St Mawes Day Out

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Thu 22 Jun 2017 22:57
St Mawes Day Out with Cecily and Martin
 
 
 
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Up, breakfasted and en route to the ferry dock for an adventure in St Mawes. Martin and Cecily braced the stiff wind on passage, Bear and I thrilled to be on a boat once more but I moved indoors as soon as the splashing began.
 
 
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Well, colour me happy, no sooner than we had left Falmouth than we saw the Katherine Kosan slowly leaving. Had to look up todays chums later but for now, thrilled. KK is an LPG tanker, GB flag with her home port on the Isle of Man. Built in 2008, she is 126.7 metres in length, 20.4 metres wide with a draught of 6.4 metres. Her DWT is 11,787 tons and she pootles along at 15.6 knots with an average of 12.5. Well, what a start to our day.
 
 
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Falmouth behind us and ‘things’ along the way.
 
 
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The castle opened in 1545 (to our left) as we neared the other side with a race that had just begun.
 
 
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As the ferry rounded the harbour wall – St Mawes – so very Cornish.
 
 
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The harbour. The Tamar Belle we had just left and the Post Office, not many of those left......
 
 
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A quick pause for Bear’s Trigger Finger and off to the pub for a coffee.
 
 
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The pretty upstairs led us to the balcony where we watched the world go by.
 
 
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St Mawes bits.
 
 
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St Mawes Cornish Gig Clubhouse (where Martin’s daughter Edwina and fiancé Steve are keen members).
 

Wiki says: The Cornish pilot gig is a six-oared rowing boat, built of Cornish narrow leaf elm, 32 feet (9.8 m) long with a beam of 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 m). It is recognised as one of the first shore-based lifeboats that went to vessels in distress, with recorded rescues going back as far as the late 17th century. The original purpose of the Cornish pilot gig was as a general work boat, and the craft is used for taking pilots out to incoming vessels off the Atlantic. At the time, the gigs would race to get their pilot on board a vessel first (often those about to run aground on rocks) in order to get the job and hence the payment.

Today, pilot gigs are used primarily for sport, with around 100 clubs across the globe. The main concentration is within Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, however clubs exist in Sussex, Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Wales and London. Internationally, there are pilot gig clubs in France, the Netherlands, the Faroe Islands, Australia, Bermuda, and the United States.

All modern racing gigs are based on the "Treffry", built in 1838 by William Peters of St. Mawes, and still owned and raced by the Newquay Rowing Club. However non-racing gigs have been built which do not conform to the exact specification of the Treffry and are disallowed from racing in competitive races.

The sport is governed by the Cornish Pilot Gig Association, which monitors all racing gigs during the construction phase. The Association's Standards Officer is responsible for measuring every gig at least three times during construction, to ensure that it conforms to the Standard set by the Association.

 
 
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Through the posh and extremely expensive hotel to get some ‘touristy’ pictures, then across the road for pub grub.
 
 
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Bear and Cec took a casual approach to choosing but Martin and I took it very seriously.
 
 
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Far too much of a good time and an excellent lunch saw us bimble straight back to the ferry – the much mentioned walk failed to occur but that’s what happens when fun and good company take over. Colour me happy once more as Whitnavigator trundles away from Falmouth. This tanker, built in 2010 carries the GB flag. She has a DWT of 1798, her length is 69.6 metres, 12 metres wide and a draught of 3.9 metres, averaging 6.7 knots she can rush at 7.8 knots.
 
 
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Alongside was Tidespring a Replenishment Vessel, a British Military Operations working girl. Built only last year her DWT is 22,103 tons, she is a classy 201 metres in length, 31 metres across her hips and she has a draught of 8 metres. She takes on a gentle average speed of 6.8 knots and a top speed of 7.4 knots.
 
 
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To Tidespring’s right was this Netherlands registered general cargo chum built in 2013. Frisian Sea has a DWT of 5,200 tons, her length is 118.9 metres, width 13.43 metres and her dainty draught just 3.5 metres. She spuddles along at 11.2 knots with a top speed of 12.2 knots.
 
 
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Coming in to Falmouth. So totally agree with a sign we saw in St Mawes.............
 
 
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ALL IN ALL A TERRIFIC DAY OUT
                     A REALLY GREAT DAY OUT