From France to Scotland by sea.
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Wednesday, July 10, 2002 |
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Departure from Torquay at 10 AM. Arrival at Salcombe at 5:30 PM. Distance: 20 miles. Conditions: SW vearing W 4-5 sometimes 6; mostly sunny, with big high clouds and the occasional accompanying shower. Good sail today; left not too early, and got showered within the hour... but the sun dried us quick, and tonight - although we put some cream on - our faces are tingling. Didn't get quite as far as we wanted today - hoping to visit a friend Tim in Plymouth, but yet again, the weather had other plans, so we decided to head for Salcombe (I wanted to go there anyway). Salcombe does not dissapoint. The entrace to the river is framed by cliffs, the slopes of which are covered in fields, forests, rocks. As one enters, houses start appearing, seamingly suspended above the shores, beautifully set on the steep slopes. Although this picture does not really do it credit, here is the view of the entrance taken from the harbour
Contacted the harbour master on the VHF, and he came to show us to a mooring. Immediately called the taxi boat, and got a ride to shore, to try and make the chandleries before they closed... no luck. Settled for a great pint a the pub, followed by a really good meal. B made friends with a big cat who sneaked in the restaurant behind the waitstaff's back. This cat loves butter! They shooed him out... Picture from my bar stool at the pub.
The crowd on the right, which you might just make out through the beer taps, is the crew of the local life boat, that meets there every night. Much beer flowing! Salcombe is the first little town I've come accross, after France, where I feel the quality of life is what matters to people. There are no casino machines, no super markets, no noisy roads. Beautiful houses, warm pubs, simple restaurants... (I'm trying to ignore the souvenir shops, the clothing stores, and the odd urban garden store reminiscent of NY's soho for now, confident that as I move North these will slowly fade away :) Hoping this is the first of several such places.
Anyhow, we are off to bed; Tonight I finally did a rough schedule of the coming couple of months. Not exactely sure when I'll be where, but I've a good idea of when I'll be taking new shipmates! |
© Copyright 2003 Thomas Degremont.
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Things to readHome Stories - Map of the Trip How is this log organized? The Reading List Map
Credits & Other  
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