‘Sara spotted a huge spurt of water off our bow; a whale had surfaced right in front of us’

Luke and Sara Griffith continue their summer cruise to one of the UK’s prettiest and most enjoyable island destinations

Note: This is the second part of a two-part article. Find the first part of cruising the Scillies here.

Sunday 27 July

After a very peaceful night we weighed anchor and made the short hop across to Porthcressa on the south west corner of St Mary’s. There were a few sailing boats and one visiting motorboat – the only one we encountered during our Scilly Isles cruise.

The owner kindly shortened his scope to give us a bit more room and by 1115, our anchor was set and we were ready to go ashore. After stopping at the Co-Op to stock up on steak, chips and Prosecco, we headed off on our afternoon stroll around the garrison and back to The Atlantic pub for afternoon tea and lemon meringue pie – fabulous!

Monday 28 July

The plan was to work our way into St Helen’s Pool so we left at 0800 around HW in a stiff WNW F4-5. We weren’t in any rush so we pottered round at 5 knots entering through Crow Sound and headed towards Hats Buoy cardinal before turning to starboard, setting a NW transit with Hats Buoy to stern and the famous Gunsight rock (Men-a-vaur) and keeping a close eye on the cross tide as we followed the Transit into St Helen’s Pool.

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I tried anchoring a couple of times about 100m south of St Helen’s, but the kelp was too thick for it to set so we tried again further down, just south west of Tean, where we found some clear patches of sand. The anchor ended up digging in beautifully here, so I set the new snubber bridle and added a chum weight for good measure.

The wind was blowing around 20 knots on the nose but we didn’t budge an inch and the large reef to the left of St Helen’s was taking all the rough sea, leaving us in surprising calm!

As the sun was shining, we hopped into the tender and made our way to St Martin’s, passing between Tean and Hedge Rock and landing at Lower Quay. We pulled the tender to the top of the beach and went for a cooling dip. Marmalade was in her element, she just loves beach life.

Fully refreshed, we wandered along the track to Seven Stones freehouse for their famous crab and lobster rolls accompanied by a live jazz band – mates from uni making a few quid playing around the islands. What was supposed to be a quick stop to rehydrate ended up being a very long, lazy and utterly delicious lunch – exactly as it should be on holiday.

We did eventually continue our walk up to Middle Town before returning around 5ish for a cocktail at the Karma Hotel close to Lower Town and back to Laila via Tean for a stroll along its deserted and wonderfully tranquil beach.

Tuesday 29 July

With any remaining anchor anxiety now well and truly gone, we slept like babies despite waking to a Force 5 wind and 5 knots of tide whistling past us. The 50m of chain and home-made chum had worked their magic. We couldn’t risk going ashore – brilliant as our tender’s Torqeedo electric outboard is, I don’t think it could have competed with the wind!

By midday the wind had dropped enough for us to motor across to Tresco and start exploring. We headed west towards Old Grimsby in our tender, looking for the infamous Tide Rock, a drying rock that I was keen to avoid in the mother ship!
We Landed at Old Grimsby harbour, hauled the tender up the beach and set off along the coastal foot path to Old Blockhouse for a cup and tea before pressing on to the famous Tresco Abbey Gardens.

Formerly a 12th century Benedictine priory, it later became part of the Duchy of Cornwall. The unique micro climate of this south facing spot enables the gardens to grow all kinds of exotic fauna. We enjoyed meandering through this magical spot before cutting through past St Nicholas’s church towards New Grimsby. To complete the day we stopped off at the Ruin Café for a large glass of rosé each and fresh olives, watching the comings and goings in Old Grimsby harbour.

Wednesday 30 July

Time to move on and try another anchorage before a change in the weather. We left St Helen’s Pool at 0930 and headed round into the eastern isles. We nosed our way between Ragged Island and Great Ganilly and dropped anchor centrally to avoid the drying rock nearer to shore. Once secure, we launched the tender and headed north towards Higher Town on St Martin’s, landing briefly on the drying sand bar to enjoy the strange sensation of being surrounded entirely by sea, then climbed back in the tender and on to Higher Town.

We arrived at half tide, so we didn’t have to drag the tender too far up the beach, and started our exploration of this side of St Martin’s. There’s a beautiful walk up towards Chapel Down and the St Martin’s Daymark. What a fantastic viewing spot this is; to the east you can see you the remains of a Napoleonic signal station, to the west there’s White Island, to the south there’s Chapel Down, and to the north a string of pretty bays with names like Bread and Cheese cove, Bull’s Porth and Great and Little Bays.

After a fantastic walk, we sat at a lovely table in the garden of Adam’s Gaff for a well-earned fish-and-chip supper, washed down with a couple of cans of St Martin’s own brewed amber ale and some surprisingly good local wine. Even Marmalade seemed to agree that the bowl of water tasted better than on the mainland too!

After dinner we walked past the famous St Martin’s cricket ground and up to the coastguard station and back again, where we passed the island bakery and tearoom, making a mental note of their offerings for the next time we visit.

Back on Par Beach, we sat and chilled, watching the tide come in on one of the prettiest sandy beaches in the UK. Even at 8pm it was still very light, but as this was our last night in the Scillies, it was time to head back to Laila and get ready for our passage back to the Helford Estuary.

Thursday 31 July

I woke up early and took Marmalade for a walk on Great Ganilly, watching the inherent curiosity she had in the seals and vice versa, as if they were somehow related as land and sea dogs.

The wind had backed and was now west-south-west, Force 3 to 5. We weighed anchor and departed at 0840 in the direction of the Lizard under clear skies, allowing us to maintain our preferred cruising speed of 22 knots. The journey was pretty unadventurous until Sara spotted a huge spurt of water off our bow. A whale had surfaced right in front of us but sadly it all happened too quickly for us to take a photo. A little later on we were joined by a pod of dolphins as we passed the Lizard.

We arrived safely back at the Helford around midday, in plenty of time to get a mooring now that the early yachts had left but before the new arrivals had come. We hadn’t yet explored the northern side of the Helford so we booked a table at the Ferryboat Inn for supper, gathered our day sack and went ashore to walk along the south-west coast path, past the old school house and down onto the pebbled beach at Durgan as far as Porth Saxon and back again past Grebe beach.

Our early booking meant we were lucky enough to secure a table at the window at The Ferryboat Inn, where Sara reckons she had one of her best meals ever – freshly caught haddock with mint pesto and new potatoes. My burger was less adventurous but just as tasty.

Friday 1 August

Having read about Frenchman’s Creek, it was time to actually visit it so we set off after breakfast in the tender.

Making the most of our silent Torqeedo electric outboard engine, we threaded our way along this winding inlet as far as the tide would take us, brushing past overhanging trees, statue-like herons and the incomparable complete stillness of a quiet Cornish backwater. It felt like we were in a novel.

Saturday 2 August

Time to head home to Noss on Dart, but not before fitting in one more anchorage. Setting off at 0830 we arrived in Falmouth at 0945 for a splash and dash of fuel before heading on our way again. This enabled us to reach Portscatho at around 1100, where we dropped anchor and spun up the Seakeeper to hold us steady. Once stable, we headed ashore for a walk with Marmalade to work up an appetite for a delicious lunch at the Hidden Hut.

This is a great spot for an authentic beach-cooked meal. Famous for its sustainable wood-fired cooking and feast nights where customers bring their own plates, cutlery and wine but sit at one long table and share the same fixed menu, it’s a real gem of a find. I had the rustic lamb stifado while Sara went for a hearty minestrone soup – just what the doctor ordered.

Feeling fully fed and watered, we headed back to the boat before conditions deteriorated. By 1600 we were back on the River Dart and a few minutes later we were safely tucked up in Noss on Dart Marina in plenty of time to wash Laila down and head over to The Ship Inn, in Kingswear, for one last holiday supper – a great finish to a truly magical cruising holiday.

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