Leaving home(s)

Part 2: Newton Ferrers (Heloise)

I couldn´t think of a better place to spend our first week of our new life aboard Saecwen than in the village of  Newton Ferrers, which has been my family home since my parents moved back from Fiji so many years ago.  This was Saecwen’s fourth visit to the Yealm, so it really did feel like coming home, as we tied up on our favourite mooring buoy off ´Misery Point´.

However, there is nothing miserable about this mooring at the mouth of the river. It is the perfect viewing spot for watching different craft afloat coming and going and we had a whole week to see the full cycle of river life that revolves around the lively local village scene; paddle boarders heading out to Cellars Bay; evening traditional gig rowers practicing for the summer regatta; the Wednesday night Devon Yawl race - or crawl in this instance as practically no wind; Friday night Yacht racing and Saturday cadets dinghy sailing.

We were blessed with blue skies all week and light winds, perfect conditions for two Blues Brothers expeditions (our trusty kayaks, Jake & Elwood, who finally got their names embossed onto their bows), my favourite cliff walk overlooking the Mewstone and swimming off Cellars beach.

Charlie on Elwood

We made good use of all the facilities in the village: supper in the Swan, lunch in the Dolphin, a family gathering at the Yealm Yacht Club and a final pint ashore with Charlie’s lifelong friend Becky. And plenty of time to see my parents who had been busy organising a village plant sale in the beautiful garden at Yealm Cottage to raise funds for the local hospice. This was the perfect spot to decompress and recharge after what has been a busy list-fuelled weeks and months of preparations for our pending adventure.

Wembury bay and the Mewstone

Heloise rowing back from Cellars after a sunset swim