Trevissome House And Marine

Setting sail from Trevissome, By Bob Black

Either sailing or motoring around the bay from Trevissome is quite straightforward

You don't really need charts for navigation just a tide timetable as some areas up the rivers will dry out at low  tides. A cheap local chart will show you where to avoid during low tides and will be a guide to where the oyster beds and small fisheries are, so that you can avoid disturbing them. It will also show you the areas that are designated for water-skiing, tyre pulling etc.

The channel is clearly marked from the moorings out through the river past Flushing to the bay itself. The town harbour offers 'visitors' mooring, all year round. The Royal Cornwall yacht club is close by, as is the Green Bank Hotel pub with good meals and the Marina bar offers both food and drink with a view of the river.

You can access about 20 cafes and restaurants from the visitor's pontoons in town and there is a good café at the Water Sports Centre, close to the maritime museum, which has its own pontoon.

There are pubs at Restronguet and Percuil that serve meals and have their own pontoons and you can also eat at Flushing and St Mawes villages. There is now a drop off pontoon at the famous Trellissick Gardens (National Trust) and if you get the tides right, you can moor at the pub at Malpas and even get into Truro city.

There are beaches only accessible by boat around St Anthony's Lighthouse (Lighthouse Beach even has a little mooring pontoon) and many more around the headland and in the Helford River. There are pubs and pontoons at Helford and Helford Passage. Fowey is also very popular with good access from the water.

There are slips at Falmouth, Mylor, Flushing and just about every village next to the water. The fishing is quite easy, offering about 20-30 species from Mackerel and Pollack to Bass and Wrasse.

Although you would prefer a calm day to get out past St Anthony's Lighthouse or round to the Helford River, the rest of the bay, Truro river and Penryn river are very sheltered and offer good cruising on even quite windy days. Up the Truro River by Trellissick is the second deepest natural harbour in Europe and it is navigable even by large tankers, some are laid up in the river whilst awaiting refitting or new contracts

Its not as simple as navigating  inland waterways, being tidal and having access to the open sea but its very sheltered and calm most of the year.( if you've got the range, you can even venture out to the famous Manacles and the many , many historical wrecks for both fishing and diving and the possibility of a trip to the Scilly Isles is also realistic for the experienced sailor).

There are so many places to visit and so many places to moor your boat that it's hard to make any recommendations. St Mawes and Flushing are lovely if you want extremely up market and pricey, and Falmouth centrally has so much to offer visitors, including a leisure centre and the National Maritime Museum. Places on the Helford are popular with fishermen and divers, though a bit further from the calm inner waters of the Marina and Harbour.

There are places tucked away up the rivers where you can just moor and chill.