Fairport Acoustic Convention

Fairport Acoustic Convention
Originally uploaded by tflaxman.

We all visited darkest Cornwall to see Fairport Acoustic Convention in the Rum Store, at the Carnglaze Caverns.  The venue is an abandoned underground slate quarry just outside Liskeard, and is so named because it was used by the Royal Navy during the Second World War to store its rum supplies.

It was a really great concert - the first time we'd seen the band minus Dave Pegg. The band were on top form, as usual, and it was a change to see them in their acoustic configuration.  We didn't get home until the early hours of the morning, and once again saw a badger whilst we crossed Bodmin moor at night.

Prior to that we visited Boscastle on a wet, windy and very foggy day.

16 knots

Achieved 16.2 knots in a blustery F6 yesterday with Martin Caddy as crew. Only used the mainsail as the conditions were very lumpy, and we nearly pitchpoled several times. With luck we'll improve on this speed this season.

You can get a sense of what the conditions were like from a photogallery here. This sail has been entered in the Yachts and Yachting Speedfreaks Competition.

Beltane

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Originally uploaded by tflaxman.

As today was Beltane, Pete Melville and I went for a walk to Bucks Mills. We had the best of the weather - it was glorious.

Boat Trip

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Originally uploaded by tflaxman.

Today we took a trip on the MS Oldenburg, from Ilfracombe to Bideford.

We made an adventure of it, by walking to Bideford Quay to catch the bus to Barnstaple, and another to Ilfracombe.

It was so cold that we could see our breath on the boat. Poppy and Jake took a trip around Ilfracombe Harbour on a horse drawn cart.

We were very tired and full of fresh air as we walked up the hill to our home.

Seal

Today, whilst on the Safety Boat, I saw a bull seal near the Inner Pulley buoy. It was the first time that I'd seen one in the estuary. He kept "bottling" up for air, but was very shy, and disappeared whenever we tried to approach. When I killed the engine he hung around and watched us. A wonderful experience.

Rock Balancing

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Originally uploaded by pandjmum.

Well I blame Dave Gorman for this inspiration.

A very therapeutic way to spend an afternoon.

Flickr

We've just joined Flickr (See Thom's and Anna's here), a fancy photo sharing thing.