12th May to 31st July 2023

Right now, life in England seems pretty good. I know it’s raining, windy and a bit chilly. (July’s been a bit grey after the wonders of a fabulous early summer.)

But the alternative to staying here in the rain is a long slog southwards across the Bay of Biscay, beating into rough seas, lots more rain and relentless southwesterlies. So I’m staying put in the calm and exquisitely beautiful, tree lined creeks of Falmouth Harbour and the Helford river.

Tempting as it is to head off for warm sunshine, and Spanish and Portuguese hospitality, I’ve grown too soft for the rigours of a hostile Biscay. I’ll wait for better wind forecasts. We are very privileged to have the choice of not only where to go, but also when to sail there. A life without plans, routines or timetable – not many anyway.

Meanwhile I can fill you in on bits and pieces of Henrietta’s English summer, the highs and lows, the joys and perils.

Late May and June were hot, the hottest on record – bliss. Plenty of gentle northerly winds opened anchorages usually too hazardous for overnight stops. I shall never tire of exploring little visited coves and backwaters, where, despite the hoards of yachts that now sail along the coastline, few are happy with rolly nights beneath rocky cliffs. I love these little-visited places with their gulls and cormorants, gannets and terns, with cliff top paths and friendly hikers.

Henrietta never got further east than Lyme Regis. (If you don’t know England’s geography, that’s less than halfway along the south coast.) The well known populous spots along the coasts of Dorset and Hampshire can wait for another day.

There was a long list of boaty bits to buy, and repairs to carry out – even longer than usual. And of course I wanted to see family and friends.

Shopping is easy (especially with sister and friend in Exeter as postmistresses), and most repairs are now done. I can fix quite a lot myself. Good reliable professional help is hard to find and very difficult to pin down. Everybody wants the straightforward lucrative jobs, not the tricky stuff. So there seems to be a tendency in the boat trade to give false start dates and empty promises.

To compound the trouble with south coast maintenance and boating in general, marinas are extremely expensive, boatyards burdensome with rules, regulations and high charges, and usually crowded. 

All is not lost: everyone remains friendly! Countryside is gorgeous.

But, alas, my homeland is a land where high costs and ‘mañana’ rule the day. I’ve pulled out nearly all my hair, and will go and find somewhere else in Europe for lift out and more difficult boat maintenance.

With a month moored in Exeter Canal I was able to visit children, siblings and a few friends, and among many other things, enjoy the beer of the Turf Hotel (an excellent pub, its hotel status a relic of history). Given that I’ll not have Henrietta lifted out in England, the canal’s fresh water was an easy way to get rid of the saltwater weeds and bugs that dwelt on Henrietta’s bottom.

To close this quickly I’ll just say that I’m fond of England and value its countryside, admire many of its citizens and a few of its institutions (well, the BBC and libraries, and uuuhm…). But I’m embarrassed by, even ashamed of, too much: by its unrepresentative politics, its gossip-laden red top newspapers and its advanced state of self delusion.

I’m well aware of how very fortunate we are to live on our sailing boats with opportunities to go almost anywhere we choose. I’m excited now at the prospect of visiting distant and fascinating lands. Roll on some better weather!