Bardsey island circumnavigation

[Thornebot]

Hi, I am trying to plan a circumnavigation of Bardsey island. Using charts and various websites I can find plenty of tidal information for Bardsey Sound, Tremadog Bay and North towards Anglesey but I can't find out much about the tidal flow at the southern tip and close to the west side of Bardsey. Could someone please help? Many thanks

 

[armchairsailor]

There must be some tidal flow charts that you can get either as apps or traditionally...?

 

[Thornebot]

There must be some tidal flow charts that you can get either as apps or traditionally...?

All the charts I've seen so far show details for Bardsey Sound and along way offshore west of Bardsey. I've also read that Bastrum shole to the south of the island sends some of the flood tide out to the west. The satellite image on Goggle maps is taken during the flood and shows flow going west from the southern tip of the island. Until I'd seen that image I'd always thought the flood tide went in a more northerly direction along the west coast.

 

[oldharry]

Did it 35 years or so ago. As far as I remember I did it near the LW and went round clockwise, crossing Bardsey. I havent got the log anymore, but IIRC there was little current on the E side round the landing. rounding the Southern tip was not an issue, but I bucked a foul tide up the western side in order to have a fair tide back through Bardsey, which can run 5kts or more. Currents were not over strong on the west side, and my main concern was getting a fair tide to get through Bardsey which is more or less essential.

I decided afterwards that I would have done better to go the other way, picking up the last of the flood to carry me NW throygh the sound, and the first of the ebb to take me down the W side of the Island, as memory tells me there is little in the way of tidal flow on the E side, though I would want to check that memory now 35 years later! It would also have given me a fair tide heading back in to Porthmadog Bay across Hells Mouth.

 

[Heckler]

Hi, I am trying to plan a circumnavigation of Bardsey island. Using charts and various websites I can find plenty of tidal information for Bardsey Sound, Tremadog Bay and North towards Anglesey but I can't find out much about the tidal flow at the southern tip and close to the west side of Bardsey. Could someone please help? Many thanks

Just be careful with your planning, did a trip there years ago, lovely day, flat seas and sun shining. As we headed for the anchorage from the east ish I realised that although we were headed for it we were actually slipping sideways. The tide had us and we were being swept towards the Sound! Another passage to Ireland, we left Pwllheli and my mate who was navigating got the tides wrong. We went through Bardsey Sound at 13kts SOG! Luckily wind was with us. Not to be trifled with! Although get the tides right and its a pussy!

 

[savageseadog]

Bardsey is the trickiest bit of water in West Wales IMO, passage planning can be difficult and although I'm not certain about this I don't think it's possible to do all of any Bardsey passage with completely slack water. I've come through a relatively calm Cardigan Bay to a Maelstrom at the Tripods, a very strange place. I've done a few trips where there's been little more than ripples in the water.

 

[Heckler]

Bardsey is the trickiest bit of water in West Wales IMO, passage planning can be difficult and although I'm not certain about this I don't think it's possible to do all of any Bardsey passage with completely slack water. I've come through a relatively calm Cardigan Bay to a Maelstrom at the Tripods, a very strange place. I've done a few trips where there's been little more than ripples in the water.

We passed over the Tripods one time and once through the Sound the missus looked back and said Crikey! There were columns of water shooting up in the air, the tide had changed and was causing this. As you say, strange place!

 

[TSB240]

Why just circumnavigate? My last trip we anchored at Aberdaron overnight. Took the early morning slack tide period to cross to the landing Anchorage. (If you phone the guy who runs the ferry boat he may give you permission to use his mooring. Otherwise find a sandy patch to drop your hook in if you want to stay put for a while ) We had a leisurely breakfast watching all forms of wildlife, huge colony of inquisitive seals. We left Anchorage and turned south at half spring tide flood. The current took us very rapidly south. Totally the opposite of what you would expect. At the southern end of the island we dropped down about a foot as the flow rapidly switched to flowing North up the west side of the Island.
We planned to stop off for a light lunch at the Ty Coch but found that the tidal lift took us up to Llanddwyn Island in a record time. We could have turned around at anytime gone back to the Ty Coch (inshore hardly any tide to worry about) at any time and then completed a circumnavigation of Bardsey on the low water slack. Why bother fighting the inevitable? The power of the tides through Bardsey is awesome. I believe it is the equivalent of two major hurricanes per day. Don't mess with it.

I have some tidal flow diagrams relating to Dover, pictures of anchorage etc. If you PM me an e mail address I will send them to you. The name of the boatman is Colin Evans and he can be contacted through the Bardsey Island Ferrry website.
If you use Facebook you should.

Most of this and lots of other useful info is being created, posted and available to view by a rapidly growing closed group of 1000 virtual sailing club members called Sailing and Cruising Wales. It is becoming a better forum and much easier to use than this clunky old thing! The teenagers are all on whatsyap or something!

Some of us are still very active in the Area! others have very long memories like Old Harry, KipperStu and David J!

 

[Skylark]

I'm still using the 5th edition, second reprint, dated 1998, of Cruising Anglesey and the North Wales Coast by Ralph Morris. This has a chartlet of Bardsey and some tidal and pilotage notes.

The north going flood separates at the south of the island with eddies close in on the western shore.

The ebb divides north of the island and the two steams rejoin a couple of miles southeast of the island but these also create strong north setting eddies.

The tide can run at up to 6kts in The Sound. Strong, contrary winds can cause large, confused, breaking seas.

In addition, mainland topography can give rise to Katabatic winds. I remember going through at slack on a 47ft boat and being almost flattened as a big wind rolled down the hill. Quite scary. I've also been through in very dense fog, once. Not keen to repeat either of these experiences.

That said, I've anchored in Henllwyn Cove a few times and enjoyed exploring the island.

What type of vessel are you using for your circumnavigation?

I don't really know Aberdaron but may be worth asking around there for detailed local info, especially if there's a sea kayaking group.

 

[savageseadog]

We passed over the Tripods one time and once through the Sound the missus looked back and said Crikey! There were columns of water shooting up in the air, the tide had changed and was causing this. As you say, strange place!

I've seen that, I've seen overfalls in lots of places but nothing quite like Bardsey, yes, columns of breaking water. I've never seem anything quite like it anywhere else. There will be people now reading this right now, crossing Barsey off the to-do list.

 

[TSB240]

I don't really know Aberdaron but may be worth asking around there for detailed local info, especially if there's a sea kayaking group.

Aberdaron anchorage is good in anything from the North. But you must avoid the very large boulders that only show on low water springs. I have a picture of them somewhere! I seem to remember that there is a cemetery wall that runs down to the beach and if you anchor due south of it's most southern point you end up in a clear gap between the boulders.
If there is any swell it makes the dinghy ride ashore challenging getting back out even more.
Also the further out you anchor the more likely you will be tidal rode with boat sideways on to the swell at times!
The fount of knowledge is the retired Pwllheli Harbour master. Ken Fitzpatrick who lives in Aberdaron and possibly runs a shop or museum there now?

 

[oldharry]

The local view when I was there in the 80's was that Bardsey was an absolute no go in anything over F4 unless wind and tide were in the same direction. E.G safe enough in a NW with an ebb tide, but any other direction, forget it. There were stories of fatalities when people ignored the advice. Local lore held it at least on a par with Portland and Pentland and in parts worse, such as the Tripods and Myndd Ddu which generates a vicious whirlpool in certain conditions similar to but not as reliable as the Corryvrekan. I never bothered (dared?) to go and see if this was true in my 22 footer, though I did once on a calm day venture inshore to see it, but sheered off pretty quick from a very nasty looking bit of water!

OTOH I once came down from Caernarvon in a solid NW 5, and raced through the sound almost becalmed with hardly any wind in the sails and an almost flat sea. 3 hours later the tide turned and it became a maelstrom again. I didnt hang around to watch, but made a mental note to always enter the sound with plenty of time to spare on the tidal flow when using a following wind like that!

 

[Thornebot]

Thanks, some really useful information there. I've now joined the FB group you suggested.

 

[savageseadog]

The local view when I was there in the 80's was that Bardsey was an absolute no go in anything over F4 unless wind and tide were in the same direction. E.G safe enough in a NW with an ebb tide, but any other direction, forget it. There were stories of fatalities when people ignored the advice. Local lore held it at least on a par with Portland and Pentland and in parts worse, such as the Tripods and Myndd Ddu which generates a vicious whirlpool in certain conditions similar to but not as reliable as the Corryvrekan. I never bothered (dared?) to go and see if this was true in my 22 footer, though I did once on a calm day venture inshore to see it, but sheered off pretty quick from a very nasty looking bit of water!

OTOH I once came down from Caernarvon in a solid NW 5, and raced through the sound almost becalmed with hardly any wind in the sails and an almost flat sea. 3 hours later the tide turned and it became a maelstrom again. I didnt hang around to watch, but made a mental note to always enter the sound with plenty of time to spare on the tidal flow when using a following wind like that!

I know of one fatality on a yacht in the Bardsey area, I believe a crew member was washed overboard. It was a longish time ago and don't have any details that I'm certain enough about to put on here.

 

[TSB240]

Thanks, some really useful information there. I've now joined the FB group you suggested.

Great, Hope we meet up sometime! I have posted all the appropriate info on that site including hourly tidal streams through Bardsey, Maps and a close up of anchorage. Look under Files. If you are looking for another one to circumnavigate try the Skerries Lighthouse. The Lagoon anchorage features a very good central mooring that can accommodate quite a big star raft of boats. Final challenge August 17th this year is the annual circumnav race around Ynys Mon.

 

[kof]

We lost a mast at Bardsey (long time ago). Waves were big but out of the blue we faced this big wall of water, launched off the top and crashed into the trough. Mast bowed forward in the middle, straightened and snapped into 3.

Not a fun place to be in any kind of sea.