the straights 18/10/09

I awoke to a grey day compared to the previously clear skies, but the island was impressive and after a wash and breakfast it was time to get on with the rest of the journey, I decided to try and circumnavigate the island as it seemed a bit wimpy to go back the way I always do. So off I went into the straights. There is a lot to see along the way, there was Beaumaris pier, I once pulled in here to pick up a crew member who couldn't get away early and had to catch us up after we left Felin Heli (that was on a charter boat called Bonnie Penny).
There was a boat mussel fishing, a beautiful gaf rigged boat, plenty of ribs running up and down, Bangor pier. Then of course the bridges and the swellies, there was plenty of water under me and I was conscious of time so I gunned it though. I was doing 8 knots under the bridges. For those of you who don't know the Swellies they can be very dangerous with strong currents and plenty of rocks. Next came Felin Heli which is a very sheltered harbour with a lock to keep her in water when the tide is out. Then comes Caernarvon which is dominated by the castle and has a dock and the river for boats. The direction of buoyage changes at the castle. Next I was on course for the exit to the sea. I had set off a little late and with 3 knots of tide pouring out into the sea there were very large standing waves. As Lady Ash went down she scooped up a lot of water which then raced back towards the cockpit, I have never had so much water on the boat! I was calf deep in the cockpit and it took a bit to clear. I got out and navigated the sand bar (that can have it's moments) out to the open water. I did think about stopping for lunch at Llanddwyn Island but the onshore wind was giving quite a bit of chop so I raised the sails and set off for home. A breezy return F5 home was good after all the motoring and I soon neared South Stack and holyhead. I arrived at 5.00 so it was 24 hours for the whole trip, really exciting and well worth doing. I think it will be the next "Plain Sailing" video I make.

Solo circumnavigation 17/10/09

Well I had a rush of blood to the head and although I didn't get to Holyhead until 3.30 I decided to go off and see how far I could get. As usual a great sunset and I used the auto helm "Jeff" to get me along the North coast. When I got to Lynas I set a bearing to take me to Puffin Island, the wind was forecast to be a southerly which may have been an issue but the wind strength was very low so I figured it wouldn't matter. I ended up sailing past 4 large vessels two on one side and two on the other, they were all at anchor and lit up like christmas trees with their deck lights. Quite errie motoring past them at night.
Eventually I neared Puffin Island and approached it from the North end. At this point I decided to see what maps on my iphone would make of it, I was amazed it tracked my turns around the island and helped me drop the anchor right on the mark, nice to have the reassurance of a colour plotter at night!
The sky was clear and after some pasta for dinner I sat on deck with my sleeping bag around my shoulders watching shooting stars, this is what it is all about (beats the x factor!). What would I do tomorrow? 18nm