BruceK
Well-Known Member
I suppose every maiden voyage has it's ups and downs but after sea trialing Amanzi to make sure everything was in working order we (the family) decided to have our maiden trip as an overnighter in Porth Wen this Easter Sunday and Monday.
The route was planned to make stops at Puffin Island, Red Wharf Bay, Dulas, Lynas, Moelfre Almwch etc as we port hopped to our destination.
For the preceding week we all poured over the weather forecasts, all of which promised fair weather, calm seas and sunshine. Except the Met. On the morning we were to set off it was the sole harbinger of bad tidings. FOG! A quick look out the window and yeah right, blue skies and sunny. Trust the Met to get it wrong.
Seems like everybody thought the Met had got it wrong because there was a fair amount of traffic leaving the channel out of Conwy, but no sooner had we crossed the fairway than from Anglesey, the fog rolled in.
"This too shall pass" has been the family motto when times have been tough. So we thought and expected the fog to lift once rounding Puffin and the Menai. We dropped speed to 5 mph as gradually the fog became so thick we could not see more than 50 yards ahead.
The youngest looking out eagerly for Puffin Island (we gave it a wide berth)
The fog never did lift and so I set a course parallel to the coastline 1 - 3 mile out and sailed by compass and chartplotter with two additional lookouts to watch out for any other vessels. I found it very disorientating sailing in the fog with no visual clues and with the natural tendancy for Amanzi to wonder at hull speed I had to trust the compass implicitly because the sense of balance would say you are turning to one way while the compass would indicate the other etc and even though the seas were calm and flat three of the six on board were soon quite seasick.
Three miles out we had a guest lost in the fog. Hope it made it back safely
First victim of sea sickness putting on a brave face
We entered into the bay of Porth Wen completely blind in the fog. This was nerve wracking and I inched Amanzi in with barely enough speed to make steerage ready to bailout at the first hint of trouble, eyes glued to the chartplotter to drop anchor 50 yards out from The Brickworks. When the fog lifted slightly I was rather impressed with myself (even though it was total reliance on electronics)
I think the teenagers would have prefered to be out clubbing
Eventually the fog started to lift a bit for the late afternoon but soon settled in again as evening set and remain thick right through the night and the return journey until we were about a mile past Puffin on the way back and at the same point just outside the fairway as we had hit it the day before.
a few pics below of the bay.
best cure for seasickness
Fishing is good
Back on the mooring in Conwy.... Blue skies and warm. SHould have stayed in the bay
The route was planned to make stops at Puffin Island, Red Wharf Bay, Dulas, Lynas, Moelfre Almwch etc as we port hopped to our destination.
For the preceding week we all poured over the weather forecasts, all of which promised fair weather, calm seas and sunshine. Except the Met. On the morning we were to set off it was the sole harbinger of bad tidings. FOG! A quick look out the window and yeah right, blue skies and sunny. Trust the Met to get it wrong.
Seems like everybody thought the Met had got it wrong because there was a fair amount of traffic leaving the channel out of Conwy, but no sooner had we crossed the fairway than from Anglesey, the fog rolled in.
"This too shall pass" has been the family motto when times have been tough. So we thought and expected the fog to lift once rounding Puffin and the Menai. We dropped speed to 5 mph as gradually the fog became so thick we could not see more than 50 yards ahead.
The youngest looking out eagerly for Puffin Island (we gave it a wide berth)
The fog never did lift and so I set a course parallel to the coastline 1 - 3 mile out and sailed by compass and chartplotter with two additional lookouts to watch out for any other vessels. I found it very disorientating sailing in the fog with no visual clues and with the natural tendancy for Amanzi to wonder at hull speed I had to trust the compass implicitly because the sense of balance would say you are turning to one way while the compass would indicate the other etc and even though the seas were calm and flat three of the six on board were soon quite seasick.
Three miles out we had a guest lost in the fog. Hope it made it back safely
First victim of sea sickness putting on a brave face
We entered into the bay of Porth Wen completely blind in the fog. This was nerve wracking and I inched Amanzi in with barely enough speed to make steerage ready to bailout at the first hint of trouble, eyes glued to the chartplotter to drop anchor 50 yards out from The Brickworks. When the fog lifted slightly I was rather impressed with myself (even though it was total reliance on electronics)
I think the teenagers would have prefered to be out clubbing
Eventually the fog started to lift a bit for the late afternoon but soon settled in again as evening set and remain thick right through the night and the return journey until we were about a mile past Puffin on the way back and at the same point just outside the fairway as we had hit it the day before.
a few pics below of the bay.
best cure for seasickness
Fishing is good
Back on the mooring in Conwy.... Blue skies and warm. SHould have stayed in the bay
