I’ve been thinking about sailing at Easter and I’m wondering whether it is worth towing Arwen down to Helford for a couple of days. I could either camp on board or camp at a site. The Helford River is a lovely estuary which sort of stretches from Falmouth Bay up to Gweek. In fact estuary is the wrong word as actually the Helford is a ria.

 In the lower part of the river it is fields and little beaches either side and valley gardens such as Glendurgan and Trebah which lead down to Durgan village and Polwigwidden Cove. It is from here that D-day embarkations took place. In 1944 a regiment of 7500 men of the 29th US Infantry Division embarked from Polgwidden Cove to the D-Day assault landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy where they suffered terrible casualties. A memorial at the bottom of the garden commemorates the courage of these brave young American soldiers.

the village of durgan

Further up river there are yacht moorings and fishing boats. Helford is on the south and Helford Passage on the north, both linked by a passenger ferry, which I read somewhere has been in service since medieval times. Helford Passage has a sandy beach, a little shop and a popular pub: The Ferry Boat Inn. Across the water is another pub the Shipwright’s Arms in Helford Village.

Trebah

I am sorry but I can't find the website that I found these pictures on

It was a nice site about the Helford river, so if anyone knows what it was, please let me know so I can do the correct acknowledgement

Go further upstream again and there are oyster beds, Frenchman’s creek, Polwheveral and wood lined banks. Frenchman's Creek was made famous by Daphne du Maurier in her work of the same name. I believe that it was quite an area for smugglers rowing their boats silently up the creek. At Tremayne Quay, which was built for a visit by Queen Victoria in the 1840s (which she then declined to make) you can actually camp on the quay for a night, which sounds quite fun. Up at port Navas quays lime used to be offloaded and granite from the quarries around Constantine loaded up

Porth Navas

Somewhere at Nare Point there is a National Coastwatch Institution. They are a voluntary organisation formed to maintain a watch over our coastal waters. You can read more about them here at http://www.nci.org.uk/

Most of the riverside commercial activities are at the head of the estuary at Gweek, once a trading port serving Helston and the surrounding area. There is a thriving boatyard, the Watercraft magazine shop and other businesses including the National Seal Sanctuary which is a popular tourist attraction, operating as a home and hospital for seals and other marine animals rescued from the surrounding seas. Injured Atlantic grey seals are nursed back to health before being released to the freedom of the Atlantic Ocean.

The entrance to Gweek creek

With regard to pilotage I know that I’ll need admiralty chart 147. Arwen with her shallow draft will be able to explore great parts of the estuary upper reaches. The entrance faces East so will be sheltered from prevailing westerly winds. However, in easterlies it will be uncomfortable so I think sailing in easterlies is to be avoided. What I haven’t checked out is whether there are any launch ramps available. Therefore it is possible that I’d have to launch at Falmouth and sail around. At just under four miles from Pendennis Point, the Helford is a regular jaunt across the bay for many Falmouth boats. I read somewhere that in this instance I’d have to keep a kilometre offshore to pass the Gedges rock.

St Mawes and the entrance to the Fal is to the north; Helford ria entrance is to the south in this google earth image

I’m not sure whether I can anchor anywhere in the estuary. There are restrictions such as on the North Shore where there are Eel Grass beds. Now I am still smarting from all the insults I got from yachtsmen when I commented last year about the issue of anchoring and eel grass beds and sea horses at Studland....so I’m not going down that road again suffice to say that I will avoid this areas as requested because I know anchors do damage the beds and, frankly, I’m into minimal disturbance boating. Anchoring is also prohibited on the South Shore West of the Voose, because of fisherman's store pots or anywhere in the inner River West of the telephone cable that crosses the narrows.

This is Helford Passage and the moorings

Going further west up river there are moorings where visitors can pick up one. I haven’t found the prices yet but I suspect they will be hefty. In some ways I’d quite like to try and make it upstream to get to Gweek Quay. The channel is well marked with buoys. I think the Gweek boatyard may well be a good stopping point. The boatyard has a website at http://www.gweekquay.co.uk/ 

The creek up to Gweek

Yep, a sail around Helford certainly looks fun. Thinking about it maybe four days down there sailing around the Fal as well sounds good too. Now exactly how do I go about persuading the Missus?

Steve