Winds SW3 then NW1-6

We left Abersoch just before 6am.

We motor sailed for some of the journey.  It was quite a long sail making our way South down towards Milford Haven. The seas were a little lumpy and the skies mostly grey.

It was a relief to pick up a mooring in Dale at 8pm, rather than continue to Milford Haven. We cooked a quick evening meal before getting a good nights rest.

Winds W 3

 We left Dale at 8am and motored to Milford Haven.

Milford Haven is in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. Imports of oil and gas arrive at Milford Haven. It is the UK’s leading energy port. Port of Milford Haven’s website https://www.mhpa.co.uk/

We were able to enter the lock into the harbour at 9:30am.

After a quick shower and coffee we were met by Richard’s uncle Des, who drove for an hour to his home with aunt Ros in Pembrokeshire. We met Rachael and her family again, who we had seen in Scarborough and her husband Steve, Richards other cousin Christopher, Caroline and their family.  It was great catching up with everyone. We enjoyed a lovely meal and slept overnight in their caravan (no rocking) before returning to the boat in the morning. Thanks Ros and Des for looking after us so well. It was so generous of you to let us interrupt your family gathering.

In case you are wondering, Maisie stayed on the boat. She is much happier in familiar surroundings. After 11 weeks afloat she is mostly comfortable on the boat and has become accustomed to the routine of days in marinas and wobbly journeys between harbours. We have all enjoyed this new lifestyle, a real adventure, it will be quite strange when we finally reach home.

The weather forecast was for rain and high winds so we were glad to be safely moored in Milford Haven. We did some chores and walked ashore to collect some supplies for our next long sail. When preparing for a long crossing we like to divide the day up into a series of meals and mini treats. We enjoyed an evening meal ashore.

Winds NW 3-5

After a relaxed breakfast we left Milford Haven Marina at 9:30 am when the harbour entrance was in free flow (the lock gate was open). If we travelled at an average speed of 5 knots the 120 mile journey would take 24 hours and we would arrive in Tresco in daylight at 9:30 am. 

We had perfect winds of between 15-20 miles an hour North Westerly. This enabled a starboard beam reach for the entire journey. We averaged a speed of 6.6 knots and at times reached 8 knots. We had tides helping us at the beginning and at the end. We have never had such a consistently good sail for a long journey.

We saw several pods of dolphins. Over the years we have wasted many pixels trying to photograph dolphins. Sue was able to successfully capture some when they were leaping out of the water by using the live photo feature on her iphone. It enabled Sue to look at each picture and select the moment when the dolphins leapt as the key photo. 

After banana and coffee snack, coffee and biscuit, lunch of quiche, afternoon tea and biscuit and evening meal of tuna and cheese melt the skies started to darken. by now we realised we were going to arrive much earlier than we had anticipated. This meant a shorter solo nightwatch for us each. Richard did the 9-11pm watch, Sue 11-1:30 and Richard 1:30-4am.

We both were on watch as we arrived off New Grimsby Sound, Tresco at 4am. There was an interesting swell at the entrance, but good to see the welcoming light of White Island lighthouse. After several attempts in the dark we successfully picked up a mooring. We were tucked up in bed by 4:45am. Maisie coped really well curled up safely in the stern cabin for the most of the journey. When we are on a starboard tack she curls up in one of her carry bags. She managed to use her litter tray with no mess. Amazing Maisie cat. Maisie sailed with us to St Marys in the Scilly isles in April (see preparation post) so has now sailed all the way around Britain : )

Waking after a few hours sleep with the feeling of already being home. The Isles of Scilly have always been a special place to us. We had a wander around Tresco Abbey gardens. Richard was keen to buy a few plants to replace some that we lost last winter when we experienced some frosts in Cornwall.

We enjoyed an evening meal in the New Inn although we were a bit shocked by the increased prices. £13.50 for 2 pints of beer, everything on the menu over £20, desserts £10!! It is difficult to find places to eat when visiting Scilly this time of year. Sue had made several attempts to book evening meals a few days before we left Wales. We were glad we had booked, as the New Inn was very busy. 

After lunch we nudged the dingy over to Bryher for a wander around. First stop was Veronicas farm and buying some more plants.

The day was a little grey so we enjoyed a drink in Hells Bay Hotel before continuing our walk around the North of Bryher. This coastline is very familiar to us. We have been visiting the Isles of Scilly once or twice a year for over twenty years.

After a little refreshment in the Fraggle Rock Cafe (much more reasonably priced), we returned to Captiva for an evening meal.

The weather initially seemed a little grey but there was the promise of some blue skies on the horizon. We wandered ashore and settled up our bill for the mooring. The most expensive mooring of our entire trip at £30 per night (dearer than many of the marinas). The joys of anchoring are becoming more apparent. We had a bowl of soup each and Richard enjoyed his first pint of Proper Job in a pub since we left Cornwall.

Under blue skies we walked out to Cromwell Castle, a stone gun tower, built in 1651. It was built during the civil war by Parliamentary forces after they had captured the islands from the Royalists.

Above is King Charles’ Castle built 100 years earlier during the reign of King Edward VI. It was badly sited, the guns would have had to point down at such a steep angle that the canon balls would have rolled out of the guns before they fired.  It was partially dismantled to provide stone for Cromwell’s castle, which was built on lower ground. 

The air became warmer and once we reached the beach at Old Grimsby we were glad to have a swim in the cool seas. It was a treat to feel the warm sun drying us after our swim. We walked up to the Old Blockhouse, a Tudor artillery fort built in the late 1540s to protect Old Grimsby. 

More information about the castles and forts of Scilly available on the English Heritage website. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/historic-sites-of-scilly/

We returned to Captiva to catch up with Maisie. We enjoyed a reasonably priced evening meal at the Fraggle Rock Cafe on Bryher.

Winds 3 SE then southerly.

The clouds that were creeping in the previous day fully enveloped the islands. When we got up at 5:30, we were hopeful that the mist had cleared.

Unfortunately we had poor visibility for the entire journey. We were able to use AIS to see where there were other boats. It was interesting listening to the VHF how useful AIS has become. Other boats were communicating with each other on channel 16 to check intended directions when they could see that they were nearing another vessel. They were also able to contact other boats who did not have AIS. On this grey misty day there were a greater number of vessels around us than we have experienced for our entire journey around Britain.

We left Tresco at 5:30 and were nearing our homecoming lighthouse, at St Anthony’s Head, at 4:15pm. It was difficult to see it but its sombre foghorn could be clearly heard.

So there we are, back home, in our beautiful house overlooking Falmouth. We have had an amazing adventure. We passed the time journeying home from Scilly asking each other questions like, ‘What was your favourite….” “what was the worse…..”. We can honestly say it has all been pretty wonderful. Having our amazing Maisie with us enabled us to completely detach from the everyday, the journey became a new way of life. We find it difficult to name a favourite place. There is no part of our journey that we would choose to have missed.

We would like to thank all of you who have been following our travels. We have been deeply touched by the supportive comments.

Thanks to all our wonderful family and friends. Looking forward to catching up with you all.

Special thanks to our perfect neighbours, Jill and Simon, for keeping an eye on our home.

Thanks to the fellow adventurers we met on the way.

Thanks to the lovely harbour masters and communities we visited.

Love and thanks to Richard for accompanying me on our fabulous adventure xxxx

So signing out for now from our anti-clockwise journey around Britain after 11 weeks and one day. A journey of more than 1650 miles.

Sue and Richard xxx

At 7:30 we moved Captiva from the mooring outside Peel harbour into the marina.

We had planned to stay on the Isle of Man until Saturday but we noticed strong south westerly winds were forecast that day and we were keen to avoid strong winds on our nose. The Friday forecast seemed more favourable so we endeavoured to see the Isle of Man in one day.

After some research we discovered an explorer ticket that gave us access to several modes of transport around the Isle of Man. We climbed onto a bus in Peel going to Ramsey. We were immediately mesmerised by the beautiful scenery as we travelled along on the top deck. Ramsey brought back memories for Richard, he visited the island with friends during a TT weekend.

After a coffee we found the station for the Isle of Man Electric Railway. We travelled to Laxey enjoying amazing views of the coastline and countryside.

When searching for the famous Great Laxey wheel we found the smaller Snaefell or Lady Evelyn wheel. The wheel came from the Snaefell mine that was closed in 1908. It was rebuilt in Blisland in Cornwall to pump water from a china clay pit. It fell into disuse in the 1950s and was dismantled and placed in storage in 1971. In 2003 it was returned to the Isle of Man and was restored and reconstructed at the Laxey Valley Gardens in 2006.

We walked to the Great Laxey wheel and were amazed by its incredible size. We climbed up several levels, the top one being slightly knee trembling.

We walked down to the mine entrance and had an interesting chat with one of the volunteers about the history of mining in the area. Initially lead was mined here in 1790. In the 1840s the Great Laxey Mining Company was formed, and became a massive industry, producing more zinc than all the mines in Britain put together. Life was very tough for the mine workers but a tourist industry grew up around the mining complex with summer visitors eager to climb the Great Laxey Wheel. Enterprising residents opened pavement cafes on what became known as ‘Ham and Egg Row’.

We returned to the tram station and climbed on board the Snaefell Mountain Tramway. This took us to the peak of Snaefell, which, at 610 metres is the highest point on the Isle of Man. We were fortunate that the peak was not completely covered with cloud.

Snaefell summit

On our return to Laxey we caught a tram to Douglas, the capital of the Island.

We had planned to have afternoon tea, but our chosen cafe was closing early. To maximise the use of our travel ticket we caught a steam train to Castletown. It was a scenic route on the last train of the day. The journey was longer and slower than we had anticipated. We only managed a short walk around Castletown and a beer before hopping on a bus back to Douglas then another to Peel.

In the evening we had a pizza in a lively outdoor wood fired pizzeria in Peel and helped some youngsters with the quiz taking place there.

Although only a brief snapshot, we enjoyed the Isle of Man and would have loved to have spent more time there. Sue did a project at school about the Isle of Man, back in the day when you got holiday brochures and cut out and glued pictures. She so wishes that she hadn’t waited so long to visit. There is so much to see and do on this charming Island. Very scenic, peaceful and lacking the tackiness of over tourism.

Friday Sailing to Wales

Winds SW4-5 Clouds and sun

We had a really good sail sometimes hitting 7 or 8 knots. There is a long approach to the marina which is only accessible HW + or – 3. We arrived in Conwy 7:30 and enjoyed an evening meal on board.

Saturday Great Orme

Saturday was a fairly bright day and we walked and caught a bus into Llandudno.

We wanted to climb the Great Orme Head. The tram station was very busy and the queue was nearly an hour long. We walked up instead, which was much quicker than the tram.

Once we had figured out the Llandudno bus timetables we returned to the marina. The bus company had removed all of the timetables from the bus shelters and replaced them with a QR code. It was difficult to know if we were standing at the correct bus stop. We missed two buses.

We had a good evening meal in The Mulberry restaurant in the marina.

There was a 90% chance of rain forecast in the afternoon. We set off for a walk to Conwy Castle at 9am.

After a coffee and an enjoyable walk around the walled town of Conwy, we returned to the marina. As the rain started we retreated to the Mulberry for a better internet signal (to write this blog). We had a late, light lunch before returning to the boat and Maisie.

Forgiven?

Winds SW 3 On the nose

After having spent most of our sailing adventure experiencing very light winds we are having to spend more time checking winds and tides.

We left Conwy at 10:30 when the water was high over the marina sill and the tide outside was slacker. Adverse winds and tides were with us most of the way, but it was only 18 miles.

Once we arrived at Menai we picked up a mooring after first calling the harbour office. We took the dinghy ashore for a quick wander around Menai. We found a Waitrose store : ) Yarg cheese and Richard’s first bottle of proper job after over 1000 miles. Serious withdrawal symptoms.

Aerial view of The Swellies from Caernarfon Harbour website https://www.caernarfonharbour.org.uk/passage-through-the-swellies/

The Swellies is the narrow channel that runs between mainland Wales and the island of Anglesey. It runs between the Menai and Britannia Suspension Bridges with strong tides of 5-8 knots. It is best to pass through the swellies when the tide is slack. The flood tide is divided by the Isle of Anglesey and the North and South streams meet in an area of slack water. This slack water advances from Puffin Island down the Menai Strait and reaches the swellies two hours before high water (HW) Liverpool. The water is only docile for 20-30 minutes so we were very careful to get our timings right. We had to leave Menai at 9:30am to catch the slack. We followed the recommended South Shore Passage.

We were quite relieved when we had made it safely through. Once the slack had passed the water moves fast for several hours forming eddies and making it a roller coaster ride. It was a picturesque passage.

Entering the narrow entrance of Caernarfon marina diagonally with a cross tide was interesting. The lifting sill gave access HW2±.

After a refreshing shower we were ready to meet Sue’s brother Shaun and his wife Rachael for lunch. It was great to see them and we enjoyed a relaxed pub lunch near to the castle. We wandered back to the boat for refreshments sitting in the sunshine. An enjoyable afternoon, thanks for coming to meet up with us.

Winds W then NW 3-4

Exiting over Caernarfon Bar was interesting as extended for miles.

We motor sailed at the start but as the wind shifted round we were on a comfortable beam reach.

We chose to pick up a mooring at Abersoch so that we were not restricted by tides when leaving in the morning. The seas were a little bit rolly until 11pm but we all had a good nights sleep after an enjoyable sailing day.