50:09.263N 005:03.916W
Whisper
Noel Dilly
Thu 12 Jul 2012 22:05
|
"There is a delightful pleasure in knowing that you
can't get any wetter!"
A miraculous start to the day! We left
Fowey at 9:15am in the rain with no wind, gradually it
filled in and we were sailing free with all sails set. We
only had 16 miles to sail to Falmouth, we would be there by just after
lunch. One hour later as we rounded Dodman Point, the wind
strength increased but we happily sailed on enjoying the brisk breeze and
laughing as morning coffee was served along with a Kitkat! Now the
helm only had two hands, one on the tiller and one for his coffee cup. I
was able to rest my cup on the coach roof and having two hands free, one for
my Kitkat and the other for the helm's, I was able to feed him, bite by
bite. Somehow, in my enjoyment of the day, I took a small bite from the
bar allocated to the helm. After I finished rolling around laughing, I
felt remorseful and wanting to make amends, I offered him a bite from
mine. This was indeed a second error on my part - he took the
whole lot, at least three times the amount I had nibbled from his bar. I
see that I shall have to become more hard hearted if I am to survive this
cruise.
The torrential rain persisted but this did not
deter us even though we were feeling a little damp by now.
However, the wind gods obviously saw that we were enjoying ourselves and
decided that making us wet was not enough; the visibility dropped the wind got
up and we once again were putting in a reef in the mainsail, followed fairly
rapidly by a reef in the headsail. The anemometer rose to 27
knots on the nose and we were tacking again! Not pleasant! Our final
tack took us into Falmouth Harbour entrance the wind was then behind us and we
surfed in doing 9 knots over the ground! Whisper loved this
freedom and tremored with excited exhilaration.
We moored up and by now being soaked to the skin,
very quickly extracted the code for the showers from the harbour masters
office! The showers were bliss, oodles of hot water, I think I used more
than my fair share but believe me it was necessary.
The harbour is packed with boats unable to do
anything but wait for the lows to move on and give us a summer. The
weather is set for several more days yet, so we shall be able to fix those
things that are not working satisfactorily or have broken along the
way.
I had been promised a meal ashore several days ago,
so this was fulfilled at "The Shack". Not at all what it sounds but a
delightful restaurant and wine bar, full of atmosphere and wonderful young staff
and excellent food. I recommend it to anyone visiting
Falmouth. The old town looks exquisite and I am looking forward to
having a few days to mooch about.
Noel and I would like to thank Mick Millus for his
excellent contribution to our passage and look forward to him joining us for
another leg of our journey.
So ends the first leg of our
adventure.
|