August 2018

Elm Arch, St Mary's.

Gig racing.

We spent 29th on Tresco, visiting the Abbey Gardens, Pentle Bay and Appletree Bay. Introduced golden pheasants and red squirrels in the gardens.

30th. St Martin's followed by the first pelagic of the holiday.

On the pelagic 3 grey herons flew over the Sapphire quite a way from land. Sooty shearwaters started to appear (we saw about 30 in total), and one flew into a shark fishing line and was released unharmed. We also saw about 5 storm petrels, a great shearwater, an ocean sunfish. distant Critically Endangered Atlantic bluefish tuna, and lots of common dolphins - maybe 100 in total. One pod swam right under the boat. A fisherman caught a porbeagle shark, which was tagged and released.

Our summer holiday was on the Isles of Scilly, with our children dropping in from time to time. We travelled to Penzance on 27th, and saw Mediterranean gull, sanderlings, turnstones and ringed plover on Longrock beach. We had a calm crossing on the Scillonian on 28th, and saw a confiding eider in Penzance harbour. During the crossing I saw a sooty shearwater, 2 storm petrels and about 5 common dolphins greeted us close to St Mary's.