Passage Report Cardiff to Falmouth & Return

[spu97ams]

Share my recent trip from Cardiff to Falmouth and Return Trip Over Easter. I know a bit further than the Bristol Channel, but it is nice to hear about peoples extended trips from the Bristol Channel. Unusual fantastic weather throughout. 30 Hour Passage to Falmouth on Spring Tide (12m at Cardiff), Full Moon. Locked out 2 hours before HW. Passed inside Sully Island in very good conditions 45minutes before HW with least depth of 4.4m. Force 3-5 North Westerly for most of passage. Just made Bull Point on 1 starboard tack and passed dead on slack water. Pesky trawlers at night seeming to move to maintain collision courses but all safely negotiated. Night/Breaking Dawn passage the far side of Longships, and treated to fabulous smooth sea and fair wind across Mounts Bay and Lizard, with plenty of Dolphins on final approach to Falmouth.

Falmouth is a wonderful destination or temporary base for non sailors to visit and children to play more easily with lots of short passages possible. I stayed on the Falmouth Visitors Haven which is near all facilities, you cannot book ahead, and not assured of a return berth after each local day sail, which was a bit of a pain with non boating family crew, but we managed. In my case, wife and 3 children and our dog, as well as visiting grandparents etc. I wont leave the Bristol Channel as our base, but this was a wonderful destination for some more relaxed sailing and boating and coastal exploring. Explored Helford and Upper Fal, St Mawes - all fantastic.

Return trip to Cardiff 25 hours motor sailing the whole time in North East, then North/North West F2 wind, Neap Tides, No Moon, mostly smooth seas. Lots and lots of Dolphins and sea birds. Inside passage longships in full daylight, with the reward of a Basking Shark Siting about 25m away. Spotted seals 7 miles off North Cornwall and had a hitchhiking goldfinch for a while. Another couple of Pesky trawlers seeming to confuse me and a commercial boat who appeared to mistook one of them for the Hartland Point light. Final run up Bristol Channel in pitch darkness, was amazed and challenged by at least 6 large ship passages between Nash and Barry, unusual in my experience, but a great experience that certainly helped pass the watch time. I am certainly thinking about getting AIS after both passage experiences.

Here hoping we all get loads more fantastic sailing weather for the season ahead.

 

[bitbaltic]

Fantastic post, thank you.

I learnt to sail on your boat!

 

[tatali0n]

Really enjoyed reading that, thank-you. And some lovely pictures

 

[tonyone01]

A nice report and some great photos. I did wonder where your boat had gone - we are parked two boats for you.