Padstow – Newlyn
70nm and 17 hours

It was a 4am start to get out of the lock in Padstow. The wind was Northerly Force 3-5 good visibility and an amazing sunrise.

After getting up far too early I got dressed and prepared the boat. I started the engine and slipped my lines at 4am fo llowing the sea cadet boats along the estuary before turning west, once clear of the land I put the autopilot (self-steering) on and raised my sails. I turned off the engine and enjoyed the relative silence. I was sailing at about 5 knots and with the tide I made good time towards St Ives, arriving at 11.30 I dropped anchor. I had a few hours to wait so the tide would turn in my favour to round Lands End.

I thought I’d done a good job of tidying up but apparently not as below deck was a mess. Too tired to deal with this properly, I grabbed a pillow and blanket and fell asleep on the bow for a couple of hours. I woke up at 2 and raised anchor.

The wind had dropped significantly and although my sails were up they weren’t doing much. The sea was extremely flat and I ended up motoring around Lands End. I got very excited to be passing this milestone at last and took loads of photos.

It felt like as soon as I’d gone round it got busy with shipping, but I guess that’s what the south coast is like. I set my course towards Newlyn and a couple hours later I was arriving. I called ahead on the radio and after a little confusion (on my part) as to where I was berthing I pulled up alongside a gorgeous (a very expensive) blue boat. I whitch I manage not to crash into. Pleased with myself I wandered up to the harbour master’s office, got codes for the toilets and stopped at the little supermarket for supplies. Once back onboard I cooked some pasta before going to bed, I slept very well.

I’m glad to be moving again, pushing forward and getting some miles under my belt. And I’m proud of how far I’ve come already, in this trip but also in everything it took for me to get here