Over the top, 2016
Too frustrating, and that's just for me. What its like for readers with the clunky presentation, pictures on their sides, no images, archives like junior school treasure maps...
Then, when I agree to a FB link, it offers a pic from last year, (midnight at Milford Haven, BTW, waiting for the lock) So, if you haven't already done so, may I ask you to click and save/join the FB link? https://www.facebook.com/groups/287097314802170/ Nick's Around Britain on Rivendell
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Andy joined me for the leg from Conwy, (see Facebook post) and also brought me the new keyboard, so I'm trying to beat this Weebly website builder into submission. I had a day's walking yesterday, up Holy Mountain above South Stack, looking at the race below and then into mist to find the trig point.. (Andrea and I have a lot of pics of trig points in thick mist..) The weather continues to slow me down, more forecast Wednesday night and a frost forecast! So.. set off at 10 am to punch the westerly to Dublin. Out of the pierhead, I decided the sea state for 50 miles head into the wind was not going to be fun, so back in kettle on. The new cunning plan, (other than still being here on Thursday) is to go out after checking my three forecasts, Met Office Inshore, XCWeather, Windguru. and assess the sea state. The HM is giving 10, gust 14 250 just now. I plan to give up on Eire and head NNW to Ardglass, 70nm but with a useful wind. Or come back in and ....... Weebly won't let me upload pics today, I'll Facebook some. The boat laptop is now several years old and has been in a salty environment and not gone home over winters and the keyboard has stopped working. When certain keys are pressed multiple characters appear on the screen so I've been having to type using the onscreen keyboard which is very slow indeed. I looked in the charity shops in Conwy to see if I could find an old keyboard but no luck.Now I'm dictating into an app on my phone which is speech to text and it's coming up with some quite interesting inventions so you have to bear with me. I have done a passage plan to take the boat round from Conwy around Carmel head and the Skerries and into Holyhead. Holyhead looks like a good destination and a perfect jumping off point to go to Dun Laoghaire. Who can find me a PC keyboard in Ireland? There's a Tesco in Dun L. Today spent doing a little shopping and fish and chips on the Quay.Followed up with a visit to North Wales Cruising Club, a pint and good welcome. Nice to meet Bob and others Its a sign of a lively passage when there are few or no pictures-
Leaving a calm dawn Preston with an inshore forecast mentioning SW, 4/6 occasionally 6 later, meant motoring and tacking and hanging on ... Thermals, trackies, salopettes and the famous blue raincoat.(might be worth a Google for non-Cohen fans) My buff, worn as a hat, is somewhere in Liverpool Bay where the wind deposited it. Conwy provided some comfort rather than an anchorage for 2 nights, though they look slick and pricey, a bit disorganised One two and then a third pontoon was allocated, hard enough when the numbers are 3 inches high when solo, not wanting to play bumper yachts. I'm on an obviously private berth (designer fenders ) and they've told me 'they probably won't come back, but if they do we'll tell them you chose it'! Conwy is a little gem, tourist-y but alive. The boats castle and Telford bridges add interest. I started a thread on YBW about rounding Anglesey, only for the afficionados of passage planning...http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?459713-Holyhead-Skerries-out-or-inside. This website has decided to block me adding pics for today so off to Facebook.. https://www.facebook.com/groups/287097314802170/ I have remembered my login to the daft- named Weebly and unsurprisingly, its been improved....
So if the first posts look even more like one of those ransom notes cut from newspapers, that's my excuse. Rivendell is sinking to her marks with 4 Gaz bottles, three batteries, 90l of diesel, two bottles of whisky (one Spanish!) and the faithful folding bike.... etc.. etc... I'm heading back on the bus to set off from Preston and XCWeather, Windguru and BBC say Thursday and Friday are not good for Holyhead. This is a rerun of leaving Hartlepool last year, day after day of grey sky, rain and too much/wrong wind. The plan is to visit Dublin, 'going foreign' and getting to use my tricolour courtesy flag. After that? Heading North, retracing some parts from 2014, Bangor, Rathlin, Islay, Oban before heading away from the Canal and looking to visit Skye and possibly Staffa before going 'over the top' via Loch Eribol and Scrabster to Orkney (Scapa Flow) - The windy weather continues, time aplenty to update the blog. I'd escaped Milford Haven at the second attempt after a night bumping on the pontoon at Dale (video clip on Facebook) and then a night in the calm at Neyland Marina. This gave me a calculation to depart Neyland at the right time, sail to the entrance and across to Skokholm Island to take the tide up and round Ramsey Island and St Davids to Fishguard. I'd already decided to go out and miss Jack Sound and The Bitches. ( strength in numbers, no yacht went through there that day-) The sea state was slight, much less than the F4/5 forecast on the Inshore. Much motoring and, as the tide came good, a quick passage north past the Bishops and Clerks Rocks and Strumble Head, treating me to a giant if not blue moon and a spectacular sunset. Fighting the tide now, and crab pot spotting in the dark, I headed around Strumble Head and into Fishguard. I failed to find the visitor moorings and got out the kedge Danforth which I'd anchored with in Falmouth, put up the LED anchor light in the fore triangle, set the anchor watch on the tablet and did the sums to see if I'd ground or not and dropped the hook. Supper and bed at midnight for a 5 am rise to check forecasts and push on to Aberystwyth. Off at 6am to a red morning sky (more of that later!), I headed north and let the Aberporth firing range know I was about. Such courtesy and diplomacy. Unlike the guard boats off Lullworth who frankly did not seem to know they could only request, not insist. This range officer efficiently cleared a 15nm radius zone in Cardigan Bay for a bomber to fire off a missile. Even the a**y fishing boat, dragging his heels. got 'the aircraft is en route, would you please make best speed if convenient and advise?' I never heard anything but the all clear as I hugged the coast past. The RO even took time to thank all vessels for there cooperation- If ever I want to be bombed, shot or rocketed, I'll choose Aberporth over Lullworth. I wonder if there is Armagedonadvisor, where you can rate sites of mass destruction?.. Back to the sailing. I knew I'd be far too early to enter Aberystwyth. Plan A was to arrive and anchor for 2/3 hours, but too rolly. Plan B which I undertook, was to reef and try and sail slowly (no comments about my sail trimming abilities!) but it was rolly and boring.I did a bit of passage planning on the fly and decided I could reach Pwllheli inside its tidal window, ie before midnight. So letting Aber know the change of plans I set off. So shaking out reefs and genoa, headed north at three times the previous pedestrian rate. Still managed to cook a curry and rice from scratch at the same time too. The weather got steadily rougher, 4, 5, 5 and a half, passing St Patricks Causeway and the Gimlets reefs, some water down the hatch, and hand steering, not scary, just lively. That 'red sky in morning' warning had come true. I was a little concerned how the channel at Pool Wheely would be but it was fine, and dredged too after we touched going in in 2012 after buying Rivendell. 70nm that day, with the previous, 113nm in 40 hours. Yes, I've passed Borth/Aberdyfy so have, in theory, circumnavigated. I'll still consider Fleetwood the end this time though.I feel on home territory, and using paper backup charts left by the previous owners. Rivendell had a month in Pwllheli in 2012 and the town seemed rather run down, while the marina was full, expensive, and affluent. Now, both seem to be thriving and a brand new Welsh national sailing centre has opened a few weeks ago, people from all over Europe here competing. Lots of camper vans hitched up to fast looking dinghys In theory, I'm 3/4 ports from home, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, possibly Liverpool/Hilbre and back to the home of the Fisherman's Friend. Only slight issue is the weather. I think I'll be here until Wednesday to go through Bardsey Island Sound and over Caernarfon Bar into the Menai. A half formed plan may be to park Rivendell in Caernarfon, a nice location, and go home, coming back in a week or two with Andrea to sail north over the August Bank holiday. And remember, the offer to people to come for a leg or two stands, much easier now I'm more accessible by car/public transport.. Stop press! Ebay fan heater, after making large sparks and clicks for the last few uses on hook up, finally died. Or did it....? My last blog post was just some pics, there's a reason for that. I'd just created some of my deathless prose only to have t'internet eat it...
So, in a fit of pique I failed to rewrite. This meant I lost my thanks for the chats and beers with the yotties in Padstow I met, Tony and Trish on Seren y Mor, Phil Diane and Jan on Regulus, Brian and partner and the crew of Home Run who led me to Milford Haven. More seriously, my Virgin sim package after nearly ten years, decided to threaten me with disconnection (via a text) if I continued to tether my phone. This is a real worry as I use the connection for forecasts and would, in extremis, to call for assistance if needed and the VHF did not carry. Today, the call centre has confirmed, categorically and without ambivalence that I will not be cut off in my prime... we will s...... In the meantime, Andrea arrived after a 7 hour drive and we went out from Milford Marina and spent the day exploring the Haven and Cleddau rivers and a pub or two. We headed up towards Haverfordwest and picked up a mooring for an hour or two before heading slowly back through really pretty no industrial river valleys returning for a midnight lock-in. Grim weather the next day didn't stop us jumping in the car, doing a big shop, and going on to St Davids and Ramsey Sound. Lots of surfers about, no yachts. It looks possible to leave the marina Tues afternoon for a Wed morning departure up to Fishguard from Dale, thereby saving a night in the most expensive marina so far. If not, Wed depart for a Thurs trip... After a thoroughly nice time in Penzance, four days for less than £9/day, I set off for Lands End and a melange of possibly destinations. Thanks to Anne and Steve off Tamar for coming on board to share a beer and a chat, hope you had a good trip eastward. At more than 60 miles, with tides to factor in for Lands End and Doom Bar, I also planned for anchoring/mooring at St Ives (As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with....), Newquay or Padstow. Despite low winds (MCA had forecast 5/6!) and motoring all day, I took the inshore passage inside the LOngships, waved to Lands End and arrived at HW for Padstow, tucking up alongside the wall in a very pretty and busy inner harbour. Fish 'n chips for tea and bed, a long day over. Today, washing and a bike ride to Wadebridge on the Camel cycle trail. Hundreds of bikes! A bit of serendipity, an army surplus store produced an absolutely great German Marine Sailing jacket. A real bargain, and something I've needed for a while. Had a good chinwag with Tony and Trish who had arrived from Penzance before me on their Janneau. Apparently a certain C Windsor of Highgrove is due to meet harbour staff tomorrow, the pants drying look quite like flags, and a German uniform coat shouldn't be a problem either.... A good day trip to Truro, the two boats and the double decker were good value, nearly three hours altogether. The Fal and its tributaries are like cruising the Lake District, you could own a boat here and never go to sea.
Quite a small, 36 nm hop to Penzance on Tuesday so a slow start after a successful night at anchor I set off round the Lizard in increasingly poor vis. Surprisingly, heard the fog horn on the Lizard, I'd thought they were out of use now. I'd walked under the Hawkser(?) horn south of Whitby, definitely out of use. Penzance is really my type of port, workaday, bit scruffy but very helpful staff and friendly visitors. If you've ever seen the opening sequences in Costner's 'Waterworld', you'd see what I mean. Ships loading and departing for the Scillies, dry docks discharging fishing boats, no pontoons, iron ladders then clamber over other's fore decks. Elderly live-aboards on even more elderly live-aboard boats. I visited St Micheal's Mount on foot today, good 6 mile walk and prawns and ailloli for lunch. Planing to stay 3/4 days then off round the corner, stopping at Newquay/St Ives or push on to Padstow 60nm. |
2016 Tobermory, Skye and Scapa....
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