I have not been fully fit since returning from holiday. Yesterday I ventured down to the town for the first time to stretch my legs and see what’s new.
I am pleased to say, fit or unfit, the draw of the sea has not abated.
marine photography
Two short Cornish walks – spring flowers
The purpose of the walk was the walk, a small group of friends following the coast. We were surprised and charmed by the sheer variety of flowers.
This became a photo challenge for me which I took on – with the result that I have learnt that I have a long way to go before I master the art of flower photography. Some of the results appear below – with qualifying notes.
Photographing at sea to show pace – trial images
In the previous post, I mentioned the difficulty of photographing waves at sea – the boat moves in tune with the waves and it’s difficult to record their size on a still photograph. Yesterday,the wind was gusting heavily and we were at the point when I considered reefing. However, the sails were reasonably balanced and the tiller easy enough to control the boat with one hand while holding a camera in the other. I wondered whether it was possible to share the pleasure I was getting on the water by trying to demonstrate the pace we were going.
Mullion Cove – a slight swell and a storm
At Mullion Cove, with the wind from the south west, there was an opportunity to photograph swell – or, at least, to attempt to photograph swell. Trying to record waves at sea is nearly always disappointing – the vessel moves in tune with the waves. I have seen some amazing images from the Southern Ocean but they really need to be taken from outside the boat to truly reflect the situation.
A short walk in Cornwall – taken further
Cadgwith is some 70 miles south south west of Steeple Point. If you walked the coast from Steeple Point to here, you would have walked approximately 240 miles.
We walked into Cadgwith from Kennack Sands just to the north – a mere two and a half miles on a Saturday morning with a wind blowing and clouds scudding.
A good team. Job done.
One of the features of a boat that was launched in 1988 is that any fittings that haven’t already been replaced are now over twenty five years old. I thought of this yesterday when, the winds having abated, we were able to get a couple of jobs done that had been scheduled for two days earlier.
I took the boat down river to Plymouth Yacht Haven. We slipped into a berth beside yachts twice the size of Blue Mistress. In such austere company we seem to be batting above our league. However, let’s concentrate on the job in hand . . .
Explore. Dream. Discover
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowline. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
Weather permitting
I had pencilled-in today and tomorrow for a post-refit shake-down passage to Fowey and back – weather permitting.
The Sing of the Shore
I have been looking at a copy of A Glossary of Cornish Sea-Words, by R.Morton Nance, published by the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies in 1963.
It fell open . . .
River Exe – a low spring tide
As we waited, we wondered how often this happens. We hoped it wasn’t every spring tide.
Beyond Steeple Point 