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.