Cabin Cruisers & Square Riggers

The weather this week again has been indifferent and a planned trip on friends Nola and Brian's boat, Threshold, was always in jeopardy. However, on Saturday the weather was really good, with plenty of sun breaking through the rolling clouds.

Nola and Brian live on their boat during the summer months when they let out their house and the rest of the year they run the house as a B&B.

It was busy on Normandy pontoon at 11:00 on Saturday and we had to board Threshold from another boat moored there. We had a pleasant cruise up to The Bar and then turned round and made our way back into The Bag. During our cruise we passed by Woodcot, a house given to the town and now used as homes for older people in Salcombe and where our friend Jane has an apartment.

Following our cruise we moored up and spent the rest of day chatting, drinking and eating. The only interlude was when Hannah, our friends three-legged rescue dog, needed to go for a walk and was taken ashore by Nola and Brian in their inflatable. We had a great day and thank Nola and Brian for their generosity.

The next day was again a day of contrasting weather from the day before. We took Rufus for a walk in the afternoon and ended up in Salcombe. Through the mist we could see the square rigger pictured moored up opposite Cliff House with the crew up on the rigging stowing the sails.

As we said before Salcombe is always changing and it is always interesting to see the different ships and boats that come into the harbour.

Normality Returns

We are finding it hard to maintain this Blog to our usual posting standard, as we are now back in the land of reality. We have both been working the weather has been indifferent and the opportunity to get out and take photographs really didn't materialise. Pete really need to sit and think about how he might fill the blog if we don't get out to take (m)any photos.

One thing is obvious and that is Salcombe is always changing. The tides, the light, the weather and the people and events all make the sights of Salcombe change and it is this that Pete will try to capture as the years go round. From our house we look at at fields and on a daily basis the animals therein are moved by the farmer and his dog to make best use of the land. More than that the fields are being worked and the landscape changes as the fields are ploughed and re-planted and again this is something that Pete will try to capture in the Blog.

This Blog started out as diary for family and friends to keep up with what we are up to, but now it has become more of a personal diary for us both to see where we have been, what we have done and who might have visited. It should also be a reflection of the year in Salcombe.

Fireworks & Family

This week is Salcombe Regatta week and there has been a full programme of activities. We have both been busy working so not a lot of time to take part or get involved. Rowing was cancelled due to the Regatta and Julie took the opportunity to put her feet up for the evening.

The Fireworks display was planned for Thursday and, as noted last week, Pete was keen to take some pictures. We ended up at the Kings Arms for a drink with friends Sarah and Bill and watched the fireworks from the Whitestrands car park. From there it wasn't ideal for taking photographs and Pete had to take them hand held and without anything to help keep the camera still. However, the results weren't too bad and the photo attached is one of the better examples of them.

Following the fireworks we made our way home and sat in anticipation of the arrival of Pete's brothers and their wives. They arrived just before midnight , having had a reasonably good run up from Essex. It was great to see them and it was the first time they had come down to Salcombe.

On Friday we did the grand tour of Salcombe stopping en-route for a drink and something to eat at the Victoria Inn. The beer garden is a great asset and a space you don't expect in such a tightly-packed town. The chickens in the picture having a dirt bath are kept by Liz at the Vic.

The walk through Salcombe and around Cliff Road is one we do often, but it is surprising how different it can be and on this day there were loads of butterflies on the shrubs and bushes. The tide was in at North Sands, so we walked up the lane (Beadon Road) to get home without stopping for a drink at the Winking Prawn.

We had a lovely meal at Boswains that evening and the next day we all went to Tor Cross for a trip out. Not a spectacular timetable, but it gave us time to spend together and catch up, which was what we really wanted from the weekend.

Salcombe Regatta Week

Another working week. Pete obviously
working, but Julie working more at the Deli due to the arrival of the tourist's and she has also been into Ajanta to see if there is anything she can do there.

The Deli will be even busy next week as this week is Salcombe Regatta week and the town will be buzzing assisted by events staged across the week. The first such event being the arrival of the Red Arrows today at 12:00.

Pete took himself off (Julie at the Deli) to Snape's Point to photograph the event and a couple of his attempts to capture the display are shown here. it was a breathtaking and lengthy display and the RAF did the town proud. Last year was a wash-out, but this show just seemed to go on and on. It was Pete's first attempt at an air show and it proved to be difficult, but a few of the pictures came out well. Pete's next challenge will be the fireworks on Thursday - guess what will be on the Blog next week?

Nothing much else to report this week, but we are hoping Pete's brothers and their wives will be coming down next weekend, which we are both looking forward to.

Still Busy

Everyone has gone home to Essex, Pete has come and gone to London for work, Julie is working at the Salcombe Deli and we even managed to get out for a walk with friends Linda and Ken on Sunday with Rufus in tow too. All-in-all things are getting back to normal. We've shopped for the essentials that were missing from our move and now have proper beds for any guests that come to stay. For now we feel we've done enough and will give it a while before we decide what, if, any material changes we might want to make to the house.

Our Sunday constitutional saw us walking to Snape's Point. Not the greatest weather, but perfect for a three hours walk - not too hot, not too windy and a bit of cloud cover. We have rather got out of the habit of walking and with all this countryside on our doorstep we really must make the most of it.

Giles removed his boat from our garage today and Pete can now start to sort things out in there. It hasn't been an issue, as we have been too busy to worry too much about the garage. Now th boat's gone we can use the space and, as with garages, we will probably fill it with all the things that garages are filled with and probably never used again - perhaps an opportunity to be more pragmatic?

School friend Rob and his wife Penny dropped by on Friday with their dog Toast on their way to Cornwall for a short break. It's great that people keep us in mind when they come this way. We haven't seen Rob and Penny since before Christmas and it was great to see them again. We met up last year at the funeral of a mutual friend of our age and it makes you realise the frailty of life and another reason to do the things you want before it's too late.

The weather is still changeable and the BBQ Summer has now been down-graded by the Met Office to something a lot worse. July has been one of the wettest on record, but it really hasn't had too much impact on us or our guests. Let hope for a better August.