An English Summer 25

Three men in a boat, three hardy men, fish on. The air is thick, as Cornish clotted cream, with dense skeins of, opaque, driving rain. The weather is back in alignment with the forecast. Our reprieve, of the past three days, is over. Grey river below merges into grey downpour above. The misty forms of, hunch-shouldered hillsides and, clench-fisted, headlands, ward the torrent off, as best they are able.

Anchored, tight in beneath the bluff, within the embrace of the point, Stargazer is out of the tide. Lying to what breeze filters through. Head to wind, throughout most of the day. With her spray hood up, the main hatch can therefore be left open and washboards out. Affording me the luxury, of watching the world go by, from the comfort of her saloon settees. In the warm and dry.

The splash of oar strokes mingles, with the drumming of the rain, and the 'skitter,' of the dinghy, as it roves from side to side, on its painter. A lone oarsman makes his resolute way by, appropriately suited and hatted up, to pay his respects, to Frenchman's Creek.

Tomorrow, Stargazer plans to make the short passage, across the bay, to Falmouth. Our mission will be: to find a means to re-water and re-provision, to do some (water hungry) clothes washing, and to secure ourselves a base, from which to reacquaint ourselves, with the town. The means, will depend on the available opportunities, upon arrival.

PS If you are wondering 'what is that boat' (pictured above)? She is a Nigel Irens designed, Romilly, named 'Ayesha.' A modern interpretation of the Breton Lugger. Her traditional hull form executed in GRP and married to a full carbon rig, with minimalist weekend accommodation thrown in, below decks.