SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

You know how it is; you work out a foolproof plan, execute it and then realise you have overlooked something vital. Such was the case when I found myself swimming 300m to Cawsand beach brandishing a bag containing my clothes above my head. All part of the joy of small boat cruising.

I am a farmer who is lucky enough to farm a peninsula overlooking the Carrick Roads and the Fal Estuary in south Cornwall. Whilst I have done my share of shooting, riding and rugby, my main passion is the sea. In it, on it, under it, or just beside it.

The boat is my escape from the farm, I can feel myself relax as we leave it behind and head down the Carrick Roads. I grew up mackerel fishing and setting nets for pollock and bass from my father’s oyster punt – a sturdy 15ft wooden rowing boat originally designed for the hand-dredging of oysters. Sporting a Seagull Silver Century outboard, my mates and I did miles with the bare flywheel spinning behind us. We put the fish we caught in a box on a go-kart and sold them around my local village of Mylor.

Now married to Jillie for many years and with two grown-up daughters, boating is still our main hobby. It is our thing, our joint pastime. Although it has always been part of my life, Jillie had done very little