Thursday 23rd April: Falmouth - Mullion Cove (20 n.mi., mostly uphill...)

I slept through my alarm, and when I finally woke, one of the garden birds was doing a perfect imitation of it. Jeff dropped by in the morning with some cordage and his trolley, which we cannibalised for spare parts. I had lost my original trolley in Sheerness, and was now using my wife's, which we had mis-assembled - hence all the problems. A quick phone call to Kari-Tek followed, and they immediately agreed to meet Jeff next week to replace his axles, and to post another set to me. Many thanks to Jeff, and full marks to Kari-Tek for customer service!
By then, time was slipping away, and I missed the ebb stream round the Lizard. At each headland, conditions became a little more interesting, with an easterly kicking up a bit of a chop, plus yesterday's swell from the south, and a larger swell from the south-west setting in. The Lizard is truly a beautiful place, but I had little time to enjoy the scenery, except to note that the Lizard Head itself resembles a nest of vipers, with a daymark painted in the form of an eyespot. By the time I was rounding it, conditions were pretty meaty by my standards (so probably just a bimble for Jeff and Simon). The SW swell was now a pretty consistent 2m, with the occasional 3m, and the tide races were developing nicely, with seas sweeping the decks in all directions, including sideways. The boat is slamming away - quite normal in a chop, but it is a bit unusual to get airborne as far aft as the cockpit when this heavily laden. We would fall off the wave again, to a loud bang, I would feel the seat and cockpit floor flex under me, and sheets of spray would fly sideways in my peripheral vision. In an unloaded boat nearer the start of the day, this would have been fun, but I found myself just wanting to get off the water, so I took the first opportunity and cut the trip short at Mullion Cove.
The decision was vindicated by the local fishermen in the harbour. I forget the precise words, but recall something like, "Arrr, there's some weather coming."
No photos today - I had other things on my mind.