Taking a break

We have escaped Falmouth for a few days. The electrician is waiting for parts so we have an appointment for next Monday. Yesterday we tidied up the boat, hoisted the dinghy on deck, pulled up the anchor and set sail on a grey and drizzly day. The wind was perfect for a close reach to our destination, blowing up to 23 knots. The journey took us less than 4 hours. The shortest sail we have done in some time. We thoroughly enjoyed it. We headed into the all weather harbour and searched for the “white” visitors mooring balls described in the cruising guide and could find none. We decided on a pontoon. This is something we have not seen before. It is a dock anchored in the harbour with no shore access. It is an efficient way for boats to tie up. They sometimes even have power and water, but not this time.

We had arrived in the fabled Fowey, pronounced Foy and originally spelled Foye. Alan’s parents and sister landed here after their first transatlantic crossing on White Dove. Breakfast this morning was something else that was new – rhubarb yogurt. which was really tasty, just the right balance of tart ant sweet. We hopped in the dinghy and headed ashore. This small town is definitely touristy but has all the original architecture and lots of charm. The streets are mostly wide enough for one car and when the local bus (a minibus) comes through you find a doorway to jump into.

As we headed into town our first stop was the local sailmaker  (purely coincidence) called Sail Shape. A tiny place on the waterfront in a historic building

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Everywhere you look there are boats. We saw these dinghies out last night zooming around this very crowded harbour. Can anyone find Voila?

We found a chandlery where we could rectify an error I made. We bought an appropriate courtesy flag. Each yacht flies a small version of the flag of the country they are visiting – as a courtesy. Mistakenly I bought a Union Jack which is the flag of the UK. The correct flag for yachts is called a red ensign which is a red flag with a Union Jack in the upper left corner. If I had thought about it I would have remembered that. Ooops.

Next stop was a place called Sam’s for lunch. Alan and I had talked about the fact that we were travelling and should try new things so I challenged him to have something different. The result was Moules Mariniere. He really enjoyed them. I like the fact that he had to work for his lunch because it meant he finished about the same time I did. I had wonderful local scallops. No erasers here, they were perfectly cooked – just wave them over the heat. They were both served with tasty salad and big pieces of baguette to sop up the garlic butter. mmm

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Alan headed to the museum. He found a self published author of fiction that takes place in Cornwall. We now own one of his books, signed by the author.

While he did that, I decided I did not want to be cooped up inside so I wandered the streets, took pictures and stuck my head into a variety of tiny shops.

We stopped at a bakery on the way to buy fresh bread and two pastys to take back to the boat for supper.

Oh, and the bonus for today… I think summer has arrived. This is the first day I have not been cold in a skort and a blouse. It was absolutely gorgeous.