Helford River and beyond

Thur 31 July
The weather seemed to be brightening up so we took the dinghy downriver to Helford village and wandered past the post office and across a small ford. The coastal path was too soggy for us to get very far, so after loading up with giant pasties and sticky buns, we got back in the dinghy and crossed to Helford Passage on the opposite side. From there we walked to the next village in intermittent drizzle, then headed back to get a drink at the pub. Since the weather was closing in, we hopped back into the dinghy and set off back to the boat. The drizzle quickly turned to rain, then to an absolute downpour so we were completely soaked by the time we got back – it would be nice to see the sun occasionally!
We were hoping to head out to Newlyn tomorrow but the forecast is for more thundery rain and rough seas so it looks as though we’ll have to stay put for another day.

Fri 1st Aug
Tipped it down with rain nearly all day so Pippin had to make do with her lawn until about 4pm when the sky finally went from thundery black to miserable grey and the rain and drizzle finally petered out. We scooted across to Tremayne Quay for a quick walk in the woods, but it was raining again by the time we came back so that was our brief foray for the day over and done with. The forecast has gone from grim to moderate, so we might make a run for Newlyn in the morning to have a change a scenery whilst waiting for a window to cross to the Scillies.

Sat 2nd Aug
Woke up to a startlingly bright morning with a rare visit from the sun! Headed out of the river into a stomach-churning swell but decided to press on as things looked set to improve during the day with lively winds before going nasty again on Sunday.

When we got to the point where we could either turn right and head into the bay for Newlyn, or else continue on to the Scillies, we were flying through the water at over 7 knots in the right direction so we changed the plan and decided to keep going. Even if we dropped our speed to 5 knots, we should still be safely in the lee of the islands by about 8pm. Nice theory!
In the event, the wind shifted, then died so we were forced to motor against tide for a while, then managed to motorsail to pick up a bit of speed later on. We eventually arrived in an anchorage off St Mary’s just after midnight, in fog. We literally couldn’t see the island in front of us from half a mile away and it was only GPS and the anchor lights of boats in the bay that confirmed we had arrived safely!

We dropped the anchor and once we were sure it had set, we crashed into bed for a few hours.