So we're home. I didn't have to get up this morning. I didn't care what the tide or the weather was doing. I was in my own bed. Work beckons. Pete's gone home and there's a bit of a feeling of anticlimax. Was it all worth it? Yes of course. It's been a mixed bag of experiences - good and bad, scary and exciting, fun and boring. Obviously the bad weather has played the biggest part in the whole thing. People asked "Why go anticlockwise?" to which I replied that it would be summer and there wouldn't be the prevailing winds of winter all the time, as we would have the usual summer high pressures meaning light and variable winds most of the time. Obviously I was proved wrong by the summer of 2007. Every day the weather charts looked like they would in winter, with a troop of depressions marching steadily in, one by one, across the Atlantic, giving us north wind as we went north and south wind as we went south. And when we had wind it wasn't the gentle zephyrs of summer but the raging storms and gales of winter with the associated rough seas and low temperatures. Now, every time I hear "rough to very rough" mentioned on the shipping forecast it makes my toes curl and my belly go tight as I now know how scary it can be.
Of course there were some good, even great, days sailing and a few when it didn't rain on us, but to my mind the ratio should have been the other way round. I expected a few challenging days, it goes with the territory, but never expected each day to end up being a fight against a bucking boat, strong winds, rain and cold.
It's been a very steep learning curve for me and for Pete. As I've said before, I never knew quite how much I would have to rely on my yachtmaster training. It all seemed so picky and un-necessary when day-sailing out of Fowey with little tide to have to worry about and lots of nice deep water, but a completely different matter when bucking a foul tide and wind to get into a shallow harbour before all the water disappears and hoping the latest entry time I worked out was accurate enough to prevent us going aground on a falling tide.
Another lesson well learned was on the subject of crewing. My original offer to take along all and sundry was based on my experiences of day sailing in good conditions out of Fowey and being able to take inexperienced friends for a day out. How different this becomes once the conditions get worse and I start needing a crew rather than passengers. This is in no way meant as any disrespect to the inexperienced guys who came along - it was great to have your company and I'm so chuffed so many got to share our wonderful experience, but there were times when I wished that either I had trained crew or I could send the novices below to get out of the weather and out of the way, but this usually wasn't an option due to being below bringing on seasickness. This would have lessened the stress on me a thousandfold. I hope that the rough conditions didn't scare anyone too much, or put them off future sailing. I hope you'll all understand that these thoughts come from a purely selfish and personal point of view. I find it difficult to express how much relief I felt when Jon and Graham were aboard as I knew that with them I had crew, apart from Pete, I could rely on if it got mucky. I had to take crewing strength into account when I made the two decisions to turn back - once in Scotland and once leaving Milford. With the prospect of a long, 100 mile plus, passage and bad weather, the last thing I needed was to be instructing a competent crew course in a rough force 6. My particular sympathy goes to the two Simons who only managed a long (but not without excitement) day with us before we had to abandon the crossing to Scilly and they went home. Especially my brother, who I know had been so looking forward to the last few legs back to Fowey and who had done so much to raise money for the RNLI. His was the single largest sum donated at £500! Well done Si and so sorry it was so short lived. We'll do something next year.
I feel I must say a few thank yous and mention a few people. This is in no particular order of merit so no squabbling!
The volunteer lifeboat crews and full timers around the country have been brilliant. We have been welcomed by them all and once they found out what we were doing fell over themselves to help. Be it with weather forecasts, local knowledge, use of the lifeboat-house showers and internet, or just a bit of a chat, they've been fantastic to a man. Well done guys and keep up the good work. Also thanks to Tamsin and Amy at RNLI Southwest for co-ordinating all the PR stuff for us and such a great homecoming.
The marina managers and harbour-masters along the way deserve a mention too. Those who gave us reduced or waived fees, bless you. Also to those harbour masters on the phone or radio providing a welcoming voice as we arrived at a new and strange harbour or talked us in, or even led us, through the shallows, you have no idea how much that boosted my confidence at moments when, after a long day at sea, I was faced with the final challenge of getting into a strange and foreign place with a stupidly deep, 6ft keel! (A word of advice - if you're thinking of sailing around Britain, do it in a shallow bilge keeler. It's a lot less stressy!)
A big thanks to those along the way who have shown great interest and hospitality. John Scott and his family in Tarbert who entertained us to a lovely meal, sorted out a reduced fee berth, lent charts and generally showed interest from the time of the conception of the trip. Nick and Dee Sawyer for their hospitality in Aberystwyth. Once again a waived fee, a lovely barby at home and general interest and organisation. And a welcome pack of Welsh goodies on our arrival. Nico, who made a special effort to come and see us in Brightlingsea, thanks go to you. And I have to mention (again) Mike "Why eye, bonny pet" Fellows for egging us on to drink too much and for his friendship and support both in Hartlepool and on the phone and internet. Not sure what the final score was but you definitely win mate. You have showed a couple of Malibu and shandy drinking southern poofs how it should be done. Big respect!
Special thanks to Mark, Debbie and Paul at Delta Sound for the crew shirts.
To the guys (and girl) who joined us for the trip. Thanks for putting up with me and providing laughs and companionship along the way.
To everyone who has made a donation however large or small. Thanks from me and the RNLI. I don't know the final tally but it's looking like about £6,500. Well done.
To my wife Sally. She has been a complete star in the lead up to and during the trip. She allowed me to desert her for 7 weeks while she was at home, or the remains of home after the builders started, being very pregnant and managing all the building and domestic stuff, all the while being the official weather forecaster and getter-of-things-together in my absence. All my love to you Sal and it's so good to be home.
And last, but by no means least, a huge big-up, thanks and respect to my (first) mate Pete. It has been a joy and privilege to have sailed with you for 7 weeks and to have shared so many new and sometimes scary experiences with someone who took it all in his stride and only complained when someone trod in the breakfast (again)! You took on the catering and stores side of things and did us proud. The stuff that came out of Chez Caskey in even the worst conditions was always fantastic and and really appreciated. A bacon and mushroom butty will never taste the same again. As crew you have improved beyond recognition and you will always be my first choice. Thank you for your good humour always and for backing me in some very tough decisions (like which pub we should go to).
Big thanks to Dave the Barman for keeping our thirsts quenched.
And finally a big thanks to you for reading my chunterings and showing interest in this harebrained venture.
What next? Who knows? Watch this space..............
Tuesday, 21 August 2007
Monday, 20 August 2007
The Final Leg
After close study of the weather for the following days I decided that there was a reasonable window of good wind starting overnight on the 16th, giving us 24 hours of NWesterly followed by a SWesterly, perfect for getting round Lands End. So with the addition of Graham Tyson, who is a very experienced sailor and a comforting hand to hold for me, we left Milford Haven at 1030 on the 16th. This time I managed to get the locking-out protocol correct and avoided the previous bollocking from the lock-keeper. We nosed out of the entrance of Milford into a big and rather confused sea. This was the legacy of the big blow which had caused so many problems with the Fastnet race a few days previously. This wasn't the short, steep sea that I've spoken about in previous posts, but a long and high ocean swell coming in off the Atlantic which can be fairly comfortable on it's own. But this was mixed with a shorter sea from a different direction caused by the local, force 5 to 6 NW wind. The combination of the two meant that we were thrown about quite a lot and steering required a lot of concentration, especially as we were having to steer by the compass which is an art in itself. A long day, during which we were only rained on very slightly! As the sun went down we picked out the lights of Trevose Head and Padstow off to port. Hurrah! We could actually see Cornwall and managed to hear BBC Radio Cornwall on the stereo. Nearly home. From about 2230 we lost any remaining light from the sun and the moonless night fell pitch black. Only the loom of the lights from the shore, Newquay, St Agnes, St Ives, gave us any directional reference. It's quite a scary experience to be at sea and have one of your primary senses, sight, completely removed. Almost like being in fog.
After some discussion and reference to the chart and GPS we identified the various lighthouses dotted around Lands End and the Scillies and made a long and very slow (against the tide) loop around the foot of England keeping well offshore. Daylight reappeared as we passed the Runnel Stone buoy near Penzance and, as we were feeling reasonable good and the conditions were ok, we decided to keep going to Falmouth. I had a brief call from Shawn on BlackAdder who was about 60 miles astern of us by the Scillies, on his return leg of the Fastnet Race. As we rounded Lizard Point I had a call from David White on BBC Radio Cornwall and proceeded to over-enthuse about being home in Cornwall.
We sailed through the start of a yacht race in Falmouth Roads - this being Falmouth Regatta week - and saw a small RIB with a Lifeboats flag flying from the stern. As it came closer I saw it was being driven by Roger, the lifeboatman who had done the RNLI SeaCheck on Gamaldansk before we left. He was pleased to see us back in one piece and arranged a place for us in Port Pendennis Marina in super quick time. This was a real feat as the place was packed out 2 or 3 deep with boats visiting for the Regatta. The guys at the marina didn't charge us for our stay there, for which we royally thank them.
I had previously decided to stay put in Falmouth for the next day as the weather was blowing up again and so had arranged our homecoming for the Sunday. Sally was adamant that we needed to arrive in Fowey at a particular time as she wanted to do something for our arrival and the RNLI wanted a PR moment. So a rather grey and drizzly day was spent in Falmouth doing a few jobs on the boat, catching up on some sleep and a last chance to visit a couple of pubs to get the tally up.
A really good offshore blow the next day whizzed us the 22 miles back to Fowey, so fast in fact that we were about an hour and a half early for our pre-arranged entrance cue at the harbour mouth, so we tooled about in St Austell Bay for a bit, being entertained by a mayday message on the radio which turned out to be a mistake by a yacht nearby but resulted in the launch of the lifeboat and the SAR helicopter, and trying to retrieve the RNLI flag that had escaped to the top of the mast on the spinnaker halyard and was flapping around in the wind like an old tea towel and making us look scruffy. We finally passed Cannis Rock Buoy, outside Fowey Harbour, only 25 seconds early. But the phone rang and the producer (Sally) said they weren't ready and to go round in circles for a bit. What sort of a shoddy production was this? We finally got the Go! from Sal and headed into the harbour from where was coming the all weather lifeboat and a tourist boat containing Sally, my kids, press and a TV news cameraman. On the rocks by the harbour entrance was a banner welcoming us home and a reception committee on the pontoon waving and cheering.
It was great to see everyone and it was a very special moment as some people had travelled miles (Rick and Katie) to be part of the welcome.
A quick interview for the local ITV news and off to our mooring where the first job was another trip up the mast to retrieve the flag and halyard. At least this time I managed to get a "down" photo.
A great evening followed in The Lugger in Polruan with lots of congratulations and lemon top shandies!
After some discussion and reference to the chart and GPS we identified the various lighthouses dotted around Lands End and the Scillies and made a long and very slow (against the tide) loop around the foot of England keeping well offshore. Daylight reappeared as we passed the Runnel Stone buoy near Penzance and, as we were feeling reasonable good and the conditions were ok, we decided to keep going to Falmouth. I had a brief call from Shawn on BlackAdder who was about 60 miles astern of us by the Scillies, on his return leg of the Fastnet Race. As we rounded Lizard Point I had a call from David White on BBC Radio Cornwall and proceeded to over-enthuse about being home in Cornwall.
We sailed through the start of a yacht race in Falmouth Roads - this being Falmouth Regatta week - and saw a small RIB with a Lifeboats flag flying from the stern. As it came closer I saw it was being driven by Roger, the lifeboatman who had done the RNLI SeaCheck on Gamaldansk before we left. He was pleased to see us back in one piece and arranged a place for us in Port Pendennis Marina in super quick time. This was a real feat as the place was packed out 2 or 3 deep with boats visiting for the Regatta. The guys at the marina didn't charge us for our stay there, for which we royally thank them.
I had previously decided to stay put in Falmouth for the next day as the weather was blowing up again and so had arranged our homecoming for the Sunday. Sally was adamant that we needed to arrive in Fowey at a particular time as she wanted to do something for our arrival and the RNLI wanted a PR moment. So a rather grey and drizzly day was spent in Falmouth doing a few jobs on the boat, catching up on some sleep and a last chance to visit a couple of pubs to get the tally up.
A really good offshore blow the next day whizzed us the 22 miles back to Fowey, so fast in fact that we were about an hour and a half early for our pre-arranged entrance cue at the harbour mouth, so we tooled about in St Austell Bay for a bit, being entertained by a mayday message on the radio which turned out to be a mistake by a yacht nearby but resulted in the launch of the lifeboat and the SAR helicopter, and trying to retrieve the RNLI flag that had escaped to the top of the mast on the spinnaker halyard and was flapping around in the wind like an old tea towel and making us look scruffy. We finally passed Cannis Rock Buoy, outside Fowey Harbour, only 25 seconds early. But the phone rang and the producer (Sally) said they weren't ready and to go round in circles for a bit. What sort of a shoddy production was this? We finally got the Go! from Sal and headed into the harbour from where was coming the all weather lifeboat and a tourist boat containing Sally, my kids, press and a TV news cameraman. On the rocks by the harbour entrance was a banner welcoming us home and a reception committee on the pontoon waving and cheering.
It was great to see everyone and it was a very special moment as some people had travelled miles (Rick and Katie) to be part of the welcome.
A quick interview for the local ITV news and off to our mooring where the first job was another trip up the mast to retrieve the flag and halyard. At least this time I managed to get a "down" photo.
A great evening followed in The Lugger in Polruan with lots of congratulations and lemon top shandies!
Saturday, 18 August 2007
The last leg...
A note from Mrs C
Just to say Gamaldansk and her crew are now officially on their way home, hurrah! Steve left Milford Haven in marginally better conditions than 3 days earlier and with first mate Pete Caskey and new crew member Graham Tyson on board, completed a 24 hour straight run to Falmouth. I spoke to them at 1am as they were rounding Lands End when they were in a very dark and big sea, so it was with huge relief that I spoke to them again in the morning and found they were just a few miles away from Falmouth.
This journey has been a massive achievement all round and certainly more challenging than I think anyone imagined - I am very proud and can safely say they have earned every penny of the sponsorship money they have raised - on and offline it stands at around £6,000 plus what they have collected in buckets on the way round.
They are due to arrive back in Fowey tomorrow Sunday 19th August at 4pm where we will be waiting on Albert Quay to welcome them home - anyone who could make it down to join us would be more than welcome - followed by drinks in the Lugger, Polruan.
Thanks to all for your support.
Sal xx
Just to say Gamaldansk and her crew are now officially on their way home, hurrah! Steve left Milford Haven in marginally better conditions than 3 days earlier and with first mate Pete Caskey and new crew member Graham Tyson on board, completed a 24 hour straight run to Falmouth. I spoke to them at 1am as they were rounding Lands End when they were in a very dark and big sea, so it was with huge relief that I spoke to them again in the morning and found they were just a few miles away from Falmouth.
This journey has been a massive achievement all round and certainly more challenging than I think anyone imagined - I am very proud and can safely say they have earned every penny of the sponsorship money they have raised - on and offline it stands at around £6,000 plus what they have collected in buckets on the way round.
They are due to arrive back in Fowey tomorrow Sunday 19th August at 4pm where we will be waiting on Albert Quay to welcome them home - anyone who could make it down to join us would be more than welcome - followed by drinks in the Lugger, Polruan.
Thanks to all for your support.
Sal xx
Monday, 13 August 2007
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................
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................
Thursday, 9 August 2007
Girvan to Portpatrick to Port St Mary to Holyhear to Aberystwyth
I'm under orders from head office (Sally) to get a new entry on here as apparently loads of people have been eagerly anticipating the next installment. I'll have to be brief as the crew are waiting for me to get this done so we can go to the pub.
A special note for my mum - Bizarre! There I can spell it properly. I got a "nine out of ten, see me" from her the other day for poor spelling!
After what seemed like an age waiting in Girvan for the weather to improve and the wind to blow in the right direction, we finally left, a day behind schedule, in pouring rain, and I mean absolutely throwing it down in stair rods, on Sunday afternoon on the high tide bound for Port St Mary on the Isle of Man where Jon was due to get a flight the next day. I was feeling particularly rough, having picked up a bug of some sort in Girvan, which had made me sick the previous night and I think I was probably running a temperature and really not wanting to sail overnight for 80 miles. As luck would have it the weather forcast and conditions meant that we had to stop for the night in a place called Portpatrick
on the Mull of Galloway. A lovely pub there but I had to bail out as I was still feeling pants.
Next morning the wind was blowing in the right direction and it was only raining a little bit so off to the Isle of Man some 50 miles away. Jon had thankfully re-arranged his plans and with the help of a lift from the harbourmaster to Stranrar managed to get home by bus and train. He was very philosophical about this and said "Well, you shouldn't make appointments when at sea" Very true.
A really good sail to IoM. Gentle sea, beam reach and sun. And it didn't rain on us. To date (day 40) we have had 37 days when it's rained.
We had to use a swinging mooring at Port St Mary so the rubber dinghy and outboard had to be put into use once again, the last time being in Essex all those weeks ago. Seagulls - what fantastic outboards they are. A bit agricultural perhaps but it started fourth pull! Not bad for an engine that has been out in more than we have, strapped to the back of the yacht. And a little pat on the back to the bloke who services it (me).
Then another fab day from IoM to Holyhead. Feeling a lot better today. At last we're out of Scotland and feeling like we're heading home. A relaxed day in Holyhead before a night sail 80 miles to Aberystwyth. We left at exactly 1730, having been advised by Brian, the coxwain of the Holyhead lifeboat, to be off the "Stacks" 40 minutes before high water when the tide races there run at their slackest. Duly negotiated in very little wind we motored south over a very calm sea. I noticed something about a cable (0.1 mile) off to port on the surface of the sea. Was it a dolphin or perhaps a whale or, as Pete later admitted thinking, a leatherback turtle. It didn't seem to be moving and curiosity got the better of me and I turned the boat round and went to investigate. It turned out to be an upturned dinghy, about 9ft long and a bit smashed up but none the less still floating. A quick recce of the area proved there were no people associated with it but a call to the coastguard seemed appropriate. They wanted to know everything about the dinghy so Pete and I managed to get it aboard onto the foredeck. There was no identification on it and, judging by the damage to the hull, it looked like it had escaped from its' mooring and had had a fight with some rocks before drifting out to sea. However the coastguard wanted to see for themselves and asked me if I would take it to Porth Dinllaen (or something like that with not enough vowels in it). I said I would have to look and see if I could get into the harbour with my big draught and they said not to worry a they would send the lifeboat out! We motored towards the harbour some 11 miles away, saw the maroons go off and 30 minutes later the big all weather lifeboat loomed out of the dark and came alongside. Poor Yeti was left on the helm as this huge thing came in. What do I do? he said."Nothing" said I. Let the man-who-can do everything. They came expertly alongside Gamaldansk and the dinghy was duly handed over and off they went into the dark wishing us bon vayage. Quite exciting really.
At present in Aberystwyth and off to Milford Haven tomorrow.
Must finish as they've all gone without me.
Love to all. Home soon. xxx
A special note for my mum - Bizarre! There I can spell it properly. I got a "nine out of ten, see me" from her the other day for poor spelling!
After what seemed like an age waiting in Girvan for the weather to improve and the wind to blow in the right direction, we finally left, a day behind schedule, in pouring rain, and I mean absolutely throwing it down in stair rods, on Sunday afternoon on the high tide bound for Port St Mary on the Isle of Man where Jon was due to get a flight the next day. I was feeling particularly rough, having picked up a bug of some sort in Girvan, which had made me sick the previous night and I think I was probably running a temperature and really not wanting to sail overnight for 80 miles. As luck would have it the weather forcast and conditions meant that we had to stop for the night in a place called Portpatrick
on the Mull of Galloway. A lovely pub there but I had to bail out as I was still feeling pants.
Next morning the wind was blowing in the right direction and it was only raining a little bit so off to the Isle of Man some 50 miles away. Jon had thankfully re-arranged his plans and with the help of a lift from the harbourmaster to Stranrar managed to get home by bus and train. He was very philosophical about this and said "Well, you shouldn't make appointments when at sea" Very true.
A really good sail to IoM. Gentle sea, beam reach and sun. And it didn't rain on us. To date (day 40) we have had 37 days when it's rained.
We had to use a swinging mooring at Port St Mary so the rubber dinghy and outboard had to be put into use once again, the last time being in Essex all those weeks ago. Seagulls - what fantastic outboards they are. A bit agricultural perhaps but it started fourth pull! Not bad for an engine that has been out in more than we have, strapped to the back of the yacht. And a little pat on the back to the bloke who services it (me).
Then another fab day from IoM to Holyhead. Feeling a lot better today. At last we're out of Scotland and feeling like we're heading home. A relaxed day in Holyhead before a night sail 80 miles to Aberystwyth. We left at exactly 1730, having been advised by Brian, the coxwain of the Holyhead lifeboat, to be off the "Stacks" 40 minutes before high water when the tide races there run at their slackest. Duly negotiated in very little wind we motored south over a very calm sea. I noticed something about a cable (0.1 mile) off to port on the surface of the sea. Was it a dolphin or perhaps a whale or, as Pete later admitted thinking, a leatherback turtle. It didn't seem to be moving and curiosity got the better of me and I turned the boat round and went to investigate. It turned out to be an upturned dinghy, about 9ft long and a bit smashed up but none the less still floating. A quick recce of the area proved there were no people associated with it but a call to the coastguard seemed appropriate. They wanted to know everything about the dinghy so Pete and I managed to get it aboard onto the foredeck. There was no identification on it and, judging by the damage to the hull, it looked like it had escaped from its' mooring and had had a fight with some rocks before drifting out to sea. However the coastguard wanted to see for themselves and asked me if I would take it to Porth Dinllaen (or something like that with not enough vowels in it). I said I would have to look and see if I could get into the harbour with my big draught and they said not to worry a they would send the lifeboat out! We motored towards the harbour some 11 miles away, saw the maroons go off and 30 minutes later the big all weather lifeboat loomed out of the dark and came alongside. Poor Yeti was left on the helm as this huge thing came in. What do I do? he said."Nothing" said I. Let the man-who-can do everything. They came expertly alongside Gamaldansk and the dinghy was duly handed over and off they went into the dark wishing us bon vayage. Quite exciting really.
At present in Aberystwyth and off to Milford Haven tomorrow.
Must finish as they've all gone without me.
Love to all. Home soon. xxx
Saturday, 4 August 2007
Tarbert to Girvan, 2nd August
We had a great evening with John and his family who entertained us to a full sit down meal and good company. Thank you very much guys and I hope John and I didn't bore you too much with our endless blathering about GK29s. I learned an interesting fact during the evening. People have often asked me why the boat is a GK29 and I haven't known the answer. Well now I do. When the designer was asked what he was going to call it and his reply was "God knows". Apocryphal perhaps but a good story.
We left Tarbert at 8 the next morning in glorious sunshine for our 42 mile trip down the east coast of Aran and on to Girvan on the South coast of the Firth of Clyde. We had the most fantastic sail of the trip yet. A beam reach in 10 to 20kn of wind, sunshine although still not warm and a calm sea, averaging about 6kn all the way. Fab! And for the first time in over a month it failed to rain on us for a whole 24 hours! Big smiles all round. We had a twitchy moment on the way as a large RFA ship was bearing down on us on a collision course. I trusted that as she was RFA ther would be a good lookout and she would take the appropriate action and give way to us. She got closer and closer and I was just about to tack away when her aspect changed and she altered course to pass astern of us. I don't like it when it get's that close but hurrah for the RFA and Coll. Regs. (The rules governing rights of way at sea.)
I spoke to David White on air at BBC Radio Cornwall and I know a lot of people heard it as a result of me being able to forewarn Sally who contacted everyone and told them to listen. I'll probably do an update again next week if they can stand me chuntering on the radio again.
We arrived in Girvan a day early due to not going round the top of Scotland and because of a planned crew change the next day had to stay in the harbour and lose the day we had in hand. We lost Mark Bonner and gained Mark Sawyer (Yeti) But not a bad thing as it turned out as the wind was southerly all that day and the next - not much good for sailing south - so we are actually stuck here in Girvan until Sunday lunchtime when the wind goes round to the West and I'm hoping to have a good reach down to Port St. mary on the Isle of Man and then onward to Holyhead and Wales. It feels really good to be making passage south towards home. Only about 10 days to go now.
I must give a big mention to the Coxwain and mechanic of the Girvan lifeboat who is also the harbourmaster here. Rod Leitch is a top bloke and has many tales to tell of lifeboats and derring-do upon the high seas. But, God, can he blather! He has no off switch, but it's all interesting stuff and what he doesn't know about the local waters isn't worth knowing. There are no facilities here in the harbour but he has very kindly let us use the showers in the lifeboat station and I'm writing this on the computer in his office. Big thanks to you Rod.
I met up with Heather yesterday. She's someone I know from Fowey and now lives here in Girvan and she let me use her bath. Oooh! How good did that feel. I lay for hours in hot water and just luxuriated. The only thing that was missing was a big soft bed to crawl into after the bath. I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed with a warm wife to cuddle.
Speaking of Sally, she called me yesterday to say that her little sitting room in the studio had been flooded by a broken pipe. I felt completely helpless and unable to do anything to sort it out. JL and Joe went round and heaved out the carpet and furniture but it still leaves Sal with nowhere to escape to while the builders are in gutting the ground floor of the house. Just what we didn't need.
So, another enforced day off in Girvan. There are a lot of pubs here so perhaps a half in each one to get the tally up, but it's looking like the Shandy Swilling Softie from Hartlepool (you know who you are) will win, unless we can get in some really Olympic standard drinking done in the next week or so.
I must let Rod have his computer back, so love to all and I'll try to get something up when we get to IoM.
PS Dave the barman is back and is stocktaking today so the on-board bar is shut, which means we'll have to go to the pub.
We left Tarbert at 8 the next morning in glorious sunshine for our 42 mile trip down the east coast of Aran and on to Girvan on the South coast of the Firth of Clyde. We had the most fantastic sail of the trip yet. A beam reach in 10 to 20kn of wind, sunshine although still not warm and a calm sea, averaging about 6kn all the way. Fab! And for the first time in over a month it failed to rain on us for a whole 24 hours! Big smiles all round. We had a twitchy moment on the way as a large RFA ship was bearing down on us on a collision course. I trusted that as she was RFA ther would be a good lookout and she would take the appropriate action and give way to us. She got closer and closer and I was just about to tack away when her aspect changed and she altered course to pass astern of us. I don't like it when it get's that close but hurrah for the RFA and Coll. Regs. (The rules governing rights of way at sea.)
I spoke to David White on air at BBC Radio Cornwall and I know a lot of people heard it as a result of me being able to forewarn Sally who contacted everyone and told them to listen. I'll probably do an update again next week if they can stand me chuntering on the radio again.
We arrived in Girvan a day early due to not going round the top of Scotland and because of a planned crew change the next day had to stay in the harbour and lose the day we had in hand. We lost Mark Bonner and gained Mark Sawyer (Yeti) But not a bad thing as it turned out as the wind was southerly all that day and the next - not much good for sailing south - so we are actually stuck here in Girvan until Sunday lunchtime when the wind goes round to the West and I'm hoping to have a good reach down to Port St. mary on the Isle of Man and then onward to Holyhead and Wales. It feels really good to be making passage south towards home. Only about 10 days to go now.
I must give a big mention to the Coxwain and mechanic of the Girvan lifeboat who is also the harbourmaster here. Rod Leitch is a top bloke and has many tales to tell of lifeboats and derring-do upon the high seas. But, God, can he blather! He has no off switch, but it's all interesting stuff and what he doesn't know about the local waters isn't worth knowing. There are no facilities here in the harbour but he has very kindly let us use the showers in the lifeboat station and I'm writing this on the computer in his office. Big thanks to you Rod.
I met up with Heather yesterday. She's someone I know from Fowey and now lives here in Girvan and she let me use her bath. Oooh! How good did that feel. I lay for hours in hot water and just luxuriated. The only thing that was missing was a big soft bed to crawl into after the bath. I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed with a warm wife to cuddle.
Speaking of Sally, she called me yesterday to say that her little sitting room in the studio had been flooded by a broken pipe. I felt completely helpless and unable to do anything to sort it out. JL and Joe went round and heaved out the carpet and furniture but it still leaves Sal with nowhere to escape to while the builders are in gutting the ground floor of the house. Just what we didn't need.
So, another enforced day off in Girvan. There are a lot of pubs here so perhaps a half in each one to get the tally up, but it's looking like the Shandy Swilling Softie from Hartlepool (you know who you are) will win, unless we can get in some really Olympic standard drinking done in the next week or so.
I must let Rod have his computer back, so love to all and I'll try to get something up when we get to IoM.
PS Dave the barman is back and is stocktaking today so the on-board bar is shut, which means we'll have to go to the pub.
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Dunstaffnage to Crinan Canal to Tarbert, Loch Fyne. 30th July to 1st Aug.
Since Mark and Jon have joined us things have taken a turn for the better so his blog should be a little more upbeat than the last couple of attempts.
We had a lovely sail out of Dunstaffnage Marina to a small, almost land-locked loch, about 12 miles away, where we anchored for lunch and had the days token rain whilst there, returning in a bit of grey mizzle at about 7pm in time to meet Terry for a drink and food. It was great for me to let Jon skipper for the day and not have to worry about where we were going, what time was high tide, is it deep enough and the myriad other minutiae associated with sailing. I managed to relax enough to fall asleep on the foredeck on the way back, but awoke stiff and freezing cold!
Terry drove us into Oban for food and a few beers in the evening - fish and chips on the seafront with the tourists and clocked up another couple of pubs. Before we went out I had spoken to John Scott, a fellow GK29 owner, who lives in Tarbert, Loch Fyne, who reminded me that we would be coming past the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan the next day and that I should do some homework beforehand. That was the end of my day of not skippering. Once again the almanac said that we shouldn't go there and painted a picture of death and doom if we did. We only needed to skirt past the really dangerous bit, where there is a whirlpool called "The Hag" and very strong tides, and it just required a bit of calculation and planning. I came up with the answer of 8. That's AM start to get to the relevent bit with the tide behind us and the later whirlpooly bit at slack water. Perhaps I should have said 0700 as we had the wind on the nose as we left the marina (so what's new?) and we didn't make very good speed for the first few miles, arriving at the important bit just as the tide had turned. We just about made progress through the tide. It's like going up a down escalator. We were sailing at about 5.5 knots through the water but only making just 2 over the ground. This was only for a short while and soon we were entering the Crinan Canal sea lock for the next part of the journey through the Scottish mountains.
The nice folk at Crinan gave us a 50% discount once again and we spent a couple of hours gently motoring through some beautiful countryside, swing bridges, locks and views, all in beautiful sunshine. One thing of note was the strange man standing in the canal up to his thighs in the water, holding a sponge and shouting strange slogans at the boats as they went by. His house was a brightly painted shed from which he appeared to be selling paintings. Bizzare.
We stopped for the night at the highest point of the canal just before a staircase of locks going back down to the sea. A good pub and restaurant there, where Mark B stood us a really nice meal which he did very gracefully after our constant mickey taking about him not reading the e mails I sent out to everyone saying bring towel, sleeping bag and pillow which he failed to do. He thought he was going to be staying in a hotel. Ha! After supper it started raining and continued to do so all night and we awoke to a very soggy dawn. We can still say that it has rained on us every day so far.
On down the canal to the sea at Ardrishaig on Lock Fyne and then the most perfect sail down to Tarbert. It was what I have been craving for a month - beam reach in 10 to 15 knots of wind, flat sea, sunshine and no shallows. Fantastic. As we arrived in the harbour mouth at Tarbert we were met by a dolphin and John Scott who had aranged a berth for us. He told us to go towards the harbour office and we'd see the reserved signs put out for our arrival. How cool. Handbrake turn into the space and we had arrived. Dave the barman is off for a few days but has left Pete with the keys so a couple of beers and lunch in the sun.
I should perhaps explain about Dave. He is the guy who runs the bar on board. It can be found on one of the lower decks next to the sauna and gym. His second wife Irene had to go into hospital the other day and unfortunately passed away after complications following an emergency hysterectomy. Dave has cashed the insurance and used it to go on holiday with Beryl the busty barmaid with whom he has been having a bit of a romp recently. You might think that all this is the result of crazed minds caused by me and Pete being away at sea for too long but I can assure you it's all true! Watch this space for the next instalment of "The Gamaldanskers" Doo Doo Doo Doo Doobidy Doo (Eastenders style drums)
So a gentle afternoon off, before tomorrows 42 mile run to Girvan. John Scott has invited us all to his place this evening for beer and food and a bit of a party. Should be fun.
Big love to Sal at home who is being a star and coping royally with all the building stuff that is going on in my absence and being pregnant as well. Well done my love. You are the best!
Rick has made an online photo album which you can see at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/6111524?c_album=6111524&page=1
We had a lovely sail out of Dunstaffnage Marina to a small, almost land-locked loch, about 12 miles away, where we anchored for lunch and had the days token rain whilst there, returning in a bit of grey mizzle at about 7pm in time to meet Terry for a drink and food. It was great for me to let Jon skipper for the day and not have to worry about where we were going, what time was high tide, is it deep enough and the myriad other minutiae associated with sailing. I managed to relax enough to fall asleep on the foredeck on the way back, but awoke stiff and freezing cold!
Terry drove us into Oban for food and a few beers in the evening - fish and chips on the seafront with the tourists and clocked up another couple of pubs. Before we went out I had spoken to John Scott, a fellow GK29 owner, who lives in Tarbert, Loch Fyne, who reminded me that we would be coming past the notorious Gulf of Corryvreckan the next day and that I should do some homework beforehand. That was the end of my day of not skippering. Once again the almanac said that we shouldn't go there and painted a picture of death and doom if we did. We only needed to skirt past the really dangerous bit, where there is a whirlpool called "The Hag" and very strong tides, and it just required a bit of calculation and planning. I came up with the answer of 8. That's AM start to get to the relevent bit with the tide behind us and the later whirlpooly bit at slack water. Perhaps I should have said 0700 as we had the wind on the nose as we left the marina (so what's new?) and we didn't make very good speed for the first few miles, arriving at the important bit just as the tide had turned. We just about made progress through the tide. It's like going up a down escalator. We were sailing at about 5.5 knots through the water but only making just 2 over the ground. This was only for a short while and soon we were entering the Crinan Canal sea lock for the next part of the journey through the Scottish mountains.
The nice folk at Crinan gave us a 50% discount once again and we spent a couple of hours gently motoring through some beautiful countryside, swing bridges, locks and views, all in beautiful sunshine. One thing of note was the strange man standing in the canal up to his thighs in the water, holding a sponge and shouting strange slogans at the boats as they went by. His house was a brightly painted shed from which he appeared to be selling paintings. Bizzare.
We stopped for the night at the highest point of the canal just before a staircase of locks going back down to the sea. A good pub and restaurant there, where Mark B stood us a really nice meal which he did very gracefully after our constant mickey taking about him not reading the e mails I sent out to everyone saying bring towel, sleeping bag and pillow which he failed to do. He thought he was going to be staying in a hotel. Ha! After supper it started raining and continued to do so all night and we awoke to a very soggy dawn. We can still say that it has rained on us every day so far.
On down the canal to the sea at Ardrishaig on Lock Fyne and then the most perfect sail down to Tarbert. It was what I have been craving for a month - beam reach in 10 to 15 knots of wind, flat sea, sunshine and no shallows. Fantastic. As we arrived in the harbour mouth at Tarbert we were met by a dolphin and John Scott who had aranged a berth for us. He told us to go towards the harbour office and we'd see the reserved signs put out for our arrival. How cool. Handbrake turn into the space and we had arrived. Dave the barman is off for a few days but has left Pete with the keys so a couple of beers and lunch in the sun.
I should perhaps explain about Dave. He is the guy who runs the bar on board. It can be found on one of the lower decks next to the sauna and gym. His second wife Irene had to go into hospital the other day and unfortunately passed away after complications following an emergency hysterectomy. Dave has cashed the insurance and used it to go on holiday with Beryl the busty barmaid with whom he has been having a bit of a romp recently. You might think that all this is the result of crazed minds caused by me and Pete being away at sea for too long but I can assure you it's all true! Watch this space for the next instalment of "The Gamaldanskers" Doo Doo Doo Doo Doobidy Doo (Eastenders style drums)
So a gentle afternoon off, before tomorrows 42 mile run to Girvan. John Scott has invited us all to his place this evening for beer and food and a bit of a party. Should be fun.
Big love to Sal at home who is being a star and coping royally with all the building stuff that is going on in my absence and being pregnant as well. Well done my love. You are the best!
Rick has made an online photo album which you can see at http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/6111524?c_album=6111524&page=1
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