Plymouth to Falmouth

You know how sometimes things change around a bit and fate takes a hand? Well, after bumping into Andrew and Linda (the wanna have a Nordhavn folks we met in Weymouth) during our stay in Dartmouth, their plans changed a couple of times. The sale of their Nimbus motorcruiser was on, then off, then suddenly on again. So, having returned to Weymouth to load it up and bring it to the West Country for a vacation, they were now "boatless" again. We decided to offer them a Nordhavn trip, so they could "try before they buy".

This meant an extra day in Plymouth and lots of shopping trips using the folding bikes to lug back provisions for 4 people, not 2 (and a ravenous penguin of course).

No hardship staying in Plymouth a little longer though. Lovely view across to the Royal William Yard from the marina:

We also managed a little bit of polishing so felt very good about 'selves.

Andrew and Linda arrived with armfuls of food and drink (never been known to touch the stuff of course) and when they were duly loaded on board, we headed for Falmouth. Another great sunny day - just a bit chilly in the breeze. No dramatic waves to contend with either. They quickly settled into life in the slow lane and as they hadn't visited the Fal by boat before, it was great to show them some new territory. We found a nice spot on our favourite mid-river pontoon above Smugglers Cottage and enjoyed a welcome aboard glass of fizz and dinner there.

Monday involved a RIB trip down to the Trelissick estate pontoon and a walk around the woodlands there. Despite Linda helming, the Captain looked remarkably relaxed and no, before you ask, there was no alcohol involved in achieving this state of Karma:

Somehow, we resisted a cream tea. Such self control was less evident as their stay progressed but more of that in later posts.

The afternoon involved a trip down to Falmouth, again having to stop and hang about to let the King Harry ferry cross ahead of us: 

We think they knew that Andrew was in control of the Nordhavn and wanted to test him out. He passed the test with flying colours. Our overnight berth in Port Pendennis was tiny and interesting to access. Plenty of people were trying to "unobtrusively" watch to see how much of a mess the tall big single engined boat and her crew would make. Luckily, they were all disappointed. That evening was dinner ashore and a water top up in preparation for a trip to the Scilly Islands.