Helford River Cornwall UK

We had planned to leave the River Fal at 1000hrs with the first of the ebb tide on Monday 30 Aug but the engine alternator had other plans.  When we started the engine the ‘low charge’ alarm came on as normal but failed to go out.  A quick double-check and, no, it wasn’t a false alarm, the alternator really wasn’t charging the batteries.  Happily, the problem wasn’t too hard to spot or to resolve.  The issue was that the (booted) positive lead on the alternator was resting on part of the engine block.  Over the years the vibrations caused when the engine is running have worn a hole in the boot and the positive terminal was now shorting to earth (the engine).  So I reinsulated the terminal and added some extra protection in too and 50min later than planned we set off down river.

Peter Flutter’s Sundowner under sail in Carrick Roads

We motored downriver and then set sail.  With a lovely light breeze and flat water we caught up with Peter Flutter’s Sundowner and managed to get some reasonable pictures of her under sail.

Pendennis Castle again.  This time from the sea

Helford is only a few miles from the entrance to Falmouth Harbour but outside the harbour the light easterly breeze dropped away frustratingly.  We stuck with it for a while but the slatting of the sails as BV rolled on the slight swell began to drive Nicky mad so we rolled away the headsails and switched on the engine again.

Final run-in to the Helford River – just August Rock on the starboard side (well-marked by
a starboard-hand lateral buoy

Top:  Ocean Hobo still persevering under sail approaching the entrance to the Helford River.  Bottom: view as we enter the river

The Helford River is a lovely spot, though very open to wind and waves from the east.  Happily, the forecast light winds were unlikely to cause any problems, other than a little slop and roll, either in the anchorages close to the entrance or on the visitors’ moorings.

The Helford River is busy with moorings.  Visitors’ buoys are green

The beach by Porthnavas Creek

We motored through the moorings enjoying the river views both to the north….

The Helford River Sailing Club on the southern shore, our venue for dinner later in the evening

……and to the south.

Top: view east from our anchorage. Bottom: looking west.  Frenchman’s Creek
(of Daphne du Maurier fame) is just around the wooded headland in the middle of the
picture, to the left of the anchored boats

Having heard that the oyster beds were not in use this year, we decided to anchor to the west of the moorings in an area previously off-limits due to the oyster beds.  There’s a deep (10m) pool here but we anchored just off this with a number of the other OCC boats.

Top: a busy gathering at the Helford River Sailing Club, nearly as busy as at the
Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. Bottom:  West Country Meet organisers
(L-R) Sue Head, Colin Campbell, Becks Campbell, John Head

The evening gathering at the Helford River Sailing Club was another thoroughly enjoyable and convivial affair and, once again, the evening seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

At the end of the evening The Amazing Professor Buckett-Chuckett hypnotised and
levitated Colin to the astonishment of all in the crowd!

And it was not without its surprises either.  Right at the end John Head’s ‘good friend’ Professor Buckett-Chuckett performed a most daring magic act, hypnotising and levitating Colin to the amazement and awe of all in the crowd.  A spectacular end to a fun weekend of (some) sailing and (lots of) socialising!  Our thanks, again to Colin and Becks Campbell and John and Sue Head who put so much time and effort into pulling the weekend together for the enjoyment of so many OCCers.

Helford River, Cornwall, UK