Day 13 Penzance to Falmouth via Helford River

 Dear Readers, I am writing this from Falmouth where we arrived this afternoon, after a very early 4am start from Penzance to get the tide right for rounding the Lizard. It has been a long day so excuse my writing if it isn't up to my usual standard!

The previous two days we have been chilling in Penzance, trying some of the pubs and meeting up with some friends who live in Lands End. I also couldn't resist another swim in the lido and the geo thermal pool.

I was not looking forward to the Lizard as it has a reputation for being unpredictable, but on the other hand it is the last difficult bit we have to go around to get onto the south coast and our homeward trip.

Leaving Penzance at 4.30am

The alarm went off at 4am and we left the harbour at 4.30am with a friendly wave from the harbour master. The sun was just coming up and I cooked some bacon sandwiches while it was still calm,  to set us up for the trip ahead. We missed the tide around the Lizard by about an hour so we had very choppy seas going around, with 1 1/2 to 2 metre seas and an Atlantic swell, Not pleasant, lots of rocking and rolling and no chance of going below and putting the kettle on. 

However, the unpleasantness only lasted for about two hours and then we entered calmer water. It was then an uneventful trip after that.

This buoy is occupied!
   We did a detour into the Helford River, because several people had     recommended it to us. It was beautiful, with trees coming right down to   the water's edge, but busy with lots of visitors buoys which many other yachts had taken advantage of. It would be a lovely peaceful place to stay and there is a water taxi that takes you to shore. We did think about picking up a buoy but decided to carry on and head to Falmouth. I wouldn't want to attempt to pick up this  particular buoy, as it is already occupied!



Helford River

Pendennis Castle and Black Rock at the entrance to Falmouth

The entrance to Falmouth is interesting as it is a busy harbour catering to everything from large cruise liners down to small yachts like us. The entrance is guarded by two castles built by Henry VIII, the larger on is on the left as you go in, and is called Pendennis Castle. There is also a very large rock sticking up in the channel called the Black Rock, to be avoided!

Once we had moored in the large, modern Pendennis Marina, we fell asleep for a couple of hours before going ashore to visit the famous Chain Locker, Josh's happy place. I had heard many stories of the pub so it was interesting to finally get there. It lived up to expectations and after a swift pint we have headed off to the boat for an early night. It is a lovely marina, about as far removed as possible from our experience in Penzance. However it is three times more expensive and very expensive for electricity costs. Although it is very nice and up market, with some gorgeous boats in the marina, it lacks the friendliness of Penzance and the authentic atmosphere there. 

View from the Chain Locker window


Comments

  1. Dee14 June 2022 at 00:40

    Hooray! Glad you’re on the homeward stretch think that deserves some bubbles sweetie darlings!

    ReplyDelete

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