32′ open diapason pipes as part of Exeter Cathedral organ
I love the ‘period’ headdress in this statue!
Queens College, Cambridge rehearsing for Evensong which we enjoyed
Well, a number of interesting adventures in the last week. We were moored in Exmouth Harbour, and this was ‘exciting’ in more ways than I might wish. We had fun touring to Exeter, and spent a great day there exploring the city. There is a great deal of history there, and lots connected with water and boats. The Exeter Ship Canal was constructed to allow sea-going ships to access to Exeter markets, but was marred by all sorts of political chicanery. Today, the canal provides access for pleasure boats, but at exceptional cost and difficulty. I chose not to take the boat into the canal, despite the adverse weather forecast. We explored the old quay, enjoying a meal in a traditional pub. We also wandered about, looking for the Exeter Brewery (closed) and a microdistillery/brewpub, where we had a break… We enjoyed evensong in Exeter Cathedral, and I specifically admired the organ, amongst all the rest of the cathedral.
Nicole and I on the Exeter Quay
We again were treated to another Red Arrow display, because of the local festival, and this one was much closer and clearer in viewing.
You can see the huge tidal estuary where we were moored to a floating buoy. The rainbows (look closely to see the double…) seemed to provide incentive to stay. However, the night was to provide a very different experience…
I was awoken by a particularly loud bang about 0200h, and looking out the cabin windows, noticed that the lights of the harbour were moving by at some speed. Hmmm. We are adrift, the tide is running at at least 10km/h, and it is really dark. Nicole grabbed a headlamp, and I did an emergency start of the engine. After regaining control, determining where we were, and motoring against the tide to move towards the mooring buoys available, Nicole piloted us with hand signals so I could maneuver, avoiding the looming boats around us, and towards a vacant buoy. We lassoed the buoy, hauled in a mooring chain and made fast, all against the racing ebb tide current. It was an ‘interesting’ experience.
We decided that the experience was fine, but we wanted to avoid the possibility of a repeat, and so left the buoy, and Exmouth Harbour, arriving in Torquay Harbour and a pontoon mooring. Relief…
Torquay Harbour and beach from the large ferriswheel , showing the resort nature of this area
Nicole enjoying the rides along the beach. We shared a tamer ride later- good for an old guy!
The weather is spectacularly nice, and we had an opportunity to go for a significant bike ride along the coast of Tor Bay, to Brixham and back. We also were graced with the visit of friends Chris and Nick who spent the day exploring Torquay with us, as the Royal Regatta was underway.
Nicole departed back to Canada, and I was fortunate to be able to travel to Gatwick Airport with her, see her safely onto her flight, and then encounter hordes of young campers headed for the Reading Festival on the train ride back. An interesting experience further into British culture. Now to get laundry and other domestic chores done, while awaiting the next crew…
