Month: March 2017

Tuesday 21 March

At last, sunshine and a view. In between enjoying lots of texted birthday greetings, and a couple of phone calls, we prepared to depart Falmouth to explore upriver. By the time we were ready to leave, having filled up with water, the tide was on the ebb and the wind had blown up. Full wet weather gear donned, in view of looming dark low clouds rolling in from the West, we set off up the channel. Even with the trees still dark and bare, it was an attractive potter until a short sharp hailstorm stung the crew’s faces. Mate turned me in a neat double circle to await the crossing of the King Harry Floating Bridge, a chain ferry at Trelissick pontoon, and we finally picked up a buoy near the top of the navigable channel in Malpas Reach, well on the way to Truro.

Puzzled by a peculiar smell through a late lunch, Skipper finally traced it to the starboard stern quarter, where my huge new ball fender had been left blocking the heating outlet. It seems little damage was done, but a large quantity of soot had been deposited on both the fender and my hull, and the smell pervaded the cabin until the system was able to clear itself through. Fixing the essential boat heating would not have been high on Skipper’s list of ways to enjoy his birthday.

In contrast to last year’s special birthday at Ronnie Scott’s in London with family and friends, a quiet supper was prepared by Mate: avocado and cherry tomato salad in balsamic dressing, pan fried scallops in garlic butter with lemon rice and purple broccoli, and a slice of M&S’s best New York cheesecake to finish.

Monday 20 March

This morning I enjoyed an impromptu visit from the crew of my friend Second Lady, whom we met in Dartmouth in a very wet July 2015. They were invited to sample leftover cake with their morning coffee, as a thank you for kindly taxiing my crew to a doctor’s surgery at the top of a steep hill (in the pouring rain, or as it’s known in Cornwall, liquid sunshine) for Skipper to get a poorly toe looked at.

Mate took advantage of the ride to take a load of laundry to Bubbles on Killigrew Street, where she was happily distracted from the chore by an entertaining conversation with a very pleasant young male attendant. By the time all was mostly dry, so was the weather, and the downhill walk homewards was much more pleasant. Some final fresh provisions were picked up in town, and they returned home in time for a brief siesta. Supper was decidedly fishy – some sort of smoked haddock Florentine creation, the odour lingering far too long for my liking.

Sunday 19 March

Promptly at 1000 our guests arrived to enjoy coffee and said cake over a pre-sail briefing, and then put me through my paces out in a windy Carrick Roads. Due to the gusts they set a triple-reefed main with a part-furled staysail, really only pocket handkerchiefs, and Skipper made sure they each had a good session at the helm and adjusting my lifting centreboard. They seemed impressed that I was steady and stable at six knots, and I heard them say how comfortable and quiet I felt underway in the galley and saloon. They already have a nice boat, but are looking for something a bit bigger to take them on more exciting adventures, and I hope I made them realise one of my new 45.9 stablemates would be just the ticket!

We went back to the Visitors’ Haven for the soup and some of Baker Tom’s lovely focaccia, and more discussion about my finer points. It’s good to hear how enthusiastic my crew still are about me.

Saturday 18 March

This morning Mate was up early, having seen signs around town for the Market, on Thursdays and Saturdays from 9am. Bertha was called into commission and the crew set off to The Moor, Falmouth’s market square (and main point for bus arrivals and departures). They found a total of four stalls set out for trading, of which one was a gentleman offering that day’s harvest from his smallholding, including beautiful green-topped carrots in bunches, and white goose eggs. He’d already sold out of rhubarb, so Mate was unable to cross many items off her list, but they did enjoy a friendly chat, before reluctantly resorting to Tesco for some of the remaining requirements.

Skipper ferried the load home for me to mind while Mate waited for lunch to cook: a hot fresh gluten free vegetarian pasty, and a still-not-traditional lamb version in regular pastry for Skipper. These were enjoyed whilst meandering down Arwenack Street, full of pretty shop windows in between a wide range of places to eat. They continued their stroll around the outside of the National Maritime Museum, finishing up with a brief look in Trago, from where they soon emerged empty-handed.

After a rest from the morning exertions, Skipper prepared me for sailing and washed the salt off my decks. Meanwhile Mate got busy in the galley, baking a delicious gluten free orange, pistachio and polenta cake, and making some spicy carrot and parsnip soup for the following day. Supper was fresh lemon sole from the lovely local fishmonger, with roast new potatoes and buttered green beans.

Friday 17 March

Having decided against pottering upriver as it looked like strong winds might make swinging off a mooring buoy or anchor uncomfortable, the crew opted to stay put on the pontoon. They had a quiet day onboard, Skipper securing his new work bench to the shelf in the Tech Cabin so it won’t move on passage, before helping Mate check the galley inventory and record and stow the new stock, delivered by the lovely James from Waitrose Saltash to the Mayflower Marina last Sunday. My starboard storage bins are once again groaning from the amount of provisions squeezed in there – honestly, is the Mate expecting a siege sometime soon?

Thursday 16 March

This morning was an early start to make the most of the ebb tide: we slipped the mooring line at 0900 and headed back to the open sea, past the chain ferry with its cargo of local business vans. We turned West around the red-and-white-striped daymark atop Gribbin Head, gambled there’d be no overfalls close in around Dodman’s Point (there weren’t) and motored again across a smooth oily sea in poor visibility – definitely a beige day. Skipper wasn’t feeling on top form, and opted for an extended off watch, leaving Mate in charge at the helm. She was pleased when the dumpy white St Antony’s lighthouse at the Eastern side of the Falmouth estuary finally hove into view, and she was able to rouse Skipper to drop the main sail before readying lines and fenders for a new berth. We came alongside at Falmouth Harbour Visitor’s Yacht Haven very smoothly, and were glad to find a small amount of credit on an electricity post right beside us.

Mate took the opportunity to make a quick recce of Falmouth, and reported back to Skipper that it was “just like Cowes” – lots of yachtie tottie shops: gift boutiques to sell you what you never realised you don’t need, and a huge selection of eateries (and drinkeries). She was disappointed, however, to find that the Tourist Information Office, always her first priority in a new port, closes daily at 1500, and doesn’t open at all on Fridays or Sundays – how does that help support much needed visitor numbers? Oh well, she persevered and found useful leaflets at an art gallery and in the architecturally interesting foyer of the Public Library. Supper was a simple but delicious salmon steak with patatas bravas and broccoli stems.

Wednesday 15 March

Right up until the last minute, it was looking dodgy: intended departure time was High Water at 0800, and we finally slipped the lines and slid out of berth A12 around 1130, just before Low Water, which was almost too low for enough to keep us afloat at the fuel dock. However, we managed to fill our diesel tanks: 550 litres in all, and we motored gently away from Mayflower Marina (thanks for a great Winter stay, guys) to follow the main channel around the inside of Drake’s Island as there wasn’t enough water to traverse the Bridge – the shortcut to the Western end of the Breakwater. The crew enjoyed picking out all the familiar landmarks around Edgcumbe Park, Fort Picklecombe and the pretty smuggling villages of Kingsand and Cawsand, before rounding the distinctive cone of Rame Head to head West for Fowey.

A distinct lack of wind meant we motored all the way there, an ideal distance for a first shake down passage of 22M, that we covered in around four hours. The highlight was a brief sighting of a couple of dolphins. On entering the river, the crew were bemused by the total absence of leisure craft, and the fields of empty mooring buoys…a little different from their last visit, seven years ago in high season. We continued up the river to find a quiet spot on a buoy with enough swinging room to give us a very comfortable night, albeit with the somewhat uninspiring scenery of a 38-wagon clay train shunting into the shipping depot for most of the evening.