Pendennis Regatta in Falmouth, Our Favourite.



I am writing this whilst sitting on a train heading North East for Suffolk from Falmouth in Cornwall. It's an exciting journey of five hours to London then all change, a predictably stressful tube ride to Liverpool Street then on the final train to take us home for a little holiday. Eight hours in total it takes to get to Suffolk from Falmouth; eight hours. You can get to America in eight hours, all be it on a plane.

I say a stressful tube journey because I may have picked up a few bits and bobs for our new house on our travels. George has been remarkably calm since he discovered, after our early start this morning that he will be carrying a full length mirror and woven hearth rug along with his own luggage. And will no doubt be required to assist me and my burden of ceramic jug, non-stick wok, collapsible shelf thingy and a couple of picture frames along with my own ruck sack. It all seemed like such a good idea at the time.

However a five hour train ride is a great excuse to sit and do nothing after a very busy Pendennis regatta. As predicted, the regatta brought challenging weather and sailing conditions, fantastic social events and friends from afar. The first day of the regatta was the wettest race I have ever sailed in and with strong, gusty winds meaning many sail changes and incredibly heavy loads, I was basically done in right from the start. The weight of three strand lines and sails triples when they're full of water and lets be honest - I'm getting too old for all of that.

My staysail team were awesome, heaving on sheets and jiggers on the leeward side, often waist deep in strong flowing water as the boat powered up and until I was happy with the staysail's trim. Our harnesses came in pretty handy, keeping us on the boat with its lack of safety rails. But what an adrenaline rush it is. I can't help but love it.

I also cant help but love eating much fresh local lobster and crab whilst here in Cornwall. It's such a treat and a great way to explore the local fisheries and seasonal produce. And if you'd like a simple recipe for a very tasty crab and chili linguine dish then just watch this space... I'll be back.

So I won't selfishly bore you to death just because I have five hours on this train to kill but I will leave you with a few piccys. Don't they tell a thousand stories?

Thanks for reading. Note I didn't talk about the weather too much. But lets hope Sunny Suffolk is just that...


Cheers!

Tidying the decks and wooling sails after a long day racing

                     



Bowsprits in the fog of Falmouth

That there is blue sky. I dont have photoshop I promise. It was real....



Finally getting a sandwich on the rail after the last long race



The forepeak full of wet sails, my bunk in the background. Nice.

And some of beautiful Cornwall;

Cannes to St Tropez. And Stop.

I’m very excited for many reasons. The first reason is that I am writing this at all. I have a whole day, internet and plenty to write about and if I’m perfectly honest I’ve missed you. So ‘Hi’, it’s good to be back.

My second reason is that yesterday myself and the other weary crew members of Mariquita moved into our winter accommodation, ‘The Crew House’ in La Garde Freinet, Cogolin, France. And we’re here for a while folks.

3^rd reason is I cleaned my computer screen so I can actually see what I’m writing. I didn’t realise it had got so bad. But moving on;

Last night I slept in an actual double bed. In fact right now I am propped up, sitting cross legged with my lap top actually here on my lap, on said double bed. I am no longer sleeping in a fold-down boat cot. If I chose to I could star-fish in it (minus boyfriend). I have a wardrobe, space to swing a cat, an actual dresser to put my mini ‘Boots’ store on display. I have a great view the other side of two large windows in the room and real outside light flinging itself in here willy-nilly like it just don’t care.

I have space and privacy. To be frank I am in heaven.

Mariquita’s race season has ended and before I go any further I’ll just let you know that as well as winning the Monaco classic yacht regatta, we also won the Voile De St Tropez too!  Mariquita does alright for a hundred year old lady. But I would like to mention that the reason that I haven’t sent a blog in ages is because I have been incredibly busy with the Cannes and St Tropez regattas, sandwich making, guests and owners staying onboard, cooking for crew and guests, sailing and maybe a small amount of important socialising. And then I went and caught a cold on top of everything which made all of the above twice as hard. Oh woeth me...

We did do well and it has been a lot of fun with some great sailing. The first two days of Cannes were real nail bighting, howling wind days. We were all harnessed on with the rail fully under the water which threatened regularly to take our legs from under us whilst hauling on the staysail jigger. After the second day of it I was absolutely exhausted. But we needn’t have worried because from then on and all the way through St Tropez, we had nothing. Nadda. No wind what-so-ever. 

As we were the cup holders of the ‘Le Club 55 Challenge’ which falls on the ‘rest’ day of the regatta in St Tropez, we challenged the beautiful schooner Altair to race us to lunch at the famous 55 restaurant. I know, what a bummer eh?

Inevitably and fashionably there was no wind so after bobbing in the right direction a bit faster then Altair we decided to abandon the race and with the help of our engines head straight for lunch and plenty of chilled rosé. What a feast the restaurant had put on for us in such an idyllic setting. Of course, lots of sailors mixed with lots of free rosé is a brave commitment and a guarantee of noise and unruly behaviour. However both boats had owners present so we were forced to behave with a modicum of control and all food fights were subdued and carried out under the table instead.

On our way to Le Club 55 in one of the boats provided

Winning St Tropez regatta was a fitting end to Mariquita’s 100^th year and we are proud of ourselves and of the boat. We couldn’t have sailed her any better then we did. It is sad to be at the end of the racing season but have plenty to look back on over the 8 regattas we’ve undertaken since May.

Thats me there checking on the trim.

What now? Well we will begin the task of stripping Mariquita down for the winter. This is her period of maintenance and repair and why she still looks so beautiful at such a grand old age. We will sand and varnish, paint and mend, inside and out. Sails will be washed, rigging dismantled and the crew will go to physiotherapy.

I honestly couldn’t do any more regattas. I am tired and my shoulder is buggered. I have lived on the boat for 6 months with a poky cabin, tiny bunk sharing one small bathroom with 7 others and I’m more than ready to be here in our crew house in my room with a view.

So that’s not the end of 33 Degrees. It’s just another phase of my year on board Mariquita. And believe me, there is plenty to look forward to. If I said; Wild boar, chestnut festivals and mushroom foraging I’m sure you’ll understand why I’m so excited about being here. And of course I will still be cooking lunch everyday on the boat for the crew.

Thanks for staying with me and coping with such a long-winded blog. I promise many recipes and adventures on and off the boat and it’ll all begin tomorrow.

Hungry for the next phase and keen as mustard.

Cheers!

Chris Tibbs, our weather guru explaining about thermals and sea breezes...or just wondering where the wind has gone.

Big boats, little boats, St Tropez.

It might look like we're going quite fast here. But we're not.

Le Club 55

It takes most of the crew to lift the jackyard to be stowed at the shrouds.

Mariquita Won Monaco Regatta!

We won Monaco regatta! Our first regatta win of the year. We, the crew are feeling pretty pleased about it. It’s good when the hard work pays off and you come 1^st and win prizes. We do try to tell ourselves that we don’t race this beautiful boat to win, we do it to be a part of something great; keeping these beautiful classic boats alive along with the skills needed to sail them as they were once sailed.

But it is bloody great when we win.

We almost won Cannes regatta too! However the last race was cancelled and the points remaining didn’t go in our favour. We did achieve a 3^rd overall though, which is a highly respectable position on the podium.

Cannes regatta has been tough on our bodies. The first two days were full on, powerful breeze days. We had all the gear on, harnesses and wet weather gear. I have a great new rope burn on my wrist and I’m looking forward to booking in with my physio. It’s hard to describe how for two days I was hauling on lines whilst great waves of fast moving sea were trying very hard to take my feet from under me. Trying to climb back up to the high side of a boat that is well healed over is exciting and challenging. My back has seen better days.

We’re off to St Tropez tomorrow! The next and last regatta.. The Voile De St Tropez marks the end of the classic yacht racing circuit and the atmosphere is always amazing. It will be hard work as we have owners and guests on board. I have bought the Fois Gras and fresh figs, the Moet and smoked salmon ready for some evening entertaining. Cushty.

I can’t quite believe it’s almost over. Till next year that is. At least I’ll be able to blog more often and will have the kitchen in the crew house to invent more exciting recipes. We’ll still be working on the boat over the winter. She needs the maintenance as much as we will need it.

Time for rest and repair.

Wish us luck for St Tropez regatta. I’ll let you know how it all goes and will keep taking the photos.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!

Monaco Regatta Update.

Tell you what, if we do well today, we'll win this regatta. But lets keep that quiet for now so as not to tempt fate. It would be good though wouldn't it...
Monaco has been a great regatta, hot, not much wind but great social events, great rosé and royalty on board. Sian and I are up at 7 am to start the day and last night I finished at 10 30 pm with a little yacht race in between. Pretty tired now but must keep going!
We're heading straight for Cannes tonight after the race because a Mistral is due to blow. I'll let you know how the race goes.
Wish us luck!

Robin Knox Johnston enjoying the views!