Today turned out to be almost our worst nightmare.
Having arrived in St. Mawes last night after a marvellous day's sailing from Mevagissey, we dropped anchor off the beach in beautifully calm conditions. Fresh mackerel for supper.
This morning dawned grey and wet. Later we dinghied ashore in sunshine having been invited for coffee by a sailing acquaintance in his house overlooking the bay. Enjoyed delicious Cornish pasties in the village as the wind gradually increased (earlier than forecast) to force 6 and later force 7. On looking out towards where Follyfin should have been, we noticed that she had moved halfway towards the rocks from where we had left her anchored securely (or so we thought). Without hesitation we leapt into the dinghy, fired up the outboard and sped across the choppy sea towards our beloved craft ... But our 3.5 horsepower engine had difficulty catching up with Follyfin's continuing advance towards the rocky lee shore.
Lucky for us, we were not the only people to have noticed the imminent danger. The harbour master's work boat just got to FF moments ahead of us, grabbed the anchor chain and held her off the rocks whilst we clambered on to ignite the engine. This was a lesson learned and hopefully never to be repeated. ALWAYS TEST AND TEST AGAIN THE ANCHOR HOLD ... AND KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BOAT! Tonight we are tied up to a swinging mooring out in St. Mawes Bay, just happy to be here. But it will be a bumpy night. We can explore up river another day.
This photo is to remind us that this adventure should be fun and not stressful!
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