! At least we have the sunshine…
Ted set off home soon after we anchored up, filled up with pasty, beer and lots of ideas for his forthcoming novel. We caught up on a bit of sleep before meeting local friends Graham & Heather in the Chain Locker pub, along with Ed & Maria, who happen to be holidaying in St Mawes! Sadly, our friends have to work today but we have spent the day relaxing in the sun with the Twittons, Archie and the bump.
I will be abandoning ship tomorrow to watch my sister run the half marathon in Nottingham, so it’s up to Dave whether to wait for better weather or bash through the seas back to Topsham.
posted by Katie at 4:24 PM
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