050:04.833 N
005:32.119 W

Mousehole

We left as planned on Sunday, retracing our steps over St Patrick’s Bridge, the sandbar stretching from the beach to the Saltee Islands; it was higher tide than when we arrived so ‘only’ went down to 4m.

After a few short legs weaving our way between cardinal marks, we set our sights on the longest waypoint #8 that would take us at 170° for the next 18 -20 hours, 125 nm, it was positioned on the corner of the Traffic Separation Scheme around Land’s End.

There wasn’t much traffic during the day, in fact at one time there was nothing visible on the AIS and the horizon was totally empty, quite a surreal feeling. The wind held for a lot of the crossing of the south of the Bristol Channel, just as well because it kept our boat speed at around 6-7 knots and enabled us to sail through the swell that soon turned into a monstrous exhausting and noisy motion, that lasted right until we were past the Isles of Scilly at dawn.

The highlight was the constant companionship of dolphins. The most wonderful and memorable visit lasted around three hours just before dawn. As it was still dark, the phosphorescence trails they created were breathtaking; dolphin shaped torpedoes could be spotted coming directly towards TC at high speed, diving under the boat and up the other side with a leap in the air followed by a loud splash, totally exhilarating to witness that made smiles last for hours.

Not much off time to relax with the motion, so we were relieved to arrive at the first possible anchorage just off Mousehole in Penzance Bay and have been somewhat comatose all afternoon.

So we’re back in the Channel, and plan to head on around the Lizard tomorrow.