Adventures on Xiphias

What a difference a day makes …

A clear view of Fowey entrance

Yesterday was a clear day of light winds and pleasant warmth, I took  a photo of the entrance of Fowey (pronounced Foy) . Today the cloud has not lifted and I am stuck in a cold damp creek next to the China clay quay with trains unloading wagons onto waiting ships. I had planned to stay here a couple of days and enjoy the Cornish hospitality. The other night I didn’t cook aboard for the first time on the voyage and eat fish’n'chips, that great seaside staple. If the weather clears tomorrow I will make my way to Falmouth and the chance to take a marina berth with the advantages of showers, laundrette and shore power. Failing that, I will doing the tracking down the tourist activities ashore, museums and cream teas.

I am beginning to settle into a pattern of sailing and res days. The sailing hasn’t been

Next day is not good sailing weather

demanding but then I have chosen my days carefully. It is still demanding though more mentally than physically and I have a horror of making a navigational error and landing the boat on the rocks. To help me along I plot waypoints into the chart plotter and sail from one to another. That all works well, but entering harbour I have to use local pilotage books to guide me through the twists and turns of the entrance, most are straight forward but I must take greater care to have all the relevant information to hand, like the radio channel the harbour master is using. Berthing is a busy time and nipping down to check out some detail is not an option.