A mixed bag

Cornwall seems to be having a fairly busy weekend approaching with lots going on. For the art enthusiasts, Late at the Tate is an opportunity to view the gallery for free every last Friday of the month. For those who can make it, this is on tonight featuring the Dexter Dalwood exhibition. 

Good news for all Cornish residents is the Tate St Ives is offering free entry throughout March, just ring along proof of residence. Has to be worth a trip to St Ives to take this up especially as we have been told it is a really good exhibition. If you do then drop by and say hello to us at The Sail Lofts.

Work is continuing on our new addition in St Ives, a traditional fisherman's cottage which is being modernised to our high standards. The workmen are doing a great job of pulling this project together and we look forward to posting some pictures of the new property on this blog. 

We are progressing with our new venture which we are extremely excited about, word seems to be working its way around town but watch this space for the full details. 

We will hopefully be getting a newsletter out next week, if you aren't already signed up make sure you do here. 

Its been a varied week for surf, with the North coast seeing perfection on Wednesday, and the South coast has remained surprisingly consistent. With a mixed bag of winds it is going to be difficult to predict the surf over the weekend but I'm hoping one of the coasts will have a wave. Don't forget to check out our twitter account for the latest surf in St Ives. Next week isn't looking too promising so it could be worth making the most of any swell this weekend even if the wind is on it.


As usual we have a couple of cracking deals for last minute stays in our wonderful apartments in St Ives. 

Busy week at The Sail Lofts

The Sail Lofts is making the most of the quiet season (although last week wasn't quite so quiet). We are currently fitting out and transforming a fishermans cottage in the heart of St Ives into a beautifully interior designed property which meets the high standards of our Sail Lofts apartments.

The property will be a 3 bedroom property, with 2 double bedrooms, one en suite and further single bedroom. For anyone who is interested in a fabulous holiday cottage tucked away in a beautiful part of St Ives please contact our office on 01736 799 175.

The Sail Lofts also has another piece of news, but we're keeping this hush hush for the moment, so watch this space in the coming weeks to find out more!

There has been lots of news flitting about for the St Ives Festival in September a full line up (so far) is here.

Rumours have also been flying around as to who will be taking over Woolworths on Fore Street, apparently Pizza Express has submitted a planning application, but who are the other takers and what are your thoughts?

Other news is that we are still offering a fantastic 25% off late availability breaks in St Ives in a selection of our wonderful apartments.

Half term in St Ives and Cornwall

Half term has arrived and St Ives is busy again after a 6 week break from Christmas. The weekend saw great weather, in particular in Sunday, when there was a number of people out and about enjoying Valentines day and their holidays.

With no surf this weekend I was a little stuck of what to do, so I spent a lot of the weekend delving into parts of Cornwall I hadn't been to for a while. The highlight of the week was certainly lunch on Sunday at the Victoria Inn in Perranuthnoe, with great food and a lovely atmosphere, a real hidden gem I would recommend to anyone.

A pleasant walk along the coastal path on the South Coast is always nice, the water was glassy flat (looks nice but not much fun for the surfers amongst us!), the picture on here is of the view from Perranuthnoe towards Mounts Bay with Mousehole in the distance.

We have a couple of apartments left for next week but these are booking quickly, for more information visit us here. Also we have just added an a listing onto a new website for St Ives which I came across recently: LoveStIves which has all types of interesting information on the area.

Feasting, surfing and a round of golf!

St Ives began the week in style as the annual Feast Day kicked off, with the youth of the town scrabbling around for a silver ball, which then led to a cold swim for two brave souls! To see the action and read a bit more about it this blog has a great perspective on the day.

Philip down here at The Sail Lofts celebrated his Birthday in style by winning a competitive game of golf over the weekend at Tehidy Park Golf Club. His family and friends lucked into some glorious weather for the game as well, good timing!

The surf was on fire over the weekend as well, the south coast was great on Saturday and was well overhead, with some sneaky barrels. With the sun shining I'm sure there will be some great photos floating around, but check this video of Porthleven, looks nice!

On Sunday the North Coast decided to turned really clean and Porthtowan was really good fun with long long lefts and some really fun walls. Its been a while but what a weekend! 

Here at The Sail Lofts we are fully booked for half term week but we do have some great offers on holidays in st ives coming up soon, so keep your eyes on the website.

Whats happening in St Ives

Even though we are still in the depths of winter there seems to be quite a lot happening in St Ives. The Tate has reopened again with the Dexter Dalwood exhibition, I'm yet to make it down there but I've been hearing good things!

A long lasting tradition in St Ives is St Ives Feast Day, seen as a signal for the start of the season, it takes place on Monday 8th February. Traditionally to celebrate the anniversary of the consecration of the Parish Church of St Eia in 1434, it's also a day off for everyone at school. Central to the other goings-on is The Hurling of the Silver Ball; so old, no one quite knows when it originated. At 10.30am the Silver Ball (same size as a tennis ball, but made of wood and covered in silver leaf), is hurled from the wall of the Parish Church over Lambeth Walk Beach and into the mass crowd of young people, who have arranged themselves into teams, by the Mayor, this year Cllr Yvonne Watson. Each team tries to keep the ball until noon, when it's returned to the Mayor at The Guildhall. This usually involves a number of huge scrums, swimming with it across the bay and/or other pre-planned distractions to stop opposing teams grabbing it. The person who gets the ball back to the Guildhall at midday is given a silver coin (originally a crown piece); everyone else gets a penny. In 1823 William Webb Ellis, with total disregard for the laws of soccer, picked up the ball at Rugby School and ran around. The Hurling of the Silver Ball may throw another answer as to the origins of rugby; well, Cornish rugby anyway.

For those less inclined to take part in this, or can't make it, some more civilised goings on are as follows:

The St Ives Jazz Club every Tuesday, there are some good acts playing throughout February including Trevor Watkis Trio, but for a full listing see here.

On top of all this there is a Childrens Workshop - Paint and Plant with Jo.
Wednesday 17th February - 11.00 - 13.00.
St Ives Library
Decorate a plant pot for Spring - with Jo McIntosh.
£2.00 per child.
Places limited - advance booking strongly advised.
Call the library: 0300 1234 111

Jo is also running a series of workshops for adults.
Details on the website:


The Sail Lofts has some great offers on again for next week we are still offering up to 50% off, please see here.

Don't leave it too late to whisk your loved one away for a break over Valentines, we are getting booked up quickly but for our latest availability either visit our website or telephone 01736 799 175