Jon Mendez fulfils a lifelong ambition with a voyage out west to the Isles of Scilly
For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to take my boat to the Scillies – and having moved F to the West Country three years ago, the fact that it’s now 100 miles closer has made it much more realistic. I originally planned to head for the Scillies in 2020, but Covid put paid to that. The following year, a combination of a line around our outdrive and some awful weather made it impossible once again. But in 2022, I was determined to make it happen.
The early season weather looked promising. The engine and outdrive of my Windy 28 Ghibli had been serviced, we had spares on board, and the boat was fuelled and ready to go. To load the dice, I also booked the whole of July off work – and when a spell of settled weather came our way, Jess (my wife) and I were off from Brixham, bound for our first stop in Falmouth.
THE START POINT
Any boat trip that involves Start Point can be a worry, because it’s the moment when you find out if your calculations have been accurate. In the event, it was as flat as a pancake – by far the flattest I have seen in years. I picked up the speed to 2,900 revs and 27 knots and the boat flew along. Basil, who was on lookout duty, suddenly pricked up his ears and in a flash, we were joined by an entire pod of dolphins. I slowed down to 8 knots and the dolphins stayed alongside us for more than 20 minutes, darting in and out of our bow wave!
I elected to go straight across the bay to Falmouth, passing close to the Eddystone Lighthouse. That’s normally something I would keep well away from but the sea conditions were so good that a closer look seemed like a great idea. After a blissful 72 miles, we were in Falmouth. We topped up with 140 litres of fuel at Falmouth Yacht Haven and then went to find a berth. Rather than trying to book ahead, you simply turn up and they find you a spot. You may have to raft up if it’s busy but being in the middle of town is a major bonus.
FIRST SIGHT OF THE SCILLIES
While the weather looked reasonable for our morning departure, it was forecast to build from the NE late on. I worked out that, as long as we cleared Falmouth by 1000, only the last hour before our arrival at St Marys ought to be lumpy, so we set off, keeping reasonably inshore all the way down to Lizard Point. There were plenty of yachts down here, taking advantage of the building easterlies but I left them behind, aiming straight for Wolf Rock Lighthouse, six miles off Land’s End, before heading south-east to avoid the end of the Traffic Separation Scheme.
