Chat 18 catamaran and the Saltash bridges

We live on the banks of the 60 mile long river Tamar, the boundary between Devon and Cornwall in SW England. Right opposite Devonport Naval Dockyard, the largest such dockyard in Europe, one that has been operating since 1691. So that implies two things. First, the river is wide and deep and second, it's very busy with large warships and, in the past, nuclear submarines and even square rigged "Men of War". It also means there are few places where it's possible to cross the river. In my previous Chat 18 video I sailed past the first crossing point, the Torpoint chain ferry. In this video I sail a few miles upstream to sail under the two bridges at the Cornish town of Saltash. The first is the railway bridge, built by I K Brunel and finished in 1859. And right next to it is the road bridge, officially opened in 1962, and which replaced another chain ferry. Both are over 100ft high to allow tall ships to pass under. Surprisingly, Saltash town is older than the much larger Plymouth. So despite the Union Jack painted pub people in Cornwall often say that crossing the bridge is "going to England" The next (and prior to 1962 the most seaward) road bridge is the "Gunnislake New Bridge" - actually built in 1520! - some 20 miles north of Saltash. The source of the river is only a couple of miles from the north coast, so Cornwall is almost an island. Once past the bridges the landscape changes and there are fields down to the water on both sides with no large towns. However the Tamar is still navigable for another 15 miles, as far as the weir at Morwellham, although Calstock is the sensible northern end for most. More on those for another time. For one of the joys of small boat cruising is that you can go where no large boat dare venture, so there's lots to explore without going out to sea. But whatever size boat you sail it's always weather permitting. The heading photo was taken from our house and shows the Torpoint ferries in the storm of Feb 18th. We were surprised they were still running in 80mph winds. And we were very lucky it wasn't a high spring tide or we would probably have been flooded, as the tide was 600mm, 24in above prediction! More on the Chat 18 here https://www.sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs-2/2-catamarans-under-25ft/475-chat-18-daysailing-catamaran You can see my other 200+ videos here https://www.youtube.com/user/WoodsDesigns