FUNCHAL 2008, Falmouth, England

Kernow Shipbroking, whom Art works with here in Monaco, celebrated a weekend in Falmouth, England, entertaining a few of their clients, along with family and friends. David William's, founder of Kernow, considers Falmouth his home...and is in the process of renovating a beautiful Georgian style home that is about 100 years old.

The tall ship races are a part of a celebration of the the 50th anniversary of the first settlement on the Portuguese island of Madeira, and Falmouth is the starting point of this celebration. There are 25 ships, in four different classes, sailing in this race.

Kernow is the Celtic word for Cornwall, which is the county that is the Southwest tip of England. In this county are the towns of Essex, Plymouth, Penzance, Devon and Falmouth, among others. Falmouth is well known for it's exceptionally deep harbour. Hence, it is a well known harbour along the Southwest coast. The Fal River was also where the boys heading to the invasion of Normandy started out...before they set sail for the French coast.

The land here has rolling hills, many meadows as well as forests, working farms for dairy cows and sheep. One of the favorites of the area is the wonderful cream that is made...sinfully delicious! Ice cream, clotted cream, and more...yum...and we did indulge a bit!!!

This being my second trip to England, the last was 14 years ago to London and the Eastern coast. This land was so green, a true Irish green, to me...with lots of meadows and hills. The harbour was filled with lots of fishing boats for work, many pleasure motor boats along with a large assortment of sailing boats. And the town crept right on down to the waters edge...with old stone streets and seawalls, pubs everywhere, and a great shopping area. Of course, with the festivities, there were tents along the waters edge with food, crafts, drinking and lots of music...both modern and traditional Cornish style.

On Saturday, we were all boarded onto a wonderful vessel, the Wando Lady, a wooden yacht built in the 60's, of American make, and just so simple yet comfortable. There were 16 of us on board. With a crew of three. There was lots of food and lots of spirits...the group all enjoyed themselves and each other.

Left to Right - Bogie, Kate, Jeremy, Lynn, Carol, Art, Kathy, David, Kylie, Andrew, Penelope, Arne, Cecelia, Andrew, James, Melanie...and missing, our photographer, John!

We set out to have lunch near the town of Helford. Afterwards, we went back to the mouth of the harbour and watched as the tall ships proceeded to parade out into the bay, under motor, because of the large crowds of boats all around them, but with most of their sails unfurled. What a site it was....AMAZING! There were spectators in rowboats, canoes, kayaks, speedboats, fishing boats, large yachts and sail boats of every size and shape imaginable.

The Mexican boat was the most festive, with music blaring from stem to stern, and much of the crew dancing away...it was a site to see. There were crew members up on the masts as high as they could go, preparing the sails for the start of the race. Magnificent colors, polished fittings and sails just ready to be pulled in to catch the wind and sail onto Portugal!

My memory of the hundreds of boats following and surrounding the tall ships will be forever in my memory...it was a once in a lifetime opportunity...and we are both so glad we were able to see it. Art voiced how his cousin, Lloyd, would have loved this day, along with Art's Father.

Enjoy these photos and video...it was a day to remember, for sure!