As we were undertaking a more 'offshore' passage, we logged our intentions with Falmouth Coast Guard when we left the Helford River. It rained slightly to start but by 09-25 we were off Lizard point and the rain had stopped. At 12-20 the 'Wolf Rock' was on our starboard side, and the Scillies were in sight. We approached St. Mary's Sound at 15-15, and started the tricky pilotage across Tresco Flats. With Sue steering, I took up position on the bow looking out for shallow spots - this was no mean feat, as even with nearly four metres of water on the sounder we felt that we were about to go aground the water was so clear! Anyway, we successfully got through the shallows, and picked up a visitor mooring in New Grimsby Sound. When we paid the harbour master for our stay he suggested moving up the sound a little as strong SW winds were forecast, and we would be less susceptible to swell further up the sound - this proved to be really good advice, as we ended up riding out two gales during our stay !
The next morning we took the dinghy ashore to Tresco, did a little shopping in the Tresco Stores, then had a wet walk around the northern end of the island, taking in New Grimsby, Old Grimsby, Ruin Beach, and the twin castles ( King Charle's Castle, and Oliver Cromwell's Castle ), with some fantastic views over the anchorage from the former.
That evening we were treated to a fantastic sunset - the rain having dried up by late afternoon.
The following morning we hunkered down in the boat waiting for the occupants of one of the other moored boats to make the first move ashore, as the wind was blowing very strongly. Our neighbours finally made a move, and we followed shortly, beaching the dinghy on Bryher ( the other side of the sound ). Even though the wind was blowing, it was a lovely sunny day, and we had a very pleasant walk around the southern half of Bryher. The vegetation on the Scillies is very lush, and quite exotic. Many of the hedgerows were full of succulents, which were in full flower, with vivid colours.
We had a good view of Tresco flats at a similar state of tide to when we arrived.
This water taxi obviously didn't have any worries about the depth through the shallowest section !
At low tide the whole of the area takes on a different aspect, and you could imagine the dread that this place instilled in sailors over the years; there are jagged rocks everywhere - but it is incredibly beautiful, especially when the sun is shining.
On our last day in the Scillies, we took the ferry from Bryher to the main Island, St. Mary's, had a fine walk from the capital, Hugh Town, to Old Town, and back through a marshy nature reserve, with the first flowing fresh water we had seen on the islands - I wonder where their drinking water comes from ? The ferry we came over on wasn't due to return until about 15-30, but another smaller boat was leaving at 14-00. So, after a very nice lunch in the Mermaid Pub next to the sea wall in Hugh Town, we booked tickets, and after walking across three or four other boats, we alone boarded the boat. All started as expected, but as we approached 'Nut Rock' the boat made a sharp turn to port. We began to think that it was having to go right around Bryher to get to the landing stage we had embarked from that morning, however, after one of the crew went to pick up one customer off a beach on Sampson Island using a RIB which had been towed behind, we realised that we were going to get our feet wet. Due to the lack of water over Tresco Flats we would be dropped onto a beach on the south end of the island. There was a crowd of about twenty or thirty people waiting on the beach with trousers rolled up, waiting to be picked up. The water was VERY cold, but it was quite an experience, and we did get a good view of the west side of the island. From the beach, it was a twenty minute or so walk back to our dinghy, but we managed to get back to 'NJ', and get the dinghy pulled back up onto the davits before the rain started.
That night was forecast to be wet and very windy, but subsiding by the morning. We saw nearly 40 knots on the anemometer, with horizontal rain - it was truly horrid, and we half thought that the passage to Padstow we had planned would have to be cancelled. By the morning the wind had, indeed, subsided, and the rain had reduced to an annoying mizzle.
We set of at 07-45 into some impressively large seas which reduced as the day wore on. One major excitement of the passage was a pod of about five dolphins coming to play in our bow wave for a couple of minutes - a great end to our visit to the Scillies which has been the highlight of the trip so far.
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