After a balmy few months on board his Beneteau Antares 8, Rick Channon recounts a season of close encounters with Cornwall’s wildlife
Mylor, on Cornwall’s Fal Estuary, is where I keep my Beneteau Antares 8, Greyfin, on a M mooring. When the sun shines, it’s one of the best places in the world, so I spent pretty much the entire 2022 season cruising locally. No big trips or intrepid voyages – just simple trips lasting two or three days, exploring the rivers and coastline within a 20nm range of home.
Sometimes, I would cruise with family and friends or sometimes I would go on my own. But with so much balmy weather, I managed to clock up more than 30 nights on board, many of them spent in sublime isolation at anchor on Cornwall’s south coast. Overnighting in a tranquil cove as the moon rises above the horizon is undoubtedly my favourite part of boating and 2022 was blessed with a lot of gentle evenings and very few of the persistent easterlies that would otherwise cause a nasty swell to pick up at this end of the English Channel.
Human nature is a funny thing. I’d wager there are times when you’ve parked your car in an empty car park, only to return to find that someone has parked right next to you. It’s the same with boating. Many a time, I’ve anchored in a remote and deserted cove, only for another boat to spot what I’m doing and join me. Happily though, as nobody tends to stay the night, the evenings tend to be mine alone.
NOT FOR FAINT-HEARTED
Perhaps there are too many perils – big tides, currents, wind shifts and the dreaded swell to name but a few. I must admit that spending the night at anchor in the open sea is not for the faint-hearted and on the odd occasion I’ve been spooked by a change in conditions. But on the whole, I trust my Fortress anchor with 30m of 8mm chain on an accommodating sand or gravel sea bed. If I want extra peace of mind, I’ll even attach a CQR anchor with a further 5m of 10mm chain to the main anchor. And since Greyfin is only an 8m boat weighing 3.5 tonnes, there is not too much pull on the anchor rode, so I tend to get a pretty carefree night.
But with any risk there comes reward, and in this case, it’s the wildlife. Quite often, it has been in the late evening, as the sun is setting and everyone else has gone home, that I have experienced my most memorable encounters with sea life. This year alone, I’ve been privileged to be entertained by dolphins, porpoises, pilot whales, tuna, seals and king crabs. The encounter with the king crabs (spider crabs) in particular brought a wry smile to my face...
THE ROAMING ROCK
I was anchored for the night in a small cove with not much swinging space and a falling tide, so I was keeping a close eye on potential hazards like submerged rocks. Satisfied that the anchor was hol
