sailing

Today we had our first Discover Marine Science day. After the sunshine of last week, in the strong westerly wind it felt freezing! We initially had some introductions to species ID, photo ID and the marine geography of Mount’s Bay in the office, before heading out. There were plenty of grey seals around the island…

What a beautiful sunny week it’s been – there’s  hardly been a cloud in the sky. The sea was a bit calmer today after the easterly breeze finally dropped to almost nothing, so we were able to head a bit further west and out to sea. There were plenty of seals, on and  round the…

The fine sunny conditions continued today after a dull start, and we had a three hour followed by a two hour trip. This morning we had a very exciting sail in the strong breeze, after watching some very entertaining seals round the island. Seabirds skimmed past, though they were too fast for photos. This afternoon…

We had unbroken sunshine and blue sky all day again for our Ocean Discovery trips, though it was quieter for wildlife. April is mostly really inconsistent like that. We saw several seals on the island in the low morning sunlight, and flocks of seabirds flying on the breeze further offshore. This afternoon the wind really…

Another beautiful sunny day, though this morning that pesky easterly was still blowing. A few of our younger guests on this morning’s Bay Discovery were DESPERATE to sit on the net – we did warn them they would get wet if they did. Sure enough their wish was granted . We saw a couple of…

It was a beautiful autumn day today with sunshine and calm blue seas, with enough breeze to have a lovely sail. We had a mixture of local families and visitors on board for our Ocean Discovery trip this afternoon. Heading southwards we picked up a very interactive group of common dolphins who kept us company…

We had a three hour trip with eleven passengers this morning in an increasing southerly wind. The wildlife was a bit awkward to photograph today as it was unpredictable and the waves were a bit choppy but we managed to spot harbour porpoises (who were hunting deep so only surfacing intermittently), bluefin tuna and some…

We had a lovely trip in the sunshine this morning with some local people from St Ives and a family of visiting Texans. There was a punchy swell running ahead of the incoming wind and left behind from yesterday’s wind, but it was a great weather window. We watched some seals on and around the…

There was quite a lot of easterly wind today for our Discovery Voyage and Bay Discovery trips which made the sea choppy, but it was sunny and really warm. Sea conditions made spotting fins quite difficult – this morning we saw a few common dolphins briefly, and it looked as though there were porpoises feeding…

We had an Ocean Discovery followed by a Bay Discovery trip today. There was a bit more southerly wind than predicted, but at least it was warmer than earlier in the week! On both trips we found grey seals bobbing and snoozing round the island, and also good numbers of harbour porpoises. They are being…