Aug 2022 – 4 Kidneys and a Wonky Leg

Day 119 Aug 27th Salcombe to Dartmouth.

Aug 29, 2022Aug 30, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

It’s now less than 100 miles to home and it looks as if the weather is having the last word with strong easterlies forecast for most of next week. That’s dead on the nose for us, again, so we will keep an eye out for the best conditions to complete our journey. At the moment we’re not even sure whether we will be able to stop in Swanage to unload the boat, but that’s all a week away and things change. (hopefully for the better.)

And so to Dartmouth. The easterly winds were already starting as we motored out of Salcombe, avoiding Wolf rock, out past “Queen Victoria on a dolphin” rock, over the sandbar then eastwards.

As we round Start Point and Dartmouth comes into view, it’s immediately obvious there’s a lot of activity off the entrance. A quick look on the internet reveals it’s Dartmouth Regatta week. This means it’s going to be busy. Will we get in? A phone call to the harbour office confirms it will be OK but rafting may be necessary. That’s a relief I didn’t fancy Brixham for 5 days in Easterly conditions.

On we went, avoiding the race area, where some 50 boats were getting ready for their starts, and motored in to Dartmouth. It was certainly busy, but once past the town quay, where all the regatta activities were centred, it quietened down and we actually got a berth straight on the pontoon.

It was the last day of Regatta week here, so we went ashore to join in the fun, spending the afternoon watching RNLI displays, rowing races, sailing parade, and fireworks in the evening.

With so much going on it feels like we’ve been here for ages already.

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The Wessex Kidney Patients Association is a charity that helps patients and their families deal with the upheaval caused by Kidney disease. If you enjoy reading our blog please consider giving to this cause . Many thanks Louise & Martin

Day 118 Aug 26th A day in Salcombe.

Aug 27, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

To start the day we moved from the pontoon to a mooring bouy. The pontoon is right next to the main channel and the disturbance from the continual boat wash was a little irritating.

We took the dinghy into the town, did the shops, went for a walk down Batson Creek. Bought some sandwiches then took the tender to the beach and had lunch. In the evening we took a water taxi to town, going to the Salcombe Yacht Club for a drink and a meal.

Back to the boat for the night.

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Day 117. Aug 25th Fowey to Salcombe.

Aug 26, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

We woke to the gentle throb of large engines. It was barely 6am and the Cruise Liner “Europa” was being gently manouvered into it’s mooring just off the end of the pontoons. Just as well the dinghy racing was last night as this thing is right in the middle of the course now.

We had decided to move on to the River Yealm today. Savvy Navvy app anticipated motoring all the way, as too little wind, whilst Windy app was showing F4. We set off at 9.00am in no wind, out of the estuary entrance and turned eastward, a gaff rigged folk boat in full sail ahead of us. There were plenty of yachts around, all with sail up, so not to be the odd one out decided we would do the same. With a tickle of a breeze, we re-rigged the screecher and set that out as well. By 9:30am the motor was off and we were making 5kts. Its sunny, its warm, its a broad reach, happy days.

Over the next hour the wind steadily picked up and a 2Okts changed screecher for genoa, and were now bowling along at 7-8kts. Off Plymouth and an hour earlier than our expected arrival at River Yealm, we decided to make the best of the wind and carry on to Salcombe an extra 15 miles or 3 hours sailing.

We changed course which was a little more downwind and slowly the wind backed to the west and we got to the point where we were goose winged for an hour or so to get us round the headlands of Bolt Tail and Bolt Head.

By 4.00pm we were at Salcombe entrance, sails down and gently motor in. It was manic, motor boats, yachts, ferries, canoes, dinghies, paddle boards and even swimmers, all in the channel. You needed eyes in the back of your head, to navigate safely.

We got a pontoon berth in the bag, and after a terrible docking, (I got it all wrong). We settled down for the evening. One of our most enjoyable days sailing.

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Day 116, Aug 24th Falmouth to Fowey.

Aug 25, 2022luffin21 Comment

Now while I can understand that there is an energy crisis, and the cost of energy is rising, Port Pendennis takes the biscuit on overcharging. £41 per night plus £7 per night for electricity, over the top by a long way. Granted they have a good position adjacent to town and are the nearest marina to open sea, but facilities are mediocre and a long walk from the pontoon. and the marina is right next to a Naval shipyard. Hardly Premium.

So today we move on to Fowey, it’s a mizzly morning and as we motor out of the Fal estuary (no wind) we can see showers of rain here and there, reducing visability to 1/2 mile as they pass over us. Not so much rain as drizzle. For a day with no wind the was a surprisingly large swell, but caused us no problem as it was coming from behind and allowed us to surf a little.

Fowey soon appeared on the horizon, and as we approach we could see quite a lot of boats leaving so we’re pretty sure there would be space. On arrival we were spoilt for choice, with lots of spaces available.

Fowey was it’s usual busy place, lots of people, wandering the shops and eateries. We had an ice cream at Moneypenny Beach while watching the tourists on the beach.

In the evening we went to the Fowey Gallants Yacht Club for an evening meal, whilst watching the Troy class boats racing. We chatted to a couple of club members who were very interested in our trip as it was something they were planning in the near future, I hope we didn’t put them off!

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Day 115, Aug 23. Castles, knights and falconry.

Aug 24, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

We spent the day at Pendennis Castle where they had a knights tournament event. It was a hot and sometimes sunny day. The ” Knights ” worked hard and were in character all day. With displays of archery, fighting with various weapons, falconry, medieval music and some fire eating.

All in all, an enjoyable day out.

Fish and chips for supper, and ready for bed.

Fowey tomorrow.

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Day 114 Aug 22nd. Helford to Falmouth.

Aug 23, 2022luffin21 Comment

… Rain has been forecast over the next couple of days and we reasoned it would be better to be somewhere a bit busier rather than watching the water run down the windows for that time. So onward to Falmouth.

A grey drizzling morning, everything damp. Port Pendennis marina was full but put us on a waiting list to get in, we were second in line for a place so a good chance of a place as people left. We started off and made our way toward the entrance of the river the drizzle turning to mist and then to fog. Always a nightmare for boats.

On with the radar and ready to turn back if it got worse we gingerly made our way out. At worst the visibility came down to about 1/2 mile. The sea was flat and the radar was even picking up some of the pot bouys, slightly confusing when your looking for a boat!

It was only a journey of 7 miles and the fog lifted not long after we left the estuary. We had a clear run in to Falmouth and anchored just off the marina to await our invitation to berth.

The mighty 65 metre schooner “Adix” was alongside taking up most of the visiting berths, and when the call came to berth it was virtually underneath the stern of this massive boat.

We wandered into town and did some shopping, replacing my broken sunglasses. Then down to the quay area for a coffee. Watching food being delivered to tables nearby we were soon tempted, and ended up having pizza’s, then to cIear our palettes, some cider.

Back to the boat for a quiet evening, catching up on the blogging.

We’ve booked tickets to the Knight’s tournament at Pendennis Castle tomorrow, can’t miss a good castle now, can we.

Day 113 Ang 21st Newlyn to Helford River.

Aug 22, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Time to move on again, Newlyn despite it’s friendly harbourmaster and reasonable facilities is still a large commercial fishing port.

It’s raining this morning as we move off and are soon sailing across Penzance Bay and Mounts Bay toward Lizard Point. There is still a bit of a swell with the wind coming from the south. The rain clears and the sun begins to shine. After rounding Lizard point the wind begins to die and by the time we reach Black Rock it’s time to resort to motor once again. An hour or so later we’re heading in through the moorings of the Helford river. It has clouded over again and is again threatening rain. Surprisingly for August there are several visitors mooring bouys free but upstream of the moorings is where we’re headed, away from the comings and goings of tenders and ferries. The anchorage up near an area called the groyne is peaceful and quiet. The holding is excellent and there is very little flow on the river to cause you to drag so anchoring is stress free.

Tomorrow we will make the short hop to Falmouth.

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Day 112 Aug 20th Newlyn Rest Day.

Aug 22, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

After the long passage down from Padstow we rewarded ourselves a day off, starting with a slap up breakfast at the Duke St Cafe . We went exploring along the sea front where we bumped into Andy and Jackie Barker, that’s three days in a row we’ve seen him. We chatted for a bit before moving on only to meet them again at Frasers Fish and chip shop in Penzance. Small World!

A visit to Morrab tropical gardens, a quick look at Penzance geothermally heated open air swimming pool, a few bits of shopping and a pint in the pub, before returning to the boat for the evening.

Helford River tomorrow !

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Day 111 Aug 19th Padstow to Newlyn.

Aug 21, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Decision time 8am, looking at the weather forecast for the day it showed the wind at a steady F4 from WNW all day. We could be on our way by 9.00 am with a following tide for most of the journey, the downside was the sea state which showed large waves of 2.2 metres. The plus side was that most of this would be swell with only small wind waves. It wouldn’t be nice but it wouldn’t be terrible. Not going could delay us for another 4 to 7 days until another weather window opened.

So we decided to go. The gate on the harbour was late going down so 40 minutes were lost straight away, 3 other boats were preparing to leave, all going different directions, but we stole the march on them all, and were out of the harbour first. A bright sunny morning, it was good to be on our way.

As we made our way down the channel, along comes Andy Barker in his Osprey to say goodbye and wish us well.

And so it began, we got the main sail up and made our way to Trevose Head where we could start heading SW, but as we turned at the head so did the wind. Unbelievable, straight on the nose yet again! We briefly considered turning back but with tide against us we wouldn’t make the harbour and I didn’t fancy sitting at anchor for 6 hours waiting to get back in.

So we settled into our now familiar 1 hour on, 1 hour off routine, all the way to Cape Cornwall where we could finally use the sails. The speed went up giving us a boost towards Longships lighthouse. Rounding longships the wind died and we were back to motoring, the tide bringing us uncomfortably towards the rocks.

We were now heading East and as darkness closed in we could see a performance at the Minack Open air theatre up on the cliffs. Pot bouys, in the darkness now became Pot Luck. It’s a long time since we had night passaged, and it was a challenge remembering the different lights and what they were!

As we approached Newlyn harbour we picked out a number of dolphins around the boat, leaving trails of bioluminescence as they led us to the harbour entrance, and at 10.30 pm we tied up at our berth.

It was a quick supper then bed. Exhausted, but relieved to have arrived safely

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Day 110 Aug 18th. Treatment Day.

Aug 21, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Eight o clock and the harbour master is moving boats around to enable us to have a walk ashore pontoon berth for the day. This will allow the nurse easy access to the boat for Louise’s treatment at 9 o clock. Apart from the fact that it was raining all went very well. It was a very nice spot not quite so overlooked as the harbour wall. It would have been nice to be able to stay there, but we were in a private berth which the owners had kindly allowed us to use. Whilst there, a chap came to the pontoon and asked how long I’d had the boat, and who I had purchased it from. It turned out that he was working for Patrick Boyd Multihulls from whom I’d bought it, and was responsible for assembling and commissioning Watanga. We chatted about this and that and one thing led to another and he ended up at the top of the mast replacing my broken screecher halyard. Nice chap.

Next surprise of the day was Andy Barker turning up to say hello, down in Rock for a second week, this time competing in his Osprey. Really nice of him to pop over and have a chat.

Treatment finished, and we had to move the boat again, this time at peak tourist and crabbing time. So a plan was formulated and the execution was luckily almost perfect. Nothing for the tourists to laugh about. We did upset about 6 families that were crabbing off the wall where we berthed, but I suspect that there were one or two parents glad to be given the excuse to take their kids elsewhere.

Having sorted the boat out, we went to have a look at the National Lobster Hatchery which sounds like a huge enterprise but sadly is only a small concern and inexplicably not helped by the government. The potential for this kind of enterprise being sadly overlooked.

We may move on tomorrow, it will depend on tomorrows’ weather forecast.

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Day 109 Aug 17th Padstow and Rock

Aug 20, 2022Aug 20, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Time to explore, I’m sure I’ve been to Padstow but I can’t remember it. The different perspectives of arriving by sea and being in the harbour, rather than arriving by road and looking at the harbour is quite pronounced. There is a certain feeling of being part of the entertainment, especially when you have to move the boat around, as we did.

We had a very nice meal at St Petroc’s Bistro today one of Rick Steins establishments. In the afternoon we took the ferry across to Rock in search of the winner of the Camel week Shrimper regatta and ex local boy, our very own Andy Barker. We didn’t find him, but the ferry was an interesting experience. At low tide the ferry boats just drive up onto the steep shoaling beach, the front flap drops down and you walk off, D day landings style, trekking off up the soft sandy beach.

Rock, sadly was a bit of a let down (sorry Andy) just a sailing club, a couple of bars and eateries and lots of holiday homes, Sandbanks style.

We have to be up early tomorrow to move the boat to the other side of the harbour.

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Days108 Aug 16th Padstow Its Raining!

Aug 17, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

It rained, I guess you will all know that, as it just about rained everywhere in Britain on Tuesday. In the morning we sat out the heavy stuff from the comfort of the boat, whilst the true grit Brits on holiday continued with their crab fishing off the harbour wall. The seagulls didn’t look too happy either. By the afternoon there was only a light drizzle, on and off, so we went exploring along toward Stepper point for a view of the Doom Bar at low tide.

Then down to Gun point and into Harbour cove, the sands of which form the Doom Bar.

According to local folklore, the Doom Bar was created by the Mermaid of Padstow as a dying curse after being shot. In 1906, Enys Tregarthen wrote that a Padstow local, Tristram Bird, bought a new gun and wanted to shoot something worthy of it. He went hunting seals at Hawker’s Cove but found a young woman sitting on a rock brushing her hair. Entranced by her beauty, he offered to marry her and when she refused he shot her in retaliation, only realising afterwards that she was a mermaid. As she died she cursed the harbour with a “bar of doom”, from Hawker’s Cove to Trebetherick Bay. A terrible gale blew up that night and when it finally subsided there was the sandbar, “covered with wrecks of ships and bodies of drowned men”.

Tomorrows highlight is a a meal in St Petroc’s Bistro, a Rick Stein restuarant.

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Days 106-107 Neyland to Padstow.

Aug 16, 2022luffin21 Comment

Sunday was a bit of a slow day, having done all our jobs, we only had to move out of the marina and go back to the anchorage at Castlebeach Bay ready for our passage to Padstow the following day. By moving we achieve two things, we avoid having to get out of the marina at some ridiculous time in the morning and we knock almost 2 hours off an already long passage of 14 hours. There was actually a third thing although we couldn’t have anticipated it, we missed the smoke and ash from a grassfire near the Neyland marina. (See photo)

Monday we woke at 0515, and not having been awake this early for a while it came as a surprise that it was still dark. Not that it was a problem, just that I hadn’t anticipated navigating the harbour entrance in the dark. As it happened, by the time we weighed anchor at 0600 there was some pre – dawn light. We were also delayed a little waiting to cross the shipping lane 🚢 , as a very large tanker, 4 tug boats and a pilot boat went past. Once clear of the harbour it was pretty much a straight line course to follow for the next ten hours. After a brief spell of sailing, the motor went on as the sea breeze died and we settled down to our hour on, hour off, routine of helming.

But today was a day of Dolphins with sightings once or twice per hour more or less all the way. Many were pairs, but we also saw some pods of up to twenty, one of which came to play around the boat.

As we neared the Cornish coast the sea breeze kicked in again and we got to sail for a bit as we fought an increasingly strong cross tide to enter Padstow Bay and cross the infamous Doom Bar. Doom Bar is a sandbank that can in some weather conditions be very treacherous and is the site of some 200 known shipwrecks. It’s also a well known brand of beer!

By 20.00h, after some 14 hours passage we were safely rafted up in Padstow Harbour.

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Day 105 Aug 13th Busy Day.

Aug 14, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Well, having travelled from North Wales to here (Milford Haven) without visiting a Marina for a week we had a few things to do. Priority was a full english breakfast at the marine cafe to set us up for the day. That done, filling up with fuel and water, and while the hose was out we gave the boat a quick rinse, to get all the salt off. There were clothes and bedding to be laundered and Lou gave the boat a hoover and a wash through, hopefully the last time we need to do this before getting home! Yes, we are thinking now in terms of days and weeks to go, instead of how many days have gone by. I bought a couple of pulley blocks from the chandlery to renew the screecher halyard system, although I’m not sure who is going up the mast to retrieve the halyard. Lastly there was a trip to the supermarket to stock up on essentials. Oh, one more thing, we have had to store the fenders on the deck (very untidy) because the forward locker had the Screecher very roughly stuffed in it. So with a nice pontoon to lay it out on, we got that rolled up and stowed away nicely. Now there’s room for the fenders as well!

Time for a beer, and a piece of cake, funny combination but it was too hot for coffee. It was also too hot to sit on the boat which in the marina was in a bit of a sun trap, so we went for a walk in the nature reserve at the end of the marina, nicely shaded by trees.

By the end of the day I’d completed nearly 19000 steps, it was definitely time for bed.

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Days 103-104 Aug 11-12. Milford Haven.

Aug 13, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Life has slowed down a little, as we soak up the warm weather. We are now one step away from Padstow although it is a big trip of 70 miles or so. We have kindly been promised a walk ashore berth at Padstow for next Thursday but we are arriving on the Monday evening so not sure how that’s going to pan out.

Meanwhile it’s been hot and windless the past few days and we have spent most of it at anchor in a fairly secluded Castlebeach Bay. We ventured round the corner to Dale where we had lunch at the Dale Yacht Club, aka COCO’S, a pizza and tapas restuarant on Thursday. Friday afternoon we took a leisurely sail up to Neyland Marina. To give you some idea of the size of Milford Haven, Neyland Marina is 7 miles from the entrance and there are still large ferries and tankers to contend with that far in.. We are in the upper basin at Neyland which means we have restricted access to the open sea over a cill (dam) that keeps the water in. Thus we can only leave at higher states of tide.

We did get a top view of the Sturgeon Moon Rising on Thursday night.

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Day 104 Aug 10 Fishguard to Milford Haven.

Aug 12, 2022luffin22 Comments

Up at 0600 today, a crisp bright morning, the boat all wet with morning dew. A quick breakfast and we were off on a smooth flat sea. Just a few fishing boats here and there re-laying their lobster pots.

The first three hours are a doddle, just staying staying on a line between Strumble head and St Davids Head. Its as we turn south the fun begins, the speed over the ground increasing steadily with more and more tide rushing through the gap between the mainland and Ramsey Island. It’s a reasonably wide Sound but even on this very calm day the water is churning violently in places as it swirls round the various hidden rocks. We pick our way through encouraged by the fact the lifeboat station is very close at hand should we need it!

Then all of a sudden you are out the other end, the sea calms and we set course across St Brides Bay for the gap between Skomer and the Mainland, Jack sound. It’s a similar story to Ramsey Sound, as we accelerate toward the gap between the rocks this time only 150 metres wide. To add to the mix theres a dive boat in the way, hard core divers on an extreme drift dive. The photo’s don’t give a realistic view of the water, but there were some serious whirlpools going on in and after this short stretch of the passage. After Jack Sound it’s another hour or so before we enter Milford Haven and find the quiet, Castlebeach Bay to anchor in for lunch and as it turns out the night.

We’re here in Milford Haven for a few days before our passage to Padstow.

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Day 103 Aug 9th Fishguard.

Aug 10, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

To go to Milford Haven from Fishguard safely you have to have good weather and get the timing of the tides right. We were given this information by the harbourmaster who gave us a detailed route map describing the whole journey and just about every rock to avoid. It seems that you should leave at HW Fishguard, and maintain a boatspeed of 5knts all the way. Tomorrow HW is 0630, which is not too early, and the weather is just right.

So it was a rest day in Fishguard, the town itself is up on the top of the hill and was quite a climb. We had a coffee and grabbed some supplies from the Co-op. In the afternoon we had a quick lunch in the Fishguard Bay Yacht club, before visiting St George’s Fort up on the headland.

Then a quiet evening on the boat and an early night ready for tomorrows passage.

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Day 102. Aberdaron to Fishguard.

Aug 9, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Nothing much to say about today, weigh anchor, set a course of 190° Motor for 8 hrs, anchor. Job done.

Not quite that simple but essentially a quite boring passage, (all open sea for almost 60 miles and at midway you are at least 30 miles from land in any direction).

Wales being quite mountainous and it being a clear day was visible through about 200 degrees at one point.

One highlight just before entering Fishguard was a pod of dolphins (Short beaked Commons I think ) that swam past and around the boat. On entering Fishguard it was much larger than I remembered, (It was about 45 years ago I last came). We found the southern anchorage and decided to use one of the mooring bouys.

We shall stay for two nights here as the weather is settled and I want to find out some local knowledge about the trip round to Milford Haven, which after reading the Almanac, makes Pentland Firth look like a walk in the Park!

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Day 101 Aug 7th Caernarfon to Aberdaron

Aug 9, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

With the marina cill not being opened until 0700 hours, it was going to be a close run thing to get across the Caernarfon Bar before the water got too shallow. The tide runs fast here, so no time to waste, the channel changes regularly but the navigation bouys are resited often.

A stroke of luck in that a few crews had met the harbour master in the pub the night before and persuaded him to open the cill earlier at 0630. Happy days, a bit more leeway, just needing to identify the channel.

All went well and we were soon motor sailing in the light morning breeze, the screecher sail gently aiding our progress. Lou was on helm, I was inside making a cuppa when there was a loud bang, Lou watched me as I searched in vain for the source of the noise, then suddenly said, ” What’s happened to the sail?” I was just about to say ” You’re luffing again ” when I saw through the window that there was no sail!! How can there be no sail, it was there a second ago. Rushing on deck I found it having a wash in the sea. I dragged it back on board and straight into the forward locker. The pulley at the masthead had shattered, letting the head of the sail go.

that will be another trip up the mast and new pulleys. We were lucky none of the ropes or the sail got caught in the propeller.

The wind got lighter as the day wore on but at the end of the Lleyn Peninsular the sea got choppy then rough, and as we were passing Bardsey Island there was a graunching sound and the whole boat shuddered, what the hell, depth guage 28 metres, chartplotter, no obstructions, We cut the engine and raised the drive leg, nothing. Although we didn’t see anything we can only assume we hit a partially submerged object. It left us a bit jittery for the rest of the journey, anchoring up off Aberdaron beach for the night.

We had hoped to go to Pwllheli marina but they had no berths available, Aberystwyth doesn’t answer the phone at weekends, Fishguard is only an Anchorage, and the whole of Cardigan bay is a firing range. Bit of a yachting desert really.

Next stop Fishguard.

Day 100 Aug 6th Caernarfon

Aug 8, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

A day in port, for two reasons. Firstly I had not appreciated that the harbour didn’t work 24hrs and so we were locked in at the time we needed to exit in order to catch the tide out of the southern end of the straits. You are warned not to attempt crossing the Caernarfon Bar at any time other than HW ±3. Secondly, we wanted to visit the castle.

We took our time visiting the castle and the city walls, learnt a little about the British Civil wars from Charles Cordell who was there promoting his book, and stood where Prince Charles was invested as Prince of Wales. Even watched some re-enactment going on. It was market day and so we bought some fresh fruit & veg, and also a replacement fuel can from the local hardware shop.

Back at the marina we filled said container and others and the tanks, we have a settled few days so there’s going to be lots of motoring!

We treated ourselves to a pub meal at the famous Black Boy Inn, one of the oldest pubs in North Wales built circa 1522.

Back to the boat for an early night, ready for an early start tomorrow.

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Day 99 Aug 5th. Moelfre to Caernarvon.

Aug 7, 2022Aug 7, 2022luffin21 Comment

Only twenty miles to go today but important to get the tides just right for traversing the Menai Straits. Now there’s no denying that the Menai Straits and in particular an area called “the Swellies” can be a dangerous stretch of water to navigate. However, it’s a bit like changing an electrical socket, if you turn the current off then there’s no problem. If you do it with the current on, you could get a shock.

The equivalent to turning off the current is to traverse the dangerous bits at High Water when there is no current, (and of course lots of water depth). The tricky bit is timing but I won’t bore you with that bit. The rest is just following a quite narrow and winding path past all the various rocks, shallows and of course the wreck of the HMS Conway.

The day started cloudy and cool, with an annoying family in a speedboat, water skiing through the moorings repeatedly. The timing of our run through the Straights meant we didn’t have to start until midday which meant some time to catch up on the blog..

Entering the North end of the Strait, past Puffin Island, (a different one) the quite choppy sea flattened as we poottled in still a little ahead of schedule, the sun came out and the rest can be said in pictures.

No real problems, as we leisurely made our way down the 14 miles to Caernarvon marina. If anything, we were a little too early going through as the tide was quite strong against us under the Menai bridge, that said, by the time we were passing Plas Newydd the tide was under us and going into the narrow harbour entrance a few miles later with 2.5 kts of cross tide was quite tricky.

It’s a lovely marina, lots of friendly helping hands, really good showers, and an on the ball, Dockmaster.

We will stay here two nights. Tomorrow we’ll explore the town.

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Day 98 August 4th Douglas to Anglesey

Aug 6, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

A good wind forecast giving us somewhere between a run and a broad reach will hopefully make for a pleasant journey. With high tide around 4am this morning we had to get out of the marina by 5.45 am latest, before the marina gate closed. Yawn! another early start. Still it meant we would be at our destination by early afternoon.

First delay was the arrival of the ‘Ben my Chree’ passenger ferry, & Port control asking us to wait and stay clear.

Ok fair enough, wouldn’t want to mess with that!

Once on our way, we left Douglas in the rain and headed south. After the strong winds of the last couple of days the sea state was quite rough, despite there being only moderate winds. There was only us for the first 6 hours but it became busy with ferries from Liverpool, criss crossing our path as we neared the north coast of wales

Moelfre could be picked out from the coastline by the roof of the RNLI Station and happily on arrival the sea was flat and free of swell. We anchored up in 7 metres of water at exactly HW Moelfre, giving us 2.5 metres when the tide went out, and thats on neaps.

Going ashore we watched the lifeboat launch and speed off. We wandered around the village and coast path with Louise recalling childhood memories.

We had an ice cream, then went and got chips to have with some chicken back at the boat. It had been a long day so early to bed. Tomorrow we head for Caernarvon, through the Menai Straights.

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Day 97 Aug 3rd. A day of jobs.

Aug 5, 2022luffin2Leave a comment

Nothing much to report, We did the usual stuff of getting provisions for the coming week. Doing a few jobs about the boat. Some cleaning, that sort of thing. Dropped the cap off the fuel can into the marina. Damn! that’s useless now.

And looking forward, here’s the weather for the passage tomorrow

The wind looks favourable, as we are going almost dead south to Anglesey and the Menai Straights. We will pass by Moelfre which holds lots of childhood memories for Louise, and if it’s suitable we’ll anchor there for the night, i thats not suitable we’ll continue on to Beaumaris for the night.

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Day 95,96. August 1st-2nd Douglas.

Aug 3, 2022Aug 3, 2022luffin22 Comments

It is hard to believe that on Friday last, we were in the Crinan Canal. It seems so long ago. Just over 140 miles later and here we are in Douglas waiting for some fair winds.

We’ve spent most of the day cleaning and doing laundry, and we will be here until at least Thursday and maybe longer. Having caught up with our schedule, this will put us back again. Looking ahead there are precious few marina’s in North Wales and anchorages of course are always weather dependant. The alternative is some more long passages or head for the Irish East coast.

For the moment our plan is to head for Beaumaris in the Menai Straits, that’s if we can trust the weather forecast. It will be a last minute decision.

The Isle of Mann meanwhile, is a strange place. It’s early August and half the attractions aren’t even open or only open at the weekend. Douglas has a long, long beach with promenade that’s in good condition. The gardens and flower beds are all well tended, there’s no litter, no dog poo, but it’s empty and soul less.

We did find the Manx museum, which is very well laid out and charts the history of the Island over 10,000 years.

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Day 94. July 31st Maryport to Douglas.

Aug 2, 2022luffin23 Comments

What a night, we barely had any sleep! The light NW wind that was forecast had gone round to the North and was about a Force 4. We had lost the protection of the sandbank as the wind veered, the boat spent the night rocking, rolling and banging about, very unpleasant.

Not a great start, but the sunrise was good. We were soon under way running with the wind with just the genoa giving as a comfortable 6 knots. With the sail up, the boat motion was smoothed and as we took one hour turns at the helm, we were able to catch a bit of sleep in between watches.

The wind built to a steady F5 from the NW a bit earlier than expected, but still a nice sail. We rounded the Point of Ayre on the North of the island, keeping close in to avoid the turbulent waters further out. Crossing Ramsay Bay we put a reef into the genoa as the wind was now at 25-27 knots.

Passing Maughold Head the wind was now getting gusty, being affected by the hills. Regular gusts of 30-32 hit us so in went a large second reef. We were now whizzing along at 7-8 knots in moderate seas with a handkerchief for propulsion. Then it hit us, bang 45 knots sustained, a new record for my sailing experience and a scary one too! Sail down, I was fearful of the sail shedding or the rig breaking, so the last 10 miles were spent motoring,. Entering Douglas the outer harbour was too choppy to moor up, we were already tired and needed a good nights sleep, so we opted for the inner harbour where there was no wind at all. Downside, is we lost our gamble with the wind, but two out of three days is not bad. We’re now stuck here for a few days, but there are worst places to be holed up.

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Day 93 July 30th Campbeltown to Maryport.

Aug 1, 2022luffin24 Comments

An early start of 6am for a long passage of 63 miles. The day started wet as we motored out from the marina waving good morning to the chaps on the Border Control Vessel moored nearby. Out round Island Davaar with it’s lighthouse winking goodbye, we turned south and soon had the sails up with the wind on a close reach. As we made our way south the wind slowly backed, (it should have been veering) and after 20 miles we were heading, off course, toward Lock Ryan and Stranraer. Reluctantly we lowered the sails, the wind was dying anyway, and motored, now headed in the right direction. We passed a couple of pods of dolphins, which paid no interest in us and just passed by.

There were very few boats about other than when we passed Port Patrick, where we saw a yacht go in to Port Patrick and another passed us going the opposite way. The tide by now was against us in a big way, inevitable on a 12 hour journey. Passing Crammag Lighthouse the sea got rough, surprising as there had been no wind for the last 2 hours. We were being tossed around all over the place, and it got worse as we headed for the Mull of Galloway. Then the engine coughed, I knew what it was straight away, the rough conditions had stirred the tanks and the filter had water and muck in it. Cleaning the filter, brought back memories of my first hip dislocation which happened in similar conditions and doing the very same task. I was very careful!

Once done and the engine restarted, we continued on round into Luce Bay where there was a short patch of very fast flowing water, 5 knots against us, reminiscent of going round St Aldhelms point on a spring tide.

Then all of a sudden it was calm and protected from the Irish sea swell, we motored up to Maryport and anchored off the beach there in the lea of a sandbank.

We went to bed soon after supper, the boat rocking a bit from a slight swell. It had been a long day and would be another long one tomorrow.

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4 Kidneys and a Wonky Leg

Sailing around Britain

Month: Aug 2022

Day 119 Aug 27th Salcombe to Dartmouth.

Day 118 Aug 26th A day in Salcombe.

Day 117. Aug 25th Fowey to Salcombe.

Day 116, Aug 24th Falmouth to Fowey.

Day 115, Aug 23. Castles, knights and falconry.

Day 114 Aug 22nd. Helford to Falmouth.

Day 113 Ang 21st Newlyn to Helford River.

Day 112 Aug 20th Newlyn Rest Day.

Day 111 Aug 19th Padstow to Newlyn.

Day 110 Aug 18th. Treatment Day.

Day 109 Aug 17th Padstow and Rock

Days108 Aug 16th Padstow Its Raining!

Days 106-107 Neyland to Padstow.

Day 105 Aug 13th Busy Day.

Days 103-104 Aug 11-12. Milford Haven.

Day 104 Aug 10 Fishguard to Milford Haven.

Day 103 Aug 9th Fishguard.

Day 102. Aberdaron to Fishguard.

Day 101 Aug 7th Caernarfon to Aberdaron

Day 100 Aug 6th Caernarfon

Day 99 Aug 5th. Moelfre to Caernarvon.

Day 98 August 4th Douglas to Anglesey

Day 97 Aug 3rd. A day of jobs.

Day 95,96. August 1st-2nd Douglas.

Day 94. July 31st Maryport to Douglas.

Day 93 July 30th Campbeltown to Maryport.