POOH BEAR REPORT - 08 Aug 2002 Across the South Coast of England - Part 5 Salcombe to Falmouth, England Salcombe The slips in Salcombe seemed quite remote from everything so, in a change of plans, we returned to the harbour and took a mooring. While so doing, from the direction of a boat named Badger, there was a hail for Pooh Bear. Turned out it was Roger and Kristin whom we had met several months earlier at a Cruising Association meeting (where we are members). We chatted for a bit after their program on cruising the Baltic, Norway and Sweden. They had good memories and remembered Pooh Bear from the card we had given them. Later we met ashore, had a drink in the Salcombe Yacht Club, then a nice dinner at the Galley. Back in London, Richard and Diana had told us when in Salcombe to look up their very good friend Derek. This we did with a phone call, but Derek and wife were busy our first night so we did not get together. The following morning, the forecast look pretty good for crossing to Falmouth, our last leg in England, and we were underway quite early. Just as we slipped our mooring, the cloud deck lowered to the water. We exited Salcombe harbour between the black cliffs as we had entered, dependent on electronics. Later, we learned that Derek had come down to the harbour, gotten in a dinghy and was rowing around looking for us. From the harbour master he learned, "Oh, the American boat just disappeared into the fog". We are sorry both that Derek made a trip for nothing and that we did not get to meet him. Falmouth, England, June 2002 The trip from Salcombe to Falmouth was a motor-sail all the way starting with a very light south wind. From the Navtex forecast we anticipated, "S veering SW increasing to force 3 or 4 (10-15 knots). In anticipation of the veer, I set a course 20 or 30 degrees south of a direct course to Falmouth. By mid-afternoon I was beginning to regret it, as the wind was non-existent though the seas were quite lumpy, and we were motoring several unnecessary miles. Then the SW winds came on with a bang, built to 25 knots and veered more to almost west. Though I was then thankful we were well south of the course, it was a wet and miserable slog under sail and power the last ten miles into Falmouth. Nevertheless, we made good progress covering nearly 60 miles in just under 12 hours. The sun had long since set and even the north-west sky was almost dark as we picked our way through hundreds of moored boats to the fuel dock of the more distant ! marina, Falmouth Marina. Later we wished we had gone into Port Pendennis as it was more centrally located, but the personnel at Falmouth made up for the more distant location. They cheerfully fueled us at 22:30, charged us for only part of our bowsprit length and did not charge us, whether by purpose or error in unknown, the usual electricity charge, $4.50/ day. We came to Falmouth as it is a beautiful area and a natural jumping off spot to Ireland. We also came to Falmouth to renew old acquaintances from Texas, Ron and Sue Hawkins. We met them in the late 80s in the Beaumont Power Squadron. Ron, an Englishman, had been a Captain on Texaco tankers for many years, but had been transferred to a shore job in Port Arthur when we met them. He and Sue were very active in the Beaumont Power Squadron, he eventually being elected the Squadron Commander. When Ron retired from Texaco, they moved back to England and Sue's birthplace, Falmouth. Since then we have corresponded and this was our chance to see them. They could not have been more cordial hosts. We dined in their home, a jewel of a place, and they drove us all about the area. Highlighting our tour was a visit to Lanhydroc House, originally a priory, partially destroyed by King Henry the VIII (there's that name again), then rebuilt and occupied as a private residence from 1620 to 1976. I suppose at that time the owners decided a 50 room country house was more than they really wanted to care for and gave it to The National Trust who have opened it to the public. Our tour was interrupted for a short time when the building was evacuated due to an odor of gas in one area. Nothing came of it. The scale of "old" is quite different in England. In Port Arthur our house, built in 1940, was considered old. One afternoon in Falmouth we dined with the Hawkins at the Punch Bowl and Ladle, where a portion of the building dates to the 14th century. Do you remember me telling earlier about David Holden on Skeetwell, the single-hander from Queenborough that was sailing around the British Isles and Ireland and doing the Classic Malts Cruise on the way? Well, David had gone ahead of us at Plymouth, but had to return home for a few days on business and we caught up with him in Falmouth. Together, we went out to Pendennis Castle, built by old King Henry the VIII and occupied through World War II (but not the whole time by King Henry). In fact, it was modernize, fortified, and manned during WW II when German submarines attempted to operate right in Falmouth Harbour. David left for the Scilly Isles a couple of days before we did, but we would see him again. After 5 nights our touring was about done and the weather looked pretty good. Normally we don't like leaving a port late in the day, but here the weather and the tidal currents governed our plans. In order to take advantage of the strong tidal currents around the SW tip of England, Lands End, we left Falmouth for SW Ireland, about 200 miles distant at 2200 on the 19th of June, three weeks later than originally planned. But that is cruising. End of Part 5 and the final section of Across the South Coast of England Bob & Judy (aboard s/v Pooh Bear in Oban, Scotland)