Since 2024, Amy and her father Joe have been cruising aboard their 2015 Outer Reef Classic Cockpit Motoryacht, ON LIBERTY, sharing their vivid travel stories with the Outer Reef community. This latest dispatch continues their remarkable father-daughter adventure, beginning as they arrived in Cornwall to reunite with Captain Tom, First Mate Kelly, and the Good Ship ON LIBERTY. After time spent exploring the River Fal and Carrick Roads, the crew prepared to head out to sea along the stunning Cornish coast—and a portion of the story that follows picks up just a little further along on their journey:
Falmouth and Carrick Roads to Cawsand, Cornwall, England
After a peaceful morning anchored off St. Just in Roseland, Amy and her father Joe set off aboard ON LIBERTY into the English Channel, leaving behind the gentle calls of seagulls and lambs. As they passed iconic landmarks like the Black Rock and St. Anthony Head lighthouse, Amy reflected on her childhood sailing dinghies on a Pennsylvania lake—now trading quiet loops for true exploration into the wilds of Cornwall. With blue skies, calm seas, and the lush coastline of the Cornwall National Landscape (formerly the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), the journey eastward was a reminder of the quiet power of long-range cruising and the joy of setting a course into the unknown.
The duo anchored in Fowey, a picturesque harbor town steeped in centuries of maritime history and wartime resilience. Amy recounted strolling cobbled streets lined with pastel Georgian storefronts and medieval cottages, where echoes of Daphne du Maurier’s literary legacy mingle with tales of pirate attacks and WWII defenses. "It’s easy to wander the streets and let your imagination follow the winding medieval roads and dwell on the centuries lived in the stone," she wrote. From coffee at the Royal Fowey Yacht Club to fish and chips in a pub older than Columbus’ voyage, their time ashore was marked by history, charm, and warm Cornish sun.
Yet it wasn’t all peace and quiet—Amy’s sleep was hilariously interrupted by what she later identified as a chorus of gray gurnard fish plucking out-of-tune underwater banjo strings. The next day, she took to the South West Coast Path, exploring stretches of ancient trails lined with wild nettles, WWII relics, and even a brass band. These coastal walks connect to larger pilgrimage routes like the Saints' Way and Cornish Celtic Way—paths once used by traders and religious pilgrims crossing Cornwall to avoid the treacherous Land’s End seas. As Amy summed it up, "The alluring call of the path onwards wasn’t the only thing I had to be careful of—signs warned of bulls, chickens, and stinging nettles, but it was all part of the adventure." Onwards, ON LIBERTY!
ADDITIONAL ON LIBERTY STORY EXCERPTS:
ON LIBERTY: GANDER, NEWFOUNDLAND
ON LIBERTY: BADDECK TO MASKELLS HARBOUR
ON LIBERTY: A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
OUTER REEF 820 CLASSIC INFORMATION
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