10th July 2009, Padstow

After checking the weather at Camaret we made the night crossing to the Scillies direct from Camaret instead of calling in at Ouessant – it looked like the stronger winds were coming in early. After a misty, wet and miserable start the weather lifted a bit for crossing the shipping separation scheme northeast of Ouessant. We had a change of plan before we left - to go through the Chanel Du Four to make best use of the tide and current, there were ten other French boats on a rally chasing us but they carried on along the north coast of France when we made our turn to head north. Once clear of the shipping lanes we got the engine off and had a good sail for the rest of the way with 15 – 20 knots of wind and arrived in Hugh Town about 8:15am, spoke to the Harbour Master on the radio and said that I would see him in the afternoon after some sleep. We used the radar for most occasions that we met shipping so that we could work out their speed and the closest point of approach and that worked a treat….

If anyone is passing Camaret and needs to buy diesel at the marina - Don’t !! Take cans to the Supermarket (Camaret) and get it for 99cents a litre or buy it at somewhere like Loctudy 1.07€ at the marina . In Camaret marina it is 1.26!!!! We paid 1.19 in Herbaudier and thought that was expensive. However we are now clear of French waters and no visits from the Customs ; we hear many stories about yachts being boarded several times during their visit to France but they didn’t bother us even once….

Hugh Town was much the same as we remembered it and we stayed on the buoy in St Mary’s Pool for most of the days for the peace of mind that we were on a strong mooring rather than be at anchor – however it was un-comfortable at times with the swell coming in from the west. Before we left for Padstow we made our way round to Porth Cressa to anchor and give the hull a good scrape to clean off the weed from around the water-line. Since coming back into the northern waters of Spain and France the rate of growth has increased and the speed through the water was definitely reduced. We have also left the Scillies a day ahead of the original plan so that we didn’t get caught out with the strong winds that are predicted over the next few days. The passage here to Padstow was also overnight to make best use of tides and ( we thought ) the winds; but the winds were much lighter that predicted and we had the motor on all the way. We will wait until the seas settle and the wind is favourable before we make our way to Wales for the next port of call.