Milford Haven to The
Scillies
For explanations of
pictures move mouse pointer over picture. To see thumbnail pictures in
greater detail click on the pictures
Day 25 Monday 5th June. Castlebeach to Padstow
– 64 NM
After a short and
disturbed night (we were woken several times by the wake of passing
tankers) we eventually stowed the anchor at 0425 and motored out into the
Bristol Channel which was flat calm in the windless conditions. We had
only motored for about 5 miles when the first Dolphin school came
alongside and for the next few hours we were rarely unescorted for more
than a few minutes as school after school visited us. Each school played
for a while, then away before the next arrived. I was concerned that one
of them might hit the prop and wipe us both out, but they obviously had
more sense and the whole display was one of the most spectacular I have
ever witnessed at sea. During the trip I must have seen at least 250 of
these wonderful creatures, and it was so brilliant that they are surviving
in such numbers.
Day 26 Tuesday 6th
June, Padstow to St Ives via Newquay – 38 NM
Padstow was probably the last opportunity for diesel
before the trip to the Scillies, so we were up and ashore at 0830 outside
the harbour office with our empty cans. It took forever to get them to
filled, and then they were insistent that I pay £14-50 for an overnight stay. Apparently, this is a flat charge and it doesn’t matter
whether or not you anchor in the river, pick up a visitors mooring (which
was news to us) or tie up in the inner harbour, it was all the same. I
reminded the harbourmaster that I had no service from them whatsoever,
could not get them on the VHF when they promised they would be available
and for such non-existent service I refused to pay. They eventually agreed that the service they provided was not up to
scratch and we were on our way, an hour later than we had planned, stowing
the anchor and making way at 1012.We successfully
negotiated the bar and soon had the sails up making the most of the
NE2/3 winds, but they soon died on us and we once again resorted to
the engine.
 |
At 1330 we anchored off one of the beaches in Newquay for
lunch, but decided to move on because of the continuous amplified
music and chat coming from one of the beaches and weighed anchor at
1410. For the next 4 hours we mostly motored, with brief interludes
when the wind got up sufficient to give us 4 knots of speed, and we
eventually arrived at St Ives at 1815. With no water in the harbour we
anchored about 200 metres off the entrance where we spent the night
with several other boats.
St Ives is a wonderful
place, with interesting buildings, narrow streets and warm, friendly
people. We vowed to return and book a cottage large enough for the
family. |
 |
Day 27 Wednesday 7th
June, St Ives to Hugh Town – 46 NM
We established the night before that we had to be in the
vicinity of Lands End by 1500 – 1600 to take advantage of the tides,
so it was a leisurely and lazy start the next day, wandering the
streets again of brilliant St Ives and eating an early Cornish Pasty
lunch before making way at 1240.
There was not a breath of wind to disturb the sea as we
left, so we did not even raise the sail, only doing so when we entered
the Traffic Separation Scheme off lands end at 1645, just to make us
more visible as the visibility was down to 2 miles. |
|
With the radar on
I could clearly see a ship bearing down on us some 4 miles away, and
just as I spotted him I heard a message on channel 16 from a foreign
voice reporting my existence in the shipping lane to the coastguard. The coastguard gave the call short shrift, saying that
they had me clearly on the radar, I was crossing the lane at right
angles and unless he altered course he was going to miss me by at
least half a mile. It was nice to hear!!
Our initial plan
was to aim for the north of the Scillies and make our way to the
Hangman's Rock anchorage off New Grimsby, between Bryher and Tresco
islands, but the 1700 inshore forecast put paid the that, predicting
fresh to strong SE winds. We then decide to change route and to make
for Hugh Town, where we could rest secure on a mooring in the sure
shelter of the bay. We decided that to enter Hugh Town using the Crow
channel was definitely not a good idea close to low water, so we took
the longer route south of St Mary’s and into Hugh town that way,
arriving at 2130. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Day 28 Thursday 8th
June, Hugh Town
During the night the winds built from the SE and we woke
to steady winds of 20 knots gusting to over 30, and although we were
well sheltered the fetch across the bay from the main harbour wall was
sufficient to ensure a wet dinghy ride to the town centre. Although it
was quite windy it was sunny and warm and we spent a wonderful day
wandering the north of the Island, taking in the wonderful sandy beaches and rocky
promontories.
|
Day 29 Friday 9th
June, Hugh Town
Awoke to another very
breezy day and to a new French visitor on the mooring next to us. It
was a sailing boat about 25 feet long with a short un-stayed mast that
must have been keel stepped to remain upright.
Mary was convinced that,
with a name of “Telescopique” that this was some new French sailing boat
with a mast that was telescopic, cranked up to a height depending on wind,
a novel way of reefing sails. I just thought it had a broken mast and
didn’t think anything of it until that evening when we were watching the
news on our little LCD television. Lo and Behold there was the boat on the
regional news. Unknown to us the lifeboat had been out three times in the
night to rescue three foundering French yachts competing in their own
version of the Fastnet race. It was windier than we thought!!
We had another day
wandering the beautiful island, watching the big sea, glad that we were
not out there.
|
Day 30 Saturday 10th
June, Hugh Town to New Grimsby – 5 NM
Early start this
morning, casting off our mooring at 0730 to catch the tide for a short
trip to New Grimsby. The trip was short, but as there are innumerable
rocks and sandbanks, which are totally dry even on a neep tide, so it
was a bit of a dry mouthed passage. We made it with about 50 cms at
the shallowest point, but when we had tied up to a visitors mooring in
the bay we noticed that a boat behind us had not made it, caught
firmly on a sand bank. We later saw the crew in the pub – well, there
was no point in staying on board, was there?
We wandered wonderful
Tresco for the day, arriving back on the boat early evening at close
to high water. The wind had picked up again and with a strong current
the motion of the boat was quite uncomfortable, and this continued for
the next three hours, when the water level dropped and the sandbar to
the SE once again emerged and the motion became manageable. We
expected a rough night, but it was quiet.
Day 31 Sunday 11th
June, New Grimsby
Today we took the
dinghy to one of the beautiful parts of the Scillies – Bryher Island, where we spent the day walking leisurely around the island, pausing in
Hell Bay for
coffee and scones. We bought freshly dug new potatoes, Sugar Peas and
Strawberries picked less than two hours earlier. Dinner that night was exceptional. |
 |
Tresco Garden
Figureheads
|
