Friday, 27 July 2012
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Penarth for a week
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| The amazing wide beach north of Nash Point |
The plan had been for me and Royston to sail over to Penarth on the Thursday night and then for me to sail back on the Sunday night. The forecast for Thursday night had been for no wind and so the trip nearly got called off. As it was, we had a force 4 or 5 headwind all the way to Cardiff. It seemed pretty windy: we were sailing with a reefed main and we had water slapping over the decks as we tacked and tacked our way down the channel. I don't think I've ever been to Penarth when the wind has been in exactly such an unfriendly direction. We watched the sun set over the Welsh hills and then sailed in the gloaming over the final few miles. The lock keepers at Cardiff were watching our progress and had the lock gates ready for us when we arrived. Soon we were berthed up in Penarth, enjoying a beer in the cockpit before a late night and an early morning.
I had a quick shuttle to work and back on the Friday, getting back to Cervisia at about 10pm. Saturday morning dawned wet and quite windy. This didn't deter me from my plan to walk from Barry to Bridgend. It was actually pretty wet and I had to take my oily jacket with me as the waterproof as my walking one wasn't up to the conditions! The walk was really nice, especially when the sun started to come out (this does happen in Wales), but I then had a big bulky oily jacket to lug around with me. The scenery just gets better and better as you walk along this coast. The section from Llantwit Major to Ogmore is really fantastic: amazing beaches and huge tottering cliffs. Ogmore crag looked interesting, as ever. I found a new way past Ogmore towards Bridgend. I still haven't found the best way to do this section: I always seem to get involved with nettles and horses, neither of which are that popular with me. Once I Cardiff, I sought out the Japanese restaurant and had sushi and tempura for my dinner, washed down with sake.
Sunday was even windier than Saturday. The forecast had been for force 6-8 in the Bristol Channel. I had thought that this really applied to the western portions of the channel, but it seemed to have moved up east somewhat. In the morning, I walked from Barry to Penarth, finally finding my way through Barry Docks. It is worth finding your way through here as there is a great little section of coast path from Barry to Sully, including some really interesting geology. Apparently there are dinosaur footprints in the rocks around here!
Gary and Carolyne (from the Three Peaks Yacht Race) joined me at lunchtime. The plan was to sail round the Holm Islands. This should have been really nice as it should have been a beam reach all the way there and back. We locked out a couple of hours before low water. For the initial part of the sail, we were in the lee of Lavernock Point, so we had a decent wind and no waves. However when we got out of the headland's lee, we got into the full force of the wind and the waves. The waves got pretty big! As we needed to go around the Wolves cardinal mark (due to rocks at low tide), we ended up going quite close to the wind: this made the wind feel stronger and the waves feel steeper. Even when we could bear away, we were still riding across large waves, getting drenched. It was all pretty wild.
The plan changed to just a circumnavigation of Flat Holm island as we were having too much fun (and getting too wet). We did a really dodgy gybe in the channel between Flat Holm and Steep Holm. I got the main across, but we didn't get the genoa over in time. Cervisia was heeled right over. We made it round though and all was well that ended well. We then had a lumpy sail back to Penarth pier until we got sufficiently in the lee of the land.
When we were going up the channel to Cardiff Bay Barrage half an hour after low water, I noticed that we were going very, very slowly. This does not feel right. We could see the big mudbanks on either side of us, but we were smack in the middle of the channel (according to the leading lights). It became obvious that we were stuck on the mud. The bad thing that happened was that the engine started sucking really wet mud into the water intake. Although not a disaster, it meant that running the engine was not a good idea. We turned the engine off, got the kettle on and then sat around, watching other shallower draft beers laughing at us when we were sat there. We called the barrage lock keepers who told us we would be sat there for 45 minutes. I understood that the channel had silted up and was due to be dredged the next day.
The tide rises really quickly in the Bristol Channel and we could watch it rising. We knew we were in business when one of the navigation buoys popped out of the mud: it must have been stuck in by suction and when there was enough bouncy, it suddenly shlurped out. When floating, we got the engine on (we had cleared as much mud as possible from the intake) and chugged into the lock, nervously watching the depth sounder readings. It was good to see clear water flowing round the engine again.
Once back in Cardiff Bay, it was obvious that the wind had picked up: there were waves in the bay and the flags were really flying. Gary offered to drive me back to Portishead. I thought about it for a bit and then accepted his offer. My main concern was that the wind might pick up further and it was dead downwind (which would mean gybing). I thought that it was manageable out there with the existing wind conditions, but I didn't want to put me and Cervisia through more than that. Cervisia would stay in Penarth marina and I would collect her the next weekend....
Link: more photos
Monday, 6 June 2011
Oxwich Bay to Portishead
I woke up to a choppy Oxwich Bay. This was all a bit weird as the chop was coming from the south east and there had been little wind, especially from that direction. The other boat that had been anchored in the bay had left: presumably they had caught the early tide up channel. Scavenger still looked tempting, but the waves were lapping its base and it clearly wasn't up for it. I raised the anchor for the last time on the trip and set off to Portishead.
We had a light wind as far as The Mumbles and we sailed reasonably slowly almost to the lighthouse. I wasn't too fussed about making good speed at this stage as we would get caught by the spring tide against us as we got out of Swansea Bay anyway: there was little point in getting caught there earlier: it made no difference.
The wind died off The Mumbles and we had a frustrating motor towards the Scarweather Sands. What was annoying was that there was still the chop around. Every time we hit a wave, Cervisia slowed down and we didn't seem to get very far. I listened to the South Borsetshire puppy show on The Archers and put up with the conditions.
It was really obvious when we crossed the Scarweather Sands that we left one type of water (the clear inviting stuff) into another type (the muddy estuary stuff). It was a really clear divide between the two types of water. I guess the sands cause this change in the water and the water causes the sands. The sands are probably there as a deposition feature between the faster running waters of the Bristol Channel proper and the slacker waters of Swansea Bay. My original plan had been to anchor on the Scarweather Sands until the tide slackened and I could make meaningful progress eastwards. However when I was scouting around for a good spot, the wind started and I decided we might as well try sailing on the spot (going as far forward through the water as the tide took us back). To start with we were going backwards, but as the wind strengthened, we could make slow progress tacking eastwards. Eventually we passed the South Scar buoy and we seemed to be off, South Scar thankfully passing behind us into the distance.
There was more motoring up the channel as the wind died again. We motored past Nash Point towards Barry (where I saw a dolphin in the muddy water: I have never seen one this far up the channel before). The wind started up properly again at Barry and I hand steered (to get the best speed out of Cervisia) from there back to Portishead. We were really lucky in being able to sail in a dead straight line all the way back. It doesn't usually happen this way. One thing I had been worried about was running out of fuel. I had made calculations that I might just be able to make Portishead on the half tank and 5L can of diesel I had left, but it was looking touch and go. I'm glad we had the wind so we could sail instead.
I finally called Portishead marina up at about 10pm, just half an hour before the top of the tide (i.e. just in time). St. John welcomed us back. When I stepped onto the lock pontoon, it had been the first solid land I had been on for 4 days (since Dun Laoghaire on Thursday morning). It was a pretty weird feeling. Although it had been nice to be on Cervisia for that length of time, it was also nice to have the space to move around on land. I parked Cervisia in reverse first time on the pontoon, went to look for some food in Portishead (not easy at 11pm on a Sunday) and then went to bed. An early morning and a bus trip to Bristol would see me back at work on Monday morning.
It's pretty good to have Cervisia back in Portishead. Although it is nice to be away, it is a bit of a worry having her a long way away and knowing that you are going to have to sail her back in a defined week. I think I made the right decisions about how to get her back, but things could have been a lot more difficult if the weather had been less kind to us. I think the rest of the sailing year on Cervisia will mainly consist of weekend trips to Penarth. This is no bad thing.
We had a light wind as far as The Mumbles and we sailed reasonably slowly almost to the lighthouse. I wasn't too fussed about making good speed at this stage as we would get caught by the spring tide against us as we got out of Swansea Bay anyway: there was little point in getting caught there earlier: it made no difference.
The wind died off The Mumbles and we had a frustrating motor towards the Scarweather Sands. What was annoying was that there was still the chop around. Every time we hit a wave, Cervisia slowed down and we didn't seem to get very far. I listened to the South Borsetshire puppy show on The Archers and put up with the conditions.
It was really obvious when we crossed the Scarweather Sands that we left one type of water (the clear inviting stuff) into another type (the muddy estuary stuff). It was a really clear divide between the two types of water. I guess the sands cause this change in the water and the water causes the sands. The sands are probably there as a deposition feature between the faster running waters of the Bristol Channel proper and the slacker waters of Swansea Bay. My original plan had been to anchor on the Scarweather Sands until the tide slackened and I could make meaningful progress eastwards. However when I was scouting around for a good spot, the wind started and I decided we might as well try sailing on the spot (going as far forward through the water as the tide took us back). To start with we were going backwards, but as the wind strengthened, we could make slow progress tacking eastwards. Eventually we passed the South Scar buoy and we seemed to be off, South Scar thankfully passing behind us into the distance.
There was more motoring up the channel as the wind died again. We motored past Nash Point towards Barry (where I saw a dolphin in the muddy water: I have never seen one this far up the channel before). The wind started up properly again at Barry and I hand steered (to get the best speed out of Cervisia) from there back to Portishead. We were really lucky in being able to sail in a dead straight line all the way back. It doesn't usually happen this way. One thing I had been worried about was running out of fuel. I had made calculations that I might just be able to make Portishead on the half tank and 5L can of diesel I had left, but it was looking touch and go. I'm glad we had the wind so we could sail instead.
I finally called Portishead marina up at about 10pm, just half an hour before the top of the tide (i.e. just in time). St. John welcomed us back. When I stepped onto the lock pontoon, it had been the first solid land I had been on for 4 days (since Dun Laoghaire on Thursday morning). It was a pretty weird feeling. Although it had been nice to be on Cervisia for that length of time, it was also nice to have the space to move around on land. I parked Cervisia in reverse first time on the pontoon, went to look for some food in Portishead (not easy at 11pm on a Sunday) and then went to bed. An early morning and a bus trip to Bristol would see me back at work on Monday morning.
It's pretty good to have Cervisia back in Portishead. Although it is nice to be away, it is a bit of a worry having her a long way away and knowing that you are going to have to sail her back in a defined week. I think I made the right decisions about how to get her back, but things could have been a lot more difficult if the weather had been less kind to us. I think the rest of the sailing year on Cervisia will mainly consist of weekend trips to Penarth. This is no bad thing.
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Skomer Island to Scavenger / Oxwich Bay
We had a good night at anchor at Skomer. I think one of the other boats didn't have as good a night as us. It had started north of us and ended up south of us. I don't know what happened to them in the night, but it probably a sorry little tale.
It was a pretty windy morning despite us being in the shorter of the cliffs. There were puffins, Manx shearwater and gulls buzzing cervisia, whose decks were liberally plastered in puffin dung. Getting the anchor up required a couple of attempts. I had obviously got a good placement. We were off by 0900.
The first bit of the sailing was really good. We had bright blue skies and a good fresh wind from the port quarter. We absolutely flew along, despite sailing against the tide. These conditions continued all the way to Linney Head where the wind suddenly changed direction completely and then died to nothing. This was very perplexing given the conditions we had had before and the weather forecast. I guess of there was anywhere to have to motor, this was no bad spot as the scenery is very good along that bit of coast: there are lots of rock climbs to admire. Strangely three seemed to be no climbers on any of the routes.
We had an excellent dolphin display in Carmarthen Bay. It started off with a few dolphins jumping around Cervisia's bows, but later on there were dolphins jumping all around the boat: some of them jumping clean out of the water. You could see little groups of them all around. It was so cool. I love the Bristol channel dolphins.
The dead calm continued until we got under a rain cloud at Worms Head. It started raining and it looked like it was going to be a miserable couple of hours to the anchorage. However there was a really good wind associated with the rain and we tanked along really well into the headwind. The wind dropped again once the rain stopped, but we were still able to sail along quite nicely in a light wind to Oxwich Bay where we are now anchored.
I have applied the Beale school of anchoring. This entails getting the whole lot of chain and rope out rather than calculating an exact amount. This seems to work really well. The rope seems to lie at a really nice angle (that makes it look like Cervisia is pulling on the anchor). This is not meant to be the best anchorage in the world but the anchor seems fairly well settled and it is really calm here. The best thing about this anchorage is the rock architecture. The nearest bit of rock to us has the classic route Scavenger on it. I would love to get up tomorrow and climb it on my birthday. It will be high tide in the morning though (unless I get up really early: which won't happen). Now I am more confident with the anchor, it would be really nice to come to places like this and go climb some rock.
Tomorrow might end up being a big day. I can't really think of anything clever to do to ensure that we make it. I could get up at 4am to catch the early tide, but that doesn't classify as being clever. If we can make good progress against the tide in the morning then we stand a chance. Hopefully we will have a good wind, but I don't dare to hope too much. I have worked out that if we get to Penarth / Cardiff (which is totally feasible), I can leave cervisia there for a few days and then pick her up one evening next week.
One thing that feels a little odd is that I have been on board now since basically Dublin: that is 3 full days. It will be 4 days on board by the time I get to portishead. It is odd how a small space like Cervisia can end up becoming your world.
It was a pretty windy morning despite us being in the shorter of the cliffs. There were puffins, Manx shearwater and gulls buzzing cervisia, whose decks were liberally plastered in puffin dung. Getting the anchor up required a couple of attempts. I had obviously got a good placement. We were off by 0900.
The first bit of the sailing was really good. We had bright blue skies and a good fresh wind from the port quarter. We absolutely flew along, despite sailing against the tide. These conditions continued all the way to Linney Head where the wind suddenly changed direction completely and then died to nothing. This was very perplexing given the conditions we had had before and the weather forecast. I guess of there was anywhere to have to motor, this was no bad spot as the scenery is very good along that bit of coast: there are lots of rock climbs to admire. Strangely three seemed to be no climbers on any of the routes.
We had an excellent dolphin display in Carmarthen Bay. It started off with a few dolphins jumping around Cervisia's bows, but later on there were dolphins jumping all around the boat: some of them jumping clean out of the water. You could see little groups of them all around. It was so cool. I love the Bristol channel dolphins.
The dead calm continued until we got under a rain cloud at Worms Head. It started raining and it looked like it was going to be a miserable couple of hours to the anchorage. However there was a really good wind associated with the rain and we tanked along really well into the headwind. The wind dropped again once the rain stopped, but we were still able to sail along quite nicely in a light wind to Oxwich Bay where we are now anchored.
I have applied the Beale school of anchoring. This entails getting the whole lot of chain and rope out rather than calculating an exact amount. This seems to work really well. The rope seems to lie at a really nice angle (that makes it look like Cervisia is pulling on the anchor). This is not meant to be the best anchorage in the world but the anchor seems fairly well settled and it is really calm here. The best thing about this anchorage is the rock architecture. The nearest bit of rock to us has the classic route Scavenger on it. I would love to get up tomorrow and climb it on my birthday. It will be high tide in the morning though (unless I get up really early: which won't happen). Now I am more confident with the anchor, it would be really nice to come to places like this and go climb some rock.
Tomorrow might end up being a big day. I can't really think of anything clever to do to ensure that we make it. I could get up at 4am to catch the early tide, but that doesn't classify as being clever. If we can make good progress against the tide in the morning then we stand a chance. Hopefully we will have a good wind, but I don't dare to hope too much. I have worked out that if we get to Penarth / Cardiff (which is totally feasible), I can leave cervisia there for a few days and then pick her up one evening next week.
One thing that feels a little odd is that I have been on board now since basically Dublin: that is 3 full days. It will be 4 days on board by the time I get to portishead. It is odd how a small space like Cervisia can end up becoming your world.
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| The Sun goes down on Oxwich Bay. The crag in the background is Little Tor: home to an excellent little E1 5b rock climb. Cervisia is anchored. |
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