Time out at Milford Haven

Before starting this blog we have now uploaded our video to U Tube. Our thanks to the “Yooff” in the form of John’s nephew Tom (Tom Latham at Hatfish Design) for this addition to our education!  The link is: Dolphin video.

Friday 24th May. To Wooltack Point with Bob and a sociable evening.

Our friend from Melbourne, Bob Belk, has a caravan in Pembrokeshire contacted us to fix up a walk round the headland at Wooltack opposite Skomer as the weather continued to blow old boots from the north.

For those who don’t know, the Pembrokeshire coast is spectacularly beautiful, especially at this time of the year. There is a wonderful array of flowers & colours. Bob kindly collected us and took us to the peninsular overlooking Skomer. The photos don’t really do justice to the beauty of the place but you will get the drift.

An excellent crab baguette att he local pub at Malloes completed a good day out.

With Karen Osland from Sudep Action and Steven

Later in the day Karen Osland contacted us to arrange to meet up at  the Neyland Yacht Club fort a bite to eat. Karen is the acting CEO of Sudep Action, the charity we are supporting for research into epilepsy. (If you have not already done so, please do have a look at the page on this blog. Epilepsy is a real killer (1000 deaths a year in the UK, mainly younger people) which is largely unrecognised. Sudep Action has become the leading world-wide authority on death from epilepsy, funding research and education for sufferers and medical specialists as well as providing support for bereaved families. (Sudep stands for Sudden & Unexplained Death from Epilepsy). We enjoy a pleasant meal with Karen and Steven and their sailing friends Keith and Dee and pick up valuable local knowledge for a sail tomorrow up to Skomer Island through the narrow Jack’s Strait.

All in all a good day – thank you to all the above for taking us under your wings and giving us a good day!

Fair winds to you all!

Yvonne & John

Wales via Lundy

Monday 21st May The weather forecast looks good for the next three days as although the wind will remain in the NNW we can sail to Lundy and hopefully on to Milford so we decide to go. The plan is to sail in the afternoon to Lundy, anchor or moor off overnight and then visit the island the next day before going up to Milford on Wednesday. We cook up a veggie lasagna to eat in the evening and Paul makes up a lunch box. We also do a few final bits of shopping including pasties from Cranchie’s Bakery (these pasties are the best we have tasted-even better than the Sloping Deck at Dartmouth). The inner harbour gates open at midday, letting us out. We refuel at the outer harbour where the fishing fleet refuels (which is usually the cheapest fuel) and are pleased to see that over 24 hours of using the engine has only consumed 54 litres (12 gallons) of diesel – try driving a car for 24 hours and use only that amount of fuel! We motor out over the Doom Bar, then set full sail for a fetch up to Lundy. (For non-sailors a fetch is with sails pulled in and with the wind about 45 degrees to the direction of travel – this is the classic picture of a sailing boat with the boat heeled over a bit). The tide is initially with us but soon turns against us – the result of having to wait until the tide was high enough in Padstow to let us out of the harbour. However, the wind is a good force 3 or 4 and we make good progress, leaving a mist shrouded north Cornish coast line behind us. We see the by now familiar array of sea birds as we progress. A flock of manx shearwaters alight on a patch of turbulent sea near to us – we think they have spotted a shoal of fish. Suddenly the shearwaters fly up in alarm: the cause is a school of 20 to 30 dolphins who have also spotted the fish and make a dash for the area, scattering the birds. Within five minutes the dolphins have joined our boat and stay with us for over half an hour.

Dolphins escorting Sundart en route to Lundy

Dolphins lining up to ride our bow wave

There are all sizes of dolphins from baby ones about two feet long to full-grown adults six feet or so long. The animals give us a magnificent display of riding our bow wave, diving under the boat and leaping through the water. This is the best display we have ever seen, beating the display in Mounts Bay or any other trip. We have taken a video of them but it is not possible to upload it to this blog so if you want a copy click on this link and we will send it to you: We have taken a video but as this cannot be loaded onto this blog contact us if you want a copy (click this link: Dolphin video). Finally the dolphins leave us, although over the next day we see the odd sight of dolphins and porpoises – there must be a lot of them at present in the Bristol Channel and approaches.

We thought some dolphins bumped the boat!

Lundy gradually comes into view. The plan is to anchor or pick up a mooring buoy off

Approaching the south side of Lundy with the ruin of Marisco Castle and the south lighthouse visible

the south-east coast (which is the only realistic place to land on Lundy). We round the southern end but find that the swell in the bay with the moorings is much larger than we had expected. There is one other boat moored up there, rocking about. We really have no other option as night is drawing in so we pick up a mooring and sit down to a rather rocky meal. We retire to get a rather fitful nights sleep. In the morning the swell has, if anything, increased making it dangerous to launch the rubber dinghy to motor ashore.

Ship’s log

Day’s mileage: 49.0 nm

Engine hours: 1.5 hours

Tuesday 22nd May

The rocky anchorage at Lundy

The overnight weather forecast has come in on the Navtex: the forecast  has deteriorated over night, giving strengthening NNW winds over the next 48 hours. Lundy was one of the highlights of our trip but the swell is too big to use the rubber dinghy to go ashore so we have no option but to abandon all thoughts of landing and to get to a safer anchorage as soon as possible. This means going north to Milford Haven, motoring thorough some fairly rough and confused seas. We plough on, the engine working hard to get us through the seas. After about five hours, the weather changes for the better, the sun shows signs of coming out and the winds drop, allowing us to set out mainsail with two reefs. Things gradually improve, the seas calm down, the wind gets more to our liking and the sun actually shines out of a blue sky as if someone has thrown a weather switch. We set full sails and with the refinery chimneys at Milford Haven coming into sight our spirits lift and we sail towards them.

At around 2 o’clock a large official looking patrol boat comes speeding over the horizon towards us, circles nears us and then calls us on the VHF radio. It appears that the Castle Martin artillery range on the coast is carrying out live firing and we are in the way!!!  The range is not on any of our charts (even after John’s chart corrections over the winter) nor the latest navigation package we have on our Samsung tablet. At 1400 hours the commander had presumably finished his (or her) lunch and needs to put the troops to work. Castle Martin control then called us up and directed us on a different course, not the direct route to Milford Haven, and promised to call us up when we could change course back towards Milford. No option there so we sail along the coast, making more gradual progress towards port than originally planned. An hour and a half later, Castle Martin called up to tell us we were far enough away to later course for Milford. Happily, the weather and sailing is now excellent so we sail into Milford Haven in bright sunshine in fine style. Paul decides to catch the last train from Milford Haven to see his

Paul Williams finally gets to his native Wales – the long way round

Dad in Llanelli so packs rapidly. Paul has been with us since Dartmouth and has been a tremendous help and good company in getting us this far so we are sorry to see him leave us.

We reach Milford Haven which is a wonderful natural harbour formed from a flooded valley (a “ria”) after the last ice age and is reputed to be the third largest natural harbour in the UK. The waterway is over 20 miles long. The lower (western) part is where the commercial ports are – these days the oil and gas terminals dominate with a constant flow of tankers discharging on both sides of the waterway. Efforts have obviously been made to hide the storage tanks and processing plants behind hills and trees to preserve the natural beauty of the area. Previously this area was a major navy base with ship yards & fortifications (including Martello like towers known as Palmerston Towers).

Milford Haven. Old town is on the hill on the right, harbour with boat lock centre, dry dock on the left

It was also the largest seaplane base in the UK. (A seaplane is reportedly lying on the sea floor with plans afoot to raise it for preservation).There is still some fishing and ship repair done here and Irish ferries operate quite large Ro-Ro ferries from Pembroke Docks. From about ten miles in the waterway gradually narrows and all industry gives way to wooded shores and farms with some wonderful properties overlooking the water. Eventually the waterway narrows to become the River Cleddau (pronounced Clethy).

The boat lock at Milford Haven – big enough for a frigate but a lot of water to shift for two little boats!

We arrive at the town of Milford Haven (both the town and the waterway have the same name – confusing!). We have to get into the marina via an enormous ship lock – built by the Victorians to serve the large docks at Milford. It is big enough for a frigate but this evening there are just two of us in little boats. Milford Haven marina is built within a former dock area that was part of a regeneration scheme. There is a bit of ship building still left at Milford – we see a corvette being prepared for the Indonesian navy in the dry dock next to the boat lock. We also see a couple of small navy patrol boats and a few fishing boats so some of the old businesses survive.

Ship’s log

Mileage today: 53.2 nautical miles

Total mileage to date:290.7 nm

Wednesday 23rd May

The marina has all the facilities we need: water, electricity, showers, a laundrette and a nearby Tesco to replenish stores, all of which we use. The staff is very welcoming and the whole place is very efficient. However, these places are rather characterless and resemble the marine equivalent of a well serviced car park so we only stay one night. The weather forecast is for very strong winds until the weekend so we decide to explore the area a bit. Our friend Bob Belk from Melbourne has a caravan on Dinas Head a few miles away near Fishguard so we arrange to do a walk with him on Friday. We also hope to meet Karen Osland, the CEO of Sudep Action (the charity we are supporting) on Friday as she and her partner have a boat moored here.

The graceful box girder bridge across Milford Haven linking Pembroke Docks with Neyland. It needs constant maintenance. When it was being built in the 70’s one section fell off into the river, taking a cement truck with it!

We decide to sail up-river and anchor about 7 miles up from Milford Haven opposite Lawrenny. The wind is so strong that we can sail up against the tide with just the foresail. En route Yvonne manages to avoid the Neyland Sailing Club yachts out for their Wednesday evening race by some racing tactics of her own. We pass under the bridge linking Pembroke Docks with the mainland at Neyland. As we sail up the river the surroundings become very rural with attractive woods and houses and then farmland on the steeply sloping banks.

Anchorage opposite Lawrenny – evening of 22/5/13

Our anchorage with strong winds the next morning.

We anchor on one side of the river under the shelter of a high bank with Benton Castle just showing above the trees. The scene is very peaceful but we make sure the anchor is well dug in as strong winds are forecast the next day. Sure enough, it is very windy the next morning but the anchor does its job, which is pleasing as this is the first real test of our new anchor which we bought for this eventuality. Given the strong wind forecast (up to gale force 8) and the need to meet up with Bob on Friday we decide to de-camp to the marina at Neyland but before sailing down the river we have a look further up river and stop at Lawrenny for a bite of lunch. A quick sail down the river under a small foresail takes us past Rudders Boatyard, previously owned by friends of that name in Melbourne.

At  Neyland we walk up to the

Rudders boatyard

village, whose main claim to fame seems to be as the birthplace of the engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who engineered the Great Western Railway, the ships the Great Britain (now preserved at Bristol). the Great Western and Great Eastern (which laid the first telegraph cable  across the Atlantic). He also co-invented the tunnelling shield with his father for the first tunnel under the Thames, which is still the system used for tunnelling in London and elsewhere today.

Tomorrow we hope to have a good walk and a sociable day. If the weather plays ball we hope to leave Milford Haven sometime on Saturday to work our way round to Aberwryswyth stopping at Skoma Island and Fishguard, but as ever the weather will dictate what actually happens.

Fair Winds to you All

Yvonne & John

To Padstow in the sunshine

Saturday 18th May

We are up at 5.30 and after a quick breakfast set out from Newlyn in a fine, misty morning to round Lands End and sail to Padstow. The sun soon burns off the mist and a moderate northwesterly breeze sets in so we set full sail in good spirits as we sail past Mousehole and the lighthouse at Tater Du. We soon reach Lands End, where we have to tack up past the Longships Lighthouse set on its formidable array of rocks.

Rounding the Longships Lighthouse off Lands End on 18th May 2013

The wind direction means that we need to sail outside the Longships so we cannot get close enough to Lands End to take a decent photo but we can see the First & Last House and the tourist attractions at Lands End. We are too early for the sightseers.

The tide helps us sail past Cape Cornwall and Pendeen Point on the north coast but by midday it turns against us, slowing progress. However, the wind has changed direction to north-west which is ideal for us and is blowing at the right strength (F3 to 4) for us to carry full sail and make good progress. This is how sailing is meant to be: sun, a good breeze, a flat sea and an interesting coast to sail past!

En route Paul gets his bird book out so we can identify all the feathered wild life we see. As we discover, this includes manx shearwater, cormorant, lesser and greater black backed gulls, gannets, kittiwakes, fulmars, storm petrels, swallows (emigrating north), swifts, guillemots, herring gulls and common gulls. We had no idea how many species we must have been looking at over the years!

We sail past St. Ives, Godrevy, St Agnes, Perranporth (which we confuse with Newquay until a sanity check against the chart!) and Newquay. The very white lighthouse on Trevose Head initially looks like a distant yacht but gradually morphs into its true self, set up high on Trevose head. In common with a lot of other lights around our coast, it has been denuded of its fog horn and its big light replaced by a smaller one that is no doubt cheaper to run but less easy to spot. As with so many things, Trinity House who look after the lights has limited funds so have to economise where they deem it is safe to do. recreational sailors such as us currently do not contribute towards the cost of the lights and navigational marks, just commercial shipping.

Trevose Head

By 6 o’clock we are sailing past the day mark outside Padstow where we stow the sails and gingerly motor in over the Doom Bar (a well-known name to beer drinkers!). As it is low tide we cannot get into Padstow harbour as the entrance is only accessible two hours either side of high tide (which is at midnight) so we borrow a mooring buoy in the pool outside for the night. Our chicken pie is already warming in the oven as we moor and we celebrate an excellent days sail over a glass or two of wine and a good supper. Having had a long day we decide to turn and save Padstow for tomorrow.

Sunday 19th May.

We wake to glorious sunshine and a fine view up and down the beautiful

Moored in the beautiful Camel Estuary

The River Camel looking towards Rock and Wadebridge

Camel Estruatry. After our customary Sunday breakfast of porridge, toast and proper coffee we set to on the various jobs – full engine and transmission checks, sort out the autohelm (which was reluctant to work after its winter layoff), get the heads (nautical loos) & shower pump working and much cleaning. We find that we have a different attitude to getting the boat into better order now that we will be resident on it for 4 months compared to a fortnight’s holiday when there is only limited time to cram in al the sailing and sightseeing that one wants to do. Over time we hope to be able to get the outside of the boat shining, which will involve steady arm work!

We call Padstow Harbour on the VHF and arrange for them to call us in when the harbour lock gates open, which they duly do just after 11. As we enter we see our friends Brian & Joyce Stokes waving from the headland who run round and take our warps as we moor against the harbour wall.

Padstow looks the epitome

Coffee at Padstow with old friends Brian and Joyce Stokes

of a pretty Cornish harbour village in the bright sunshine. We catch up on news with Brian and Joyce who take a quick tour of Sundart before heading back to their caravan at Mevagissy.

Purchase the Sunday papers and then relax in the sunshine on deck with a beer and sandwich – it’s a hard life!

Sunday afternoon in Padstow

Later, after the crowds have gone, we wander round Padstow which looks in good shape. We count 6 Rick Stein establishments ranging from his posh restaurant (£100+ for a meal for two) to a chippy, B & B etc. We run into an Australian who has made the journey all the way to Padstow to sample Rick’s fare – he had not been disappointed. Good luck to you Rick, but we go for a more modest pizza.

Providing the weather still looks good we plan to sail to Lundy, where we will need to anchor off the island. We have heard stories of Lundy over the years from bell ringing friends in Melbourne who go there every year so we are curious to see what the island has to offer. We will need to get from there to Milford Haven by Wednesday afternoon as Paul needs to leave us then to see his Dad in Llanelli and thence back home.

Fair winds to you all,

Yvonne, John & Paul

Thanks for all the messages

Thanks for all the messages and also the donations to our charity. We have not had time to answer you all.

If anyone is trying to text Yvonne – an answer will be forthcoming as soon as she is united with her mobile phone, currently residing in Melbourne!

Love

Y & J

Westward Ho!

Tuesday 14th/Wednesday 15th May.

How things can change in 24 hours! The forecast for the night of Wednesday 15th was for a deep low to pass over us with winds predicted to be up to storm force 10. We were glad that the Salcombe Harbour master allowed to stay firmly tied up to the Normandy Pontoon by the town to give us a firm hold on terra firma and some shelter.

Whitestrand – the landing in the centre of Salcombe

The Normandy Pontoon at Salcombe

It certainly blew but by about 1 AM things got quieter and we slept soundly.

Wednesday morning and the sun showed signs of coming out, the winds gradually reduced. We decide to sail to the Helford River on the Lizard peninsular some 50 miles away. Whilst waiting for the tide to turn west at midday and the seas to calm down after the previous storm, we prepared sandwiches and a sausage supper for the evening as we we likely to be sailing until about 9 pm.

We set reduced sails and set out. As the wind was from the north west we sailed a little south of west, passing about 5 miles south of the infamous Eddystone Rock and lighthouse (the fourth to be built on this rock – the first one blew down taking the lighthouse keeper with it). The sailing gradually got easier and the sun started to shine – a real welcome change.

Preparations before setting sail

By about 8 pm we were close to the Lizard but a bit too far south as the wind had pushed us that way, so we lit the oven and motored into the Helford and dropped anchor off Durgan in the last of the twilight. The sausage supper was hot and soon eaten with a celebratory glass of wine.

Thursday 16th May

 Thursday dawned sunny with a gentle breeze.

Morning on the River Helford looking seawards from our anchorage

The Helford is a delightful spot – very tranquil. Daphne DuMaurier set some of her romantic novels here, the most famous probably being Frenchman’s Creek, which is a small creek off the Helford above the village of Helford.

The Helford village & River looking inland

Oyster farming on the Helford

These days the Duchy of Cornwall derives much profit from over a million oysters from this river.

We decide to sail round the Lizard to Newlyn.

It should have been a good sail with light winds but contrary to the forecast the winds fell away so we motored round the Lizard.

Lizard Point, the southernmost point on our circumnavigation

Half way across Mounts Bay we were delighted to be “buzzed” by a pod (School?) of porpoises who stayed with us for some time, playing dare under our boat and riding the bow wave, whistling to each other.

Porpoises in Mounts Bay

Moored amongst the fishing fleet in Newlyn

After this excitement we reach Newlyn Harbour, which is a busy fishing harbour that apparently lands the biggest catch in the UK. The new pontoons were installed for the smaller fishing craft with EU Fishing Funds so sailing boats such as our take second place. That said, we get a very friendly welcome, which seems to be the norm in this area.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we plan to sail round Lands End to Padstow, which will be new territory for all of us and a long day sail starting at 6 AM.

Ship’s Log

Miles from Salcombe to Helford: 59 miles

Miles from Helford to Newlyn: 39 miles

Miles to date: 128 miles

Fair winds to you all

Yvonne, John & Paul

Salcombe sojurn

Tuesday 14th May

Since arriving here has been very windy, blowing from the west and effectively stopping our progress westwards. We have been anchored opposite the Salt Stone about a mile up the estuary above Salcombe in a peaceful sheltered spot with cormorants and egrets for company and just the sound of the tide tinkling past the hull at night. We have been venturing down to town once a day to charge up the battery and get water & provisions.

Over the past 2 days we have passed our time doing jobs on the boat including greasing two winches that showed signs of seizing up, re-buttoning some of the upholstery, fixing catches and so on – there are always things to do on a boat!. The big job has been dismantling the electric anchor winch which has stopped working. This means we have  to lift the anchor by hand which is a good physical exercise given that we have been putting 25 meters of chain out to ensure we are firmly fixed to the bottom of the estuary when the wind blows! A new pair of leather gloves are purchased to help with this task. The motor has to be removed from  within the anchor chain locker in the bow of the boat which is a really confined area accessed through a small hatch. Much huffing & puffing by Paul & John sees the motor out. It appears that the Italian manufacturers have gone out of business so we motor the mile or so to Salcombe to go to Island Street where all the chandlers and proper old-fashioned workshops are located to find an electrical engineer. The motor is dismantled and made to run again by Andy J. Further huffing and puffing finally sees the motor back in, only to find that it works for about 2 seconds under load then jams up again. Back to square one! Telephone conflab to other co-owners for help to locate spares or a new one. The story continues…

Tuesday brings an even worse weather forecast – rain and a storm force 10 warning and a weather map looking like a training exercise for Met Office forecasters wannabees! So another day hiding from the weather. 

We decide to shower at Salcombe Yacht Club – a fine establishment with a proud history stretching back to gentlemen racing their yachts in the Victorian age. The club is situated on the hill with a prime view over the Fairway (the principle part of the waterway in front of Salcombe) – this is millionaires territory with property prices to match. The showers are new and very  welcome. We are amused by the door signs.

Normally the view from the club lounge is tremendous but today…

We meet other boat crews at the Club, all stranded by the weather. Consensus is that the weather will let us out tomorrow. Hope springs eternal!

Fair winds to you all

Yvonne John & Paul

The Odessey commences

10th May 2013.

At last! The day has arrived! We are finally ready and no turning back. Our good friends Phil & Maggie Dobby transport us to Derby station where we meet up with Paul Williams, who is accompanying us for the first part of the sail.

The train is two carriages short so we practice the game of sardines down to Totnes where Jon Salmon meets us and takes us to Kingsbridge, pausing only at Sainsbury’s en route for a mammoth shop and for John to finish commissioning the new air system at the nearby NHS manufacturing site where he has been working. (Just in time then….).

 

We load up Sundart using Nigel’s tender Arwen, then repair to Jon & Alison’s for  Thai curry to Alison’s usual excellent standard. Thanks heavens for friends today!

The next day (Saturday) dawns bright & very breezy. The weather forecast is for increasing winds around force 5 to 6 from the west (which is where we need to go so exactly what we don’t want) then getting worse over the next few days – what a start! We decide to try sailing into Start Bay (outside Dartmouth) and see if we want to go on to Salcombe which is the next port to the west.

Two co-owners of our boat, Nigel and Phil, come to see us off in Nigel’s new boat Freia. Nigel has inexplicably changed from sailing all his life to a gentleman’s cruiser – it is very smart it has to be said.

We water up then set our storm jib and well reefed down mainsail as the wind is getting up. Jon takes a photo from the shore – we wave bravely!

Out in Start Bay we decide the conditions are tolerable so we press on.

Passing Start Point in F6/7

We pass two boat loads of sea anglers bouncing around over the Skerries Bank ( a well know fishing spot) – each to their own sport. We round Start Point about 2 miles off (as the seas are notoriously rough there in wind over tide conditions then tack back toward the land. We have a spring tide so the tide carries rapidly west . As we near land at Prawle Point we encounter some big waves – Paul reckons they are over 3 m high! The wind accelerates around these points so we are glad we were conservative with our sail settings.

After 3 1/2 hours we are glad to reach the sand bar across the entrance to Salcombe. This is a famous navigational feature which inspired a poem by Tennyson and paintings by Stuckey and others. The navigation marks past this feature are surprisingly misleading so as it is low tide we ignore them and creep round the end of the bar and sail up the fairway.  

The moorings opposite Salcombe are being bounced around by the incoming wind so we motor a mile up the estuary and try out our new anchor off the Salt Stone where we have cormorants and egrets as company – and a very peaceful place to stay.

The harbour master comes to collect our harbour dues and give us the weather forecast – gales for the next 2 or 3 days so it looks as if we will be here until Tuesday or so. Hey ho! There are always plenty of jobs to do on a boat so no doubt we will not be idle. John phones elder daughter for a recipe of a dish she fed us last weekend and we dine in style off chorizo chicken and pan roasted vegetables. One pan, minimum washing up and a good dinner. Recipe on request!

Ships log

20.6 miles sailed from Dartmouth to Salcombe (Salt Stone). Wind west F 5/6 occasional gust F7. Anchored off Salt Stone at Salcombe.

We would normally wish you fair winds and good weather but under the circumstances keep dry!

Paul, Yvonne & John

To the delights of Skomer and beyond

Saturday 25th May We awake to a sunny day so all looks good to leave Milford Haven, but not before showering (must get our moneys worth from our marina fees!). We chat to our neighbours on a Warrior (sailing boat) which although old has been done up and looks good so we pick up some tips.

We leave Neyland marina at 1130 and meet up with Karen and Steven

Karen and Steven on their Westerly Merlin “Caliburn”

in their boat Caliburn, a Westerly Merlin, and sail down the entrance to Milford Haven in company with them. We sail past the oil terminals and an old fort before reaching St. Ann’s Head. As we pass Angle lifeboat station we hear a klaxon and see the lifeboat being launched down its slipway – a remarkable sight which we have not seen before. It transpires that a sightseeing boat has hit a rock around Skomer (where we are bound) with 48 people on board so two life boats and a helicopter were scrambled. However, the local dive boat seems to have rescued the passengers whilst the life boats rescued the stricken craft. It made the news we hear!

Karen and Steven sail with us as far as St. Ann’s head to see us safely on our way to Jack’s Sound,

A “Palmerston” Fort: Milford Haven has long been a strategic part of the UK defenses, although less so now.

a narrow strait between Skomer Island and the mainland that has to be negotiated at slack tide.

The lower part of Milford Haven – 5 miles of gas and oil terminals to supply a large part of the UK fuel requirements but currently rather quiet

Steven has provided the local knowledge we need and all goes well (thank you Steven!) so we are soon moored in North Haven off Skomer Island. (Anchoring is prohibited due to the eel-grass on the sea bed so the nature conservancy  provide free moorings and everyone is happy with that).

Moored in North Haven, Skomer – it could have been the Mediterranean. Bluebells covered the cliffs.

Skomer Island is a wildlife conservation area administered by Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and is home to a staggering range and number of birds and wildlife – it should be on the “to do” list of every nature lover, especially in late spring when there are hundreds of thousands of breeding birds including puffins, manx shearwater, razor bills, various gulls, fulmars and kittiwakes. Add to that huge areas of wild flowers including bluebells and red campion makes for an extremely rewarding visit, even for people such as us who are not very knowledgeable about wildlife (although our friends are teaching us).

Almost immediately our boat is surrounded by puffins and razor bills whilst large flocks of these birds wheel around the bay. There is a constant procession of birds flying out to sea and back (presumably for food).

Razor bills & puffins swam all around our boat

We cook our selves supper and enjoy the sight and sounds all around us in a calm sunny evening. High on the cliffs we spot a peregrine falcon, a rare sight (unless you live near Derby Cathedral!)

Sunday 26th May.

The following morning we blow up our rubber dinghy and paddle ashore

The ferry from Martins Haven to Skomer. A limit of 250 visitors per day is placed so the island is not overrun.

before the first trip boat arrives. As soon as we land we come across a herring gull sitting on her nest incubating her eggs right by the landing point. The birds generally seem extremely tolerant of humans being very close to them – far more so than would be normal on the mainland. As we climb up the path from the landing we pass a herring gull sitting on her nest.

Herring gull on her nest

The birds on this island seem far more tolerant of humans being very close than is generally the case on the mainland.

Herring gull nest

Puffins at their nesting burrows on the cliffs.

As we climb up the path to pay our £10 landing fee we see puffins poking their heads out of their nesting burrows in the hillside. Puffins seem such dumpy, comical birds but in reality they must be extremely tough as they spend about 10 months out at sea in the North Atlantic, only coming to land to breed in the spring.

The island is well laid out with paths plus an information centre so it is relatively easy to walk all around it, seeing the wildlife without disturbing it. That said, there are some areas where puffins have created their nesting burrows right in the path (or did the puffins come first?)

Many of the puffins were amazingly tame and seemed to tolerate humans in close proximity

The birds were too busy lining out their nests to take notice of us mere humans

so that it is possible to almost touch them. The birds were busy sorting out their burrows so we were able to take a couple of videos (Puffin City and Puffin sorting his bedding).
On our way round we see huge colonies of fulmars, razor bills, oyster catchers and manx shearwaters plus many other gulls and some land birds (including jackdaws, crows, and a wheat ear.

In between the birds much of the land is carpeted with bluebells and red campion – we have never seen such big areas of these flowers.

The spring flowers were tremendous – blue bells carpeted many of the areas.

Red campion above South Haven, Skomer

In addition to the birds and flowers, we see seals on the rocks, although their time is really September/October when they give birth to their pups on the rocks around the island.

To Fishguard via Ramsey Sound & St. Davids

By early afternoon it is time for us to leave as we have to catch the tide past the next tidal “gate” at Ramsey Island (near St. David’s) on our way north to Fishguard. The dinghy is stored away and we sail north in glorious sunshine over a smooth sea and with a gentle breeze.

(There are many tidal “gates” that we need to pass on our way round the UK. These are usually headlands or straits between islands and the mainland where the tide runs very strongly, making rough water (known as overfalls) which can be dangerous to boats our size. These routes are usually much shorter than going right round the outside of them so the trick is to time the passage at slack water when the tide is turning. Much of the information can be gained from the pilot books and the  Reeds Almanac (the yachtsman’s bible) that we have on board but as the tides in these areas don’t always follow the main tides local knowledge is extremely helpful. Steven provided this for us to pass through Jack;’s Strait en route to Skomer whereas the pilot book provided this for Ramsey Sound).

In the event, the passage works out very well. We have a Navionics software package with all the chart details for the British Isles on our Samsung tablet. Although it only cost £45 it is remarkably detailed. It is linked to the GPS in the tablet so we could use it to track our route through the Strait. So far we have found it excellent for this sort of work but we also plot our course on the regular charts using our Yeoman Plotter so we have “belt and braces” through the more awkward channels.

The wind is behind us – too strong to use the spinnaker but we can “goose-wing”with

Goose-winging to Fishguard

one sail out each side of the boat. We make rapid time with the tide behind us, reaching 10.5 knots at one stage as we pass Strumble Head. It’s a great sail. We arrive an hour earlier than planned at Fishguard as the wind strengthens. The weather is forecast to get windy and very wet over the next 36 hours so we anchor in a sheltered spot under the cliffs by old Fishguard to ride out the bad weather alongside some other yachts doing the same thing.

Monday 27th May

It’s a Bank Holiday and in keeping with normal practice the weather is pretty dire – wet and windy –

A visitor in soggy Fishguard

so we do jobs in the boat. A solitary seagull visits us and Bob sends us an e mail with a photo of our boat from the road above. We need to get to Aberystwyth tomorrow to meet up with Chris Brown who is sailing with us for a few days but is so wet and windy we decide to stay put, snug & dry and get up early tomorrow to catch the tide north to Aberystwyth.

Tuesday 28th May

Up and off the anchorage at 5 AM (Not our start time of choice but time and tide wait for no-one – or at least the tide doesn’t!) The weather has cleared but there is little wind so we motor sail north, set the autohelm (so the boat steers itself) so we can have breakfast and tidy up. John decides that it is time to brighten up the teak so gets to work with scrubbing brush and teak brightener – a boring job but the boat definitely looks better when all is

Teak brightening the decks at 8AM!

done. We shall try to find some teak sealant suitable for boats on our travels to keep it that way. Yvonne cleans up inside. The sun is shining, the green coast line passes by and we get past Aberporth firing range before the military get up and start asking the few boats around to move away from the firing area out at sea. By the time we are off Aberystwyth at midday the boat is looking a lot better and we are feeling virtuous!

We reach Aberystwyth in time for the high tide (which is needed to get into the harbour). After lunch we visit the local Co-op to re-provision the boat and find that it is now law in Wales to charge 5p for every plastic carrier bag! However, the good news is that the Co-op does local deliveries which includes the harbour at no cost so Yvonne waits at the boat for our groceries whilst John tramps miles to try to find a 12v charger for the laptop as the one we have does not work correctly, meaning that we have to be on shore power to use the computer for any length of time (which is why the blog appears at infrequent intervals). However the local PC World, B & Q, Halfords and caravan shop cannot help so we order one from Amazon (yes, we know they don’t pay proper taxes in the UK but we are desperate) and hope it arrives with John’s daughter Katharine in time for her to bring it to us next week.

Chris arrives but by now the heavens have opened (well it is Wales) so he takes a taxi to us. We decide on an Indian meal out as we have cooked on board for quite a few nights but get very wet  en route.

Tomorrow we plan to go north to Porthmadog, but that is another story…

Fair winds to you all

Yvonne, John & Chris