This morning it was a case of showers breakfast and enjoying the time having a good look around Falmouth, visiting the Chandlers and re provisioning the boat. I have been in Falmouth before on both Swagman and Csardas, but have to say that it has either changed quite a bit or my memory is getting a bit confuddled. Probably the latter!! I was also pleased that we kept going to reach Falmouth as the barometer is dropping like a house brick, so bad weather is approaching.

We must be getting a wee bit soft, because it is really nice to be on an alongside berth again, where we have the luxury of both electricity and filling the tank with fresh water. There are however signs up in the marina stating that no boat washing can take done due to the fact they are on a water meter. A five pound deposit gives an access card to the shower block, with the showers being free to use, and an access code for the marina gate.

We had a bit of a palaver trying to get a bus time table. The bus stance didn’t have any and suggested the Travel Agents – they didn’t have any and suggested the Tourist Information Centre…….it was closed!

We decided to leave the search for a bus time table till later and went to visit the Maritime Museum which was fascinating. The added bonus at the museum was they had an area set up on the history of Polar Expeditions, part of which contained many interesting artefacts from expeditions lead by my boyhood (and adulthood) hero Ernest Shackleton.

Sara fell in love with a restored steam river boat ‘Waterlily’ which had been beautifully restored, and was dinky in a Victorian kind of way – but once again like a fool I had left the camera back on the boat.

Funny thing is that we managed to get bus time table at the museum……………….

Managed to get reasonable connection and updated the blog on our visit to the Scilly Isles and trip to here. It’s sometimes tricky getting a connection that allows us to update photos etc patience is the name of the game.

The weather is due to deteriorate further with F7/8 being forecast within the next 24 hours, so we were looking to make a move. The winds are still from the east, and still forecast to go round to the south, making any leg over to Brittany not really a viable option. Instead we have decided to head up the English Channel with my thoughts being that we could visit either Newlyn or Penzance, as we have never been to either of them – or continue up to Falmouth. The wind must move from the east soon as it’s been from this direction for some time – fingers crossed. The Isles of Scilly are somewhat exposed and we really don’t fancy getting stuck here in gale conditions.

Decision made we headed out at 0630 and into some pretty big lumpy water, heading out to the east it was a wind against tide situation. One yacht was going out under bare poles (no sails up) and their mast was swinging about like a metronome! As for us, well let’s just say that I don’t think there will be any weeds left on the underside of Sun Dog! Quite a number of boats were heading back to the south coast as they have also been stuck here by the weather, and are looking to take advantage of the weather window before it slams shut with the gales that are forecast.

Once clear of the Isles of Scilly the wave height calmed down a bit (thank goodness) and the wind settled to around a steady F4/5 but it was pretty much on the nose as the wind was still from the east, and it stayed that way all day. So it was a day of motor sailing with the added joy of poor visibility. The visibilty was so poor that the AIS and Radar were swiched on all day, and we were glad to have both onboard in this busy stretch of water. Because we were motorsailing battery use wasn’t an issue, in that running the engine kept the batteries fully charged, as running all this kit does consume a fair amount of battery power.

The traffic separation scheme off the east coast of the Scillies was quite clear when we were crossing the bottom of it with only one ship heading south and none heading north. I have been impressed by the AIS system we had fitted, as it gives the big commercial boats course, heading, speed, and their destination on the chartplotter, thus the decision making process is a whole lot easier. You can “see them” on the chartplotter before MK1 eyeball can pick them up. This is because AIS is a system based on satelitte information and not line of sight like radar, and from the ships destination one can assess which direction they will be heading, once they exit the traffic seperation scheme.

I have to say that whilst it was a pretty slow slog up the channel plugging into the wind and waves, we decided to keep going for Falmouth as this would give good shelter should the weather turn as grim as the forecast. The only “land” we saw on the way over to the mainland was Wolf Rock Lighthouse, and from there on in towards Falmouth the commercial traffic increased quite considerably.

We gave the Lizard a good clearance to avoid tidal rips and then headed down and into Falmouth with the tide giving us a good push, and this gave us our best speed over the ground all day. We arrived pretty much 12 hours after leaving the Isles of Scilly and tied up alongside at the Visitors Marina. We will give ourselves a bit of time here to explore, and perhaps visit Newlyn and Penzance by public transport given we missed them out by coming directly to Falmouth.

Getting safely here in the weather window we had was a blessed relief, and we are happy to be safely sheltered, and tied alongside a pontoon with fresh water and electricity on tap…….luxury.

With the weather being what it is we are kind of stuck here at St Marys Pool, and we are not alone in being frustrated with the weather. A number of boats that came out for the holiday weekend are having to leave their boats on the moorings and either fly or get the ferry back to the mainland – real shame.

The chap who was moored behind us left to sail back to Falmouth, and after two hours changed his mind and sailed back to the Isles of Scilly because the conditions were grim.

The only wee bit of excitement we had (that ended well) was a call from a boat who had dragged her anchor in Porth Cressa and was bumping her keel on the rocks and requested the lifeboat. From his request to the full lifeboat crew getting to the lifeboat station, kitted up, out on the rib to the lifeboat on her mooring, and leaving was all done within fifteen minutes. Pretty impressive and testimony to the RNLI crews professionalism and committment.

They returned towing the boat into St Marys Pool, and then passed the tow onto the Harbour Authorities big rib who then took her alongside a mooring where she sits and appears none to worse for the experience. No doubt they will get her dried out alongside the harbour wall on the next tide and check out the underside.

Don’t know how long we will need to sit it out here, but we have no real options other than to be patient, and enjoy swinging about on the mooring in 25 – 30 kts of wind and having “interesting” trips in the dinghy when going back and forward to the shore.