On Saturday the plan was to spend the day basking in the beautiful sunshine at the beach however unfortunately the sun never managed to make it out and so we spent the day snuggled up at the Harbour Hotel wrapped up in blankets, drinking hot chocolate, watching the boats go by. Then it was time to go back to the house, get ready for drinks and head out for the evening.
When Sunday arose we were all in need of a lie in which is exactly what we had before heading out in Salcombe for the first day of regatta week. We first went to Island Street to explore the fabulously British street party, with music, bbqs, face painting and lots of little stalls. Later that day I met up with a friend from uni who is down in Salcombe for a couple of weeks with her family. It was so lovely to see a familiar face from home and we managed to have a big girlie catch up in the sun at The Ferry pub over looking the harbour.
Our staff dinner was scheduled for Sunday evening and due to the lovely weather we decided to have a bbq on South Milton beach. It was so nice and a perfect opportunity for us to get content for work due to the fact that because it was a Jack Wills store dinner, everyone was wearing Jack Wills! We played rounders and made human pyramids before cooking sausages and burgers while watching the sunset behind the sea. When it was time to leave I was searching high and low and everywhere and couldn’t for the life of me find my car keys! Bearing in mind I gave a lot of people a lift to the bbq because the landrover has so many seats. It was an absolute disaster given that it was no pitch black darkness and we were all searching the beach using our torches for light! Obviously we had no luck finding the key and so piled into other cars in the hope that we would find it if we came back to search in daylight the next day. It was such a great evening having a beach bbq with all my friends, and such a rubbish end to it!
On Monday we woke up super early an drove back to the beach to have a day light search but once again with no luck, which was unbelievably annoying and so disappointing. A very necessary gym session was needed after that to run off my excess stress before heading to the Ferry to sit in the sunshine with a very needed drink and complete some more content for work.
Tuesday was such a big day for everyone in Salcombe as Ocean Valour was arriving finally to dry land. They are a team of two 24 year olds, trying to raise money for the brain cancer trust appeal as one of their dads had recently passed away from the illness. They rowed all the way accross the Atlantic from New York to Salcombe and Tuesday was their arrival date. The whole of Salcombe and many more people crowded over to the White Strand mooring area. There were people watching from balconies, restaurants, the yact club, from sea, everywhere all waiting for the arrival! There were also TV and film crews as well as four Royal Navy Rib boats, crammed with their family and friends waiting to sail out to greet them. The boys arrived with Tom Rainey, the main fundraiser, rowing in and he looked absolutely exhausted each pull clearly a struggle, while Laurence was standing up, hands in the air while the whole crowd cheered them in. The reunion on the pontoon was fenomenal, with them hugging and greeting family friends who weren’t sure if they would ever see them again after they set off from New York three months ago, but here they were, ragged, long haired, very tanned and clearly very tired. With boxes of fish and chips passed over to them as well as champagne, they made their way over to the Kings Arms pub to give some speeches…. We also had the opportunity of interviewing them! Stay tuned for the gory details of Ocean Valour!
