A wilderness experience

 We enjoyed three days pottering around the Isles of Scilly and ended by anchoring in the Great Bay of St Martin’s on a fantastic beach with yellow sand and clear blue water. The Isles are a tourist hotspot and we enjoyed some great food, in particular we will give a shout for ‘catch of the day’ at the New Inn on Tresco, our best meal out so far on the trip and with excellent and friendly service as well. It did occur to me, given the number of tourists here, that the reputation of the midge and rumours of relentless rain help to stop many Scottish islands from becoming tourist hotspots.

 
                                    Great gardens big and small...

We did the tourist walk round the Garrison above Hugh Town – lots of cannons and great views. We did the Tresco Abbey Gardens and they are very impressive, although we liked the garden of the little café on St Martin’s almost as much. On our last night we cooked on the boat and sat outside watching the sun go down, kept warm by a Jack Daniels and a blanket. 

Its always great to get back from the pub and find that the boat is still where you left it...



        Dawn departure through the rocks off St Martin's and heading for Padstow

With an early start, we set out for Padstow. It is 7th June 2021. It involved a great deal of motoring and use of the autopilot and taking turns to sleep. Right the way from the Isles of Scilly to negotiating the rocks off Trevose Headland just before arriving at Padstow, we saw and felt the pulse of the Atlantic Ocean swell. Even on this fine summers day with only a gentle wind behind us the impressive swell continued and seemed to give us a slight advantage as we surfed down each relentless but gently sloping wave. We pushed against the tidal flow to begin with but gradually caught the flood and that too helped us to arrive at Padstow within the high tide +/- two hours that enables you to get through the tidal gate and float for the night in the town harbour.

We did cross a shipping lane and had to make a slight diversion for one fast moving container ship but apart from one yacht and one small fishing boat that was all the signs of life we saw in a 4am to 4pm day until we crossed the famous ‘Doom Bar’ that guards Padstow and entered the town harbour. Our boat is part of the scenery and the dockside is crowded with tourists taking in the atmosphere, it is very convenient for shopping and for the pub.

             Somewhat overlooked in Padstow harbour... must get a curtain for the heads (thats the loo to landlubbers)

The contrast between a mostly empty sea, sitting up on deck alone and contemplating the vastness of the oceans, and a busy touristy harbour seems a very striking and enjoyable element of the trip. With light winds forecast again for tomorrow we might just aim for Lundy as a half way stop on the route to Milford Haven.

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