I must admit here that the timings, prices and general workings of the Isles of Scilly boatmen remain a mystery to me. I think the confusing mixture of timings and destinations owes much to the changing tides and other technical details which I have so far failed to fully understand. But after looking at the times on the blackboards around the harbour and asking the helpful staff, we were soon heading out on the water again, past visiting cruise ships, in an open boat. The garden island of Tresco (Image: Dan Hooper) Here it struck me more than ever just how large and spread out the islands are. There are five inhabited islands, each a couple of miles long, and a host of smaller islets, banks and outcroppings of rock. The islands seem to face inwards around the central sea – the ‘roads’ I think the maritime term would be – and away from the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. Their sheer number and prospect are exceedingly beautiful. Fifteen minutes later, we drop off a party of holidaymakers at the lonely sun-drenched granite quay of the garden island of Tresco and watch as they walk out of sight inland among the spiky tropical palms before pushing on to St Martin’s. Our boat noses in along the coast, past outcrops of rock and approaches another small quay at the end of a white-beach. The whole scene looks like something from the Caribbean and the water is equally enchanting – amazingly clear and shimmering turquoise. The sand on the beach has the texture and lustre of caster sugar and it sparkles in the sunshine from fragments of seashell.