Falmouth, a Tina invasion and some excursions

Wandering around the docks area we admired the superyachts being fettled by the Pendennis yard. It was harder to admire this thing being tended to in the commercial docks, probably at equally great expense too:

It is being prepared to act as floating accommodation for the many asylum seekers who come across the English channel in little unsafe dinghies from France, thanks to the many people smugglers that are doing rather nicely out of other folks misery. It seems that not all the locals support this concept though, a poster in a local shop (quite an alternative shop to be fair):.

Although the floating accommodation block didn't look violent to us, or worse than the tent villages these folks seem to live in whilst on the French coast waiting for a smuggler to put them in a totally unsuitable cheap inflatable and point them at England. Sad stuff all round. 

On a nicer note, we were collected by Norman and Julie and driven to the Pandora Inn which is prettily situated on Restronguet creek. We'd only visited once by dinghy but it was a lovely day and the place was rammed so we didn't stop. This time, Julie had sensibly arranged to get there early - important as the car park is postage stamp size too. Lovely old building that was ravaged by fire several years ago but nicely restored:

We enjoyed an alfresco lunch, Indie and Stan (the two dogs) enjoyed anything that we didn't. Very limited menu now, like many places with staffing issues but what was on there was great. Rather a good day all in all!

Things continued to improve when Tina arrived by train, managing to time things between some rain showers too. We forced ourselves to walk to Penryn again, after the very disappointing trip to our ex-favourite cafe there, Muddy Beach, earlier in the season. This time it was for a light lunch and they redeemed themselves. Still no lifetime best cinnamon buns though. On the walk back we spotted a very sad looking jet RIB that used to be owned by folks we know. She was laid up in the same spot nearly 10 years ago with a wrecked cover even then. You can guess what state the engine is in now but it does prove how durable hypalon tubes are though:

Not nice to see, especially as the captain enjoyed a fast trip from Hythe marina to Bucklers Hard on this very boat many moons ago. Penryn waterfront has more than its fair share of decaying boats ashore and the odd business with what seem like strange names:

and unusual service offerings too.

After a while on the mooring buoy with the pickup chain from hell, we needed to get some fresh water and it would be good to fully charge our domestic batteries again. The AGM batteries don't like being cycled for long periods without a full charge (the manufacturers say this should be done every week). We would be running the genset for many hours to put in that last crucial little bit of charge needed. Luckily, Port Pendennis had a slot we could use to do just that so we made the long trip over in the almost constant strong winds. The local hosepipe ban didn't seem to apply to this very shiny thing that was being washed off and cared for on what seemed like a daily basis:

No matter how clean, and shiny, it still didn't appeal to us.

Letting Tina choose what she wanted to do each day could have been dangerous. However it worked out well. We took the ferry over to St Mawes, raided the only open cafe for a very poor coffee but nice sweet treat (it was a pretty good cinnamon bun!) and then hiked to St Just, taking the path that leads up onto the ridge for a change. Well, that is because we just followed the path signs for once. Great views from up there (once we could breathe again after the climb) which the camera flattens out and makes so very ordinary:

The little cafe at St Just near the church rejuvenated us although Tina's look suggests otherwise:

The Crew at least hid her expression , whatever it was:

A few crumbs from a scone kept this brave little guy / girl happy:

You have to visit the picture perfect church and take the same scene that visitors have captured for years and years:

It is such a tranquil spot, next to the water and in perfectly maintained grounds too. The walk back along the waterside was less strenuous. Probably a good things as our diet of  cinnamon bun and half a scone since leaving the boat was not ideal for tackling steep hills. The wildlife was out in abundance, especially the butterflies who were very busy enjoying their brief but pretty lives:

The only drawback to the day was when we returned to find some most annoying wildlife sitting on our satellite TV dome:

So much for the bird deterrent spikes that were fitted in April.....

Like all good things, Tina's visit had to come to an end so we escorted her to the station, saw that a train was actually going to run despite the "work to rule / strike / cannot be bothered" action underway and left her to do battle with the short notice changes to the timetable. Luckily it all worked out, we got back to the boat and she got to the Isle of Wight. Our journey was a little simpler and quicker of course.