Tidal Waive

I needed to get the first ferry across a river estuary this morning at 10am ( I’d been advised to cross early as the ferryman gets drunk at lunchtime and his steering becomes erratic) and then leg it 9 miles to wade across the next estuary before the tide came in too much. I made the first objective. Arriving at the jetty on the river Yealm I turned round a white sign as a primitive indicator to the ferryman at his house on the far bank that I wanted to cross. He headed straight for me.

I landed on the far bank and saw rock oysters in their hundreds on the boulders exposed by low tide. They were very solid and the only way I could open them was to smash them with big pieces of rock. They tasted wonderful, particularly as I hadn’t had breakfast, and I finished them off with handfuls of blackberries from bushes overhanging the bay.
I then half ran with my pack on my back to try to make a low enough tide. I covered 6 miles but I got exhausted to be honest. It was hot, the sun was beating down and I got knackered. I dragged myself over the last three miles and got to the estuary as it was filling with sea water. Beautiful beach though – Meadowsfoot Beach.

There was no way to wade across, it was far too deep, particularly with the waves coming in from the sea and smashing onto submerged sandbanks. I wandered up to a car park with a cafe and had a pot of tea and a pasty. I realised I was facing a further 15 miles to make my way round the waterway and then on to the camp site I’d spotted on the iPad. No chance. I was struggling to lift my feet. I started off up the narrow lane and my phone went. It was Georgie asking how I was and suggesting I flag down a car. As I finished the call two old ladies in their eighties drove past and pulled up to talk. They were offering me a lift as they’d seen me walk up past the beach and the car park. Luckier still they were driving east to Kingsbridge. They dropped me about 5 miles from the campsite I was aiming for.

I wandered down a track which ran by the side of the next tidal river and eventually had to get my boots and socks off as the tide was still rising and now covered the road for a while. It was great to paddle along a road whilst tiny whitebait were swimming across the tarmac with the incoming tide. Better still there was a fleet of swans, never seen so many, that swam across the road in single file. The poles indicate the sides of the submerged road.

A young couple were just strapping their baby into a car seat and I asked if they were going to try the submerged road or go the other way (my way). They confirmed they were going my way, to the village I was aiming for in fact, and I asked for a lift. They were ok with it and I got a much needed assist. The camp site is a working farm and when the owner clocked my shirt and I confirmed that I was doing a charity walk for H4H he wouldn’t take any money. I’m staying two nights as I now need to backtrack tomorrow to cover the missed miles but he won’t take any fee. Thank you Mount Folly Farm. Not only that, he could see I was knackered and whilst I was setting up Wilson he brought over a cup of tea and a bowl of lamb slices, a ham hock, bread and a tomato. They’d had a hog roast yesterday and there was some left over!

How kind is that?
I had a few drinks to wash it down.

The first person on the site I spoke to was Mark Brimmingham. He is a Blade and had driven up to Swindon yesterday to watch a dismal performance where we got beat 5-2.
This is the sun going down over the sea as seen from the site.

Night Night.