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Quintet

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Brixham 23rd July

Yacht Quintet
Visitors' Berth
Town Pontoon
Brixham
Devon

23rd July, 2005

We were nearly rolled out of bed again this morning. This boat sure rolls at anchor. Maybe we should leave the board down?

It was another dull morning. Visibility was down to a couple of miles and drizzle was in the air when, just after 11.00, we finally pulled up our anchor and headed south. We had thought about trying for Dartmouth again but neither of us has ever been to Brixham before and so that was agreed as our destination for the day.

The breeze arrived at noon and within ten minutes we had sails up and were steering a good course for Brixham, Clive dripping from the drizzle which was rapidly turning into a downpour and me catching up on previous days' episodes of the web log. It was drier below decks.

And there's not much more to say about this short voyage. There was nothing to see but grey, with grey and touches of grey, sometimes relieved by a patch of grey. So no pics, no poetic descriptions and not even a description of lunch. We had no lunch.

We did arrive in Brixham at a little after 2.00pm and were directed by the Harbour Master to lie alongside the sailing trawlers 'Reward' and 'Vigilence' but when we manoeuvred into position we were shouted away being told that this berth was already reserved and would be unavailable all day. So we went around to the other side of the pontoon and tied alongside a splendid Bowman 40 called Arcturius. By this time the rain was bucketing down so, once all lines were secure we both hid below and a had a beer or two.

We finally decided to brave the weather and trekked round to Brixham Yacht Club for showers and more beer. We had even considered eating dinner at the club as the weather continued to be dreadful and not conducive to enjoyable wandering. However the club restaurant was fully booked by a visiting club and the bar was the scene of a Caribbean theme night so we took advice on local restaurants from the club manager and headed back into town.

It was 8.00pm by the time we chose our restaurant and tried to get a table. But we were told that we would have to wait at least an hour. That seemed ok so we adjourned to the Crown and Anchor on the side of the old harbour.

The Crown and Anchor is a quaint little pub selling only pressurised beer but good for all that. It seems to have a few minor structural problems, for example rain started to come through the ceiling while we were there. I suppose that as it has been a pub since 1620 if not before, it has the right to show the odd flaw. But the welcome from the licencees, Pam and Andy could not be more pleasant.

We had just one beer in the Crown and Anchor and then returned to our restaurant of choice, 'The Restaurant Next Door' so named because it is next door to their other restaurant! They were still not quite ready for us but after ten minutes or so we were led to our table.

You may recall lyrical waxings about Bar Hamiot in Boulogne sur Mer. Well, 'The Restaurant Next Door' is possibly better.

I had a starter of scallops which was huge and delicious. I even shared it with Clive. Then I had pan fried gurnard which was heavenly. Clive struggled through most of his 'Selection of Brixham Fish, simply grilled' and declared it fit for a king and large enough for the whole of the house of Windsor! The house 'white' was very pleasant and the boss was a charming hostess too.

After dinner we returned for a farewell pint at the Crown and Anchor, where the water had stopped dripping through the ceiling and the music had changed from easy listening to a slightly more disco beat. We had our last drink, or was it two and then we headed back to Quintet. I guess we got there!

So ended a pleasant night in Brixham. I think that we'll come back.

Les Sutcliffe