Cremyll Mark just up from the mouth of the River Tamar and close by to the Mount Edgecombe country park is where the tidal ebb and flood are at at its strongest. Sailing close to the mark you can get a clear sense of the power of the rushing tide as it either holds you in its grasp or whisks you along its flowing path. Often surrounded by whirling pools of water it is not a place to be at the currents' mercy.
The eastern entrance to Plymouth Sound negotiated by the end of the breakwater can look quite bleak at times. 12 tall steps holding a high pole surmounted by a marooned, metal, shelter sphere to remind the passing sailor that they could stay out of the grasp of a stormy high tide if ship-wrecked but it would still be extremely cold and wet. Beware of hypothermia !
A glowing red light warns the mariner to leave good clearance to port, easily lost in the multitude of flashing buoys and shore lights on a night passage.
