I met someone today who’d walked the coastal path in the same way I want to. In one go, camping, and carrying all their own kit. I think it’s great that people are so keen to do the walk, in any way they see fit, but it’s nice to talk to someone who’s done the same thing. It was nice to share experiences, our apprehensions, the ups and downs, and it was amazing how similar they were. I’m so glad it’s not just me who sometimes thinks about giving up, or just having a bad day. It’s appears to be normal. It’s easy to feel guilty that you’re having a bad day because this is the trip of your life, so can feel bad if you’re not permanently on cloud 9.

Anyway, I digress. The point of this was that I knew I was pushing my luck getting the Noss Mayo ferry because there is only a relatively short section between there and Plymouth. And with wild camping it’s best to keep your options open. So I was seriously limiting my options. I was worried that before I knew it I’d be in a Plymouth and out of options because it’d be too late to get all the way through. I was nervous.

My concerns though were calmed when this kind man told me exactly where I could camp and that it was a good spot. I’m so happy as well because this is my first beach camp.

Odd mistake

The day got off to an early start because I wanted to get over the river Erme just before low tide. That was set for around 9:30 so 8:30 would be fine. With a difficult(ish) 5 miles to cover before I got there I felt a 7am start would be sensible. And by start I mean leaving the campsite fully packed up. Not thinking about starting to pack up at 7am.

I was glad to be going so early. It was much better than last time when low tide had been much later so I’d been hanging around waiting fo the water levels to drop. The downside though was that the cafe in Bigbury wasn’t open yet and also the shop at Ringmore would be closed. This did present a slight issue with food as I was down to one packet of super noodles and half a packet of peanuts.

I then bumped into someone I’d seen the day before and we chatted all the way to the river Erme. It was a good chat with Iain and interesting to hear about his life and experiences with hiking and camping. He was older than me (71) but was still keeping very busy. I’d like to be like that. He wasn’t going over the Erme but was going to watch me do it in case anything funny happened.

I don’t think Iain saw the thing I did wrong. But for some reason I only rolled up one of my leggings so the other one got drenched. I’ve no idea how I made that mistake. Maybe I was hungry. Other than that, the crossing was uneventful. Always good fun.

A bit hungry

After the Erme I sat down for a bit to upload a video and waited for my feet to clear themselves of sand (they didn’t). I’d been slightly disappointed because I’d wanted to film the crossing with my drone but there were lots of birds around and I didn’t want to disturb them.

I was in a good position now. It was still quite early and I was sure I’d be able to get to the crossing at Noss Mayo in good time. Last time I’d camped a few miles short of the crossing and had to wait until 10:30 for the first crossing and then ended up getting through Plymouth quite late. This time I’d be able to camp much nearer to Plymouth so getting through the city would be much easier.

There were two concerns. The first was that I wasn’t completely sure that I’d be able to find a reasonable spot to camp after the ferry and the other was that I was hungry and had very limited food with me.

I spoke to a lady walking her dog for a little while and she suggested walking into Noss Mayo as there was a nice pub there, get some food, and then get the ferry. She was sure I’d find somewhere to camp. I really enjoyed talking to her. She told me all about the old ferry pilot (who I’d met) and how he was now retired and how there was now a new one. I liked the original man – she said his name but I’ve forgotten it – she liked him too, but apparently he was a little unreliable. The ferry was now battery powered as well. She also told me about a walker she’d seen previously, walking the other way to me, who’d been out of water and food and hadn’t looked well. She’d made him stop where he was and gone to her house to get him food and water. What a wonderful thing to do.

I was hungry but not in need of rescue, however, I feel sure she’d have helped me if it’d been needed. I decided to walk on and see how I was looking for time when I got to the ferry.

Bit of a gamble

The walk around Blackstone Point, sort of circling Noss Mayo, is pretty, and more importantly, nice and easy. It’s quite flat, although some of the path is lined by cattle looking out to sea. So it’s easy to make progress.

I got to the ferry just before 3pm. I knew, technically, I should have time to walk into the village, get some food, then come back and get the ferry before 4pm, but it felt too tight. I also knew there was a cafe about 1 mile after the ferry which opened until 4, so if I got the ferry now, I should make it to the cafe. It was a bit of a dilemma because cafes often shut early, and I wasn’t sure if the ferry might finish early as well.

The ferry is ‘called’ by lowering a sign on the slipway to indicate to the operator you want to cross. It can take some time though and I thought if I turned up just before 4pm I might be too late. I had to assess. I decided that the biggest problem for me would be to miss the ferry. Lack of food could probably be solved later, maybe even waking further than I wanted into Plymouth. So I took a punt and decided to get the ferry and hope the cafe was open.

I love it when a plan comes together

The ferry took about 10 minutes to come over. I was getting a little worried that it wasn’t operating, but then I saw him sailing over.

I love these little crossings and enjoyed chatting to the pilot. I was asking about the battery and how he was enjoying his work. I think I would enjoy this job. But, far too soon, I was over to the over side and marching on to get to the cafe. Hoping that it was open. Also, with an eye on the terrain, wondering if I’d find somewhere suitable to camp.

I got to the cafe with time to spare, around 20 minutes, and bought lots of food. I’d not really eaten anything substantial all day. It was a relief. I then settled down and relaxed. The cafe shut around me but as I was outside it didn’t matter.

And then, it sometimes feels more than a coincidence, like I’m being helped, I got speaking to the man I mentioned at the start of the blog, and he told me where I could camp. Everything was coming together.

I had to laugh though. He was telling me about his experiences walking the path and told me how he’d timed it perfectly to get the ferry at Noss Mayo only to find, once he’d arrived, that the ferryman had not turned up. Looks like I’d got very lucky indeed in 2023.

Something new

There were probably better pitches, but I liked the idea of camping on the beech. While I was hanging around, waiting for it to get darker, two ladies walked onto the beech with their dogs. I said hi but that was all. Later, when I was having a walk around I saw them again and had a really nice conversation. I was asking them about how far the sea comes in as I didn’t want to drown, and one of them spoke to me about the history of the area. I even mentioned my website again (I hope they didn’t find it annoying). The conversation really gave me confidence and I then went back to the beech and set up for the night.

It took some experimentation with the pegs, using rocks to secure them on the pebble beach, but I was pleased with myself to get everything set up and secure. I looked at the sea one more time, I figured it probably wouldn’t get to my tent. Hopefully. Got myself warm in my tent and fell asleep trying to finish my book.