Thursday 24 May (Cork) Mary, the "lady wot does" at the RCYC, kindly made us sausages and egg with toast and coffee, which we consumed on the terrace outside the club. We had a walk down into the pretty village of Crosshaven, a few small shops, a decent supermarket, and a disproportionately large number of pubs, and caught the 1230 bus to 'The City', as Cork is termed locally. A nice 45 minute ride, which goes the whole length of the river, passing man...

Wednesday 23 May (Crosshaven)Still motoring into an uncomfortably bumpy sea and headwind I began to worry about our fuel situation.? We had done the UK coastal passage on 50litres of diesel for 30 hours' motoring, so I had assumed that our 100L tank would give us a comfortable 60 hrs.? However, it was becoming worryingly clear that motoring hard into headwind and heavy sea was taking much more, and I was anxious that would risk entering Cork harbour with no e...

Tuesday 22 May ( Lands End) At last we are under way and making way, with Bernard and Craig aboard.  We left at 0825 to make the best of the daylight at both ends, though initially against the tide.  From about 1000 we worked the west-going tide beautifully around the Lizard and across Mounts Bay (with distant views of St Michael's Mount) to Land's End by 1600. We reached Cape Cornwall (the only cape in England), where we turned to port and headed out int...

Sun 20 May (Falmouth) Back to the Boathouse for Sunday lunch, and then the Star and Garter in the evening, for an excellent blues band, The Devil and Me. Met interesting local sailors and fishermen, and sampled the last of my Cornish ales tour (Lizard Point and Sharp's Cornish Coaster). Tomorrow is preparation day for the Great Departure.

Friday 18/Sat 19 May (Falmouth/St Mawes)Had a musical night out in town on Friday, and sampled several local ales: in approximate order - Betty Stogs, Sharps Special, Skinners Keel Over, Otter, Yorkshire Terrier, and (of course) Doom Bar. Slept well!Saturday I took the ferry to St Mawes, a pretty village and harbour, and lunched on Scallops and Squid at The Victory Inn.  Lunch was extended by watching the FA Cup Final, but had to catch the last ferry back befo...