Falmouth to Plymouth

After an excellent and much needed night's sleep, we decided that we needed exercise. So, the RIB was launched and it took us down to the Trelissick pontoon. We walked around the house, stopped for coffee and cake there (you just have to) and then walked around the woodland path with a detour to the quay and Iron Age fort ruins. Gorgeous spot, very west country:

We felt suitably healthy after two days of inactivity at sea (OK, there was an hour or so bracing ourselves in the bumpy bit!)

As Tuesday had a rainy forecast we took the boat down to Falmouth Haven and spent a night alongside their pontoon so we could walk ashore and avoid a soaking in the dinghy. It was nice to be reunited with Falmouth and to wander along the main street again. We did manage to walk past Dolly's Gin Palace on the theory that we had plenty on board and that was cheaper.

Wednesday looked way calmer out to sea but yet again we headed off in the gloom and a little rain. This was becoming a habit and not a nice one. Still things soon brightened up and we enjoyed a pretty calm trundle to Plymouth. HMS Montrose kept calling folks on the radio to announce a live gunnery firing exercise and it was exactly in the area that we wanted to transit - near Gribbin head. Luckily they stopped before we had to make a big diversion though. Must be government cutbacks reducing the number of shells they can expend every day. Thank you austerity.

Later we heard that they were to the south of the Eddystone lighthouse and about to do the same live firing. Perhaps it wasn't austerity - maybe they sunk something by mistake and beat a hasty retreat to a new area.

Coming into Plymouth, HMS Dragon entered with us:

Not sure about the dragon logo on her bows to be honest.... Maybe defence cutbacks will mean sponsored ships in future. This could be from Brains brewery?

We had arranged a berth in our favourite Plymouth spot - Mayflower marina. The only problem was that it wasn't a nice hammerhead this time but a cruddy little pontoon finger opposite the hoist dock that needed a slalom approach thanks to the wind which wanted to pin us onto a line of boats moored fore and aft alongside it. We wriggled in, trussed the boat up to the short finger and celebrated the end of Tim and Sheila's cruising in proper style. Proper style? A Baker Tom's cheese straw of course. They are suitably enormous as Sheila found out: