Day 3 Clovelly to Padstow Bay

 Our night anchored in Clovelly Roads was magical, the dark skies gave us a wonderful view of the stars. It was a calm sea  and a clear sky with a crescent moon. There was a slight worry about the anchor holding during the night, as there always is in this situation. A bit of dragging of the anchor during the night got us up once in the early hours, but it held and all was well in the morning! 

Clovelly from the sea.

We left Clovelly reluctantly at 9am to head towards Padstow, our next destination where we intend to have a few rest days. The Atlantic coast of Cornwall  continued as yesterday, steep rocky cliffs (with the occasional dark cave) rising sheer from the sea, and very little sign of civilisation or wildlife. 

We did pass one town, Bude, but we were quite a long way out from the coast so didn't really see much of it. In the afternoon as we were ahead of ourselves, we decided to go inshore a bit and have a look at Tintagel from the sea.  There is a castle on top of the cliff  and a church and a small village, but you can't see much of the village from the sea. The castle is associated with the legends of King Arthur so has become a tourist attraction. It was an interesting diversion.

The sea had become quite choppy by early afternoon as we headed for Padstow, and it was a relief to enter the shelter of Padstow Bay and anchor for a couple of hours. We had to wait for the tide to come in and give us enough water to cross the notorious Doom Bar, a large sand bank at the entrance to the River Camel which leads up to Padstow and the harbour. The local beer is named Doom Bar!

I will let you know how we got on tomorrow. By the time we get in and moored up I think it will be another early night!

Stepper Point, The Headland as you enter Padstow Bay, like a scene from Poldark!



Typical Cornish Atlantic Coastal Cliffs

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