sea safaris

July already – blimey. Is it me or are the seasons racing by? We had a four hour followed by a two hour trip today. For long periods this morning it was rather quiet, even though we sailed several miles south. There were some nice gannet, shearwater and kittiwake sightings, but it was only when…

The heatwave had a break in west Cornwall today, with a dip in temperatures and a fresh westerly wind blowing. Coupled with the wind of yesterday, this created some big rolling swell, making it tricky to search for wildlife. On both trips we found some seals round the island, both in the water and hauled…

It was a gorgeous day out on the water, and we had a three hour Ocean Discovery followed by a two hour Bay Discovery. We had great sightings on both. This morning we very quickly found some fins over to the east – Risso’s dolphins. It was one of those times when it looked like…

We have been plagued by fog this week. It can happen when we get a southerly airflow that sucks up a load of moisture from the Bay of Biscay, when the rest of the country is basking in sunshine and it’s incredibly annoying. But that’s part and parcel of living on a peninsular sticking out…

It was bleak and foggy this morning, but the trip was thoroughly brightened by some great wildlife sightings at the end of the trip. Fog often disorientates seabirds so they come closer to the coast and down onto the sea surface. We saw a couple of grey seals hauled out in a spot we have…

Despite the dreary windy conditions we had a fabulous trip today. It’s always worth heading out at this time of year even on an unpromising looking day. After hoisting the sails on leaving the harbour we sailed south and spied a bit of bird activity, including some of the familiar looking pecking by great black…

More blustery conditions today and some sharp showers first thing. Cornwall has certainly provided some extremes over the last couple of weeks. This morning we headed out on an Ocean Discovery, hugging the coast initially to stay out of the worst of the wind, before sailing back with the swells behind us. There were lots…

It was another very breezy day, with a westerly wind and choppy waves. That didn’t deter the wildlife though, especially on the four hour trip this morning. Sailing south of Mousehole we picked up some feeding gannets who showed us where common dolphins were milling around. They swam with us as we headed southwards to…

The first trip we had this morning was with some students from Newquay College. They came out to learn about data collection techniques, and hopefully to have a good sail and find some wildlife, and got all of those things. A brisk westerly wind meant great sailing conditions, and we found a very cool ocean…

Back out on the water today after and extremely windy week. We couldn’t do the first five hour of the season as planned, but we were able to get out for a 3 hour Ocean Discovery, and we’re very glad we did. As often happens after strong westerly wind, there was lots of life about,…