On Sunday we passed the Lizard, expected to be our furthest point south and the first time our position has dipped below 50 degrees N.  Spent a pleasant couple of days previously, wandering around in Falmouth and meeting up with Helen’s parents.  We had coffee at the same café where, 18 months ago after viewing Ventata, we agonised over whether to make an offer.  Mum and Dad seem concerned about our weight as they brought an enormous quantity of food and treated us to a couple of meals out.  We are particularly enjoying the chocolate brioche; not sure it is much good against scurvy but it goes down very well with morning coffee.

Lots of coming and going at the Falmouth Town Quay.  We noted a couple smallish sturdy boats, fitted out for offshore voyaging, which must have been the first arrivals for the Golden Globe Race: leaving from Falmouth this week, it commemorates 50 years since the start of the original non-stop around-the-world race, of which (now Sir) Francis Chichester was the sole finisher 312 days later.  Puts our expedition nicely into perspective!  On our own departure from Falmouth, Helen finally had to admit that the nasty bow thruster has its uses: we were pinned onto the pontoon between two other boats by a decent side wind and it made easy work of a manoeuvre that had a lot of potential for going wrong.

Sadly, that wind didn’t last beyond the Lizard.  We persevered with the spinnaker, then poled-out the jib, then the asymmetric, and back to the spinnaker, but eventually had to resort to motoring.  Very unsatisfactory, particularly with the batteries already charged.  The only saving graces were of drying out the spinnaker (accidentally dropped in the water on its inaugural outing a few days before) and getting us to the Scillies in time for a fine bottle of Betty Stogs Brazen Cornish Bitter (4%) in the cockpit before dinner.

The Scillies are very strange: an isolated cluster of low islands with the surrounding seabed 70m below the water in all directions.  Leaving the English mainland, we were very aware of the open water on all sides.  From our east coast base, even in the North Sea, you are never that far from land but from here you can go approx 150 miles N, 2000 miles W or 600 miles S without land or shelter.  An interesting thought as you step into the kayak to go ashore…

In the last couple of days we have been anchored off Tresco, which is apparently leased from the Duchy of Cornwall, but Prince Charles has not been out to collect anchor fees. It has the great feature of having no cars, and is a very relaxed environment. We have walked around most of Tresco and neighbouring Byher.  The vegetation ranges from familiar low grass, wildflowers and heather eeking out a living on the exposed and rocky west to surprisingly lush tropical vegetation on the east.  Yesterday we shared a fish platter while looking out over white beaches, blue skies, parasols and things-that-look-like-palm-trees.  Hard to believe this is the UK.  Led us to reflect that the temperatures so far have been balmy and, although this leads to frustrating lack of wind, it is much less unpleasant than being wet, salty and cold.  Also, that we’re also not great on fish.