Lundy
Bliss
Wed 10 Aug 2016 20:45
A granite rock 3 miles long by half a mile wide and up to 400 feet high, in the Bristol Channel, Lundy now belongs to the national Trust, has a few inhabitants, some holiday accommodation, including a lighthouse, a lot of wildlife; birds, marine life, some livestock; cattle and sheep. There's a pub, The Marisco Tavern, the hub of Island life was full to bursting on Saturday night, serving excellent Lundy ale and food.
We anchored in Landing Bay, sheltered from the south-westerly that had blown up, a notoriously unsettled anchorage, we were concerned that we might have a rough night, but there are some places that are worth it!
Landing Bay
We took the dinghy ashore, walked up to the village, and then along the central track to the north tip of the island, retuning via a smaller path around the east coast. By this time, past 5pm, there was no-one else out walking, the day visitors who come to the island on M S Oldenburg had departed, we had the paths to ourselves, almost....
Oh my! We were much more disturbed by his presence than he was by ours.
As we scrambled along the coast path a bird of prey caught Chris's eye, it landed on a rock I got some photos and then watched as it took off, joined by it's mate swooped with incredible speed and agility hunting along the cliffs. There were experts on hand to identify it when we got back to the tavern, turns out we had seen a pair of peregrine falcons! The island is such a rich food source it is able to sustain five pairs.
We enjoyed a delicious pint but returned to the boat for supper, it was getting late and Chris wanted to be aboard when the tide turned in case Bliss dragged her anchor, so he was charged with the task of catching our supper. Lundy has the U.K.s first fishing 'no take zone', there is no fishing allowed on a large proportion of the coast, but Landing Bay is an exception and with three casts he caught four mackerel! We threw the smallest back and enjoyed the others with some new potatoes and veg; simple, delicious.
Our anchor held fast, our neighbour wasn't so lucky and needed to reset his, in the dark. We had a decent night's sleep but by morning the swell had built up and that roly poly business had reached an uncomfortable level, we wouldn't be spending a second night there.