Beautiful sunny day. Crisp clear air, with a cold Easterly blowing from the NorthEast. The promise of rugby in the club bar to follow, with beer and warmth.
Vince and I joined Allan. aboard his beautiful Westerly 33, Chausey. Thermals on, kettle on, we left the pontoon and headed for the barrage. It just lifts you to be sailing, even as we crossed the bay, the smiles started.
Vince on Chausey, Taff flyover in the background
We locked out with another club boat, Rhiannon, whose captain and crew also seemed buoyed by the great winter sun.
Chausey and Rhiannon, Cardiff locks
We were asked to avoid the dredger working in the outer harbour. She was tightly squeezed in, and we saw her later, heading out into the channel to dispose of the ever present Cardiff mud.
Dredger in inner harbour
as soon as we passed the Outer Wrach buoy we raised sail and headed NorthEast. Chausey eased over and was soon zipping through the water with the remains of the flood. We chatted and laughed.
From a boat out in the channel, you cam look across at Cardiff. A beautiful city with a recognisable skyline. Rather be out here though, than packed into the shops.
Sailing on Chausey
We had planned to head towards Newport, but were enjoying ourselves so much that we went South of the Welsh grounds and headed across towards teh English grounds. I helmed, Chausey easily controlled by her wheel in the flat sea. We felt the tide turn and knew we would need to head back soon if we were to avoid low water at the barrage.
Light winds, so Allan readied the crusing chute.
Allan, getting the cruising chute ready
The wind dying all the while it was good that the tide ebbed out of the channel, draing us back towards Cardiff. The dredger left the harbour as Allan served up some delicious warming pea soup:
Pea soup
All too soon we were back at the barrage and, not long after, tied up on the pontoon. Into the bar for some well earned beer.
The crew mix was spot on – we all got on together really well. Plenty of humour, but enough knowledge and experience to make decision making easy. Huw had done his homework, and the tides, chartwork, pilotage and navigation went without a hitch.
The weather was kind. No strong winds or rough seas, yes it was cold, but the right clothing combined with short watches and plenty of hot drinks made that a doddle.
Teething problems. The paddle wheel log failed, and so did the echo sounder. The Eberspacher heater didn’t work initially, but Huw had a fiddle and it pumped lovely hot air for the rest of the trip. These things are to be expected. Even the most well found boat has such issues, and a newly purchased boat, more so. We expected teething problems, and they were not an issue.
Bearing in mind the time of year, I’d say we sailed defensively. We didn’t push it, stayed outside the islands in the dark, stopped briefly to check fuel and oil. We really didn’t want problems caused by our own mistakes, and we didn’t cause any.
And lastly, I think it is something that will stay with all of us for a long time. My particular highlights were the Menai straits and crossing Cardigan bay in the dark, starlit, with Strumble head lighthouse creeping closer on the port bow.
Ok, not Ishtar, but a similar boat. Camelot is a Colvic 28ft, although a little more in the beam than Ishtar, and a Bilge keeler. Huw, a friend from the club had bought her in Bangor, and wanted to sail her back from there to Cardiff. In January. In one of the coldest winters for years. Non stop.
And didn’t we all enjoy it!
Five of us set off to do the trip, all of us nearer ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ than ‘Five go mad in Bangor’ although we promised to try. Huw, Allan and Steve went up by car on Wednesday night, readied the boat and launched her.
Vince and myself took a train from Cardiff on Thursday, up through the melting snows and sodden ground of mid Wales arriving in a cold overcast Bangor at 16:00. We quickly found Camelot moored against the harbour wall. This was great. It meant that our return from the ale house later would be far simpler. We had anticipated a row out to a mooring.
Camelot at Bangor
The remains of the recent snows on the North Wales hills, reflected in the cold waters gave it a Scandinavian feel. We walked to the boat where the other lads were waiting for Camelot to settle in the mud before we could go ashore. They seemed to feel that the arrival of Vince and myself increased the noise level substantially. No idea why…….
The boat settled and we did some final calculations. It was important to be away as soon as she floated the following day, in order to make passage through the Menai Straits and out along the Lleyn Peninsula before the tide dropped too far. From there we would cross Cardigan bay at night, traverse the Pembrokeshire islands on Saturday, and then on crossing Carmarthan bay, passing the Gower and up along the Glamorganshire Heritage coast, arriving in Cardiff on Sunday afternoon. That was the plan, at least.
For now, there was little to do. We wandered into Bangor and found a pub that suited us. Old and worn, with real ale and good food. 5:45pm. This was going to be a long one.
After dismantling a giant yorkshire pudding, with sausages, gravy, carrots, peas and chips, and sampling 2 of teh 5 real ales on offer, the Open Microphone night began. I was expecting karaoke, but the flautist, young lady singing the blues in her first ever live performance, and R&B guitar player at the end were very good indeed, as were the remaining three of the 5 real ales on offer…..
I suspect the harbour wall was shaking that night, such was the volume of the snoring aboard Camelot. Half a gale blew, but it was cold, calm and clear by dawn.
Rowing boat on Bangor flats
The tidal range was only about 5m, but with the bay being so flat, the tide seemed miles out. Clounds of Oystercatchers screeched, wheeling against the snowy background. We were hoping to leave around 12:00, so killed a few hours with a cooked breakfsat at a local cafe and a trip to the supermarket. Feeling fragile, and expecting rough seas after last night’s wind later on, I stuck with black coffee.
The tide crept towards the boat as the morning progressed, and gradually, Camelot began to float.
Floating rowboat
With inches under the keels, Huw fired up Camelot’s inboard diesel and we crept away from the harbour and out into deeper water. It was great to be afloat and a sense of anticipation for the journey ahead filled us all.
Leaving Bangor
The still waters lapped against Camelot’s hull as we motored slowly through the Menai Straits. It was the first time I’d been through, and I was surprised how much wildlife there was to be seen, particularly birds:
Heron under Menai Bridge
We followed the pilotage instructions and sailed under bridges, past rocky ledges and castles. A beautiful stretch of water, well worth a look.
Britannia Bridge
We sailed on, past Port Dinorwic to Caernarfon – a place I had visited as a child, although I remember little other than the great castle.
Steve, Allan and Caernarfon Castle
As we motored on past Caernarfon the straits opened, sand below and dunes either side, just like an estuary. Huw referred to the pilot instructions. We followed the narrow channel, from buoy to buoy, the remains of last nights swells lifting and breaking on the sandbanks literally inches below the surface in places. With the echo sounder not playing ball, we relied on the channel markers, and they did not lead us astray. Finally, we passed the last of them, and exited the straits, relieved.
Llanddwyn island, West end Menai straits
The course to steer was 225T by the GPS. It was late afternoon, the skies cloudless and a pale January sun inched towards the horizon. Huw wanted to ensure the sails were up before dusk, so that nobody would need to be working the deck after dark. We set about our task:
Setting sail
It promised to be a cold frosty night. Wisps of cotton wool cloud wrapped the North Wales mountains, keeping them warm as we steamed Southwestwards towards the setting sun.
Going gently into that good night
We soon picked up the light on Bardsey Island, the end of the Lleyn peninsula, and night fell. The sky was full of stars and a few of us sat on deck discussing how to navigate by them. We quickly realised that. although we could find Polaris with little diffiulty, we had no real idea how to do it, and not enough food on board to try an experiment.
Orion was prominent. I’ve always loved him. It reminds me of frosty winter nights staring up, usually away from home – there are no stars visible from Bridgend anymore, too much light pollution.
An hour’s kip and I awoke to the smell of Friday night curry. Huw had cooked a spicy vegetable curry with mushroom rice. Although delicious, I’d woken with a headache, and didn’t finish it. I helped Huw hand it up into the cockpit, hands reaching down from the darkness.
I was helming from 01:00 until 02:00, an exhilarating experience, the boat cutting through the waves in the dark. A light in the South East caught my eye. Flashing 4 times every 15 seconds, the chart said it was Strumble head. That was when we realised how much ground we had covered. A quick chat with Huw and a check on the GPS showed that we would be at the Bishops and Clerks before dawn.
I’ve dived these islands, their associated stacks and submerged rocks for 20 years. I’d looked forward to sailing through them, but if we did that at night, and I wasn’t on watch, it was a much more daunting proposition. We did some further calculations and agreed to run well to the West of the hazards and then cut South just to the West of Skokholm as dawn broke. I finally headed for my bunk at 03:30.
When I woke, 20 minutes late for the start of my next watch, dawn was about to break, and Skokholm was in sight.
Skokholm light
We could see the traffic increase as we neared the busy port of Milford. After leaving the Menai straits, we saw only one or two isolated vessels in the distance all night. Now we could see a number of boats , presumably tankers, toing and froing, smaller boats (pilots) attending them as the new day started.
Milford tanker with pilot.
Spirits raised with the new day, and the boat woke up and became busyonce more. Breakfast was served, bacon sarnies all round. Not a big eater in the morning, some toast was the order of the day for me. The sun crept upwards, and it actually felt warm. Spirits were high and again, and again, people said ‘I can’t believe how lucky we are ‘.But it got better. I spied a splash of to starboard under the sail. It was quickly followed by another, and I knew dolphins were about to join us. I stayed in the cockpit as the others grabbed cameras and headed for the bows.
Dolphins at the bows
In June last year, and again in September, I’d seen a pod of mixed dolphins and porpoise just off the heads at Milford. They were here again, about 20-30 of them. The dolphins, complete with calves, played in the bow wave. The porpoise were more shy, staying slightly further from the boat, but still playing quite clearly, jumping, spinning and generally enjoying themselves.
Things were going so well, one Allan said that it was on;y a matter of time before we spotted a suitcase full of money floating past. Sadly, he was wrong…..
Saturday was a lazy day. The boat was sailing itself, and we clocked up the miles. Fighting the tide off Milford, with the tide past the Gower and up the Glamorgan coast. The scenery became very familiar to all of us, this was our home cruising ground. The day came to a beautiful end as we chugged up the channel:
Bristol channel sunset
Darkness fell once more and we could make out the lights at aberthaw and Wenvoe television masts. It seemed milder than last night for the first few hours, but got much colder as we approached Cardiff. A clunk in the darkness sent us rushing for torches and we spent a nervous couple of hours avoiding floating debris, from small twigs to larger logs.
We were soon rounding the Ranie buoy and entered the locks at Cardiff bay at just after 01:00 hrs.
Locks at 1am
A quick run across the bay and we were berthed on C pontoon shortly afterwards. We did open a beer or two, but I fell asleep drinking my first. Cold, tired, but very happy.
We called in at Ishtar last weekend. Crunching our way through the yacht club on frozen snow. Tigger chasing sticks out into the bay, walking on the ice. Pontoons like glass in places, and two inches of snow on the yacht herself.
Managed to start the engine quite easily, although the initial spurt of water from the exhaust soon stopped. I suspected frozen intake pipes, so ran the engine for a few minutes until warm and then switched off. Half an hour with a warm engine and the cooker on gas on and she started and ran well, pumping water beautifully.
Hoping to go to Bangor this week with a few of the lads from the club to pick up a new(to him) boat. With freezing weather it could be fun, especially during the night watches. Pics to follow if we do go.
The plan for the New Year sail was for Ishtar to have an all ladies crew, so Sheila, Angie and Elaine were welcomed aboard. It was a beautiful morning although very cold, it was really hazardous on deck as it was very icy so you had to hang on while moving around. We left the pontoon with a group of other yachts and made our way to the locks. It was a bit of a squeeze in there but we got in.
Busy locks
Once out, we raised our sails and began to goosewing towards Flatholm.
Once we got closer to the island some of the others decided to go around Steepholm too, but we decided to stick with the original plan. Warmed up with some of Sheila’s delicious curried parsnip soup we were a happy crew.
Galipette sailed past us looking well trimmed.
It was a good result for us, as we enjoyed a bit of peace and quiet away from our men folk, so we flew the pink flag with pride!
Look out it's the Splice Girls
Vince and Tim on Alana were waiting for us so we could all lock in together.
Captain Vince, expert spinnaker flyer
Coracle and Chaussey were soon following us, with the slowly setting sun, having been around the two islands.
Winter sunset
It was a good day for the ladies as we had achieved what we wanted, every trip out without the “support” of our men means we become better at planning, sail setting and making decisions. We all felt a bit more confident and there were smiles all round. An excellent start to the year.
October. The week before the clocks go back. On Thursday I popped down to the club with a vague idea of sailing for an hour or so. Allan and Vince from CYC were there and fancied it too. We locked out at 13:30 with no particular intention.
Allan and Vince securing Ishtar in the lock
Pretty soon we were heading South East past the Cardiff grounds, all smiling. It was sunny, dry, and Ishtar was bowling along nicely under the breeze. This was better than expected.
Allan, enjoying the October sun
I’ve always loved late afternoon skies in the autumn. Today’s were no exception
Looking South
And storms over Devon
Impressive clouds
On and on we sailed. None of us wanted to turn back, even when it became clear that it would soon be dark. It was such good sailing, and good fun. Eventually, the turning tide started to work against us and we turned tail and headed back East, passing Barry and Sully once more.
Vince and Allan, setting the world to rights.
Darkness fell and we put the lights on. We sailed on, up past Penarth, a tug swept by in the black. We entered the Wrach channel. Called the barrage and they kindly offered to open the lock for us 15 minutes early. In we went.
In the locks. Vince after dark.
We tied up and switched the engine off just after 20:30. All agreed that we must do this again.
The following morning, Louise was keen to get out. We’d bought a second hand cruising chute on the web, so I took it, knowing that the winds would be too strong.
Louise wanted to try and sail around Flatholm. We locked out and she chose a great line, squeezing past the Southern edge of Cardiff grounds. Another yacht had follwed us, from the lock, heading the same way.
A couple of tacks, and we were rounding Flatholm. As we passed the Southern tip, the wind dropped off until we were crawling along at 2 knots.
Flatholm light
Allan called on the radio. He’d just locked out on Chausey, and would meet us west of Flatholm.
I’d forgotten about our ‘new’ cruising chute, but remembered and dashed below to fetch it. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but up it went, and looked great!
Cruising chute
Louise helmed, as we headed down towards Allan and Chausey in the Southwest.
Louise, having an awful time!
Tigger and I, meanwhile, were working hard running the boat.
Get that sail trimmed
Allan appeared out of the gloom and shot past us, taking pictures. It was lovely sailing, again, but we decided to turn back before dark this time.
Chausey
As Chausey approached, Tigger became nervous. Was Lilly aboard? Their last meeting had left Tigger shaking with fear. He is not the world’s most courageous dog. Luckily, this time Lilly was elsewhere, so Tigger barked at Allan, bravely.
Louise, Tigger, Allan, Chausey and Flatholm
It was not long after low, but Louise took us in through the Wrach channel.
Louise, inner Wrach
With gales forecast and the clocks going back this weekend, it may be a while before we get out again. We did pass 1500 miles for the year though, which we are very pleased with.
Louise wanted to sail to Portishead for Friday night, back Saturday. Sheila and Vince would bring Alana, and Allan would bring Chausey, and meet Edwina at Portishead. The girls decided that they would sail together, and Vince and I would take Ishtar.
Bit of a panic to start. Louise was late getting to the club, having just done a night shift and cooked a curry, but we still made the 14:00 lock out from Cardiff.
Cardiff locks
It had been flat calm all week, with sailing hardly possible, but we raised the sails hust past the Outer Wrach buoy with a NE force 4. We were soon bowling along, 7 knots sog, and heeled at 30 degrees.
Vince, and late afternoon sun
We stayed to the North of the shipping channel, skirting the Southern edge of the Middle Grounds. I backed off the wind a little, and we crossed to the Southern side of the channel. I think we should have stayed high, as we struggled to point high enough after that, but Vince helmed well, and we rounded the breakwater at 17:00, about 10 minutes before the next lock. Allan had made the previous lock, and the girls were about 5 minutes behind us.
Louise brought Alana in, and Sheila sorted the lines. Perfect.
Alana, entering the lock at Portishead.
We had beer aboard Alana, and curry aboard Ishtar, prepared by Louise. Edwina had joined us, and we all enjoyed the evening.
Curry, Ishtar
On the way to the pub, we met with Mark, from Gemini Girl. We’d sailed with Mark in May 2009, aboard his boat Cafe Seerose in the Ionian. He was taking a break back in Bristol before returning to the Canaries to take Cafe seerose across the Atlantic. It was great to catch up with Mark.
Mark, right. Not sure of the pose.
The alarm went off at 07:00. Louise made coffee and started up the eberspacher heater. We were soon up and about on a clear, cold morning. We took Tigger for a walk and readied the boat. Louise and Sheila wanted to sail Ishtar back, so I loaded my stuff onto Alana. I also loaded Ishtar’s spinnaker. The winds were light, and Vince was keen to give it a try.
We locked out at 09:30. Tigger had joined the ladies.
Louise and Sheila with Tigger on Ishtar
Allan and Edwina got the crusing chute out aboard Chausey, and Louise and Sheila trimmed teh sails beautifully on Ishtar. The tide was running out and we hurtled downstream, in the light winds.
Chausey and Ishtar
Vince and I tried to raise the spinnaker. Behind the genoa at first – that turned out to be a bad idea as it got tangled in the genoa when we wound that in. Then tried it without the pole, which didn’t work. Finally tried it with the pole and up she went.
Ishtar's spinnaker on Alana.
It felt great, and we got up to 9.3 knots. The wind held for an hour, then faded and died. We brought the spinnaker in just past Flatholm and reset the genoa. Louise and Sheila passed us, as did Allan and Edwina. The wind picked up again and we started to move faster in towards Cardiff.
Ishtar passing Flatholm island
We joined with the other boats just before the locks and headed in at 17:15.
Tigger, sail trimming
Allan and Edwina prepared Chausey for the lock also.
Allan, Edwina and Chausey, Cardiff outer harbour.
The locks were ‘interesting’ and not everyone was prepared to wait their turn in the queue.
Room for a small one. er, maybe.
And a takeaway chinese aboard Chausey to finish. A thoroughly great weekend.
[Louise] I had said for a while that I would like to go out sailing with some of the ladies from the club so I finally made arrangements with Sheila, from Alana, to go for a sail on Wednesday afternoon.
With very little sleep after a night shift, it was a bit of an effort to drag myself off to the club but with the sun shining, off I went. After showing Sheila around our boat we set off from the pontoon with a vague plan of going out and trying to sail towards the Cardiff North buoy. I wanted to try going through the locks alone so with Sheila at the ready in case of a disaster we left the pontoon.
Vince followed along in Alana and I managed the locks without a problem. Once out into the channel we optimistically raised the mainsail and even got the genoa out but we only just got an movement, there was not a breath of wind.
Not much sailing, then
The fishing rods came out and Alana rafted up alongside us. With Van Morrison in the background and the sun surprisingly warm for October, a very pleasant afternoon was had by all.
October, Bristol Channel
I asked Sheila if she fancied taking Ishtar back into the locks and she was up for the challenge. She really noticed the difference in handling and it makes you realise how familiar you get with your own boat, the pitch of the engine, the revs, how much throttle to give etc.
A little mishap leaving the locks meant Ishtar ended up drifting to starboard, but I think that was a lesson for both of us, I assumed that Sheila would do things one way and she was used to doing things with Vince on her boat another way. Sometimes there are just different ways. Anyway undeterred we are sailing to Portishead on Friday, girls on Alana, boys on Ishtar
The nights are drawing in, and everywhere you go there are signs of winter. Dale yacht club are having a ‘laying up party’ this weekend to mark the end of the summer, and the compound at Cardiff yacht club is fully booked.
Pointless sailing on this late in the season then.
So off we went, leaving our pontoon berth at 09:00 for the 09:30 lock, half an hour after low.
Leaving the pontoon at Cardiff Yacht club
Met some friends from Cardiff Bay yacht club in the lock. The cod were about, evidently, and they had four rods ready. The water level dropped and we were out.Leaving Cardiff locks
Cardiff locks
I was determined to try and fly our ‘cruising chute’ for the first time in these light winds. We’d taken it off the boat as too complex when we bought Ishtar, but now felt confident enough to give it a try. Louise helmed, taking us down past the Ranie buoy and out past Lavernock spit, whilst I set up the blocks, and tried to work out the rigging.
The wind picked up, Southerly now, so I put the spinnaker away, unhoisted, and set the genoa and main. Sailed SW, thinking we could run back up towards Barry using the spinnaker.
The time had come, so I rigged it again. I was really nervous, expecting all sorts of horrors. Oh, to hell with it, pull the Halyard and give it a go.
Yes!
And she flew.
I quickly realised that it was a tri radial, and that rigging it as a cruising chute was wrong. Managed to keep it up though, despite changing wind direction, and actually sailed. I could not help grinning from ear to ear.
OK, now could i douse it? I didn’t really know what I was doing, but just dropped it a bit at a time, stuffing it into the bag. Seemed to go fine. I’m a big believer in trying to keep things fun, when learning new skills. This certainly was fun.
Louise sailed us across to Flatholm. We had bought a new anchor, a Delta. New to us anyhow.
Louise and Tigger at Flaholm. Isn't winter sailing awful?
We dropped the hook in 7m off the beach at Flatholm. I’ve never really mastered going astern with Ishtar, but the anchor dug in, and we had a cup of tea.
We were not there long before we got a VHF call from Vince of Cardiff yacht club. He was out on Alana, near the North Cardiff buoy, and would see us shortly.
Louise wanted to try setting the spinnaker, and did it well.
Louise flies the kite
We didn’t have it up long. The wind was now westerly, and we needed to go North West. She doused the spinnaker, put it away and we set genoa and main and neaeded for home, both delighted.
We could see Vince, on Alana headed our way, and it wasn’t long before he was with us.
Vince, sailing Alana
He turned, with the Holms behind, and we both headed back for the locks.
Alana, with the Holms in the background
Half an hour or so later and we had locked in with 7 other boats and approached our spot on the pontoon.
The gap is our berth on C pontoon
A lovely day, and it seems so strange to think of so many boats not being used in such weather.
So, back in Cardiff. Not sailed as yet, although some very kind friends at Cardiff Yacht Club sorted our alternator. Thanks, Dom, and particularly Graham.
We loved the summer. If there was any way that we could do something similar next year, it would be great. Tom’s mooring was likely to be in use, so we enquired at Dale yacht club. Yes they had a mooring available for next year. We were told of a local company who would lay a mooring, but they wanted £700! We decided to do it ourselves.
I worked out that 3 large concrete blocks, about 4cwt each, and some good heavy 1.5 inch ground chain would do the trick. I made up the blocks,
4cwt, with chain and steel inserts
and our friend Vince, from CYC helped us to move them.
Easy does it
So we set off from Bridgend to Dale. We arrived early. Low tide was at 17:00. The plan was to drop the mooring near the slip at low tide, then drag it out, bit by bit, using lifting bags, the following morning at high tide.
It had been hard work, so we played with Tigger on the beach, Louise did a spot of fishing and Vince and I had coffee and cakes.
Relax, now.
We dropped the blocks and chain at 17:00, as planned. Not much to do in Dale.
‘I know, why don’t we go to the Griffin?’
suggested Vince. I ponted out that it was early, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded. The Cwrw Haf was as fine as it was during the summer, and my tuna fishcakes were excellent. Vince managed a pile of bangers and mash, saving one sausage for Tigger. Louise had veggie lasagne. Always complains that there are not many veggie options, but always has veggie lasagne when there are.
An early start. Launched our rib just before 09:00. Weather windy and wet. I’d seen the mackeral sky the day before, but thought we might be ok. We marked the mooring position and I kitted up
Getting ready to dive.
We began the drawn out process of diving to find a concrete block, filling the lifting bag, towing it out to the mooring, sinking it, diving to get the lifting bag, repeat, repeat with chain, shackle chain to blocks. Took four hours in all, ably helped by Louise, Vince and another club member, Huw.
Here we are, all looking very happy.
Smile, camera.
Eventually, we got it all done. I was very tired. Vince, the only one not in diving gear, was soaking. To try and save him getting any wetter, I gave him a piggy back ashore. Thankfully, Louise was a little slow with the camera.
The odd couple
Huw and I then had a dive for ‘pleasure’. It was windy and quite swelly on the wreck of the Dakotian. The visibility was less than 2m. We had a brief look around the stern section and dropped onto the sea bed. Quickly sirred up the silt and lost the wreck. It’s only 400 feet long, so easily done.
A long trip back to Bridgend. All tired, but happy at a job well done. Thanks to Louise, Vince and Huw.
