May, 2012 (Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, France)
Progress so far (Click picture to zoom)
15th-18th
Finally, after months of planning and several weeks of frantic work, we are on our way. We left Clyde Marina in Ardrossan at 08:30 on 15th May and had a great sail over to Carrickfergus- broad reach the whole way with winds F5-7. It was a bit hairy at times and pretty cold but at least the sun shone all day. It was a nine hour sail and we were glad to get in. The wind instruments started playing up shortly after leaving Ardrossan and eventually gave up all together. The following day, after checking the wiring inside the boat and not finding anything amiss, Mike had yet another trip up the mast, but still couldn't find anything wrong. He finally climbed inside one of the cockpit lockers and fiddled around with the wiring and it started working again.
On 17th we took the train into Belfast to go to Titanic Belfast which opened in April. It's a really great exhibition with plenty of interactive displays, taking you through Titanic's story in plenty of detail. If you're ever in Belfast it's well worth a visit.
We left Carrickfergus on 18th to sail to Ardglass and arrived mid afternoon in north easterly winds F5-6. The marina is very small and we had to tie up to a long berth side on to the wind. When the wind had died slightly we pulled Mistroma around with warps so that she ended up on a finger berth. This was hard work as the wind increased again half way through the manoeuvre. A combination of engine, thruster and winches got us to 90% after an hour or so and a couple of locals helped with the final part. A 50' local boat arrived at 02:30 and managed to hit our bows before slipping into the berth we'd vacated. Fortunately, the damage was limited to a couple of small scrapes on our pulpit and bow roller.
As the wind was forecast to increase to F7 the following day, before decreasing to 3-4, we decided to stay a second night and catch up with all chores around the boat.
19th-23rd
We spent most of the afternoon of 19th wiring up the solar panel, which entailed dismantling most of one side of the headlining in the cabin so that the new cable could be run. The panel sits just in front of the sprayhood and is moveable so as to catch as much sun as possible and it seems to be working very well - at times putting in a lot more power that the wind generator.
On 20th we left Ardglass and broad reached down to Howth in F3-4 and raised our first courtesy ensign of the trip. It'll only be for a couple of days, before we sail back to England. The following morning we headed for Arklow but had to motor the whole way as there was very little wind. The weather was quite a bit warmer and we managed to shed a few layers of clothes. They'll probably be back on again before long! We motored into a fog bank which reduced the visibility down to ½ mile, but with radar, AIS and the chart plotter it wasn't a problem. On 22nd the wind was very light once again and we motored all the way down to Rosslare and anchored in the bay off the harbour.
The following morning we weighed anchor at 07:40 and with visibility about ¼ mile we motored off towards Milford Haven, a distance of about 70 miles. There was no wind and a glassy Atlantic swell so we had to motor the whole way (about 10 hours). Once we arrived we had to wait for an hour before the lock gates opened so we picked up a mooring just outside.
24th-27th
We left the marina in the evening and spent the night at anchor in Dale bay, before setting off early in the morning for Padstow 70 miles away. We had to motor in poor visibility for a few hours before the wind started to build. The forecast was for SE force 3-4 increasing 5-7, gale force 8 later and we were hoping for a decent sail. Lynne noticed a pin sticking out of the gooseneck where the boom meets the mast and we had to heave-to for half an hour to fix the problem. Lucky she spotted it as it would have caused real problems if it fell out in strong winds. This explained the bent split pin I found on deck a week ago. I spent ages checking from the top of the mast down but still missed this pin, as the holes had already vanished from view.
We were surrounded by dolphins when fixing the problem and they kept coming back to visit once we were sailing again. At one point, we could see a line of them stretching for more than half a mile. One smaller dolphin kept leaping straight up in the air and falling back in again tail first.
The wind was quite strong by the time we reached Padstow and this made entry to the harbour fairly interesting. It continued to increase in strength after we arrived and was regularly gusting to 40mph all during the next day before dying away 24 hours later. Fortunately, Padstow is a very pleasant place to visit and the weather was very warm and sunny. We had a nice walk around the town and had an obligatory Cornish pasty.
28th-31st
We left Padstow mid morning with the sun shining brightly, although it was quite chilly in the breeze. We were heading for St Ives and it was a beat all the way but as the wind wasn't that strong we had to motor sail quite a bit. We arrived late afternoon and picked up a mooring in the bay. By this time the wind had died completely, so it was very warm and we sat in the cockpit admiring the view.
We launched the dinghy and tried out the outboard for the first time this season. After trying unsuccessfully to start it for a few minutes, Mike remembered to connect the spark plug and away it went! We had met people on Celtic Odessey, a Sadler 290, Peter, Cath & David, in Padstow and they also arrived in St Ives, so we invited them over for drinks in the evening, and spent a few hours putting the world to rights.
The following morning we weighed anchor, intending to sail to the Scilly Isles, but the weather forecast for the islands for the remainder of the week was for fog, mist and cloud, so we changed our plans and headed for Newlyn, near Penzance. We managed to sail close hauled down to Lands End and then motored round Longships and round to Newlyn. When we tied up to the pontoon, we were next to a Ruffian 30 and realised that we had met the crew in Ardglass, when he had helped us move the boat. He had told us that he was helping a friend sail his boat down to France and they were leaving early the next morning and expected to take approx. 20 hours for the crossing.
Just before starting to prepare our evening meal I had poured out a glass of wine which I took out to the cockpit along with a couple of little biscuits which I laid on the table. I turned my back for a few seconds and a seagull swooped down and stole one of the biscuits. I really hate these vermin! The same thing had happened to a couple of girls sitting on the harbour wall in Padstow eating a fish supper. The seagull swooped down and stole the fish out of the box.
On 30th we left Newlyn in the early afternoon and motor sailed about 20 miles east and anchored for the night in a small bay at Coverack. This was to shorten the crossing to France the following morning. We left at 06:00 and set sail for L'Aber-Wrac'h, a distance of approx. 90 miles, which we expected to take 12-14 hours. The weather was ideal for the crossing being SW F3-4, so a broad reach the whole way, with the added bonus of sun for the whole day, although it wasn't particularly warm. The six layers were back on again! We managed to average 7kts for the journey and arrived at the outer buoy at 18:30 and were tied up on the pontoon by 19:15. After a nice meal with wine and coffee it was off to bed.
