Rounding The Lizard to Mounts Bay

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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Anxious moments in St. Mawes

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!

Mixing with the Navy and Taking the Ground

Returned to Plymouth yesterday after grand nuptial celebrations in Cumbria, including flash mob opera during the groom's speech! Well worth the break in the circumnavigation, and good opportunity to recover our strength from the first 'leg'.
Today's challenge was to negotiate Plymouth Sound and environs without upsetting the Navy in nearby Devonport. Thought we had successfully achieved that until well out to sea, about 6 miles in from the Eddystone Rocks, we found ourselves almost surrounded by large warships. Had a little chat over VHF with the captain of a Belgian warship to establish that we would not actually be fired on during their firing exercise, so that was a relief. Sailed all the way, close-hauled in a NW force 5/7 wind. Quite exhilarating if a little uncomfortable at times! Made very good headway towards Mevagissey Harbour, our resting place for the night.
Mevagissey is a classic Cornish fishing town where the tiny harbour is occupied mainly by local fishing boats. In fact we are the only visitor today, and have chosen to dry out on the sandy beach well inside the harbour ... something Follyfin is uniquely equipped to do by virtue of her lifting keel. As I write, she is gently settling down on her bottom, so to speak, and we look forward to a quiet night 'taking the ground' (correct terminology). And tomorrow FF will float again - oh yes she will - and we will keep calm and sail on ... thanks to kind parting gift from neighbours Jenny and Dave in Yorkshire!

Warships ahoy!

Taking the ground

They catch big fish around here ...

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