6th – 28th August
It was a golden sunny evening when we sailed around the Pembrokshire coastline into Wales. After anchoring near the entrance to the Milford Haven estuary in the Dale, we had a nice chat with multiple confused members of the UK Border force who all seemed to think we should talk to someone else. Eventually we got the “all clear” and didn’t need to be searched, a shame because I had hidden some duty free items so well even I couldn’t find them.
Milford Haven is a small Harbour town in Wales, opposite some big industrial oil refineries. Huge tanker ships with Arabic names heave in and out of the river entrance, in stark contrast to the lush mossy forests and wild national parks that surround it. It´s a very tidal area and the marina is only accessible at certain times when the lock gates open.
I saw glowing dolphins last night You believe me, I thought you might a green flashing trail, a blue fin, a tale Stay with me until morning light
It was here that we welcomed two new items to the boat, fresh from Facebook marketplace. Firstly, a pasta machine called Atlas 150 which has brought much joy and frustration over the last month, and a 2 horsepower outboard engine for our dingy, which has also brought much joy and frustration. The guy who sold it to us was absolutely lovely and gave it to us really cheap, and to celebrate we drove around in the dark and got shouted at by fisherman (who we didn’t see) fishing off the harbour walls.
Upriver away from the town was absolutely beautiful, twisted tree roots tangled right down to the waterline, there were old oaks and enormous ruins full of ferns. In the end we stayed for 10 days, during which we explored, made allot of colourful linguine, Niels could finally get the welder out as the solid frame at the front of the boat broke off two of its feet, and I went to visit my gorgeous friend Lilia in Cardiff. It was good to be in one place for a little while.
By the 16th of August we were ready to move on, and after picking up Maddie -who had come to Germany twice last year to help us fix the boat but never got to actually sail with us- we sailed off into the late evening sun. The first night was calm and incredibly dark, we lay in the cockpit looking at the first stars we had seen in weeks. The following day was sleepy and sunny, and after many rounds of ´I don’t spy with my little eye´ we were leaving the Bristol Channel, and heading for Cornwall. The wind came from the front, and in order to avoid the coming storm, we motored all of the last night. Just as we were falling asleep Niels shouted something about glowing dolphins… a likely story! Maddie and I stood in our pants, blinking into the darkness. Nothing. But then they emerged, with electric blue glowing trails, sparkling with kinetic energy as they danced around the boat. As Maddie and I slept, they stayed with Niels all night keeping him company.
Due to strong west wind and storms the following evening, we sailed straight around Penzance and the lizard to the Helford river. The whole journey was 147 miles which took 35hrs. Maddie was thrown straight into full on day and night sailing!
The river was heavy with fog when we arrived at 5am, blue and thick like cotton wool. Niels had to navigate between the many many boats moored up to see the Tall Ships race that weekend. We ended up in a peaceful anchorage, a deep pool up the river with only one other boat, where we would sleep and watch the storm pass.
The Tall ships parade and start of the race was cancelled due to strong gales and rain, my dear friend Chaya did not get the memo and waited on her paddleboard for 4 hrs before going home! We sheltered with my Uncle Dave and Caroline for the evening, where we spilled into the house, a puddle of rain, salt and sand, and dried off before motoring back up the river with a broken umbrella in torrential rain again.
Maddie stayed until the 21st August, we had sailed 178 miles together!! (not including paddling in the dingy when the engine gave up) After a week of playing dice, drinking rum, avoiding the Falmouth Marina harbour master, dancing at the Cornish bank, eating pasties and almost a whole bottle of Peri-Peri sauce later, we went for our last sail with her and Aless, where by chance we saw a pod of rare dolphins, and sailed into another boat…
It was very unfortunate, while anchoring (without the engine on) a gale blew us head on into the side of a boat. Some of the wooden railing split, and the metal railing bent, in fact, it was exactly what someone did to us a week before we left Germany. Luckily it turned out they were going into the workshop for repairs anyway, and weren’t planning on keeping the wooden deck. Our insurance would cover the damage. They weren’t happy about us leaving until it was sorted, we told them we probably would go to France in the next few days, but they could keep in contact. They do.
Falmouth itself is pretty cool. There´s little independent shops, pubs with local cider full of books stacked up to the ceilings, and live music from different venues mixing on the streets outside. We even found a bar that sold Flensburger! The harbour however sweet it may be, is crazy expensive, costing around £50 per night. Even to anchor up the river they can come and charge you! We somehow managed to go unnoticed…
The last week was calm, every night fires glowed orange along the beach into the early hours, and bioluminescence flashed around the boat. One night after playing Frisbee with Chaya and her friends, the waves shone so brightly that we piled into the dingy and drove around the coast, trailing our hands through the water, thick with light, particles seeming to burst into smaller ones, the dark waters eeriness dissolved into a thousand tiny shooting stars.
We ate pasties on the beach with my Uncle Dave, and were lucky enough to plan our journey, wash our clothes, ourselves and be fed by the lovely Caroline. On our last night in Cornwall Asher and Imo arrived with some bits from home, and a box of vegetables and eggs. (YUM!!) The tiny beach in Durgan had a mini regatta on with many silly races, and we sat on the rocks making bets on the fastest dingys before piling into our own, and motoring, incredibly slowly, to the pub.
We had been sailing for 3 months by the time we left the UK at the end of August. With wind from behind, and with our sails in ´butterfly´ formation, we sailed the 126 miles to Brest, in France.
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