North Devon Coast, Lundy, Neyland

I had a mad rush getting Cervisia ready on the Friday night. There were things to pack on board, sails to change (the forecast was for light winds, so I needed to change to the largest genoa), diesel to stock up on etc. The original plan had been to lock out of Portishead at 1930, but we only just made it into the lock at 2000. I was still bending on the large genoa as the lock was dropping. We motored out into a pretty calm sea.

Cervisia motored for a couple of miles past Portishead Point as I finished sorting things out on board and getting myself properly ready for sea (like changing out of my work clothes). Soon enough the sails were up and we were tacking towards Cardiff. The sun went down, ships passed in the night and Cervisia serenely glided westwards. We made good progress tacking into a light wind, then motoring the final couple of miles into the barrage. We got to Cardiff about 40 minutes below low water. We might have had 10cm under the keel as I nervously navigated the channel into the barrage: if we had arrived later, the tide would have been lower and I think we would have grounded. We got to Cardiff just in time.

I got to bed as soon as possible and set the alarm for 5am, docked up in Penarth marina. By 5:30am we were back in Cardiff lock, this time at high water, but still in the dark. We motored out past Lavernock Point. Once out into the Bristol Channel proper, dawn happened and a little westerly breeze kicked in, allowing me to get the sails up and for us to sail nicely into the light westerly. The plan had been to tack along the South Wales coast, but we were going so nicely on starboard tack that I just connected the self steering and let her get on with it. I watched the North Devon coast get closer and fiddled with bits of gear on board, trying to get her in tip-top shape for the big voyage to come.

Sailing west towards Hurlstone Point and Porlock Bay

By lunchtime we were passing Hurlstone Point. The tide carried us west and we got all the way across Porlock Bay before we needed to tack. The North Devon cliffs looked really spectacular with mist on their tops and the sun peeking out from between the clouds. This tack saw us clear Foreland Point. Once round Foreland Point, I could see all the way towards Ilfracombe and what is essentially the end of the Exmoor Coast. I guess Foreland Point is a real transition into the far west. At this point I decided that we wouldn't make it back across the Bristol Channel to the South Wales coast before the tide turned so the next objective turned into one of the little anchorages along the North Devon coast. The point we got to was Combe Martin: a nice little bay surrounded by big cliffs (really just very steep banks) plunging into the sea.

I anchored in Combe Martin. I am by no stretch of the imagination an anchoring expert and it was hence with some trepidation that I sat around on deck waiting to tell whether my recently placed anchor was actually doing the business. I must have been confident enough as I managed a little nap and when I got up, Cervisia still seemed to be pretty much where I had left her. I am going to have to get happy with anchoring for the voyage to come.

The spectacular North Devon coast near Combe Martin

We left Combe Martin as the tide changed back to the west. The wind had died by now and we had to motor west: destination Lundy. I watched the sun dip into the sea in the west and the full moon rise in the east. Once the stars had come out, we were joined by dolphins and we had a dolphin escort into Lundy. We arrived at Lundy in the dark. There were some boats in the anchorage, but there were no evident free mooring buoys. It looked like we would have to anchor and I set to preparing the anchor and chain on deck while Cervisia gently motored ahead. It was while I was doing this that I looked up and noticed that we were just about to hit a massive mooring buoy (thankfully it looked nice and plastic, but it would still have been a huge surprise to hit it). This was a real gift from the gods. Once I'd got the mooring line on board, I knew I was going to have a sound night's sleep.

It was only really a sound half a night's sleep. I set the alarm for before 5am. We had to make the most of the tide in order to get to Neyland in time for me to catch the last train home. There were still stars out overhead at the anchorage, but to the east there was an ominously foggy looking bank of fog. I was hoping that this fog bank was localised. It wasn't. I got into the fog (not a real pea-souper) at the northern end of Lundy and motored through it for 25 miles (there was no wind). I figured that there was actually enough visibility and that there was unlikely to be shipping out there at the current state of the tide. I seem to have been right. In any case, I had a dolphin escort of maybe 15 dolphins on the way out from Lundy. Maybe they were keeping an eye on us.

Seeing the sun again was a nice sight. I could tell that it was a beautiful day above the fog as I could see the blue sky above through the haze. Once the fog cleared, a nice breeze picked in from the starboard beam. I got the cruising chute up and we tanked along at 7 knots over a pretty flat sea towards Milford Haven. I dropped the cruising chute at the harbour entrance and then sailed and motored up the Cleddau. It was all a bit frustrating in the Cleddau as there wasn't really enough wind to truly sail, but there also seemed to be too much wind to motor. We changed from one mode to the next many times. It was a bit of a pain having a schedule to keep to - bit that's the way it was.

We had a great sail to the Pembrokeshire coast once the fog disappeared and the wind kicked in

I moored up in a very convenient berth in Neyland Yacht Haven. This marina seems to be a really nice place. There was a real holiday atmosphere down there with people lounging around on their boats, polishing their boats, eating ice creams: all the usual summer holiday boaty things. I probably looked pretty out of place, looking tired and dishevelled after the crossing from Lundy.

After booking into the marina, I walked 4 miles up an old railway path (now a cycle track) to Johnston railway station where I got the train back to Bristol. Maybe I should have slept on the train, but the scenery was really interesting (especially the really high tide in the Carmarthen estuary: the train goes very close to the sea here) and I studied my Japanese book (as I had been doing on the voyage itself).

Temporarily moored up at Neyland (Milford Haven)

It feels good, if somewhat weird, that I've got Cervisia 100 miles west of Portishead. This should be a really good place to set off from for our voyage north to Scotland (but that all depends on the wind and the weather). It was a pretty tiring weekend, with not that much sleep. I did 125 miles single-handed on Cervisia and feel that I've learnt a lot and had a great time.