Woke to a cloudless blue sky. Launched at South Sands and immediately met Nick Arding paddling his Rockpool.
Marvellous cliff scenery from Salcombe to Inner Hope (which surely deserves to have a hymn tune named after it), and pretty bays thereafter for a long while.
Passed the once-exclusive hotel on Hurst Island to seaward.
Early on, a sighting of a patch of sandy bottom through the azure water had set up this morning's earworm: Vaughan William's setting of "Full fathom five" from The Tempest - its shimmering harmonies perfectly reflecting the mood. After a hearty lunch on the beach, it was Tchaikowsky - perfect for slogging into a half-knot of adverse tidal stream.
Entered Plymouth Cattewater and found the NATO slip. The Marines are all on leave, and the MoD police are a bit taken aback: "highly irregular" was the phrase that sticks in my mind. These policemen were really sharp, quickly asking very penetrating questions, but were most civil and helpful. Wheels fell off trolley twice; it really is wrecked. Dined at the local pub and was greeted with great warmth (guys, if you're reading, remind me of its name). Passed a comfortable night on the floor of the mess room above the guardhouse.
Just reading your stuff about the problems with wheels and wishing for a skeg. Sounds like our trip on Loch Ness. Yona never wants to hear the word "portage" again after breaking two rented sets of wheels. In addition to that, her rented boat (an RTM) handled a little like a windscreen wiper despite several attempts at restowing. She was also wishing for a skeg or a rudder.
ReplyDeleteJust reading your blog, great to hear how you're getting on. My brother has just been telling me about your adventures. He runs the pub that you visited in Turnchapel, Plymouth. The name of it is The Clovelly Bay Inn. Good Luck with the rest of your journey, look forward to the next instalment.
ReplyDeleteWell, Google's threat to delete inactive blogs has spurred me to do some long-overdue maintenance. One error has been bugging me for nearly twelve years: It was Vaughan Williams, not Britten, who wrote that setting of "Full fathom five."
ReplyDeleteAll you learned people were too nice to point it out.