Sorry for the delay in reading and replying guys!
This might be long btw!
Go and get yourself a chart of Carrick Roads and the Falmouth Bay areas.
First of all you have Carrick Roads with the harbours of Falmouth, Penryn, Mylor and St.Mawes, which are all very pretty, some of which are tide restricted.
Springs range around 5.5m flow
Neaps range around 2.0m flow (Somebody correct me if im wrong)
Falmouth being the biggest harbour and home to the NationalMaritmeMuseumCornwall always has something interesting to see.
Penryn once being the old bustling port long before Smithwick (Falmouth) ever existed is now very much quieter. The Penryn River has silted up considerably but you can make it up to the town quay on neap and spring highs. On your way you will pass Falmouth Yacht Marina and the Park & Float business.
Mylor Yacht Harbour is becoming one of 'the' places to be, in regards of facilities (marina, boatyard, chanderly, marine engineers, etc). There is a top cafe there offering an eat in and take away service, Castaways Wine Bar is a little more formal and a lovelly place to sit outside of an evening chomping on a snack and sipping a cool beverage.
Across the marina on the far quay is Mylor Sailing School offering top class RYA tuition in Dinghy Sailing and Powerboating. Next door you will find Mylor Boat Hire which has a fleet of Picarooners (16' long punt style boats with either a cuddy and a 5hp o/b or a an o/b and a sail).
St.Mawes I will come to later.
Head up the Roads from Falmouth and you have Mylor Creek leading up to Mylor Bridge. This is a beautiful creek with some properties to die for situated there. (hw creek)
The next creek you come to, on your Port side, will be Restronguet Creek, home of the lovelly thatched pub called the Pandora Inn. This pub has a jetty you can tie up to whilst having a relaxing lunch. Do bare in mind that at spring lows, you will not be able to reach this jetty and even on some neap tides you will have to be careful. My colleage managed to mince our work rib's prop up there on a piece of the jetties wooden facia which had fallen off into the mud, so beware of underwater obsticles!
Best time to explore Restronguet Creek is on a Spring tide when you can reach as far up as Devoran. On the way to Devoran you will pass Point and Penpoll, both very nice little villages with the latter housing a small boatyard.
WARNING Keep to the right of the middle as you head up to Point Quay. This is due to there being a disused mine shaft in the middle of the creek which is just below the surface on high water. It is usually marked by red flappy stuff tied to bamboo canes!!!
North of Restronguet Creek (if you make it past the Pandora!) you will pass whats known locally as 'Millionaires Mile,' which is a row of stunning properties leading up to Loe Beach.
BEWARE of carnidal marks warning of a nasty row of Jagged rocks. These cardinals can sometimes very easily blend into the background.
Loe Beach has a nice beach hut style cafe offering really nice grub or, if you prefer, a picnic takeaway service.
There is also a really good RYA Watersports Centre there (I would say that, I owned it for 2 years!) offering dinghy sailing, windsurfing, kayaking and I think (but dont quote me on this) basic powerboat levels.
Passing Loe Beach, the next creek is called Pill Creek. It is only really a spring high accessible area, but worth a look for the scenery.
Now your heading up the Truro River (SPEED LIMIT APPLIES HERE) and towards the National Trust's Trelissick House (Toad Hall) and round Turnaware Bar. WARNING Do not cut inside the channel bouy on low tides, you will seriously mash up your underwater gear!!! (Believe me, I know!) Turnaware is a fantastic place to camp out on and have a BBQ.
Further up the river you may well see some very large vessels, this is due to the depth averageing around 90ft. you will pass a pontoon which you can berth at (local harbour rates apply).
You will pass the pontoon belonging to Trelissick House on your port side (unsure of the berthing regs here, might be ferries only) and across the path of the KHF (King Harry Ferry). (Mind the chains!!
) Only kidding!
Now the river starts to branch off and get windier on it's way up towards the City of Truro. There are many creeks to explore but you are in chart teritory if you stray off the main river.
Smugglers cottage is worth a visit for the 'Finest Cream Tea in the West,' so I hear!
Heading back down along the Eastern shore of Carrick Roads from Turnaware you will come to St.Just In Roseland. BEWARE at spring lows of shallow water over North Bank, for peace of mind, it would be worth heading out around Carrick Buoy.
There is a stunning church situated by a tidal pool at St.Just, which you must see (Spring High only i'm afraid).
Between St.Just and St.Mawes are many little beaches which get the sun till it sets and are popular for BBQs. Most of the Eastern shore of Carrick roads is a designated waterskiing/wakeboarding area (Permits needed from local HM), which can get very busy in the summer evenings and weekends.
Past the Castle into St.Mawes. BEWARE of Lugo Rock! This harbour (where I work) gets very busy in the summer time. There are a couple of beaches and many good places to stay ranging from £25 - £295/night bb basis! The harbour quay gets busy at spring lows as there is only the last few feet of the quay steps to land on, so its a bit of a scrum at times with the ferries winning and getting priority!
Accross the harbour is Place Pool and Manor house and the Percuil River, both worth exploring at HW.
Out of St.Mawes heading south, you come to some beautiful pure sandy beaches which are only there at low tide! St.Anthony's Lighthouse (aka Fraggle Rock) is well worth a picture of, so is Black Rock to it's west which seals sunbathe on at low tide.
Outside of Carrick Roads is where you can really open up the throttle(s) and play in Falmouth Bay.
There are the beaches of Falmouth and the Roseland Pininsula to see and heading SW you will reach the Helford River. BEWARE of August Rock, Never cut inside this marker!
Helford is so unspoilt and has homes belonging to some well known 'Rock Gods' along it's shores. You have the Shipwrights and Pandora Inns here too on the waterfront.
There is so much beautiful scenery down this part of the World, too much for me to write about!
Should you find yourself heading down this way, then shout me a line on this forum or email
brian@falmouthj24.co.uk
I hope some of the above is of use to you guys and girls? Apologies for running outa steam, and please do correct me on any information that may be inaccurate.
Bri
RIB Saffron
