Concerto
Well-known member
Last night I went to bed too late and had the alarm set for 6. Ended up waking up half an hour before the alarm having only had 2½ hours sleep. Got everything prepared to leave and ready to go and fill the diesel tank. Ugh, it had started to rain lightly, so on went the oil skins. On deck I looked at the marina entrance and saw the lights were still red for no entry and there was no car parked outside the harbour office. Went below and checked the tides and when the flap should be dropped. Then I spied in small print.....................all times are GMT. I could have had another hour in bed.
Before I moved an hour later, I checked on the VHF that I could get diesel as someone was moored on the fuel berth. Yes, no problem. As I approached the fuel berth, the boat alongside were just about ready to leave, so I was delayed even futher. The dockmaster thought I had made a bad approach, then he saw the sharp turn I made to line Concerto up with the berth and only doing under half a knot. He like my mooring system and is going to copy it on his boat. Once the tank was filled I eased out into the tide at 8.50, nearly 2 hours behind schedule. It was still drizzling and slightly reduced visibility. Now it was a case of punching the tide and following the buoys before crossing the Caernarfon Bar. All quite easy. Just outside the narrows was a pair of harbour porpoises hunting for breakfast. Despite the grim morning there were quite a few yachts entering the Menai Straights.
Once clear of the sandbanks I raised full sail and off we tramped on a port close reach. The foreecast predicted the rain would stop shortly, which it did, and the direction would veer by about 120 degrees. In fact the as the wind veered it almost disappeared completely, so on went old faithful for 40 minutes. When the wind returned it was now a close reach on starboard - without any course change. The strength was a nice force 4, so making up to 7 knots through the water. As I approached Bardsey Island the wind dropped slightly and the water became turbulent as I now had over 2 knots of tide with me. A quick mental calculation made me realise I had already made up for the late start as my avaerage speed was nearly 50% over what I expected on the wind forecast. As I cut inside Bardsey Island, the wind moved to a broad reach, but it felt like the wind had suddenly dropped, along with the boat speed. Not to worry as the tide was now adding 4 knots.
It seemed like slow progress, but it did not take long to cover the 9 miles to reach Cilan Head. The drizzle had stopped and the sun was out drying the decks off. Off came the oil skin jacket as I was getting cooked with it on. About 10 minutes later, the oil skin trousers and boots were dispensed with. As I had caught up on my schedule, I decided to carry on slowly doing 4 to 5 knots over the ground after hardening up round Cilan Head. I was now worried that I would get to Pwllheli too close to low water. Gradually the wind increased and Concerto lifted her skirts to go a lot faster. As I approached St Tudwals Islands, a yacht approached and I videoed her and took a photo. So if anyone knows the owner of sail number GBR 5653L, I can let them have a copy of the video.
The wind eased slightly as I slipped between the mainland and the islands. Once through, a slight course change and a wind shift meant I was almost close hauled and cracking along at about 6 knots. It was delightful sailing on a bright sunny day and seeing plenty of other boats out on the water. When I was about a mile and a half away from the entrance to Pwllhelli, I furled the genoa away, started the engine and dropped the mainsail. After rigging the basic fenders, I tried contacting the marina to find out the berth number and which side to moor to, No response on VHF, so I tried the landline, again no response. Then I decided to fully rig to moor either side. Tried the marina again, no response.
Just as I was about to enter the channel, I saw a large yacht leaving. This was good as the entrance was into the sun and its reflections off the water and I would get an idea of where the deepest water was was. Very close to the entrance, he ran aground. I decided to slowly make my way in and beside him I had 1.4m under my keel. No way did he draw 3m, 2¼ or 2½m possibly. Later I did drop to 0.8m under the keel. I continued to try contacting the marina to no avail. When I saw some of the first berths I spoke to a berth holder and he suggested just selecting a berth and then sorting it out. The further along I went the boats slowly starting reducing is size. I selected an empty double berth on the pontoon closest to the marina office. I moored to port and it was now 17.10 but no sooner than I had tied up, I got a call from a yacht, I was in their berth. Not a problem and I moved sideways into the berth alongside. Then I helped them get into their berth. They did not not know why I could not get a reply from the marina staff.
Helpfully the husband came with me to ensure I could get back on the pontoon if no one was in the office. By now it was 17.50, but it appeared there was someone now in the office. He was the night staff and should start at 18.00. When I explained that I could not get any reply, he then said all the 7 day staff stop work at 16.30! So for an hour and a half in a busy marina, there are no staff . Typical council run operation. The day staff had left all the details of the berth I had been allocated, so I signed in and went back to move Concerto. What a crazy system. Surely one member of staff should cover that period as it is always going to be quite busy late afternoon. Thank goodness it was not a breezy day as I had to reverse into the berth as I wanted to be head to wind.
Approaching Bardsey Island with 2½ knots of tidal push
Approaching Cilan Head
I have video of the boat sailing. Can you identify sail number GBR 5653L.
St Tudwals Island West
St Tudwals Island East
Pwllheli in the distance with hilly backdrop
The tide is weakening as I head NNE
The clouds shaded me from some of the sun, it was a sparkly day
For anyone wanting to read the reports from the start, this is the link to first one. All the links with place names are in my about me page from my avatar.
Round Britian day 1
Before I moved an hour later, I checked on the VHF that I could get diesel as someone was moored on the fuel berth. Yes, no problem. As I approached the fuel berth, the boat alongside were just about ready to leave, so I was delayed even futher. The dockmaster thought I had made a bad approach, then he saw the sharp turn I made to line Concerto up with the berth and only doing under half a knot. He like my mooring system and is going to copy it on his boat. Once the tank was filled I eased out into the tide at 8.50, nearly 2 hours behind schedule. It was still drizzling and slightly reduced visibility. Now it was a case of punching the tide and following the buoys before crossing the Caernarfon Bar. All quite easy. Just outside the narrows was a pair of harbour porpoises hunting for breakfast. Despite the grim morning there were quite a few yachts entering the Menai Straights.
Once clear of the sandbanks I raised full sail and off we tramped on a port close reach. The foreecast predicted the rain would stop shortly, which it did, and the direction would veer by about 120 degrees. In fact the as the wind veered it almost disappeared completely, so on went old faithful for 40 minutes. When the wind returned it was now a close reach on starboard - without any course change. The strength was a nice force 4, so making up to 7 knots through the water. As I approached Bardsey Island the wind dropped slightly and the water became turbulent as I now had over 2 knots of tide with me. A quick mental calculation made me realise I had already made up for the late start as my avaerage speed was nearly 50% over what I expected on the wind forecast. As I cut inside Bardsey Island, the wind moved to a broad reach, but it felt like the wind had suddenly dropped, along with the boat speed. Not to worry as the tide was now adding 4 knots.
It seemed like slow progress, but it did not take long to cover the 9 miles to reach Cilan Head. The drizzle had stopped and the sun was out drying the decks off. Off came the oil skin jacket as I was getting cooked with it on. About 10 minutes later, the oil skin trousers and boots were dispensed with. As I had caught up on my schedule, I decided to carry on slowly doing 4 to 5 knots over the ground after hardening up round Cilan Head. I was now worried that I would get to Pwllheli too close to low water. Gradually the wind increased and Concerto lifted her skirts to go a lot faster. As I approached St Tudwals Islands, a yacht approached and I videoed her and took a photo. So if anyone knows the owner of sail number GBR 5653L, I can let them have a copy of the video.
The wind eased slightly as I slipped between the mainland and the islands. Once through, a slight course change and a wind shift meant I was almost close hauled and cracking along at about 6 knots. It was delightful sailing on a bright sunny day and seeing plenty of other boats out on the water. When I was about a mile and a half away from the entrance to Pwllhelli, I furled the genoa away, started the engine and dropped the mainsail. After rigging the basic fenders, I tried contacting the marina to find out the berth number and which side to moor to, No response on VHF, so I tried the landline, again no response. Then I decided to fully rig to moor either side. Tried the marina again, no response.
Just as I was about to enter the channel, I saw a large yacht leaving. This was good as the entrance was into the sun and its reflections off the water and I would get an idea of where the deepest water was was. Very close to the entrance, he ran aground. I decided to slowly make my way in and beside him I had 1.4m under my keel. No way did he draw 3m, 2¼ or 2½m possibly. Later I did drop to 0.8m under the keel. I continued to try contacting the marina to no avail. When I saw some of the first berths I spoke to a berth holder and he suggested just selecting a berth and then sorting it out. The further along I went the boats slowly starting reducing is size. I selected an empty double berth on the pontoon closest to the marina office. I moored to port and it was now 17.10 but no sooner than I had tied up, I got a call from a yacht, I was in their berth. Not a problem and I moved sideways into the berth alongside. Then I helped them get into their berth. They did not not know why I could not get a reply from the marina staff.
Helpfully the husband came with me to ensure I could get back on the pontoon if no one was in the office. By now it was 17.50, but it appeared there was someone now in the office. He was the night staff and should start at 18.00. When I explained that I could not get any reply, he then said all the 7 day staff stop work at 16.30! So for an hour and a half in a busy marina, there are no staff . Typical council run operation. The day staff had left all the details of the berth I had been allocated, so I signed in and went back to move Concerto. What a crazy system. Surely one member of staff should cover that period as it is always going to be quite busy late afternoon. Thank goodness it was not a breezy day as I had to reverse into the berth as I wanted to be head to wind.
Approaching Bardsey Island with 2½ knots of tidal push
Approaching Cilan Head
I have video of the boat sailing. Can you identify sail number GBR 5653L.
St Tudwals Island West
St Tudwals Island East
Pwllheli in the distance with hilly backdrop
The tide is weakening as I head NNE
The clouds shaded me from some of the sun, it was a sparkly day
For anyone wanting to read the reports from the start, this is the link to first one. All the links with place names are in my about me page from my avatar.
Round Britian day 1
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