The time to leave approached and we readied Stray Cat for departure, myself and Sarah were now like old hands and felt comfortable with the fenders and ropes. The rubbish was jettisoned into the wheelie bin and off we go. The moorings were slipped and Tim manouvred Stray Cat in the Harbour ready to leave (no mean feat may I add as the water is not exactly that deep and there is just about enough room to swing a cat...........boom boom). With emergency fenders ready we crawled from the harbour with just feet to spare from the scaffolding on the harbour wall and reached the outer harbour sans incident. Fuelling was next and we all started working as a team straight away with skipper Tim giving directions like an aged admiral in charge of his fleet. Another 285 litres on board and off we went, waving at the day trippers on the harbour wall, we were off to sea yet again - I was getting sick of this land lubbing lark, I felt like an old sea dog after just 3 days on the boat and the final bottle of Carlsberg Edge (a quite horrid concoction of weak lager and a vile citrusy washing up liquid) has gone - I drank it! Hooray!
We made quick progress towards our day's destination - Lundy - an island nature reserve just off the Devon coast in the Bristol Channel. Our skipper had promised us sightings of dolphins but they were conspicuous by their absence until he said that we would see them in the next ten minutes, we didn't believe him! Three or four minutes later a blow of water was spotted by myself off the port side (See, I told you that I was getting into this boating lark) and all of a sudden a pod of common (no, not ones wearing burberry baseball caps and Elizabeth Duke gold chains from Argos) Dolphins appeared, about ten to twelve in total. They surfed in front of the two hulls of the boat for about five minutes amazing us with their agility and enthusiasm, resembling four foot torpedoes leaping from the water they were a truly wonderful sight and just as quickly as they had arrived, they disappeared. An extremely spectacular experience.
A short while later, a truly sobering experience announced itself over the VHF radio, a DSC Mayday - a man overboard announcement relayed from earlier. Apparently there was a man over board in the vacinity of 51' 19.5" N 003'25.0" W (East Bristol Channel) The Coastguard only got to hear about it at around 13:30 and relayed the message at 16:30, there surely can't be much hope after that much time in the water. One can only hope that if they have gone to Davey Jones' locker then the experience was quick. We are still anchored at 18.20 hrs and they are still 'casualty working'.... doesn't look good - sobering? Oh yes!
So here we are, on a dodgy looking bouy in a desolate bay off Lundy, a truly beautiful island that has the characteristics of a Thai Island with emerald green grass on the steep slopes of it's flanks and the sun is shining once again in what can only be described as perfect surroundings. We plan to land on the Island a little later, and visit its supposed hostelry for some beer... hooray !!We shall have to report back on that later....
Postscript: Have just returned from the island; a short tender ride to the beach and a tough 25 minute walk to the top of the island followed. Words cannot convey the beauty of this place, it rivals anywhere I have seen in the world in my few short years (well, ok 37 but who's counting!). Emerald green grass, blazing sunshine, a few hardy Ash trees, great stone buildings and a Tavern.......Hooray! Only 24 people live and work on the island and last week there were no visitors booked in so they had the week off and went back to the mainland! Yes, it's that sort of place. No cars, no roads and a fine of one of the Queens pounds if your mobile rings (yes, there is a mobile signal here) whilst in the Tavern, oh, and a five pound landing fee per person. A big crab salad was tucked into by 3 of the crew with Sarah going for the veggie chilli (of course) and Tim going for the Lobster salad. Starters were excellent but the mains were a little off the boil and Tim was a bit disappointed with his, but not the worst meal we've had by a long shot, and much fun was had watching Dave destroying the supersize crab claws (which no one else was able to do).
A short walk after dinner was the order of the day and we found the lighthouse on the other side of the island. An open lighthouse with no charge - now there's a novelty - if this was a lighthouse on the mainland it would be closed to the public due to health and safety or there would be a charge of five British pounds or something. After what seemed like an age we got to the top where all the glass and ironwork was still in place - now bearing in mind that this place was first built nearly two hundred years ago (1821), it is no mean feat that it is still standing. The sound of the wind whistled eerily through the gaps in the glass/ironwork....................and then the sun set on another day. I can only hope that this truly special place is not wrecked by the hordes of tourists that could destroy it's unique atmosphere that we feel truly privileged to have been able to visit!
Next stop Wales - Milford Haven or Fishguard/Goodwick................Cymru Am Byth!
Till tomorrow this is your host and messenger Charlie Bravo signing off. Toodle pip!
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