Our start point this morning was Fraggle Rock. Some of us will remember this from childhood as the popular TV series with the same name. For some reason I’d remembered it as being underneath a tree not a lighthouse. We were all humming the theme tune as we approached two days ago. Puppets are very much back in fashion right now, mainly spurred by the success of theatre such as War Horse. Even so, the trailer looks very dated.
When we finished on Thursday, a pilot boat had come along side to see what was happening. I think they were confused why they had seen kites approaching from far in the distance then suddenly pack down and Mentor launch a dinghy. When they approached we explained what about our trip before Jeremy, Stew and Islay followed Mentor in the dinghy back into the lee of Fraggle Rock to get onboard away from the swell.
The swell which we had finished in two days earlier, had died down and no pilot boat send off. We initially wanted to go on twin tips, aware of the increased swell expected around the Lizard, but the wind wasn’t quite enough for the 9 and 11m kites we’d pumped up. So before we’d even set off we swapped onto the foils whizzing downwind towards an east cardinal mark. “The Manacles” has a bell, one of the first bouys we’ve been close to which has had one. As Stew approached the toll rang deafeningly through the headset, resulting in me almost reaching up to turn it off. Obviously, the school girl in me, then went even closer to it, just to return the favour. Your welcome!
As expected going around Lizard Point, the most southerly point on mainland UK, the swell picked up and so did the wind. We were both overpowered, but just about managing on the foil boards. The tricky bit was managing the speed down the wave. As you headed down the face the board would pick up speed, and if you happened to hit a gust of wind at the same time you’d get double the acceleration. This often resulted in either you under flying the kite (so the kite was behind you) and it loosing power resulting in you sinking. Or, you accelerating too much and nose diving into the crest of the next wave. Needless to say there were a number of spectacular crashes during this point. But thankfully, it was short lived and as we rounded the point the sea state flattened out and the wind died down to where we were both comfortably powered again.
The flatter seas, and the straight broad reach meant we had the perfect angle to head straight for St. Michael’s Mount. We soon turned around and realised we’d left Mentor further behind than we’d usually allow. Being so close to The Mount, we waited there, enjoying the spectacular views from the sea-ward facing side of the island – a view I’m not used to seeing. At one point I heard Joe trying to reach us on the VHF, but my reply was too muffled he didn’t hear me. Later we found that he too had lost sight of us. But this didn’t last for long, he’d soon caught up and we had a quick photo op before heading in to meet friends for dinner and a much appreciated supermarket run – by van!
When the Lizard lighthouse was first built in 1619, Cornwall was a hotbed of piracy and smuggling, so it was only allowed to operate provided it be extinguished when the enemy approached, for fear that it would guide the miscreants home.
The name Lizard Point, may be a corruption of Lazare (or Leper). Lepracy, officially known as Hansen’s Disease, has tourtured many ancient civilations, there is even a paparus description of it by the Egyptians from 1550BC. It is believed that in medival Europe the disease affected a quarter of the population. In 2013 a paper was published showing that the bacteria which causes the disease hasn’t changed in over 1,100 years. With its decline partly due to mutations in our immune systems. Go humans!
| Distance Travelled Today | 30 nm |
| Distance Kited Today | 39 nm |
| Total Distance Travelled | 521 nm |
| Total Distance Kited | 712 nm |
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