Sailing in the Scillies and Helford river 2019

The Scillies (or Isles of Scilly) lie out in the Atlantic, 30 miles west of Lands End and are the most western part of England. They cover an area of over 50 square miles, yet comprise only five inhabited islands, with the largest just 3 miles wide. However, there are hundreds of rocks - most of which are exposed at low tide. The tidal range is about 5m (16ft) They also have a fearsome reputation as ship killers: Sir Cloudesley Shovell led his ships and 2000 men onto the rocks in 1707 (all drowned), the Torrey Canyon (creating the world's first major supertanker pollution incident) and more recently the Ceta ran aground on St Marys, 20 miles off course with the helmsman asleep at the wheel. Wrecks there are aplenty... The pilot guide for the islands warns, "Apart from the obvious dangers of any group of islands strewn with rocks, mostly unmarked, large areas of shallow water and strong and often unpredictable currents and tide races, it also lacks an anchorage that is secure in all weather..." Although only 100 miles from my home in Plymouth, passage to the Scillies is usually difficult. Not only does it mean sailing into the prevailing winds, but fog and gales are more frequent here than elsewhere in the English Channel. That's because the Scillies are at the junction of two weather systems, one that affects the Irish Sea and the other the English Channel. It doesn't take much of a humidity difference between the two to produce fog, while strong winds can blow down from Scotland or straight in from the Atlantic. On this trip, in early September 2019, we cheated, as fortunately we had been invited for a few days sailing by friends Pip and Debbie, who were already in the Scillies on their 43ft catamaran. So it was a quite painless train and then ferry ride to St Marys, the islands capital. First stop was Old Grimsby on Tresco and then we meandered round the islands anchoring wherever it was sheltered from wind and swell. The most westerly inhabited island is St Agnes, which has a fun little maze, at least 250 years old, built on the site of an even older one by a bored lighthouse keeper in the 18C. Green Bay on Bryher is a favourite anchorage for multihull sailors, as it is completely safe in all winds and we could dry out level on a sandy beach. We were then able to walk from island to island at low water - keeping a careful eye on the incoming tide! In March 2019 we had left our Skoota28 powercat - our winter cruising home - safely ashore in the Bahamas. To our horror the day after we arrived in the Scillies we learnt that a massive hurricane was heading towards the Bahamas. So for the next few days we were glued to our phone as Dorian strengthened and grew closer to Skoota. Eventually, via the weather aps, we saw that the eye went right over the boat with winds of over 200mph, so it seemed inevitable that we had lost Skoota. As we left Crow Sound, a pod of dolphins came leaping out to greet us, which we took as a good omen for the rest of the trip. running downwind under spinnaker alone, it's the only way to sail! Mid way between the Scillies and the Lizard is the Wolf Rock, so named as it "howls" when a big sea is running. Fortunately, like the Eddystone Rocks - the only other offshore danger in the English Channel, it is marked by a lighthouse which also serves as a good turning mark for shipping going either up the Irish Sea or east up the English Channel. Lizard Point, which at 50N is not only the most southerly point of mainland UK but also the start of the Atlantic Ocean - or end of the English Channel if you prefer. So it is not surprising that there are always tide rips, even some way off the actual headland. Although 15 miles further on, the Helford River is the first safe all weather harbour after the Lizard. We find the Helford Passage a bit crowded for our tastes, so we always try to go up river, past the world famous Frenchman's Creek to Tremayne Quay, a couple of miles further on. Here it is quieter and you can usually tie up on the east side of the quay and have a great BBQ on the quay's grassy bank. There is a small pool off the quay with sufficient depth at low water where keelboats can anchor safely, which is what we did this time, as we needed to stay afloat so we could make an early start next morning. 9am next day saw us going down river again and we sailed 40 miles home to Plymouth, still gently running downwind under spinnaker. A great trip, although obviously a sad one as now we knew for sure that we had lost Skoota. Thanks to Pip and Debbie (again!) I've been to the Scillies many times, here's an article I wrote about an earlier trip https://www.sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/articles/9-cruising-articles/22-a-scilly-time-to-cruise more general information here https://www.visitislesofscilly.com/ You can see my other 200+ videos here https://www.youtube.com/user/WoodsDesigns