Channals Creek
6th October 2026
Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud (aka The Hippopotamus Song to those of a certain age...)
In addition to sailing to the Helford this season (done!), another thing we wanted to do this year was to anchor overnight in the upper reaches of the River Fal. The mid-river pontoons are convenient and secure, but there is nothing to beat the peace & quiet of lying to your own anchor.
Given the almost summer-like weather forecast for Monday & Tuesday (albeit very little wind for sailing), and the neap tides (meaning a range of only a couple of metres), conditions for anchoring don't get much more favourable.
On Pipit we upgraded to a 'new generation' Manson Supreme anchor, 70 metres of chain and we had an electric anchor windlass, all of which were essential given the variety of 'bottoms' and depths we were anchoring in. Sea Apple has an old-school Bruce anchor, a combination of chain and rope and no anchor windlass. If there is one thing Bruce anchors are good at, it's holding in mud, and guess what is on the bottom of most of the Fal estuary?
And so it was that in the second week of October we found ourselves all on our own in Channals Creek, with only cows, cormorants, pheasants, herons and other waterbirds for company. Oh and a pair of seals, one of whom swam over to say hello in the evening, although the next morning, was fighting with another seal for his or her bathing platform, aka the mud bank.
Anchorage all to ourselves
Trelissick House as a backdrop
Looking down the River Fal
On Monday night Andy dreamt we'd made an overnight passage and arrived in France for breakfast. We had - sort of...
The fighting seals made quite a racket
Hea Hercules - self-elevating wind turbine installation vessel at Falmouth Docks