Day 7 - Getting our first point

Not good with sunburnt lips

Slow going to the Lizard

The Lizard lighthouse

Saggy spinnaker

Newlyn customs

Newlyn

Waiting for wind

Quiet moment around the Lizard

Visitors while waiting for wind at the Lizard

Our eventual berth at Newlyn

Helford River to Newlyn  

There are many ways of expressing the term 'nothing ' with more or less expressiveness. I'm sure you could come up with a few right now. We came up with several dozen, few were polite and most were loaded with frustration. Of course we were talking Of the wind. 

• We knew it was bad when we were overtaken by a piece of seaweed. 
• Today was a struggle as soon as we left the river. Every yard gained felt like a victory. I'd like to say that as I write this we have achieved our first cardinal headland but we haven't even managed that yet. We are still short by a mile or two. Wind is nada, zip, zilch....you get what I mean , and the tide is soon going to be against us. So we have dropped anchor just off the old lifeboat station and we are waiting to see what will happen.

I wonder how long this will be for...

It hasn't all been bad though. The scenery is to die for and pole was able to live.out his 'skinny dipping from a tornado' fantasy. I'm sure you all have similar fantasies and I'm sure you all share in my kit the pole was able to realise his.

More later.. as it happens 

LATER..... MUCH LATER ...

Well we got to Newlyn in the end. This is a lot easier to write than it was to do...

Some breeze eventually filled in to give us a chance of getting past the Lizard. The alternative plan was to go back to Helford as none of the anchorages between seemed able to promise a decent nights sleep. But we just couldnt stomach that after all the effort it took to get where we were.

The Lizard didn't let us pass without exacting a heavy fee in terms of effort gybing back and forth in a now inadequate breeze. Hours later we were finally able to break free from the Lizard's grip and so began a thoroughly pleasant moonlit sail towards Newlyn. Pleasantness was tempered by how cold it got but the moon river and our phosphorescent wake kept us warm until the small hours. Got to Newlyn just at sunrise.

Newlyn is working fishing harbour. Quite why harbour masters can't take the simple step of putting signs out to say where you can/can't park and thus avoid having us 'yotties' irritating the good fisher folk of Newlyn beats me. But in all other respects this is a decent place to stop.

A sunny and hot day of drying out and recuperating. Lands end tomorrow!