Our first day in the Scillies dawns bright and sunny, or we suppose it did as none of us actually clocked the dawn.

We plan to mooch around St Mary’s today and then take in the other islands later in the week. The capital, Hugh Town, is like going back several decades,  but the harbour is buzzing with fishing boats and tourist tours.

Meandering the little streets, we’re struck by the flowers…it really has a little micro climate…

Elevenses in the Anchor then a little light souvenir shopping before lunch in a brillant cafe next to the gig racing club. We’re reminded of beach bars in Greece or Portugal.

The gigs, which seemed to have originated here, were originally used for smuggling or for collecting salvage cargoes from the many vessels that ran aground on the rocks and treacherous waters round these islands. It seems that communities on St Mary’s and St Agnes in particular became quite rich on this source of income, and many of the current buildings come from that period.

Lighthouses, built to prevent shipwrecks, became a source of irritation to the islanders, to the extent that the light on St Agnes was frequently ‘unavailable ‘!

We wander over to Porth Cressa and the old harbour for Hugh Town which is the island’s capital. We passed it on the way in, but opted for St Mary’s pool which is more sheltered from the forecast south easterlies. At the moment though, it is idyllic…

The rather hectic afternoon is spent with ice creams watching the general business of the harbour and the loading of the Scillonian, which is the island’s main link with the mainland. It is a very old fashioned process involving cranes and chains….none of your modern ro ro or containerised stuff here thank you.

A small fishing boat lands, and Yee Tak spies a crate full of something fishy. Her usual chat up of fishermen fails this time as all the crawfiah are ‘spoken for’ and will go to Newlyn for onward passage to Portugal. Interestingly, he called them crawfish, which we all thought was just an American term.

Back in the rubber dinghy to Heydays. and we have gin in the last of the afternoon sun.

Over on the beach, Wednesdays is ladies gig racing day and there are races at 7 and 8. There are 10 gigs out today in each race, so presumably there are at least 120 of St Mary’s  finest women for whom rowing is a major past time. The gigs nearly faded out after steamships and better navigation reduced the number of shipwrecks and therefore the resultant loss of salvage income, but now they are thriving as a sport and have even become international.

A couple of single handed sailors came in yesterday. They are on something called the Jester Challenge….Plymouth to Baltimore Ireland…and back presumably. They both look a bit knackered as light winds and/ or winds on the nose have meant that they have spent over 2 nights at sea with not a lot of sleep!

We are also moored next to an old classic wooden boat who, like us, are planning to head off to the Sciliies. We both resign ourselves to motoring most of the way in very light airs. Our purist guilt is slightly mollified when we learn that he is a very well known yachting journalist (ex of the Times) and writer for Classic Boats. He and his wife have cruised the west coast extensively and are not only well seasoned but also not afraid to burn some diesel.

There is a decent period of settled weather and we feel that it would be silly to lose the opportunity. So…into town for some of Aunty’s May’s pasties and some local saffron cake and then off.

The sea is calm and the diesel purrs away as we leave Newlyn behind in company with a few other boats. The auto helm is on, there are no sails to set. Just a watch kept for pot buoys….and so the day passes. The headlands and Minack Thestre slip past and we leave the mainland and the Longships lighthouse behind.

We reach Wolf Rock light and watch it slide past in the company of pasties and a cup of coffee. The temptation  on days like this is to keep snacking…and still the wind is on the nose…

We get our first sight of the Scillies and start to feel like we will actually touch them for the first time. We have opted to head for St Mary’s although another St Mary’s has a special place for half the crew! On match days, the red and white St Mary’s has around15 times the entire population of the island.

The different islands start to become distinct and we head for the rocky passage between Gugh and St Mary’s.

There are some easterlies later in the week so we’re heading for the western moorings or anchorages, accepting that there may be some swell left over from the previous winds. We don’t expect to find a mooring buoy, but take a turn round the harbour just in case…and there is one left!!! Here we are and a celebratory toast confirms our arrival.

The pasties for lunch were very filling so supper is just some eggs, cheese  and the odd dram or two of rum.

The sun goes down on a near perfect day in an amazing spot.

We had such a peaceful and serene night that we are almost sorry to leave this little
anchorage. But with coffee and breakfast on the go, we weigh anchor and slip out into the first of the morning ebb down the river. The day is rather overcast at first, but there are a few other boats on the move and we motor across a glassy sea in almost a dead calm.

We see a pod of dolphins in the distance, but again they seem more interested in
their fish supper than playing with us.
The Lizard opens up, and for the first time we catch a glimpse of what will be our most southerly point of the trip.

The wind picks up to a gentle breeze and we can at least set some sail and pretend…even though they don’t help much.
The headlands and small villages slide past and then, as we expected, the sea begins
to build into a slightly uncomfortable chop, reminiscent of late afternoons in the Solent when the sea breezes come in. The light and the rather lonely cottages pass by pleasingly quickly as we now have the benefit of the real ebb around the headland. As morning turns to afternoon, we also turn north and head out across Mounts Bay…

…the wind frees, the clouds just disappear and we have a glorious sunny fetch to Newlyn.

We arrive just outside and take the sails down, but feel slightly harassed by a large
trawler seemingly intent on beating us in.

We are directed to a berth on the shallow side of the harbour and with lines snug, we have a late lunch in a very sunny and almost too hot cockpit, washed down with the first cold beer of the day.
We loved Newlyn on the previous occasions, as it has a rather workaday but friendly feel about it…no pretentions. The Penlee lifeboat goes out on exercise and we are reminded of the old Penlee boat The Solomon Brown which went down with the loss of 8 lifeboatmen in 1981. That disaster led to the development of the new design of boats…

Newlyn has lost none of it’s character but it has invested in some new (and decidedly less fishhy) showers since the last time we came.  The only cloud is that the prices have more than doubled in the last 7 years!!! Personally I could cope with a fishy shower!

The harbour is glorious in the evening sun and the Fisherman’s arms doesn’t disappoint.

Sunday morning on the Fowey river and there’s bright sunshine and a very gentle breeze.
A few boats are out and about coming down the river presumably going out for a nice Sunday sail, something more energetic, or just to check a few lobster pots. The local inshore lifeboat crew are also up and about early doing some training.

But for us it’s a leisurely coffee or tea in bed and then an equally leisurely
breakfast sitting in the sun in cockpit.
Plan for today is to do a little bit of shopping to make sure that all the provisions are topped up, as the coming week seems to be good for the Scillies. We remind ourselves that in the Scillies, while not being entirely in the back of beyond, it’s not so easy to get things there, so we’ll fill up here and be set for the week. As for today I guess we’ll probably just mosey on across to the Helford river, which should be a nice little fetch in some fairly light winds rather than the thrash that we had yesterday.

We stroll into town to pick up some shopping and the smell of freshly baked bread and pasties wafts on the air. Lunch is now sorted!

We slide down the river on the early ebb with a couple of other boats and set sail for the Helford River in preparation for the next stage… then Newlyn, and then…..hopefully the Scillies.

Unsurprisingly for this trip, the wind veers earlier than forecast and it is once again dead on the nose. So much for a short hop and lunch in Helford.
The day remained stubbornly grey and overcast and the wind remained stubbornly on the nose, but the pasties went down a treat and were probably the best we have had in a very long time…..shout out to Nile bakery in Fowey….great pasties and lovely fresh
bread.

We opt for an anchorage just a short way up the river and drop the hook in 5m of water, not so very far from the steeply shelving rocky shore. It is a beautifully secluded and sheltered spot with just a few other boats around us and we settle in for a wonderfully lazy evening.