Windsurfing round Britain (today's completed leg Dover to Brighton!)

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FairweatherDave

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Had the pleasure of meeting Jono Dunett on the beach at Hove where he had just completed his day sailing from Dover, by my estimates 67NM, he said he was planing all the way....... He started from Clacton a few days ago. The unique feature of this attempt is that it will be without a support boat. He also only has one sail, a 9.4m and is carrying all his possesions in a drum fixed to the back of the board. Well worth following him over the next two to three months assuming he is able to keep going. He is raising money for two charities but is also hoping for support, the odd bed for the night, if you go here.
http://windsurfroundbritain.co.uk/local-contact-network
I wish him luck on a epic adventure, one which I beleive he is well prepared for.
So if you happen to see a lone windsurfer on a long race board with a white barrel on the back give him a cheer at the least! And dip into your pocket if you can :)
Please add any experiences/updates here any forumites who see him. Nav-wise this one is Keep Turning Right.
On the windsurfing forum
http://forums.boards.mpora.com/showthread.php/74560-Windsurf-Round-Britain
 
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Someone must have seen him today! He rounded Selsey from Pagham, popped in to Southsea and has finished for the evening in Lee on Solent. The day I met him his course over the ground was apparently 112 miles although the crow flies course from Dover to Hove was 67Nm. (His tracker was not functioning that day due to where he stored it in the barrel). If you saw a windurfer today with a large white barrel on the back and a large white sail, that was Jono..........
 
Made it to Tenby
Lifted from Jono's blog...........
Sailing round Britain has so far been one challenge after another. The technical and physical challenges are there, and these ebb and flow. But it is the mind that is a trickier beast to tame and the psychological challenges are also more insistent and intrusive. And as difficulties are overcome the satistaction is short lived as the next hurdle looms in to clear focus.

Crossing the Bristol Channel has been a particular challenge that has played on my mind since the planning stages of the expedition. Up until actually getting in spitting distance of taking on the crossing, my concerns had been held at bay by the preceding barriers occupying my thoughts.

At Clovelly (North Devon) I met with good friends Ian and Bella, and my brother and family had headed up to complete the party. It was lovely to see them all but my mind didn't permit me what should have been a relaxing stop. Preoccupied with forecasts, tides, alternative route options, anything and everything that could go wrong, I struggled and failed to find a sense of calm.

In the end, the setting off settled my mind and brought a sense of focus to the job in hand. The rational side of my brain prevailing.

Part one of the crossing was a short hop of about 14 miles, to Lundy Island. Ian and I had sailed to Lundy before, so this was familiar territory. Still, the wind was fairly solid and the waves in the channel between Lundy and Hartland Point were solider still. Lundy was visible but disappeared in every trough. The wind with tide conditions prevented a more developed sea state and meant that there wasn't much whitewater. Conditions were, in the final analysis, fine. Just. I was also sailing on a tight reach, which is easier to control than sailing broader. The final mile and a bit I sailed upwind into the swells, that were smaller in the lee of the the island. My second arrival at Lundy was every bit as good as the first.

Many thanks to Emily and Mike who made me welcome and put me up in a very spacious and well appointed tent.

Part two began with breakfast (coffee and cup-a-porridge) at 4:15am. Grimy weather forecast for later in the day onwards suggested that an early morning dash would be my best chance of moving on for the next few days.

Conditions looked fine. The flag above Lundy's church was gently waving. By 5:30am I was sailing.

The wind was from the south so I was reaching as broad as possible. Pretty wobbly initially as there was insufficient wind to fully plane, but making reasonable speed surfing down the waves. The sea state got very confused to the north of Lundy, then I realised I was in a tidal race as I went through a section of far better organised standing waves. It is surprising just how far the races extend - I hadn't really considered I would be affected this far from the island. After the race the sea was flat calm for a while and I could plane in the harness: welcome respite.

The sea returned (although thankfully smaller than the previous day) and the wind filled in. Sailing was more comfortable going with the waves so I stayed mostly on starboard tack. At half distance I saw some dolphins breaching. Not long after I saw land and could make out Worm's Head, off the Gower peninsula. Comforting.

Conditions were in control but testing enough to make eating and navigating on the go difficult, so sometimes I would head up a little to make it easier to go through these basic checks. Sailing broader there was the occasional nose-burying incident when I misjudged my line through the lumps, but with the wind only at about force 4 the decelerations these produced were manageable (plus carrying the barrel gives a bit of extra 'punch' to power the board through).

I had no intention of stopping on (or going near) Rhossili beach which would have been picking up plenty of swell, so gybed off towards Tenby. Land ahead became visible some time after.

When the coastline started to match what I thought I should be seeing, I changed my GPS waypoint to Milford Haven. The approaching clouds and my recollection of the forecast made me cautious though. So when the wind picked up a notch I changed plan again and decided to consolidate the crossing by heading onto a beach on the sheltered side of Caldey Island. Although it seemed a shame to 'waste' my upwind advantage I was pleased with this decision when just ten minutes later heavy rain and thunder commenced.

After the rain eased and I still failed to spot any monks (link is external)(Caldey Island has a monastery) I headed over to Tenby and met up with friends I have in these parts from my days at Swansea University.

The forecast grimy weather has kept me here for a couple of days but I am making use of the time for planing, maintenance (new race vario harness lines (link is external) - my preferred type - from Neil Pryde; thank you Chris from Agenteight (link is external)), and buying a few things (additional clothing in preparation for heading north).

After successful and controlled crossings to and from Lundy my mind is in good place for the next stages. I feel a little bit guilty about a two day break here but it is mostly forced (by weather) and if a crossing to Ireland is on the cards soon - which it may be - I would prefer to take that on well rested.
 
Last time I looked on the tracker Jono was in Dublin. He posted this on his blog.........

"Now I'm making my way up the east coast of Ireland (albeit at a leisurely pace these last two days of very light winds) the crossing from Pembrokeshire already seems a long way behind me. I doubt I'll be doing it again in a hurry, so here are a few notes on how it unfolded.
Having crossed from Lundy to Tenby, I'd been holed up in Swansea with friends, letting wet and windy weather blow through. Checking forecasts at every opportunity, Friday seemed to be the day when a crossing to Ireland might be possible. Target then was to get in position and be ready by then.
This I acheived, just, but it required some longer and more tiring days than I'd bargained for. Tenby to Dale was a nice sail, but I'd had to leave it late to allow MOD firing to finish before entering the range at CastleMartin, and battling against the tide on a dying headwind made getting past the headland at Freshwater West - past the range - very slow. It was a relief to get into the Milford Haven opening before nightfall.
Next day was basically windless but once outside Milford entrance I had favourable tide. Timing was just right to hit Jack Sound with good flow running, which isn't what the navigation books suggest but certainly gets you through quickly. With no wind sailing wasn't really going to happen and the board got spun around like a pooh stick. I let myself be washed through with the sail in a half-uphauled position.
More worrying was crossing St. Brides bay in a very light wind with the threat of being becalmed miles out to sea. Some people in A RIB from Skomer island (who'd seen me being washed through Jack sound) came to see if I was OK. They suggested I head to Porth-Clais, just east of Ramsey Sound, which is what I did. I saw hundreds of puffins.
Porth-Clais is a beautiful little spot, but there isn't much there, so when Local Contact Dave turned up and offered me a place to stay I gratefully accepted. Dave and his parents did a fantastic job of preparing me for the crossing. Charts were pulled out, almanacs dusted off and strategy mulled over. Hearty meals consumed.
At 10am the next day I set sail from Porth-Clais in a fresh south-easterly. Ramsey sound had mildly concerned me but was a pleasure to sail through in this breeze. I then made good progress round St David's head and up the Welsh coast, looking for a better (slightly less broad) angle to head to Ireland.
After a few miles the angle looked better and I gybed then headed out, sailing as broad as I could. Conditions were perfect and I made great progress for the next hour and a bit, covering 15 or 20 miles. The thought had entered my mind that this was going to be almost too easy. Then wind then dropped to very light, and never returned.
The next 6 hours had an uncomfortable tension, always with the concerning thought that the wind may switch off completely, leaving me out at sea in the dark. With no land in sight, little feedback from the sail, and a lumpy and random sea, it was easy to become disorientated. Without GPS it would have been very easy to sail in completely the wrong direction.
Eventually what I thought was a sail came in to view. Later I correctly identified the feature as a lighthouse. Pleased to have a reference point I headed straight at it, thinking land must be near. [Subsequent research have informed me that this was Tuskar Rock lighthouse (link is external), 11km out, and that the rock in question has "probably destroyed more ships than any other Irish coastal feature".] As I neared the lighthouse I saw white water extending well to the north, which is where the incoming tide was taking me. At about this time the skies greyed, rain drops fell, rolls of thunder echoed, and the wind dropped to practically nothing (and for good measure swung to become more "on the nose"). I still couldn't see land and doubts crept in to my mind about the accuracy of my waypoints. I checked my phone's Opencyclemap map for lighthouses in the middle of the Irish sea and couldn't find any (doubt it gets many cyclists anyway).
Fortunately the stormcloud and the worst of the overfalls both passed to the south, and the wind returned. That was as bad as it got. The wind swung back to the south and returned to the minimum required to avert more serious anxieties. Within an hour land came into view, my navigational concerns eased, and there was a noteable improvement in the sea state.
Land took a long time to get close, and I wasn't about to congratulate myself before the job was complete, but once satisfied the wind wasn't going to desert me I allowed myself to enjoy the last mile cruising up to my destination waypoint - the small fishing harbour just to the north of Rosslare's main ferry port.
 
Well Jono is nearly there, coming down the Suffolk coastline with the plan for a staged finish off Clacton Pier on Saturday afternoon. Fantastic achievement and some good observations and nice photos in his blog. All the links in my first post. Well done Jono.......
 
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