Saved the best til last!

Wednesday 10th. Our cousin Nikki and her husband Jon are arriving today on the Scillonian, the cruise ship which comes in from Penzance every day. We went ashore in the rib and walked the 100 metres across to the harbour to meet them. We bought fresh Cornish pasties and went back to Puzzler to drop their bags off and have some lunch, then we went ashore for a walk. It took a bit of searching to find the path which went around the headland, but eventually were directed through a small tunnel. We walked stopping at the battery points to look out over the sea, then we popped into the local for a pint or two. We were squashed up in the corner of the garden round the only table which had some sun, admiring the neighbours sun deck when we realised it was in fact part of the same pub. So we moved upstairs and had another drink in the sun!

Thursday 11th. As the wind was due to change direction again and we wanted to take Nikki and Jon to Bryher, we set off this morning from our nice secluded bay to go back round to the new grimsby anchorage. The journey may have only taken half hour, but the first ten minutes we were reminded of just how exposed the area is when we were coated (literally) in water splashing over the front deck (that’ll teach us girls for sitting outside nattering!). We anchored, then made our way ashore in the rib and headed to the north side of the island and walked to the top of the hill which looks out over the bay. It was like moorland with lots of gorse.

The route back down was a bit more interesting. We headed down a path which got smaller and smaller until we were wading through giant ferns and prickles, was ok until someone mentioned a snake! We headed over to the back of the island and the area which is Hell Bay. We found a beautiful bay (which isn’t actually Hell Bay) which would’ve been a lovely spot but it dried out at low water so no use for us. We stopped at the Hell Bay hotel and spa for a spot of lunch and the posh hotel certainly lived up to its posh status, my lunch was yummy – roasted duck in a watermelon and pomegranate salad. We carried on round the island through the ‘town’ popping into the gift shop. We rounded a corner and there was Puzzler waiting for us. We headed back out, then the men decided to go for a swim. It was a very quick swim!

Friday 12th. Alarm was set this morning and we set off about 09:00. The sea was much calmer today although once we got out into open water it was a moderate swell, but not uncomfortable. It was strange as the tide was running with us and we were surfing as the swell picked us up. Nikki and I were sat out front chatting when she said it would be lovely to see some dolphins when Rory came out and said look, right in front of us. There was a pod of dolphins. These proved to be the first of many. After a while we had a single dolphin come and swim with us under the bow. It was a magical experience which left us all grinning, but about an hour later we had another three do the same thing. They were with us probably ten-fifteen minutes and the more we made noise, the more they jumped and danced together. We felt very privileged, then as quickly as they arrived, they all three swerved off and left. We had several more swim beside us, they must like us 😊.

It took us just over ten hours to reach Porthscatho in Cornwall where we went ashore to the harbour club for a few drinks, then took a very nice handmade pizza from a little hut out front back to the boat then had a few more drinks which led to fun n games with little plastic bits from the pizza box…😂

Saturday 13th. We set off this morning and hadn’t even been going ten minutes when we were joined by a couple of dolphins. We laughed at how blasé we were “oh look, more dolphins”. We saw probably another 10 lots on our five hour journey back to Plymouth they certainly seemed to be out enjoying the sunshine. We dropped our guests at Plymouth Yacht Haven where the nice lady let us fill up with water, then motored over to Barn Pool for the night.

Sunday 14th. We’re going to be busy for the next couple of weeks so we motored up to the river Lynher this afternoon for a peaceful evening. We did have an oddity in the middle of the night mind, our anchor alarm went off just after midnight on a rising tide (which in itself isn’t odd), but when our anchor is in front of us and there are lots of bubbles coming up through the water it is. It seemed that we were pulled 170 metres by something or other, and we know it happened to someone else not a week ago! 

Monday 15th – Wednesday 16th. We’ve moved to jennycliff bay on the east of Plymouth Sound to be protected from the wind. The weathers been hot and sunny for 3 days so we’ve had family visit, gone kayaking and swimming, and had a good 3 days chilling out. The national fireworks competition is a 2 night event every August in which 6 firms each give a 10 minute display on Mountbatten breakwater. We had front row seats and the best part was while the 10,000 folk on the hoe and the qab breakwater, plus the 50 or so boats around us all had journeys home, we walked indoors and went to bed!

6′ West.

Friday 5th. The alarm went off at 6:30 and by 7:20 we were fuelling up and saying farewell to Penzance Harbour. The sea was smooth, flat, calm outside the harbour and I said to the harbour master I hope it stays like this! We are headed for the Isles of Scilly which is an archipelago 28 miles from the tip of Cornwall consisting of 145 islands, of which only five are inhabited. As we rounded the headland and passed Lands End the swell got up. It wasn’t rough as such just a big swell with big dips between, luckily we were headed straight into it. I shouldn’t complain, this is the Atlantic Ocean after all so I did  what I do when I’m not in my comfort zone, I snuggled up on the settee and tried to sleep. The journey took just over 5 hours and for the last half hour we were side on to the waves which meant we rolled – this I really don’t like!! But it was all forgotten as we cruised between big rocks and entered the new Grimsby anchorage. We picked up a mooring buoy then relaxed up on the flybridge. It was so hot so I changed into my cossy and went for a swim then later, while I cooked dinner, Rory kayaked ashore and went for a clamber up the rocks.

Saturday 6th. We have an old repair on our rib where the patch is leaking so after phoning to confirm they had the correct glue, we kayaked ashore to Bennets chandlery on the island of Bryher. We stopped on the main beach on the east side of the island and pulled our kayaks up to the top, then walked round the perimeter to the bottom of the island. The chandlery was in an old boatshed and they were really helpful. I had a little laugh to myself as we saw 4 people and not one of them had any shoes, they were all wandering around in bare feet! We then walked back up the west side of the island on the road following signs for ‘the town’. Everything is very lush and green. We saw a couple of cars and I said I expect they have really low mileage- the island is only 1 1/2 miles long by 1 mile wide! The coast on this side is very rugged with lots of rocks. There was a farm with miniature houses painted blue, chicken coops and a field of geese, truly free range.As we rounded the top of the island we came into ‘the town’. This consisted of a shop and a cafe… And very soon we were back at the beach. The whole trip took two hours!

Sunday 7th. Today we kayaked ashore to the island of Tresco and landed on the beach at new Grimsby. It’s mad that you can leave your kayaks and bag laying on the beach and no one will go near it! We walked through the little village and followed the single track round round the southern part of the island to the Tresco Abbey gardens. The abbey is lived in by the Dorrien-Smith family who own the island of Tresco and manage Tresco Estates which provides work for a lot of the islands 150 occupants. This island is a bit bigger,  2 1/2 miles by 1 mile and the gardens occupy 17 acres of this and are classified as grade 1 gardens. The road takes you right round the edge of the estate with the odd peek of trees and plants as you walk round. Once inside they were amazing. Set on the side of a hill there were paths running both horizontally and vertically and in between were lots of different themed gardens with plants and trees native to different countries from around the world. The perimeter has walls and tall trees which makes the gardens really sheltered creating a tropical environment. 

There is also the Valhalla figurehead museum within the grounds which has a display of historic boat figureheads.  We had a spot of (very expensive) lunch in the abbey cafe then walked back carrying on round the island. It was low water and the tide goes almost completely out between the two islands creating big lagoons, it was stunning. New Grimsby has two shops, a general store come post office and a bicycle hire shop – both were closed! By the time we got back to the kayaks late afternoon the wind had got up and it was an energetic paddle back out to Puzzler! The forecast was for the wind to move to a north-westerly overnight which meant we would no longer be protected by the islands so an alarm was set for 07:30 to move on.

Monday 8th. After reading various pilot guides to the Scilly Isles I said if I’d read them beforehand I’d never have come here as most of the 245 islands that make up the archipelago are in fact clusters of rocks which are visible at low water, but cunningly disguised when the tides in. And the fact we saw people walking between the islands yesterday made this mornings journey all the more daunting. But after a night where the wind changed direction, we woke to quite violent rolling from side to side. So we set off on a very precisely plotted route with two sets of eyes peeled for any obstructions. We left an hour before high water so if we did meet shallow water, we would still have another hour of rising tide to help us. The difficult bit over with we sped up towards the next island, the big waves reminding us that we are still in the Atlantic Ocean! We picked up a mooring buoy in Porth Cressa bay on the south coast on St Mary’s which is the biggest and most heavily populated of the islands with nearly 1500 people live here. The main town ‘Hugh town’ is on a strip approximately 100 metres wide with us on one side, and the harbour on the other. We went ashore on the rib and was met by something resembling what we are used to. There was a row of shops, mostly selling tourist toot and a co-op. We walked round to the harbour and decided we’re the other side because as well as being sheltered, it’s a lot quieter. We spent a couple of hours wandering around then bought fish and chips from a mobile van which we took back to Puzzler for tea.

Tuesday 9th. Although still sunny the north wind has made it feel considerably cooler today. So we stayed home, me reading and Rory pottering. We nipped ashore mid afternoon and done some food shopping, then did some more relaxing up on the top deck – well we can’t be busy every day 😉