Following the Olympic Torch from Land's End to North Wales

It's true - everywhere we have been since Land's End, we have arrived in the wake of Olympic excitement. Quite nice really to have such a welcome. Anyone would have thought we had planned it that way!
Our berth against the Quay in Lower Town Harbour Fishguard was unusual to say the least. This harbour is home to small bilge-keel private pleasure craft and fishing boats, is tiny and mostly dries.

There was just space against the wall for FF, looking somewhat incongruous amongst the locals. This is where the lifting keel of FF really is an advantage, allowing us into harbours where fixed-keel yachts of our size cannot go. So once again we were the only visitors, and took advantage of the welcoming Fishguard Harbour Yacht Club - seen on the right of shot above - bar and showers.

Monday morning, once FF floated again on the rising tide, we were off again bound across Cardigan Bay to Pwllheli on the south side of the Lleyn Peninsula. The sea was fantastically calm and only light variable wind blowing. The down side was that although we could sail, we had to boost the speed with the motor so the 56 miles across the bay could be accomplished in reasonable time (in the event it took us just over 10 hours). There was very little to do on this leg as the route is virtually straight all the way so we just engaged the auto pilot, rigged the preventer and sat back to enjoy. About halfway across, a couple of dolphins arrived to keep us company and entertain us for a few minutes, enjoying playing in our bow wave and dodging back and forth under the boat.
Arriving at sunset, the north Wales coastline surrounded us, Snowdonia was shrouded in mist, which all made the end of this passage an unforgettable experience.
Hafan Pwllheli, as the marina is called, is very comfortable and reputed to be one of the finest yachting venues in western Britain. It is very large but entered by an extremely narrow and twisty channel requiring careful pilotage. A large area of the 'pool' dries at low tide but it is very safe. We are using the berth of our new friends Mair and Dic Williams (of pollock recipe fame, see earlier blog entry).

Needing some time to recover and attend to general admin and a few jobs round the boat (yes, the washing still needs doing!), we decided to stay a couple of days. My great friend Penny reminded me that we had been here many moons ago with our families during a half-term break spent at the so-called (and primitive!) School Cottage in Snowdonia National Park. We had spent a couple of rainy afternoons in the Pwllheli swimming pool so the kids to work off their excess energy. A trip down memory lane was a must. Walked into town and found Asda to replenish provisions. The checkout man (CM) could not believe we had no car when I asked him about buses. CM: where are you from? Me: Yorkshire. CM: are you camping? Me: well sort of. CM: did you come by train? Me: no, by boat. CM: (stunned silence, then) well you'll have a job carrying that lot!

This morning went into town again to see what the market was like. Verdict: Yorkshire markets are streets ahead! But did find an excellent little coffee shop - Pili Plas (Butterflies) in Gaol Street where we enjoyed some traditional and delicious home made Bara Brith. Go there if you are ever in Pwllheli!

We are off again tomorrow, braving Bardsey Sound and The Tripods, not to mention Hell's Mouth, on the way to Holyhead - about a 60 mile passage. Before I go, I leave you with a little souvenir from Pwllheli, picked up in the coffee shop ... anyone guess what the green text halfway down on the right says? Answers on a postcard please.

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Starting them young

Welcome aboard 8 month-old Flynn and mum Kate.

Just doing our bit towards encouraging the next generation of British Olympic sailors. Unfortunately Kate's mum Sally was unable to join the crew as planned because of an unexpected tummy bug laying her low.
A brief trip followed, out from the Lower Town Quay in Fishguard, around Dinas Head to a lovely little bay for lunch on deck at Cwm-yr-Eglwys (welsh for church in the valley - you cant really see it as it is just a vestigial ruin).

Then back to base and a quick cuddle with great uncle Mick ...

before disembarkation from the boat on Lower Town Quay at low tide

the easy way!

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Strong tides, turbulent seas and wonderful puffins

Yesterday, Friday, the sun shone and it became warm, yes actually warm, even hot at times. So out came the shorts and tee shirts at last. Dale Bay basked in sunshine.

Some of the natives must have smelled the bacon and eggs and decided to pay us a visit.

Before setting off on the next trip, the one remaining pollock was filleted ready for the evening meal. Delicious quickly fried in butter with garlic, accompanied by cheese sauce. We are grateful to our neighbours Mair and Dic (from Wales as you might guess) in Padstow for that culinary suggestion. Their boat was rafted up against FF for two nights and they gave us many tips about the sailing on N Wales coast.

The tides round the islands west and north of Milford Haven are renowned for their strength. St. George's Channel, which runs between this part of the Welsh coast and the SE coast of Ireland is also notorious for its swift currents. We knew all this but seemed lulled into a false sense of security by the lovely weather. So instead of waiting for the tide to run in our favour, we decided to chance our luck and tackle the passage round the islands of Skomer and Skokholm into St. Brides Bay early, to give us time to fish before entering the tiny drying harbour of Solva for the night. Well this was a serious misjudgement, since the "Wild Goose Race" almost sucked us backwards, and with no wind for the sails to assist the engine, FF could not compete with the sea. Decided discretion to be the better part of valour and retreated to the south haven bay on Skomer Island - a wonderful bird sanctuary - and anchor for the night. Overall a very good decision. Not only had we experienced exactly what FF can and cannot do in the face of such strong currents, but we also found ourselves an idyllic spot, with only puffins, razorbills, guillemots, gulls and a seal for company. Brilliant!
An early start today meant that the tides were in our favour this time and even St. George's Channel could not prevent us from reaching Fishguard at 3 p.m. today. Sailed nearly all the way in strong NE force 4/5, occasionally 6 wind, and managed to steer clear of both The Smalls and The Bishops and Clerks rocks. Below is a distant view of South Bishop, a rock not to be toyed with.

Now anchored in Fishguard Harbour, and await visit from Mick's sister Sally, her daughter Kate and Kate's baby Flynn tomorrow. Should be fun getting them on board for the day!

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Wildlife in the West

Apologies for brief blog break ... this blogger needed to recharge her batteries in Padstow, or Padstein as it is currently nicknamed. The last passage around Lands End was exciting but tiring. Exciting because just an hour and a half after slipping the lines at St. Michael's Mount, almost at the Runnel Stone buoy, Follyfin was joined by a school of porpoises, about 20 of them, swimming alongside and under the boat from side to side for about 5 minutes. What a sight, adults and babies, we felt privileged to have them for company even for such a short period. Then, just over an hour later, on the approach to Land's End, a basking shark allowed us a brief glimpse of its enormous body before retreating to the depths. So good to know these creatures are still around in UK waters.

Back to Padstein: it seems that Rick has bought up most of the town and certainly all the fish, so much so that if you want to buy fresh fish, you have to go to his shop, and if you want red meat - heaven forfend - there is no longer a butcher in town; you have to trek 2 miles uphill to see Mr Tesco. Dear old Rick seems to have cornered many other markets in town too, from pasties, to deli, to hotel, to fish and chips, to restaurants, cafes and souvenirs shops. Not sure if he was also responsible for the National Lobster Hatchery being sited here in Padstow as well. If he was, then well done. 'Spose he has brought a lot of commerce to the town too. Both Tuesday and Wednesday this week it was full of people, seemingly just coming for the food as weather was not that great. It's still a lovely little harbour though. Follyfin on extreme left, the old Custom House in centre.

Whilst here we decided to walk to Wadebridge along the Camel Trail - that's the river variety, not ship of the desert variety for the geographically challenged reader - a good 5 miles each way (no wonder everyone else was on bikes).

The trail runs along the west bank of the estuary and is a delight, being host to many wild flowers, including many wild orchids which I dare say the cyclists missed, so that was some compensation for the tired legs. Also many birds feed on the drying sand and mud banks as the tide ebbs.

In Wadebridge sampled excellent pasty and a beer aptly named 'Doom Bar' after the drying sand bank that bars vessels travelling in or out of the river at any time apart from 2 hours either side of high tide.

View of actual Doom Bar at low tide.

Later yesterday afternoon, a local man to whom we had chatted when we first arrived here on Monday called in and asked if we wanted some fish. He had been out all day and caught a load of pollock, of which he forced 3 on us. Almost as good as catching them ourselves, and doubly good to have bypassed Rick on this occasion!
As I write this we are on a foggy passage across the Bristol Channel. Already we have been joined several times by lots of dolphins and porpoises, making the otherwise dull 12-15 hour crossing bearable. Also sighted puffins, gannets and guillemots on excursions from nearby Lundy Island we presume.
And now we have arrived, yes we are in Wales - on a swinging mooring in Dale Bay near the entrance to Milford Haven. Relaxing day tomorrow exploring local islands and expecting to arrive in Fishguard on Saturday.

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Rounding The Lizard to Mounts Bay

After our near miss in St. Mawes, my brother reminded me of an unforgettable crossing from St Mawes to Falmouth in the ebb tide, when we were on a family holiday in this area in 1958! Anyway, suffice to say it took us fully 24 hours to recover from the shock of this recent incident. Night before last we anchored in the Helford River, a beautiful tranquil spot, and so have successfully put the anchoring demon to rest.

Yesterday we came around Lizard Point (most southerly point of mainland Britain and reminding me of a childhood friend of daughter Laurel who goes by the same nickname) into Mounts Bay and are now securely berthed inside St. Michael's Mount little harbour, just under the former Benedictine Monastery and now the castle home of the St Aubyn family for the past 300 years or so. This place has fascinating history. The view below was taken as we approached from the south-west, to avoid the infamous rocks which lurk just under the surface close to the Mount.

Yesterday was the first warmish day we have had and at last some watery sunshine. This harbour dries so we were on sand again last night. We are the only visiting boat, all the others being local (small) fishing launches.
Here we were lucky to entertain an old friend from Cambridge, Rebecca Harvey, who is a highly creative and successful young potter, working almost exclusively with porcelain. She moved down here 4 years ago to open her own studio. Her work was recently show-cased at Fortnum and Mason in London, where she was presented to HM The Queen herself!

Our dinner guest arrives in style ... guess who set the camera up for the happy reunion group photo! Rebecca has taken up the very Cornish sport of gig rowing, which can be seen almost every day out here in Mounts Bay.

So today, Sunday, has been a lovely day of rest for us, exploring the castle and grounds, enjoying an early Jubilee cream tea, watching people and generally preparing ourselves for the next big adventure ... Land's End tomorrow, heading for Padstow on the north coast of Cornwall.

Looking down from castle towards Marazion and the causeway at low tide. Follyfin can be seen dried out in top left corner of the harbour.

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Anxious moments in St. Mawes

Today turned out to be almost our worst nightmare.
Having arrived in St. Mawes last night after a marvellous day's sailing from Mevagissey, we dropped anchor off the beach in beautifully calm conditions. Fresh mackerel for supper.
This morning dawned grey and wet. Later we dinghied ashore in sunshine having been invited for coffee by a sailing acquaintance in his house overlooking the bay. Enjoyed delicious Cornish pasties in the village as the wind gradually increased (earlier than forecast) to force 6 and later force 7. On looking out towards where Follyfin should have been, we noticed that she had moved halfway towards the rocks from where we had left her anchored securely (or so we thought). Without hesitation we leapt into the dinghy, fired up the outboard and sped across the choppy sea towards our beloved craft ... But our 3.5 horsepower engine had difficulty catching up with Follyfin's continuing advance towards the rocky lee shore.
Lucky for us, we were not the only people to have noticed the imminent danger. The harbour master's work boat just got to FF moments ahead of us, grabbed the anchor chain and held her off the rocks whilst we clambered on to ignite the engine. This was a lesson learned and hopefully never to be repeated. ALWAYS TEST AND TEST AGAIN THE ANCHOR HOLD ... AND KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BOAT! Tonight we are tied up to a swinging mooring out in St. Mawes Bay, just happy to be here. But it will be a bumpy night. We can explore up river another day.

This photo is to remind us that this adventure should be fun and not stressful!

Mixing with the Navy and Taking the Ground

Returned to Plymouth yesterday after grand nuptial celebrations in Cumbria, including flash mob opera during the groom's speech! Well worth the break in the circumnavigation, and good opportunity to recover our strength from the first 'leg'.
Today's challenge was to negotiate Plymouth Sound and environs without upsetting the Navy in nearby Devonport. Thought we had successfully achieved that until well out to sea, about 6 miles in from the Eddystone Rocks, we found ourselves almost surrounded by large warships. Had a little chat over VHF with the captain of a Belgian warship to establish that we would not actually be fired on during their firing exercise, so that was a relief. Sailed all the way, close-hauled in a NW force 5/7 wind. Quite exhilarating if a little uncomfortable at times! Made very good headway towards Mevagissey Harbour, our resting place for the night.
Mevagissey is a classic Cornish fishing town where the tiny harbour is occupied mainly by local fishing boats. In fact we are the only visitor today, and have chosen to dry out on the sandy beach well inside the harbour ... something Follyfin is uniquely equipped to do by virtue of her lifting keel. As I write, she is gently settling down on her bottom, so to speak, and we look forward to a quiet night 'taking the ground' (correct terminology). And tomorrow FF will float again - oh yes she will - and we will keep calm and sail on ... thanks to kind parting gift from neighbours Jenny and Dave in Yorkshire!

Warships ahoy!

Taking the ground

They catch big fish around here ...

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Klingons on the Starboard Bow

Sunday brought sunshine and warmth and a rare lie-in. Our young passengers needed to catch train back to London that evening, which enabled us to 'mess about' on the boat all that day. Enjoyed sailing around in Portland Bay heading gradually eastwards along the spectacular Jurassic Coast towards Lulworth Cove, a beautiful spot. Unfortunately no time to go in so instead tried fishing for mackerel on way back but without success - technique needs refining I think.

Portland Bill Lighthouse

Monday 7th May: having studied all the tidal stream diagrams and checked tide times several times over, read and re-read the very scary passages in the relevant pilot books, we decided to take courage in both hands and take the inside passage around Portland Bill. This would be the first real test of our own seamanship on this voyage and of Follyfin's seaworthiness. There is much history associated with Portland Bill not least of which is that most of the stone used in many of London's historic buildings is of course Portland stone. We passed so close that we could easily have spoken to the people on the land.