pilgrimage 54 uk

David and B's ongoing adventures in Pilgrim, their beloved Hallberg Rassy 352

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Arrived in new home

14th July 2018

Quick post to say we did arrive in Conwy safe and sound last Saturday. Pilgrim all safely moored up. Got home to new windows being fitted all week and lots of grandchildren sitting which is our excuse for slow completion! A fantastic trip in the amazing heatwave we’ve all had. Will fill in final details and pictures shortly.

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A little explaining

Friday 13th July 2018

Days 10-11 Leg 3

Pwllheli to Porth Dinllaen

Sorry to tease you with the photos. We are currently on passage up the western side of the Lleyn peninsula towards Porth Dinllaen. We are upright (actually a gentle heel to starboard) as we sail through a beautiful peaceful evening.

Our little accident occurred yesterday after skipper’s perfect passage plan to get us through Bardsey Sound had been in action for precisely 10 minutes! We had gone up to Pwllheli marina after Abersoch to sus it out as a potential future home for Pilgrim but also for essential watering, replenishing of stores and football watching.

After the sad end to the semi-final skipper was keen to be on his way. So after refuelling we set off down the fairway out of the marina. Now this is not the best marked fairway in the UK. We had noted some quite shallow areas to starboard on the way in inside the buoyed channel. So we grabbed a knowledgeable looking yachty pair before leaving who told us to keep right on the way out “along the trots” and then across to port for the final channel. So skipper stuck to the instructions precisely. At the end of the trots we came to a sudden halt clearly wedged stuck. Lots of hard reversing and then over came Chuck in his powerful tender to pull the masthead over and so lift the keel. Lots of revs and fuel burned but all we managed was to slew her nose round a bit.

The tide was just past high and falling fast so we knew were there for quite a while (eight hours as it turned out). So over the next 2 hours Pilgrim gently heeled over onto her side like a beached whale and the deck angle became precipitous. Cabin Girl ( am I allowed to say well into her eighth decade!) clinging on woman-fully. As the last of the water started to disappear like an emptying bath, I made my decision. “Abandon ship!” If we left it any longer we’d be dragging the dinghy through sand/mud whose firmness was uncertain. We dropped the dinghy and crew evacuated by sliding off the side-deck and under the guardrail (Jim knows the route!). Dinghy was waiting below in this case. So a pleasant day was spent in the bar at the National Sailing Centre, making new passage plans and phoning those who needed to know our final arrival would be delayed by 24hr.

We clambered aboard from our rapidly reducing island when we returned to her (after taking said photos) and amazingly within 90 minutes she was upright and we were off at 18.00hr. An overnight stop back in Abersoch was followed by a lovely morning sail with more dolphins seen and the biggest silver lining was an enforced stop in Aberdaron bay at the tip of the Lleyn peninsula to wait for the tide to turn before “doing” Bardsey Sound.

Aberdaron is a gem. Unspoilt remote village. Couple of small family hotels, three tea shops and an wonderful small church St Hywyn with a double nave and an amazing peace. “A thin place” as Jacky described it. It is the last in a chain of small pilgrimage stops on the way to Bardsey. We spent some time there reading the interesting history and about the priest/poet R S Thomas and also in contemplation.

Cappuccinos were also consumed and the beach enjoyed. After which Bardsey Sound behaved like a tame pussycat despite the Pilot book’s dire warnings.

Nearly home. Tomorrow we have our final hurdle of the Menai Straits and the even more notorious Swellies, before hopefully gliding into Conwy. We’ll let you know!

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Oops!

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Abersoch Antics

Wednesday 11th July 2017

Day 9 Leg 3

Abersoch, North Wales

First mate here, on blog duty today!

We had to make a quick exit from Aberystwyth and no one was about as we left too early at 8 am, quite a bit of grumbling from me, the cabin girl was more understanding! (and we still haven't paid for our night there.  Note to self: must phone them up)  The wind had died over night and we came out to a very flat sea in the beautiful morning sun light.  With a mixture of motoring and some sailing we made it over to Abersoch by 1.30 pm.  Our destination was a little anchorage a fellow sailor had told us about, tucked in behind the St Tudwal islands and with a good view of the long yellow sandy beach and with the stunning backdrop of Snowdonia surrounding us.  At first it was rather noisy with speed boats, water skiers, jet skis, you name it they have it in Abersoch, the power boating capital of N Wales.  But as the afternoon wore on it quietened down.  After a post prandial snooze we roused ourselves and headed off to the beach in the dinghy for a swim, in the warmest water we have encountered so far.  After an ice cream we decided we were up for a walk into Abersoch proper in search of a meal.  We walked along the beach, reminders of Worthing as there were breakwaters all along, passing dogs being exercised and even a rabbit who had been brought to the beach in a pet carrier with a mobile run, that’s a first! We found ourselves a very nice meal and then headed back with as much speed as we could muster as France v Belgium had already kicked off. We finally got back to the boat for half time.  Joshua drew France in his school sweepstake so we were celebrating with him when they won!  Also celebrating with Andrew on his 28th birthday!

We were slightly concerned that we wouldn’t sleep well as the boat was rocking quite a bit in the evening breeze but in fact we all did and woke to a gorgeous peaceful morning.  The plan had always been to spend a night in Pwllheli marina as this is a possible option of a new home for Pilgrim instead of Conwy. So we motored over this morning, very uneventfully and are now well placed for shopping, plugging into mains electricity, recycling items gathered over the last week, showering, and topping up with  fresh water.  Oh and the small matter of finding a large screen TV to watch The Match on!

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Snowdonia at dawn from our anchorage at Abersoch

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The Daisybus Gardens of Wellbeing near Solva

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Beautiful Solva, including Pilgrim leaning against the harbour wall

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Dolphins in Bristol Channel

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Some puffin shots on Skomer including a rare shot of a “puffling” with Mum outside his burrow

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Two Contrasting Passages

Monday 9th July 2018

Days 6-7 Leg 3

Aberystwyth

After a surprisingly choppy passage from Fishguard today we are safely 40 nautical miles on in Aberystwyth marina. We noted today was forecast to have some wind - around 15 knots which has been unusual with the high pressure, sun and light breezes.

The direction was north which made it possible to sail north east which was what was needed. Tides dictated a noon start so B and I headed through the pretty lower harbour in Fishguard up the hill to the main town to get stores in. We then set off on time in light winds. These soon built into the promised 15 knots which was enough to make it lively going into the swell. I soon put one reef in the main then two in the jib and finally two in the main which made for more comfortable progress. We saw shearwaters for the first time on this leg which was great, then had a visit from bottlenose dolphins which lifted our spirits.

At that stage the waves were getting bigger and the boat slowing. The dolphins prompted me to check if sailing angle was optimal, which it wasn’t and by bearing away just 5 degrees from the wind Pilgrim accelerated from 4 to 6 knots. From there the sea improved, the wind backed slowing us to sail even more easily and we flew along.

All this huge contrast with our trip from Solva to Fishguard. A beautiful hot day with no wind meant motoring all the way. The engine is bit noisy and it is less satisfying but the advantage is you can sit on the foredeck and watch the world go by. This is one of my favourite spots on passage and I offered it to Cabin girl who jumped at the opportunity and really enjoyed it as we passed through Ramsey sound round St David’s head.

So tomorrow more miles. Probably aiming for Abersoch on the Lleyn peninsula. Then Pwllheli for the match on Tuesday.

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The Secret of Solva

Sunday 8th July 2018

Days 5-6 Leg 3

In 2012 we reluctantly bypassed this gem of the Pembrokeshire coast, partly due to the need to get on north on our schedule and partly because it is a drying harbour and so to stay with a boat such as ours you either need yacht legs (yes there are such things) or to lean against the harbour wall as the water disappears.  Although First Mate says I am sometimes too intrepid for my own good I have to admit there was a reluctance to attempt this manoeuvre on my part.  if got wrong, instead of a slight reassuring lean against the strong stone wall, the boat falls the other way onto her side with all sorts of chaos and potential damage.

So 6 years on, STILL having never attempted this manoeuvre on purpose (there have been the odd occasion when we’ve run aground in soft mud a gently listed with the tide!), I decided it was time to notch up another skill in our repertoire.  So, having anchored the night before in the entrance (beautiful beautiful entrance) I announced next morning we were going in! with the tide!  First Mate was a little reluctant, but off we went.  The pilot book was a little vague as to the best course in and we were only slightly unnerved when passing a languid local in a fishing boat he muttered to Cabin Girl “you’re doing it all wrong!”.  I’d taken a track between the moored boats and ended in a labyrinth of mooring lines all trying to snare our propeller like a spider’s web.  Like a true Englishman, I motored on with head held high, but engine in neutral to stop the prop snaring and before we knew it we were at the harbour wall throwing lines to two slightly bemused strangers at the top of the wall.

It turned out First Mate’s concern was partly potential lack of provisions, partly nerves for the drying out bit and partly concern re a lack of venue for the World Cup Quarter Final.  Always practical and considerate.  So I jumped up the ladder once secure and did a quick recce of Upper Solva which revealed not only a nice pub half way up the hill with suitable screens but the Bayview Stores at the top with a lovely proprietor and a great range of fresh made salads.  That clinched it for all, and we then met Anthony, the harbour master who initiated us into dark arts of drying out.  This mostly consists of getting your dock lines lined up right, putting out enough fenders with a plank slung outside them to protect the side of the boat, and running a line (a halyard for those into sailing jargon) from the top of the mast onto a convenient metal eye on a nearby dock building.  By hauling tension on the line at the foot of your mast (connected to the dock building) the whole boat is heeled over towards the wall to any degree you think fit.  I suggested 5 and Anthony preferred 7.  Anyway, the waters receded and we gently touched the bottom at said angle and sat there for the next ten hours in comfort.  The only snag with this arrangements when the water reappears you have to remember to take the line off the mast or the boat gets pulled further over.  Also you have to do the whole hauling over to 7 degrees thing again at 3 in the morning, as decreed by the whim of the tides.

That said we loved Solva. It has a beauty, simplicity and charm, lost by many more developed harbours, has interesting arty shops and three pubs showing football!  So I tested one out for Brazil vs Belgium then went to the other one where all the locals were for the England Sweden match.  What a game!  Unbelievable that we are in the semi-finals.  By the end we had Welsh reluctantly wishing us well and a family of Americans cheering the English on.

Prior to the match in the morning we decided to walk 3 miles inland to “The Daisybus Garden of Wholeness” (I kid you not), which was actually lovely.  A couple have moved there 2 years ago and created 14 model gardens aimed at positive physical, mental and spiritual health. We were the only visitors that morning and chatted to them about the challenges of gardening in a drought and their philosophy, and then bought their book!  The only harm to our physical health was the plague of horseflies that ate Jacky and I but we whisked off back to Solva by a taxi we had arranged earlier, the driver of whom turned out to have grown up a few few houses up the road form Jacky in Stockton-on-Tees.  Small world.

We left the harbour yesterday at high water and anchored in the pool again overnight where I now sit listening to the swirl of the sea on the rocks and the cry of the oystercatchers.  However, time and tide....it’s time to take on Ramsey Sound and the Bitches, whilst Fishguard awaits beyond.  See you (virtually) there.

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A few pics from St Agnes including our cream tea with the freshest ever clotted cream from the happy cows at Troy Town farm on the island. A tandem ride to a vineyard on the Camel Estuary. A day on Skomer in the company of lots of puffins and other sea birds and a pilgrimage to West Dale beach where David spent many happy hours as a boy on family holidays.

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Pilgrim now on Leg 3 - Milford Haven to Conway

Friday 6th July 2018

Day 4 3rd Leg

Solva

Big apologies to thousands (well five or six) of you who have been following our travels this summer. There has been radio silence for a while!

You last left us on St Agnes, Isles of Scilly.  We finished our wonderful time in the Scilly Isles after hunkering down to the edge of Storm Hector on an anchor buoy in Old Grimsby Sound. It turned out to be not too bad and we spent a couple more days after that exploring St Agnes again.  We left at 4.30am on Sat 16th June to catch the tide back to the mainland and on to Padstow.  We had great sail across although as the tide turned against us around Lands End the seas got quite large with 4-5metre following waves which made things exciting but never felt unsafe.  We avoided our previous error in 2012 heading up the north Cornish coast when our engine failed and we ended up towed in by the lifeboat (see earlier in our blog).

We spent a lovely 3 nights in Padstow harbour with varied activities ranging from cream teas, to walking up the hill to Tescos, to cycling the Camel trail on a tandem to the Camel vineyard (scrummy bubbly).  Our extra third night was to take in the England Tunisia match in the Shipwrights Inn - a convivial affair with suitable tension until the last minute winner went in.

Finally we left Padstow at 09.15hr on Tues 19th June for Milford Haven - a 70 mile trip across the outer end of the Bristol Channel, including a half hour visitation of dolphins.  We arrived at dusk into Milford Haven and passed three large tugs heading out to escort a large tanker in.  By 10.30pm we were safely tied up in the marina and got on the two carriage train at the end-of-the-line station for Chester the following morning.  An interesting journey largely because Ed Sheerhan was performing in Cardiff that day and by the time we left Llanelli not only was every seat taken, but every aisle inch and some were eyeing up the luggage rack.

We had a busy break back home sorting out the garden, having a couple of guests to stay and headed back on the 7 hour trip back on 4 trains this time meeting our crew member on Cardiff station, Jacky Woolcock who sailed with us in 2012 down the East coast.  Pilgrim was in good shape (particularly pleased to see the batteries were fully charged by my new upgraded solar panels).

So since then, on Wednesday we popped into Dale on the way out from the Haven and walked across to West Dale beach (more childhood memories).  We then rounded St Anne’s Head and through the notorious Jack Sound between Skomer and the mainland and picked up a mooring buoy in North Haven, Skomer amidst hundreds of puffins, razorbills and guillemots.  Yesterday we spent the day on land exploring Skomer, some pictures to follow.  Last night we set off at 5.30pm and crossed the eight miles of St Bride’s Bay north to the little fishing port of Solva, anchoring just inside the entrance as it was low water and its a drying harbour.  Today we plan to go in at high water and possibly dry out by the quay, or flee if we don't like it round to Fishguard.

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Amusing rock formations on St Agnes and Gugh.  Former supposedly like Queen Victoria but we think it’s the Gruffalo!

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Cosy Bryher and Remote St Agnes

Leg 2

Days 9 - 10

Monday to Tuesday 11 - 12th June 2018

We knew our anchorage between Bryher and Tresco would become more uncomfortable by Monday night with stronger northerly winds so in the morning we went over early to Bryher landing on the beach beside Anneka’s Quay (the same Anneka Rice and same quay (slightly updated) which was built in the 90′s during one episode of the Challenge Anneka series).  Bryher has a very friendly feel and we began by using the marvellous modern facilities at the community hall with a suitable donation. We arrived around 9am, obviously rush hour on Bryher, as we were passed by three cars in half an hour!  Having scoped out the local cafe and post office for later we walked around the northern half of the island taking in Shipman’s Head down (named long before the notorious GP) and Hell’s Bay which is exposed to the full Atlantic Storms  and where 42 years ago a young B sat contemplating the rocks.  She did so again, more mature and wiser, in the company of her soul mate.  After passing some 3000 year old burial mounds, we descended to civilisation and coffee at Fraggle Rock cafe, then on to shop in the surprisingly well-stocked island post office.

Next door was the Island Gallery and we didn’t get away without buying a Fling of Dunlins carved in wood in mid-flight.  Another collective noun for your collection.

On to the Vine Cafe and a superb bean casserole in baked potato and then sadly back to the quay after picking up a plant for our garden - Aeonium for all you gardeners, which has rosettes of green succulent leaves and enormous yellow spikes of flowers and seen all over Scilly growing out of walls.

Having returned to Pilgrim we headed south back across the shallows connecting Tresco and Bryher and back across St Mary’s Sound to the most southerly of the Islands, St Agnes.

St Agnes is that bit more separated from the main group and feels different for it.  We anchored in the Cove, a lovely inlet on the south of the island at the head of which is a spit of land covered at high tide, linking St Agnes to neighbouring Gugh (pronounced Goo!).  This place was even more idyllic if that’s possible, than Tresco.  Landing on the spit we felt like we’d arrived on a tropical desert island.  A brief exploration found the main hamlet including a tiny primary school, shop and at the far side the Coastguard Cafe complete with lookout tower and views out over the Western rocks to the Bishop Rock lighthouse, the scene of so many famous shipwrecks including a good portion of the British fleet in 1707 under Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell.  Twenty one ships were returning under his command from the Mediterranean when they hit poor weather and couldn’t agree their position.  By the next morning four of them had foundered on the Western Rocks with the loss of over 1500 sailors including Sir Cloudesley who was buried on St Mary’s but later exhumed, pickled in brandy, and buried in Westminster Abbey!!

After that a prize was offered of £10,000, an enormous sum then, for anyone who could solve the problem of locating longitude at sea (latitude was easy by the height of the sun).  It took another 150 years or more for Harrison’s brilliant clock to be recognised as the solution, although earlier versions were in use quite early in the 19th Century.

Anyway, I digress.  It’s just GPS has made things SO much easier and safer (until some muppet puts a virus or something in the system).

Excellent smoked pork at the Turk’s Head pub on St Agnes left us feeling very satisfied with the day.  So on Tuesday we walked round the whole coast of St Agnes and took in its peculiar beauty calm and remoteness.  This included the most westerly maze in mainland Britain marked out labyrinth style in rocks on the southern headland, St Warna’s Well, a 6th century christian or pre-christian holy site, and Troytown ice-cream farm.  But we were saving ourselves for the cream tea at the Coastguard’s Cafe and it did not disappoint!  Afterwards we were amused to pass the village school in full action.  The eight pupils of ages four to ten probably having games on the village green.  It looked a million miles from the average mainland primary though we suspect Ofsted’s arm reaches this far occasionally.

We ended the day plucking up courage for a first swim of the trip.  Pretty refreshing it was, though first mate cheated a little by wearing her wetsuit!  Reading books on the silver sand after was just perfect.

However all good things must come to an end and a south westerly blow is forecast for tomorrow evening.  We must not be caught in this anchorage, facing as it does due south.  So up anchor in the morning and back to the far side of Tresco to seek the best shelter from the promised strong winds.

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Tresco Abbey Gardens including Valhalla museum of figureheads from locally wrecked ships

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Otillo SwimRun World Series Race