Water
Fishing on Landulph Reach
'Above Saltash, Cargreen, a fisher town, showeth itself, but can hardly muster a mean plight of dwellings or dwellers; so may there care be green, because there wealth is withered . . .' (I believe that 'there' in this lame joke is an adverb, not the mis-spelling of 'their'.) Present-day residents should not be indignant, as there emerges, as you read more of this ‘Survey of Cornwall’, a reason for dismissing the village with such contempt, and for ignoring what must still have been a shipyard and working quay a short way downstream. The writer, Richard Carew, is a seventeenth-century son of the Carews of Antony House and is not about to rough it. So having apparently found no lavish host here, he moves quickly on to Halton, where he seems to have been generously entertained.
In the Wake of the 'Dulcibella'
In the wake of the 'Dulcibella', or how we were lead to a shoal water challenge.
Having just re-read the wonderful sailing classic The Riddle of the Sands, written in 1903, we realised that we had, without intent, been sailing to many of the places that Davies and Carruthers had visited.
While R.M. Bowker, in his historical postscript to the 1976 reprint, debates the relative proportion of truth and fiction, no one debates the reality of the sailing so vividly described in this wonderful book.
Cargreen White Sail
Every other Wednesday and on some weekends, there is a friendly challenge on the river organised by Cargreen Yacht Club. Boats of all sizes take part and the series is open to skippers from other clubs. Apart from providing a great opportunity for spectators, many of the skippers are happy to take on crew (even those with little experience). After each event, the sailors meet in the bar for a drink and a pasty.
The are two courses: the blue course is shorter and suitable for small boats (maybe without engines), the red course is longer and suitable for all boats. The courses vary depending on the state of the tide but generally have a start time between 18:00 and 18:30. Crews record their time to complete the course and then their time is adjusted using a handicap. More details and results.
