Crocus Transported to a New Home for the Winter

I was up bright and early this morning as the crane was booked for nine o’clock and I had loads to do beforehand.  Crocus is off to a workshop where Roger, his daughter Nicki and the team from the Cornish Wooden Boat Company can work on her and make her fit to sail. 

Roger and co arrived before eight and prepped her then while they waited they began stripping the old trackmark decking off her.  This showed up a few problem places on the deck but I have every faith in them that they’ll get her sorted.

The transporter arrived and so began the delicate job of lifting and settling her on the flatbed trailer …

Roger and the chaps had left and were at the shed getting it ready to receive her but Nicki stayed and travelled with her …

It was then just a case of reversing out from the harbour, the driver nipping over to the pasty shop to collect some sustenance and then they were off …

I received a text later to say that she was safely tucked up inside the workshop.

Now the expensive bit begins!!

Crocus has her own Blog.  If you want to follow her progress then check her out here.  As you’ll see she hasn’t been worked on for several years which has been due to Mike’s health.  He has finally accepted that he’s unable to finish her which is why she’s been moved today.

Holiday Sunday

Sunday morning and the sun was shining once again! Early start today as it was Cornwall Boat Jumble at Penryn and we were hoping to find a bargain or two for Crocus. We arrived just as the gates were opening and the long queue of people began to filter through. There were loads of stalls selling everything from rope ...

to sails and outboards ...

plus booms ...

and very interestingly for us a chap with samples of deck covering ...

Crocus has trackmark decking which is no longer available but this stuff will be as near to it as we could get - great! We had a good wander around but apart from a hank of rope there was nothing else we wanted. The boys suggested going on into Falmouth for coffee and so we went to our favourite place where we could sit out on the balconey and watch all the activities ...


It was then time to go shopping in Trago Mills - a must for each visit to Falmouth - and after buying Hamish a new lead we found some battery operated navigation lights for Crocus which were just what we wanted and a good price too! Jamie and Phill checked out every single department of the shop (!) and so Mike and I went to a pier by the slipway where we could look back to where we'd had coffee ...

and watched while a lady made a very difficult manoeuvre onto a yacht ...


There were several people watching the poor lady and we all wanted to give her a round of applause when she made it but we didn't! All good entertainment on a Sunday. The boys joined us and we walked the walkway around the Museum so we could get a closer look at the vessels moored up. Some of them were huge ...

and this one had garden furniture which would be too big for our garden plus a swimming pool all on the aft deck ...


While making our way back to the car Jo got in touch and asked if we'd like to join them for a BBQ so after popping home for the dogs we spent a few hours in their garden enjoying some lovely grub and good company. Thanks Paul and Jo. The weather had been glorious all day and in the evening we had the most wonderful sky as we looked down the harbour to the sea ...

Sunny Day for the Crane

Today was the much awaited day for most of the boat-owners whose pride and joys would be going back in the water for the summer.

The day began with a mini-digger arriving to dig in moorings for people ...

and some more of the problem sand was moved for the back row of boats ...

The crane arrived mid-afternoon and began to lift boats on to the sand ready for when the tide came in ...




Simon and Ellie watched from the far side of the harbour ...

and then went down the steps so that Ellie could see if there was anything lurking in the pool ...

There were plenty of willing hands to help especially when one of the strops got caught under a boat ...

It was quite worrying when Scathow was lifted out from behind our yacht Crocus (under the green tarp) ...

but it was all done successfully and then the crane moved up to the far end of the harbour ...

Colin was launched in the dinghy as a safety boat ...

and the crane began its work once again ...


while others waited on their boats for the tide to reach them ...

In the evening it was a lovely sight to see the harbour filled once again with craft ...

Falmouth in the Sunshine

We had to pop over to Falmouth today to get some paint for Crocus from Trago ...

and to order some wood for her from Woodstock. It was a hood up journey over but the sun came out while we were having a coffee and the harbour looked lovely ...

There was even a boat just below us that was named after me!

Last Day in Charge

It was the AGM today for the Cornwall Area of the MX-5 Owners Club and as we were resigning it was our last day as 'leaders'. We met at Wadebridge Sports Centre and drove to Crowdy Reservoir for coffee. It was a bit chilly but it's a lovely place to stop ...

From here we drove to the Rising Sun pub at Altarnun where we were booked in for a roast lunch followed by the AGM. This wasn't mine BTW - it was Paul's - but doesn't it look just yummy?

Mike gave his final Report and then Sharon Luxton was elected as the new Area Co-ordinator. We were presented with flowers and gifts and thanked for all the hard work we'd done for theClub ...

Crocus received two pressies ...

For those of you who are not up to speed on our comings and goings - Crocus is our latest acquisition. She is a 21ft traditional Norfolk Broads gaff-rigged yacht (to be technically correct - she is a River Cruiser) and she has arrived in Cornwall for restoration.

After lunch we set off for the planned tea stop but managed to lose several cars and had to wait for them ...

before joining the busy A30 and making our way to Siblyback Lake ...