Day Eighteen : Sherkin Island to Castletownshend

Today, the plan is to sail about 25 NM from Sherkin Island (see photo) to Castletownshend with the LSC yachts, drop anchor and have dinner at Mary Ann's. However, the wind is light and right on the nose. Despite tacking at regular intervals, we make no progress so eventually give in and switch the engine on - the coastline is very rocky so this is for safety reasons.

As we approach the entrance to Castletownshend, the rain lashes down again and the wind starts to blow up. Everyone decides that is now too rough to launch the dinghies to go ashore, so the evening at Mary Ann's is cancelled. Instead, we have sausage, baked beans and new potatoes at anchor.

Now, we need to decide if we press on towards Kinsale or head across the Celtic Sea towards Falmouth tomorrow - weather permitting.

Day Sixteen : Baltimore

Wind and rain give way to sunshine for our lay day in Baltimore.
The mainsail is collected by courier for repair then we visit the one and only grocery store in town - Gala - and stock up with provisions from a rather limited choice. Prices for basics, such as cheese, are even more expensive than in Crosshaven and again we are left wondering how local people manage. Strangely, there is a wide selection of newspapers and magazines available in French and German as well as English but we find out later that there are well established French and German communities here.

We walk out of town, past abundant bushes of fuschias, towards the headland to get a close-up of Lot's Wife which we missed yesterday from the water. There is an amazing micro climate on the cliffs with marsh plants, such as sedges, on the top of the hills which is quite unusual. We spot some people fishing from the rocks below and wonder firstly, how they got down there and secondly, if they have caught any sea bass. So far, we haven't caught any sea bass but are hopeful that we will before our voyage is over.

Dinner tonight has been arranged at "The Lookout" so a shower is required and some fresh clothes found for the occassion. Showers are at the local pub - Jacob's Bar - and cost 3 euros a time. For this price, I'm expecting Bulgari soap and fluffy white towels, but the showers are in the store room and the tile are cracked and quite dirty. The water is hot and runs for as long as you want so at least it doesn't cut out after 3 minutes or anything. There is no Bulgari soap or fluffy white towels.

About 30 people from the Little Ship Club convene for drinks at The Lookout and we all enjoy a decent meal. Despite consuming a large quantity to fish over the past few weeks, I go for the salmon and mackerel salad to start, followed by the local cod.

Day Ten : Crosshaven, Ireland

Today is a lay day and we meet up with other crews from the Little Ship Club to visit the gardens at Lisselan in Clonakilty. As well as rare trees, the spectacular rock garden and the extensive Rhododendron garden, the Fuschia Gardens are a particular highlight. We were given access to the walled fruit and vegetable gardens and invited to pick strawberries and raspberries from the bushes.

Then it was time for afternoon tea on the terrace with sandwiches, fairy cakes and homemade scones with strawbery jam from the estate.

After such substantial fare, we opt for a Mexican themed supper on board of freshly prepared guacamole with red bean and red pepper salad.

Day Five : Fowey to Falmouth

A relatively short hop today from Fowey to Falmouth and again there is high pressure and sunshine. We drop our mooring line at 0730 and hop the headlands to St. Anthony's Head and the approach to Falmouth. It seems very busy here, with yachts - classic and modern - streaming out of the harbour, after a few days on quiet moorings but this is an important stop as it's the last chance we have to stock up on provisions before setting sail towards the Isles of Scilly.

After the recent instrument refit, the depth sounder clearly needs calibration as we steer towards the Town Quay with the depth reading - 0.6 metres, which is somewhat disconcerting! As the larger yacht in front of us didn't go aground, we figured we were ok to keep going.

For lunch, we had a quick round of ham and cheese sandwiches before dividing up tasks and heading into town for food, a replacement gas canister and internet access to get the latest weather so we could decide if tomorrow was going to be a good window for heading towards the Isles of Scilly. Falmouth is an ideal pit-stop for provisioning: as well as a large supermarket, there are bakeries, fishmongers and one of the best hardware stores in the country - Trago Mills.

After supplies of food and boaty bits are on board, it was time to welcome a new crew member and get ready for dinner at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Here, we met up with other yachts from The Little Ship Club for a pre-dinner contest with the model yachts powered by fans in each corner of the indoor pool. Then it was up to the second floor with a stunning view of the harbour as the sun went down and a dinner of tapas, fillet of Cornish beef with dauphinoise potatoes and Mediterranean vegetables followed by fruit salad. The tapas selection included scallops wrapped in parma ham, which were absolutely devine. Next, the beef was fantastic - tender and succulent - but the fruit salad was disappointing.

On our way back to the Town Quay, we noticed that Rick Stein had opened a fish restaurant since we had last visited the museum. Here, mackerel were being sold for £8.50, so at this price we reckoned that we'd caught £85 worth so far. Better keep those fishing rods going!

Frostbite Racing

Last weekend was the final race in the Little Ship Club's Frostbite Series. Although not actually freezing, the temperature was not far off during Friday night. To combat these cool temperatures, our menu for the weekend on A Day At The Races was:

Friday night
Onion bhajis with raita dip
Kedgeree with spinach plus garlic flatbread
Lemon cupcakes and tea

Saturday morning
Muesli with banana
Blueberry or chocolate chip muffins


Saturday lunch
Lamb koftas in soft tortilla wraps served with plain yoghurt
Baby plum tomatoes
Cucumber slices

Saturday evening
Prize Giving Dinner ashore at the Max Aitken Museum, Cowes - Isle of Wight

Sunday morning
Muesli with banana
Blueberry or chocolate chip muffins

Sunday lunch
Vichysoisse soup
Bacon rolls with melted emmenthal cheese

Plus we had some rather sinful donuts during the race which probably need a 3-day offshore race at least to work off, not to mention the lemon cupcakes and choc-chip cookies too. Could mean a new set of sailing kit soon - a size larger!

However, there was lots of leaping around on our approach to Cowes Yacht Haven on Saturday afternoon as, due to an engine problem, we had to sail into our berth. Maybe it was a good job we had those donuts afterall!

PS
A Day At The Races came first in the LSC 2009/10 Frostbite Series

Award! The Alexander Catering Rose Bowl

howtocookonaboat.com has been awarded the Alexander Catering Rose Bowl for creating and publishing "Recipes from the Little Ship Club Galley". After being presented with this beautiful silver trophy by Commodore Rupert Wallace(Royal Navy), we only had the trophy in our grasp for a couple of hours during the prize-giving dinner at the Little Ship Club. Sadly, when dinner ended, we had to give it up to the trophy cabinet but Julie & Caroline will have their names engraved for posterity. And we get to keep a medallion as a souvenir.

It was a total surprise to us and we just hope that "Recipes from the Little Ship Club Galley" continues to sell well.