After our near miss in St. Mawes, my brother reminded me of an unforgettable crossing from St Mawes to Falmouth in the ebb tide, when we were on a family holiday in this area in 1958! Anyway, suffice to say it took us fully 24 hours to recover from the shock of this recent incident. Night before last we anchored in the Helford River, a beautiful tranquil spot, and so have successfully put the anchoring demon to rest.
Yesterday we came around Lizard Point (most southerly point of mainland Britain and reminding me of a childhood friend of daughter Laurel who goes by the same nickname) into Mounts Bay and are now securely berthed inside St. Michael's Mount little harbour, just under the former Benedictine Monastery and now the castle home of the St Aubyn family for the past 300 years or so. This place has fascinating history. The view below was taken as we approached from the south-west, to avoid the infamous rocks which lurk just under the surface close to the Mount.
Yesterday was the first warmish day we have had and at last some watery sunshine. This harbour dries so we were on sand again last night. We are the only visiting boat, all the others being local (small) fishing launches.
Here we were lucky to entertain an old friend from Cambridge, Rebecca Harvey, who is a highly creative and successful young potter, working almost exclusively with porcelain. She moved down here 4 years ago to open her own studio. Her work was recently show-cased at Fortnum and Mason in London, where she was presented to HM The Queen herself!
Our dinner guest arrives in style ... guess who set the camera up for the happy reunion group photo! Rebecca has taken up the very Cornish sport of gig rowing, which can be seen almost every day out here in Mounts Bay.
So today, Sunday, has been a lovely day of rest for us, exploring the castle and grounds, enjoying an early Jubilee cream tea, watching people and generally preparing ourselves for the next big adventure ... Land's End tomorrow, heading for Padstow on the north coast of Cornwall.
Looking down from castle towards Marazion and the causeway at low tide. Follyfin can be seen dried out in top left corner of the harbour.
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