Petrella: Salcombe, August 14th

In the end, we had a fine couple of weeks in August. The first week with Nik and Dad we made passage west, out to the Helford and back, via Falmouth and Fowey. Then I had to take Nik home for the second week, as she'd been unable to secure more time off work. 

Once I had her settled back at home, I returned to the boat and Dad and I found a gap in the second week's weather to head out east to Salcombe and back.

I'm not a huge fan of Salcombe town, though I admit as I grow more familiar, the town grows on me. But the pilotage to enter the harbour past it's sometimes formidable bar is engaging, and the harbour itself it gorgeous.

Although very popular, so you invariably end up rafted up on a mooring buoy alongside one or two other boats of similar size. Which I don't really mind.

There are options to anchor. We got quite used to anchoring with Calstar, but I've not done it with Petrella yet, although the previous owners did so a lot. That is, perhaps, something I should remedy.

We got back to Plymouth on the Friday evening, just ahead of some lively weather due in for the weekend. I retired to my bunk fighting fit Friday night, but Saturday morning I awoke to find myself unwell with, of all things, a nasty UTI.

Back home on Monday, the doc put me on a week of antibiotics. It knocked the infection on to the back foot but evidently didn't entirely clear it. The Saturday following the final dose of the first course, it came back with a vengeance. 

Another week of antibiotics, and a CT scan at the local hospital. The latest course of antibiotics are now complete and feel like they've done the job this time, but I'm waiting the results of the scan which I should have by next week at the latest. That I've not had a phone call in the meantime asking me to pop in to discuss them I count as a very good thing. No news has to be good news.

To top it all off, last Friday tendonitis flared up in my left ankle. I had two gigs over the weekend, so tried to show it due consideration and keep my weight off the foot as best I could, but the show(s) had to go on, so consequently it got quite nasty by the end of the weekend.

It's getting better now, but I'm still hopping around on crutches. I found myself sitting in the dentist's waiting room yesterday trying not to stare enviously at how easily people were able to just walk normally.

I'm optimistic I'll be fighting fit again for the weekend, another couple of gigs, karate Saturday morning, then racing at the lake all day Sunday. I haven't done enough of either this last month.

Anyway, I actually only intended to publish the photo of Petrella at the head if this post with a brief explanation, just to cheer myself up, and not the soliloquy of self pity that followed. But I'm going to leave it here, so that when I read back in a six-month or year or whenever, as I inevitably do, I can remind myself how lucky I am to still have my health and mobility.

I have the weekend of the September 19th free of gigs. Fingers crossed for the weather, my main ambition right now is to be fit enough to enjoy a final weekend away with Dad and Petrella before the winter really starts to close in.