Wander Lost

Tag: Sailing

  • Milford, Lundy, Padstow… and back

    We left Milford Haven and had a great sail with good winds and moderate seas to Lundy and then on to Padstow. That’s the good news… the bad news is that Ffion was seasick the whole time and when we arrived in Padstow the anchorage near the lifeboat station was very bumpy. Things got worse when the wind shifted to North Easterly and the waves in the anchorage got worse.

    There was no way we could stay there overnight, especially with Ffion so unwell and there were no local safe harbours accessible at low tide, especially in that swell. There was no choice, we had to move and as we had decided Ffion would go home, Milford was the best option .

    To make things worse, the anchor snagged, I shredded the skin on my thumb trying to free it and the anchor bent in the process; It’s still usable though (anchor and thumb). While raising the sails in the now 20 knot winds, the genoa (the front sail) was flogging in the wind for a while and that has shown weaknesses in its sacrificial strip (also known as a UV strip because it is exposes to sunlight when the sail is furled) it has shredded in a few places.

    As it was 9pm and it was a 24 hour sail against a North East wind back to Milford, we sailed North West into the Celtic Sea away from land during the night and tacked back North East the next day. It took 26 hours in the end so we were exhausted and more or less went straight to sleep.

    This morning I had a good look at the genoa and it looks sound except the sacrificial strip which has done its job by absorbing uv sunrays and become brittle. I have spoken to a sailmaker in nearby Neyland who has given a rough price of £350 to replace this strip so tomorrow I hope to get a taxi over with the sail. He may not be able to work on it till later next week so I will be here at least a week.

    Ffion will stay here with me, at least for a few days and will then go home, alas she is not a good sailor due to seasickness. I will then cross the Bristol Channel (again) and continue in to Southmpton arriving a little later than planned.

    I will be looking for a crew member to help with the sail from Southampton to the Mediterranean if anyone is interested and can spare a couple of months.

  • Entering Milford Haven in a storm

    The sail from Fishguard past St David’s head outside Ramsey went very well with good winds and tides. After Ramsey the wind meant a more Southerly tack than I would have liked but we had plenty of time before a storm was due that night…. Mother nature had other ideas though.

    The winds picked up while we were a little over and hour away from safe anchorage at Dale in Milford Haven and within 10 minutes I had to take down the already reefed sails and switch to motor due to strong headwinds from the direction we needed to go. Speed over ground dropped to a couple of knots and what was due to take an hour, took three.

    I was shivering and soaked after dropping anchor and the anchorage was bumpy for the next 24 hours. But we were safe and best of all, crew were not sick… CREW?!! I hear you ask? Well, I guess it’s time to tell you Ffion has been with me since we left Aberystwyth 😃.

    About 4 weeks ago, Ffion asked if she could come with me if she could overcome her seasickness, at least until Southampton. She was ill for most of the Aberystwyth to Fishguard leg but recovered quickly and was only sick once on the next leg during the storm. This is a very good sign that although she will get sick, she can also get over it quickly.

    We have spent just under a week at Milford Haven marina for reasons Ffion will explain in her blog. Yesterday we sailed to Lundy in the middle of the Bristol Channel and today we are going as far as we can toward Cornwall.

  • New adventure

    Saturday 19th June – 3rd July

    Well that was a change of plan that no-one expected would happen.

    The original plan was to do do some driving with my ex driving instructor one day in preparation for my driving test but then I was offered the amazing opportunity to see the boat and possibly do some sailing.

    After speaking about it with my parents and John and thinking about it for a while I finally decided to just go for it.

    Getting on a bus is a really scary thing for me especially to go somewhere new on my own and to see someone I haven’t seen for years.

    I had mentioned it to my parents but due to my autism and anxiety neither of us actually expected me to go.It’s safe to say that mum was definitely shocked when she came home from work and realised that I had actually gone.

    I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do this without the help and support of my parents and of course John.

    My Dad came with me to the bus stop to make sure that I got on the bus okay and bought a ticket to the correct place.

    John suggested that I shared my location with him so that he could see where I was and when to come to meet me at the bus station. This really helped me because I could also see myself getting closer to my destination.

    John has and continues to be very caring, always checking that I’m okay and helps me through the times when I get anxious about something.

    Due to being around animals all of my life it has also really helped me that Dotty is here, there’s something really calming and relaxing about cuddling a dog and it also reminds me of home.

    Dotty and I enjoying a cuddle

    I’ve always loved swimming so I’ve been swimming in the sea (not sure if that’s bravery or just because I’m crazy. Haha 😂)

    Me having a swim in Aberystwyth

    While we were out sailing I also managed to actually catch some mackrell which was a new experience for me and I even learned how to tack (changing the direction of the boat and the sails) which is amazing.

    Caught my first fish

    We sailed to New Quay and back on the 27th which was lovely, however on the way back I started to feel a bit seasick but I felt much better after going sick and having a good sleep.

    On top of all these new experiences we have also managed to fit some driving in. I had never driven to Aberystwyth before this week but I managed to do it with the help, support and guidance of John. I’ve driven in twilight and in the dark which was new to me but we safely arrived to Aberystwyth Marina the 2 times.

    About a week later I am still here, we are taking each day at a time and we often check how each other are feeling.

    It has been an amazing experience so far and I really hope it continues but even if it doesn’t I will always remember this amazing experience.

  • Lands End to Milford Haven

    I have done some miles since my last blog post, I am now in Milford Haven in the lovely Dale anchorage.

    • Milford Haven at Dusk
    • Padstow

    I have struggled at times with low and intermittent wind speeds but its all part of learning about getting the best from the boat. I have not been ashore now for a week and I still have plenty of supplies, water, fuel and gas and have not got low on electricity at any time. With my current usage, which has not been rationing, I could easily survive another week without resupply, if I rationed, I could probably stay offshore for at least 3-4 weeks. On long passages when I would stock up more, I would have no problems with a month or more at sea.

    I was escorted by dolphins for just under 3 hours while arriving at Milford Haven. From a distance of 100 meters or more you could see them racing in to join others bow surfing the boat. As they got bored and moved on, others would move in. I must have seen over a hundred different dolphins yesterday. What a welcome back to Wales.

    Milford Haven Dolphins

    I am having a rest day then it is one, maybe two days more to get to New Quay, my former physical home but I think my spiritual home.

  • Brixham to Falmouth

    The last few days sailing have been downwind in light Easterly winds. I have learned a lot about how the boat handles and have used the whisker and preventers a lot. I am still not happy I am rigging them the best way, I am still tinkering to make it easier single handed.

    I am currently in Falmouth harbour, that was plan B. Plan A was to get to penzance because the wind is very changeable the next few days. The predicted increase in wind speed due about 11am never happened till 2pm, just after I turned for Falmouth, before then the winds were light so slow progress. The winds are confused tomorrow as it changes from Easterly to South West so I will stay here 2 nights and resupply.

  • Weymouth to Brixham

    The day started with a great downwind sail in a light breeze and ended with no wind and motoring nearly 2 hours into Brixham. Some highlights were:

    Using the wind vane steering downwind, rigging a preventer, using the whisker pole and sailing wing to wing.

    Meeting a pod of common dolphins.

    And some things I did not photograph, such as getting caught in the Portland Race tidal flow and having to motor out, and running out of wind and having to motor the last two hours.

    No wind again today so a day at anchor in Brixham chilling, blogging, fixing a few things, the best bit is for the first time this year I only have a pair of shorts on because it is warm and sunny.

  • Don’t argue with mother nature

    It seems mother nature does not want me to travel to Wales yet. The winds were supposed to be South Westerly, ideal for sailing West but forecasters were wrong, its blowing Westerly so lots of tacking back and forth if I move now.

    I went out anyway hoping it would change later and did have a great sail. But I realised that to get round the next headland, and Lulworth military range which was active today, I would have had to go out several more miles and there were big rolling seas out there from yesterday’s wind. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed to anchor at Swanage for the night then head to Poole tomorrow morning to shelter from big winds due Thursday and friday.

    Swanage from the bay

    It’s a good job I am not working to a schedule.

  • Southampton to Yarmouth

    Great sailing from Town Quay to Fawley then the wind died, I put the motor on to get past the Hamble entrance because it was busy and bumpy because of all the motorboats coming in and out, I left it on until past Calshot and then more or less drifted from there to Lymington at about 3-4 knots, the currents are strong in the Solent. Whilst making a cup of tea, the wind suddenly picked up so good sailing again. I have stopped at Yarmouth because it was about 4pm and very few places to stop after here until and I did not fancy sailing at night. Wind tonight is South Westerly so I should be well sheltered here at night. The biggest risk is the anxhor dragging in the current but it was racing through when I anchored so it should be fine. The turn of the tide when it pulls the other way is the time to be ready with the second anchor if needed.

  • Great sailing and plumbing revisited

    After the gales, I decided to go out to the South of the Isle of Wight to bigger winds and seas. I have been nervous of doing this and to be honest, putting it off. I had a great time and my confidence in myself and the boat are massively boosted.

    The sail to just before St Catherine’s point went really well. I was keeping pace with a yacht about a mile ahead of me. Then a big squall came in so I hung back waiting for it to pass, I was on a southerly tack at the time. The clouds stopped in front of Mr, I waited, they waited… OK, tack back toward the island and then back out to avoid it. It was about then the tide turned so now I was fighting some big currents but making progress. Then the wind changed more North Westerly, that was in my favour so now I was winning… and then the winds dropped from 15-20 knots down to 7 or 8, I was going backwards 🥴. It was getting late so I decided to turn back and head into Chichester Harbour again. It was a great downwind run with tide behind me as well.

    Although I did not get around the island, the day was a massive success for me. I tackled 4-5 meter swells, winds ranging from 4 to 30 knots and some big currents. I got back safe, nothing broke and neither Dotty or I got seasick.

    My water pumps have been playing up recently plus I found that under the heads sink was not a good location because of the damp caused by condensation. I decided to move the pumps to the engine compartment and strip them down to see what’s wrong with them. Moving them was easy enough, I had to move the hoses and power as well but on stripping them down I found the cause of the problems. There was debris in both of them blocking the pump diaphragms. OK, my bad design error but fixable. I have ordered two replacement pumps plus inline mesh filters. The sea water pump was really bad so I will replace that, the second pump is to be a spare, it’s bound to happened again, even with a filter. I got it all working, and then this happened…

    I think its a manufacturing flaw, but it does mean waiting for more parts 🙄 some days you take two steps back for every one forward.

  • Chichester Harbour to Southampton

    Today I sailed to Southampton to resupply and pick up some deliveries. I will be at Town Quay Marina for two nights. The wind was very calm today which meant I had to motor some of the way. Some interesting sights on the way, including a tall ship at anchor.