From Pwllheli to Aberystwyth – A troublefree ride
Here we were again, my partner John and myself, just like in the old days (which were 3 weeks before).
Gina was safe at home, still following us thanks to our AIS transducer.
Raising the northumbrian flag!
After that long stop in Pwllheli, having replaced the sails ropes and improved their setting, having fuelled up, and, what’s more, John having raised the Northumbrian flag on our foremast, we were as ready as we could be.
The crossing from Pwllheli to Aberystwyth presented no difficulties.
We couldn’t however draw a straight route on our map. We had to round St Patrick’s Causeway, halfway down the road, then the Cynfelyn Patches, west of our destination.
Both were signalled by west cardinals, easy to spot at sea and handy turning points for our changes of course.
Aberystwyth harbour also needed to be entered within 2 hours before high water. We always estimated our speed at around 5 knots, there were a mere 36 miles to go and high water was at around 15h00, so we set for an early departure at 05h00 to arrive more or less at the right time, with a safety margin. In fact, we had to slow down at the end of the crossing.
Cloudy morning sky
As usual, we had drawn our route on the paper chart, then on my android tablet, then on the new chart-plotter. This latter is not easy to use due to its display not being “touch-screen”, which makes drawing routes a tedious task. But once done, it is a really convenient navigation aid.
It was still dark when we left Pwllheli. I had no envy of grounding again as we did when entering the harbour, and I had got precious advices for negotiating the channel from a “local hero” named Ian Herbert Jones, who is preparing his Tradewind 35 Cutter Rig “Puffin” for the next round the world Golden Globe Race in 2022. Ian is a nice and helping person. You can check his website on https://www.hjsailing.com/ .
Ian Herbert Jones “Puffin”
Besides Ian’s advices, I had hooked up a powerful long-range projector I had found on China Blue. Its beam has been very helpful to locate the channel buoys, their slow flashing leaving them unlit too long for my peace of mind.
Arriving in Aberystwyth harbour, we used our hand-operated fog horn to try and scatter some paddle boarders who were practising in the middle of the channel. It had no effect, but we avoided them with no more trouble than smiles.
I’ll remember Aberystwyth partly for the unusual luxury of the marina office and the sanitary facilities.
The office looked like a 5 stars palace reception hall. As for the shower and toilets, they consisted of 4 individual bathrooms like you can find in expensive hotels, well, at least, nicer than my own bathroom at home. Check the video in the videos section of the site.
This had John wonder about the financial ressources of these amenities.
We had of course a couple of beers at the Ship and Castle pub, followed by the mandatory Fish and Chips.
The next crossing to Milford Haven was to be a night passage, so we had plenty time to rest in the morning.
Sometimes our course is not very straight…
Out of the 9 hours we took to sail from Pwllheli, we had managed 6 hours with our engine off (can you believe it!).
At last – you had a good sail!
Hi Maddy, since then we have had more opportunities to sail, given that we just return from the JRA Annual General Meeting held in Roscoff, north Britany. About 750 nautical miles all together, with 120 hours sailing (for 60 hours motoring).
With her heavy displacement, China Blue loves it when wind get above18 knots!