The Long Way Round - 2018

After Neyland we motored up Milford Haven against the wind to spend another two nights in lovely Dale anchorage.  Great news:  George is working well, our third hand is back! We rowed ashore against the wind (0.38 miles according to Rosie, sitting in the stern, while I pulled) and walked to Westdale Bay and then up to the old RAF/RNAS airfield, which was quite eerie with the ghosts of past aeroplanes.  Then to The Griffin for a delicious fish dinner. Westdale Bay, looking out to Skokholm Island  The next day was spent waiting for a low pressure area to pass by to the south, with the wind moaning in the rigging and the chain tugging at the anchor. We had intended to anchor near the islands of Skokholm or Skomer, to see the puffins and other wildlife.  However, the weather is all wrong for such exposed anchorages (wind and swell), so it was not possible. In fact, the weather is generally very unhelpful at the moment; cold northerly winds (we ...

After three days in Neyland Yacht Haven, we think that George (our self-steering) might be happy again, complete with a replacement control panel.  He is so old (probably early 1990ties) that we had to find a second-hand panel to suit him.  Luckily, the local electronics firm, Neyland Marine Services Ltd, have come up trumps.  They diagnosed the problem and then did us a good deal on their old workshop test unit.  Later today we will run sea trials, with bated breath. Meanwhile, we visited Pembroke Docks heritage museums, to discover the maritime and flying boat local histories.  This involved a decent walk in pouring rain and a glass of hot chocolate.  The weather is not very friendly, at the moment, which allows all sorts of indulgence. We have been struggling to predict a weather window to visit the local islands of Skomer and Skokholm (some Viking influence here) but the winds are highly variable and often strong, making any anchorage dangerous...

Sailing north across the Bristol Channel from St Ives to Milford Haven, we encountered some interesting wild life, each very different but always a welcome interruption during our long day at sea. While we were sailing rather slowly in light winds, a tiny bird that I think had to be a young Goldcrest landed on our stern rail and then hopped onto the steering wheel before flying round the boat and back again.  It was far out at sea and seemed unsure what to do.  We would like to have helped it but we could not have caught it and even so, would it have wanted us to hold it?  Eventually it flew off and we did not see it again.  I was too slow with my camera so this is a photo from the internet. We frequently came across groups of Razorbills far from land, surfacing just ahead of the boat and then diving down again in search of fish.  They were perfectly at home well away from the shore either under or on the sea.  This is another photo from the int...

Below is a picture of someone (me), yesterday morning, who has got up at 03:30 to enjoy a fast passage in strong SW winds but instead find himself in light variable winds, under power, with the possibility of not reaching Milford Haven before dark.  I was as gloomy as the weather!  To make things worse, George has gone on strike (the old Autohelm 6000 self-steering has decided not to work any more), so someone always has to helm.  It was a 90 mile passage. And here is that same person, when the wind has finally arrived, enjoying a fast reach at 7+ knots, in bright sunshine.  Hey, it's good to be alive! We surfed through the entrance channel into Milford Haven and then turned to port and dropped anchor in Dale bay.  As the sun set, the cold wind moaned in the rigging and the cool white Sauvignon tasted especially good.  Sleep came easily.

On a sparkling day, we rounded Land's End and Cape Cornwall, taking the inner passage between Longships lighthouse and the mainland. We then headed NE along the rugged Cornish coast, tacking against a gentle breeze.  This was too slow however, so we had to resort to Yanni (Greek for John, the faithful Yanmar engine) to get us out of the adverse tide and into St Ives bay.  Here we anchored with excited holiday makers buzzing hire boats (RIBs with small outboards) all around us.  They went home and the swell died down, leaving us in a beautiful place to spend the evening.

Yesterday, we stopped overnight in Newlyn. This is very much a working fishing harbour and yachts are kept to the far end of one line of pontoon berths.  The fishing boats take up most of the space.  And it smells very strongly of fish!  This attracts seagulls, who are all over the place :) They squabble for the best lookout posts and eat up any tasty morsels left by the boats.  There was even one asleep on the life raft on an RNLI lifeboat in the harbour. Cheeky I call it.  The other thing about fishing harbours is that you are woken at 4:00 am when the boats start up their huge engines and set off to sea for the day.  Oh well, we needed an early start today.

Our water tanks are now clean and full of sweet water, so farewell to friendly Falmouth.  Today we rounded the southern point of England, the Lizard.  Blue skies, cold wind.  Rosie, always a close follower of fashion, sported her yak-herders hat for the occasion. We then had a stiff beat against a Northerly wind, to reach Newlyn.  This is a working harbour, as evidenced by the strong smell of fish.  The first seagull pooed on the boat within half an hour of our arrival.  We plan to overnight here, then sail on around Land's End, weather gods permitting.  Now for some more deck washing.

At last we've made it out to sea!  At 08:00, we waved farewell to a small group of friends at Weir Quay, and motored down river. About to leave the mooring - photo Pat Moss A warm day but with a strong chilly breeze from the SE.  We made 6 to 7 knots with one reef in the main, under clear blue skies.  The seas were quite rough, left over from the previous gales, so we both felt a bit queasy at times but we managed to keep down our porridge. Then disaster:  Our water tastes like mouldy plastic and even the spare water in containers is little better!  Two hours out and already we can't make a decent cup of tea.  The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner springs to mind but we wouldn't harm a seagull, let alone an albatross. So we have diverted into the town marina in Falmouth, where we are flushing out the water system, treating with sterilizing fluid and then refilling with fresh.  So much for a quiet anchorage up the Helford River.  We'll consol...

Yesterday at last, conditions were right, with only a few gusty winds (but not cold or raining, for once) and Rosie was able to winch me back up the mast.  I fitted the new AIS (Automatic Identification System) bracket to the spreader.  I had made the previous bracket from recycled plastic and it was degrading in the UV of the sunlight.  I've made the new one from GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic), which should last a long time, unless a halyard gets wrapped around it. We are now ready to go, once the present gale has blown out.  There are more whitecaps on the river today and rain is lashing the windows of our house but we are promised better weather to come, which will be gratefully received. Now I must pack my kit bag.

At last we are nearly ready to go.  The new forestay is attached and the sails bent on.  Sufficient stores are loaded to take us a very long way (across the Atlantic Ocean, by the looks of it, not that we intend to go that way).  There is only our personal kit to load on board and a new AIS bracket to fix up the mast.  Then we will be ready to go, except (as John Chadwick likes to put it) for the whims of the Weather Gods. Already there are whitecaps on the river and t he weather forecast is not promising anything better:  Tomorrow, on Monday, our intended day of departure, it looks like strong headwinds and rough seas.  On Tuesday, the wind is forecast to increase further to gale force and the seas become very rough!  Suddenly we find the shelter of our own Tamar River to be very welcome and Wednesday begins to look like a much better start date. We will sail as wind and tide dictate, so we'll wait patiently for better conditions.

Yesterday we rowed out to the boat with a plan to hoist me up the mast.  This was to fit a new inner forestay.  We'll have to return to that subject another time because Rosie checked the bilges and found them full of water.  Are we sinking?  I tasted the water and it was fresh, not salt, so it was not so serious but the water system must be leaking.  We traced it to the old stainless steel water tank, hidden under our bunk. We pulled apart the joinery and removed the tank, leaving a rust-stained locker. Sure enough, the bottom of the tank showed corrosion and signs of leakage.  Even high quality stainless steel can corrode, especially if the welding isn't perfect.  This tank was made in 1991, when the boat was built, so it has done quite well. It's less than a week before we sail and too late to have a new tapered plastic (HDPE) tank made.  We will have to run the suction lines to a manifold and connect that to the othe...