Aberystwyth to Milford Haven

Writing this blog has been a bit of a test for me. I was never very good at essays at school and never imagined that I would one day be writing stuff that people were eager to read and who were anticipating the next instalment (Dee please note the speling of instalment). It's difficult for a variety of reasons. I don't want it to be just a diary along the lines of "Got up, went sailing, arrived, went to the pub, went to bed" nor do I want it to be a thesis on the Yachtmaster exam, but sometimes, when I get the opportunity to sit and write as I am doing now, it's not necessarily the time I can summon up the witty and interesting side of me ( apparently ther is one). And perhaps, like now, I have the time to think of rivetting things to write but I don't have an internet connection, so when you get to read this it might be a couple of days old. Some of the past blogs I have posted have been a bit short and sweet and just been a diary of events and for that I apologise. There's been so much I haven't put in due to time restrictions (with my typing speed it can take an hour and a half to do one post) and not wanting to bore you with minutiae, but I realise now that I should have included all that stuff, as this is my only record of the trip apart from some photos and good/bad memories, and what appear to be just day-to-day, not very interesting things are what have made the trip what it has been and is for me. Sometimes I'm so knackered that I just can't be bothered! My intention, when it's all over, is to edit and add to the posts I've written and do my best to add some of the detail that's missing at present. People have suggested a book but I don't think it would be a best-seller. Perhaps a kids book - "Steve goes sailing" - "Look Mother and Janet" said John. "There is a boat. The sailors are drinking beer and showing us their...." No. Perhaps not.
So, back to the plot. We had a great day in Aberystwyth courtesy of Yeti's dad, Nick, who had arranged a full social agenda for us. We anchored off the harbour on arrival at about 1030 as we had to wait for the tide to get into the small marina in the harbour where Nick had arranged a free berth for us, and were just about to get our heads down after a long night when Nick called us on the radio to say he was coming out on a fishing boat to a) pick up Mark who had to get a train back to London, and b) bring out a news camaraman who wanted to do a piece about us for the local TV news. Here comes my 15 minutes of fame. So there followed a mad dash to clean up the boat and get it looking shipshape, which involved hiding the empty beer cans and fag packets, coiling ropes, putting on the crew shirts and putting up the anchor ball for the first time. Interviews were done on board and I did my best to be eloquent and witty, then we bade farewell to Mark and off they went. A couple of circuits of Gamaldansk to get some atmosphere shots and Dave, the fishing boat owner, suddenly became the director, shouting that he was going to do some close passes, then a long distance shot, followed by another couple of circuits and some close-ups. A raw talent wasted on fishing methinks.Pete and I then had a chance for a nap until about 3 when the tide was enough to get in to the harbour. A bit of a rushed shower, meet my brother Simon and Simon Garrett (the Wing Co) from the train, and then a lift with Captain Hugh, a friend of Nick's, to Aberaeron about 16 miles along the coast, for a barbie and drinks at Nick and Dee's (Marks step-mum) lovely house by the harbour, from where I did the last, rather rushed, blog. A great evening for which we gratefully thank Nick and Dee. An early start again the next day to get the high tide out of the harbour, and for a while it seemed we would have a fair wind for the long passage to Milford Haven some 84 miles distant to the SW and we were escorted for a couple of minutes by a pod of huge dolphins. But as usual the wind came round onto the nose and we had to start tacking. Then, just to make the whole thing familiar, it rained. Not much, but just a token to remind us that it was Summer 2007. I had a nap below, leaving the ropes to the others, but was woken to get permission to start the engine as the wind had died. Not a problem - just drop the sails and motor onwards. But the tide had other ideas. It was now running in the opposite direction from that which we wanted to go and we were managing only 2.5kn forwards looking at a lighthouse to port which appeared to be completely static. Putting up the sails and using the little bit of wind that had sprung up made no difference, the lighthouse stubbornly remained on the port beam. We were going nowhere at 2.5kn! We were looking at that damned lighthouse for 4 hours! We saw the FastCat ferry go into Fishguard and were still in the same place when it came out again. Bored, I called up the ferry on the radio and had a bit of a chat with the duty officer just for something to do. I used the pretext of getting him to tell me what my RADAR echo looked like on his screen and it was nice to hear that he had seen Gamaldansk on his unit from miles away. He wished us fair winds and went on his way at 35kn. Finally the tide slackened and we made progress to the SW as the sun started going down. There followed a succession of lighthouses as we rounded the various headlands towards Milford. The tide, which had been so frustratingly against us earlier now picked us up and whisked us forwards at 7.5kn. So fast in fact that a shortcut I tried was to no avail as the tide tried to sweep us down onto the island we were tring to bypass, so I went outside it only to discover the "Wild Goose Race"! Suddenly it was a re-run of our little meeting with the Christchurch Shelf in the Solent. Only this time it was a pitch black night. We couldn't see the waves coming at us but we could certainly hear them. There would be a shout of "Big one" and everyone would hang on for dear life, not knowing which way the boat would be thrown or when. This only lasted for 10 minutes or so until we were through but it sure made everyone sit up and pay attention! Soon we arrived a the entrance to Milford Haven, a huge natural harbour on the very SW tip of Wales. Stupidly I hadn't made any pilotage notes (the up close navigation to get you in and out of harbours) so I had to do what is probably the most intense pilotage of the whole trip. There were lights everywhere. Not just nav lghts but an oil refinery, docks , jettys, pierheads, ships, roads and buildings. All showing some kind of light and confusing the ones I was desperatly looking for to get us safely in. For me it was a textbook excercise and I was in control and really enjoyed it, but to the others it was all black magic and a bit scary with just lots of flashing lights, so I got lots of hugs and congrats when we eventualy got to the entrance to the marina.The plan for the next day was to leave in the late afternoon for a 24 hour 120 mile passage to Scilly. As we left Milford there was a huge sea running outside the harbour and of course the wind was blowing straight from the Scillies. We managed 4 or five miles slamming into the sea and having the not very strong wind knocked out of the sails, before, after chatting with the others, the decision was made to return to Milford and try again the next day as an overnight passage in those conditions and with an in experienced crew was not an option. We had the embarassment of having to return to the marina lock where earlier, as we left, I had forgotten to call the lock for permission to enter and had received a verbal rocket and a huge glare from the lock keeper as I narrowly missed a barge coming the other way, which was repeated later in the marina office. Pete had said as we left " They can stick it. We're not coming back anyway". How wrong he was and how I regretted not reading the rules as the duty marina manager wagged his finger at me!By now we had heard of another huge depression coming in from the Atlantic which has now postponed the start of the Fastnet Race and scuppered our plans to get to Scilly before it hits. There are gale warnings for the St Georges Channel and the Bristol Channel and severe weather warnings all over the Southwest. So it's with a huge feeling of defeat and impotence, as we can almost see Cornwall, that Pete and I have decided that we'll have to pack up the boat, leave her here and go home for a while. We have both shed tears of rage and frustration as a result of this insurmountable hurdle thrown in our path so ridiculusly close to home, and after all we've been through up to now it seems so bloody unfair. It seems 3 consecutive days good weather is too much to ask for. We both have work commitments and I want to spend some time with Sally before work as she is due to drop the sprog in about 8 weeks. We plan to return when we have a weather window of at least 4 days and can muster a crew who can cope with a long haul back to Fowey.
To be continued................