PART SEVEN A SMALL BOAT ROUND BRITAIN

After 1,500 miles cruising around the UK in their 27ft Rhea 850, our plucky pair tackle the final leg home from Cornwall to Gosport

- Philip Davies 

Although Padstow in north Cornwall has been a wonderful spot to spend a night we are keen to get going again and escape the feeling of being trapped in a goldfish bowl surrounded by tourists. The weather and sea gods seem to agree and have granted us fair conditions for a swift departure. However, we can only leave two and a half hours before high tide, when the cill gate opens, which isn’t going to be before 15.00 at the earliest. Thankfully, we are getting quite good at being goldfish and there are jobs to be done before leaving, not least replenishing our water tank so we can spend the night on a buoy in the Helford River.

Eventually, the cill gates open. We slip our lines and exit the inner harbour, making our way down the beautiful Camel estuary past the buoy marking the Doom Bar and out into the open sea. We set a course for Land’s End, the slight following sea making for a comfortable ride as we settle down to listen to the cricket World Cup final between England and New Zealand on Test Match Special.

Between this and the magnificent coastal scenery of north Cornwall, the two-and-a-half hours it takes us to reach Land’s End at 20 knots seem to flash by and before long we are rounding Longships Lighthouse on its rocky islet 1.25 miles offthe southernmost tip of mainland Britain. This is the fourth and final significant left turn in our journey, and the final leg. We still have 36 miles to go to our planned overnight stop in the Helford River and the Lizard peninsula is looking moody up ahead, but the sun on our backs and the cricket on TMS keeps us in buoyant mood. Come on England!