This story starts at the mouth of the river Camel. Padstow Harbor was once a prosperous natural harbor, with even large boats happily sailing in and out under the guidance of a 'merry maid' or mermaid! Everyone was happy. The mermaid gave the sailors and fishermen protection in return for letting her call the estuary her home. However one day, everything took a turn for the worst! As she was sitting on the rocks minding her own business and combing her lovely long hair, She caught site of a man. A man she did not recognize as local sailor, Tom Yeo was his name. As she got closer, she noticed he was holding a crossbow. He was hunting seals! She was not at all happy about this, so she decided to intervene. She swam over to a closer rock and began to sing. Her lovely voice catching the young man's attention. She sang a sweet song, so sweet that Tom fell in love with her. But when he asked for her hand, the mermaid rejected him and explained that she had just wanted to stop him from hunting the seals. This made Tom angry. He was angry that he couldn't have the mermaid to himself. In an act of rage he rose his crossbow and shot the mermaid! She let out a squeal and disappeared beneath the waves, only to reappear a few moments later. She swore that from that day forth, the harbor would be cursed! She threw a handful of sand towards Padstow and with that she disappeared into the deep, never to be seen again. That night a terrible storm came from the ocean. It ruined all the boats on the estuary and carried with it a bar of sand. In the next days as the sailors and fishermen tried to use the harbor, they would find themselves stranded or even shipwrecked on the sand bar. To this day the sandbar remains, making it hard for even small fishing boats to get through.