A ride on the speedboats at Padstow has been a favourite Action Nan treat for many years – there’s nothing quite like getting out on the water and feeling the sea spray on your face!
We managed to entice Farmer Dave out for a trip to his favourite seaside haunt. Squeezing a trip in around the demands at Bosinver is always a tall order but we made it just in time to catch Rick Stein’s takeaway which is our favourite version of a seaside classic (in posh boxes, not newspaper) – delicious!
The harbour is always busy. We had a mooch round and after a while we decided to join the queue for a speedboat ride.
Thunder boats are go!
The speedboats wait in the inner harbour and take it in turns to fill up with passengers (12 max) We like to take the back seats as you are surrounded by spray and wash, making it even more exciting!
We were on Thunder but there are also three other speedboats to choose from: Jaws, Sea Fury or Fireball XL5. It is a thrill of a ride and a great way to see the whole of the estuary from the sea. They take you out to Doom Bar on the edge of the open sea.
When the boat is full, it lulls people into a false sense of security as it chugs out of the harbour and into the estuary heading out to sea. When it is safe and the water is deep enough, the boatman throws the throttle back, the engine roars, the nose rises up out of the water and you’re off on an adrenalin-filled white knuckle ride as he seeks out boat wash or waves breaking over the wreck-laden infamous Doom Bar to crash into. At this point there is a lot of screaming and shouting from the novices on board and the biggest smiles from us old-timers.
The ride lasts about 15 glorious minutes taking in the fabulous scenery of Rock, Daymer Bay and Polzeath, Hawkers Cove, Stepper Point and the River Camel. It never disappoints and will always be one of our ‘must do’s’ when we’re over Padstow way!
Find our more at www.padstowboattrips.com
PS: I suggest you wear a Mac…
We’d love to hear what you get up to, so why not post a message on the Action Nan Facebook page or tweet @ActionNan?
