My first impression was the chop, the waves off the headland knocking the boat around and consequently the boom as I was trying to drop the mainsail.  We’d turned North to head for the entrance and the pilot book mentioned that there was a bit of a chop that you have to grit your teeth and just get through.  As we got further inshore the chop began to ease off.

The Bag Salcombe

I looked around me and saw the stunning cliffs of Bolt Head towering over us.  As we headed further inland we saw a cove open up to our left, Starehole Bay. There was a fishing boat and a sailing boat anchored.  We followed the transits of a rock against a post in the trees to make our way over the bar.  Then we past South Sands to the West and followed the buoyed channel to Salcombe.

The estuary is a ria, or drowned valley, as there are no substantial rivers running into it.    I’m not sure what that means in terms of geology but from a leisure point of view it’s a large playground; and it was full.  The visitor moorings are in the main channel looking over the town and also around the corner at The Bag which is quieter.  On good Summer weekends boats will be moored alongside 5 deep on the mooring buoys and against the pontoon at the Bag.  We arrived mid-week so were only two deep every night we stayed.  We moored alongside the pontoon at The Bag.

We were glad to have our tender as that gave us flexibility to pop to the shops, explore the upper reaches of the estuary and get to the beaches.  There is also a water taxi available but self-sufficiency is ideal.  The Bag has a water bowser that is available from 10:00-11:00 everyday.  There’s also water at the Town Quay but you can only stop for about an hour.  Showers are available off the Town Quay and the RNLI provide lockers for life-jackets to be stowed whilst ashore.

Once we were settled with mooring fees paid we took our tender through the private moorings of mixed sailing boats, day boats, and power boats.  We found a spot to park our tender so we could explore Salcombe.

My first impression was how busy it was.  Much more busy than other harbour towns we’ve visited on the South Coast.  The high street follows the coast and there seemed to be a good range of shops for food with a number of clothing shops and some restaurants. We supplemented our recent supermarket shop with fresh bread, meat and cheese and then found somewhere for afternoon tea.

Whilst enjoying tea we flicked through the local guide books and tourist information leaflets.  There seems to be plenty to do, see, eat and enjoy both on and off the water.

Once we’d finished our first explore of Salcombe we headed back to the boat.  We’d planned to cook on board but after some tidying and polishing I hadn’t got the energy.  Tom ran out for fish and chips, jumping into the tender to go back into Salcombe.  The fish was fresh caught in the bay and still piping hot despite the five minutes transport in the tender.