Day 6 - Isles of Scilly

Even on a school day, moorings are in short supply at St Marys, and we probably got the last one free when we arrived just after 060 BST - even if it was for "a larger" boat. About half an hour later, a "larger" boat did turn up, on passage from France. They did a loop rather dejectedly and then we invited them to raft on to our mooring, Very competant sailors but rather less talkative than most of French yachtsmen that we have encountered previously.

More morrings.

The only really bad thnig that went wrong was not bringing an outboard for the tender, so having to rely largely on the launch service to and from the quayside was a bit of a constraint.
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Ashore, St Mary's is lovely, the weather is always fantastic, the locals friendly and all gods and services easily affordable.
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There is fuel on the quayside, a small supermarket and laundret withn walking distance and a good chandley not far away - although sadly short of rib tickling anecdotes about Port Elizabeth yacht club,
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Rat Island sail loft  is hidden round the back of the quayside. Like all properly run sail lofts it is a temple to sailing and the sailmakers are the high priests. I can't say enough in praise of their helpfulness. No really, proper.

Rat Island sail loft - a temple to sail making

An offshot from the sail loft - as though they needed one -  is Ratty's canvas shop, just off the main street in St Mary's. We bought a sailing / duffle bag of the shelf in blue and yellow but coudl have had more of less any size, configuration and colour if we had time to wait for a few hours. Great value for handmade goods made in the UK, and definately to be recommended.

Ratty's - go there and buy cnavas work!