Ardglass to Arklow to KQ to Newlyn to Fowey to The Yealm to The Dart to Home

Hello again Dear Reader(s). If the title of this brief blog isn't sufficient, please read on ..... you may remember that our intrepid trio have recently arrived in Arglass, Northern Ireland.

Our  "day off" in Ardglass involved a very pleasant 4 mile walk along the coast.

A bird.

Eventually we arrived at a pub and after brief refreshments, walked home.

Supper at the ancient golf club was excellent, and also saved walking another 4 miles back to another eating house.

18 June 2023

To Arklow.

Despite Arklow's reputation for sewage, it is an essential stop for sailors who don't fancy calling in anywhere else en route (obviously). So we went there.  We motored almost all the way and managed to get the tide running against us for the final two and a half hours. Before landing I was careful to give Will a thorough Health and Safety briefing. "Try not to fall through the hole in the pontoon because the river is full of  shite, etc. ".

We had a "day off" in Arklow.  This mainly involved walking up and down to the petrol station with cans of diesel, a brief sleep and an excellent meal at The Old Ship.

20 June

We set off for Penzance and arrived in Kilmore Quay.

All was going nicely and we were sailing (using only the wind for propulsion), when the clew came off the genoa.  (Translation for non-sailing blog followers:  The lower back corner of the front white flappy-thing tore off so that the ropes (sheets) attached to it were ... no longer attached to it, so it flapped).

Unable to continue sailing, we opted to divert to Kilmore Quay; motoring instead.

Kilmore Quay is well known for its excellent chandlery and they would be able to help. 

The chandlery referred us to the next-door boat repair yard whose proprietor explained that the nearest sailmaker was in Dublin, probably.

The problem was simple. How to re-attach a rope to the corner a a bit of thick cloth in such a way that it would be strong enough to pull a six tonne boat through the water at about 7 knots.  How hard can this be?  We put on our thinking caps, broke into small groups, and came up with various ideas  With a combined age of over 200 years and at least forty initials after our names, two doctorates and an M.Sc. , we produced the following ideas:

1. Jean could sew it back on

2. Will could sew it back on.

3. Peter could glue it first then Will and Jean could both sew it back on.

4. Peter could drill holes in the sail and rivet a metal dinner plate onto the clew, onto which a the sheet (rope) might be fixed.

5. Two lengths of  yellow jack-stay webbing could be folded around the clew and holes drilled to take 8 x 6 mm nuts and bolts with 16 extra-large penny washers, thus forming two large loops , onto which the Genoa sheets might be tied.

6. We could motor to England.

We opted for Number 6.

21 June 2023

We refuelled (again) and set off for Newlyn  (140 miles or so) at 1000 hours.

We had a strict 2-hour watch and sleep rota.  As Skipper, I always went to sleep first.

After motoring for about 12 hours the sun set.

and next day the sun rose

We motored past Longships

And eventually into Newlyn Harbour where a very nice man at Solo Sails (just across the road from the harbour) expertly repaired the Genoa.

23 June 2023

From Newlyn to Fowey

We sailed (using the wind)

Sailing.

Note: Genoa, Goose-wing, Pole and Skipper with Hammer.

24 June 2023

To The Yealm  and  supper at The Dolphin  (and good news on the safe delivery of a great niece "Matilda").

25 June 2023

An easy trip to Dartmouth and home.

Another very good trip completed.

 

The Adventure Continues

Dear Reader(s),

Don't worry. All is well.

After a quick trip to Devon to cut the lawn, water the dog and see friends and family, we returned to Kerrera and motored over to Oban where we also met Simon (of Sira) (in the communal marina washrooms), before his departure for Stornoway.

We greeted Will (also up from Devon) at Oban Station and by that evening had motored, in the hot flat calm, to Craighouse  (Jura).

14 June

The 40 miles to Rathlin Island. We sailed the last 3 hours and had a lovely day. 

Bacon and mushroom pasta for supper.

Rathlin Island.

15 June.

A six mile walk to the south lighthouse  and an easy passage to Glenarm.

Risso's Dolphins and good sailing.

Quish Lorraine, new potatoes and salad. 

16 June (today)

Up at 0545.

54 miles to Ardglass.

As you may know, we like this
place.

Bed now and a day off tomorrow. 

Jean at the helm..

Kerrera

Sat 3 June 2023

Having got up early to refuel before the rush, we set off for Loch Aline. Several hours later we arrived in Kerrera where we moored. 

This is to be Albatross' home for the next week. I won't bore you with why we came here a day earlier than planned ... yet.

Sun 4 June.

Another typical Scottish morning 

Kilchoan, volcanoes and Tobermory

Wed 31 May

From our anchorage on Eigg we set off in bright sunshine for Kilchoan.  This trip took us back around Ardnamurchan Point and into Kilchoan Bay. We saw a Minke Whale, avoided the rocks around the bay and successfully attached ourselves to a mooring buoy.

As is well known,  the vikings built a lighthouse at Ardnamurchan on their victorious return from the battle of Largs, a very long time ago.  Ardnamurchan also has a viking burial site and various prehistoric ruins. The peninsula was once a volcano, so we decided to walk towards its bubbling crater.

Towards the volcanic crater

On the way we saw a Yellowhammer  and on the way back a Golden Eagle (yes, really) and several Skylarks. 

A car drove past and stopped. The driver wound down his window and thanked us both enthusiastically for having him to dinner the previous evening. "It was nothing ". (We hadn't).

After our walk, we motored Albatross over to Tobermory. We like Tobermory.

Tobermory 

Blog accuracy criticised

The editorial board has brought to my attention a number of misleading statements in the blog. I would like to reassure both of my readers that at no time have I sought to intentionally deviate from writing a strictly factual account of our epic global circumnavigation.

I may however, have inadvertently omitted the odd port or place name en route; dates, times, names, menus and bird species may be given purely on "an illustrative basis" and in any case, I did not knowingly  mislead anyone, much.

With regard to the last week:

Tues 23 May

Mallaig, nice walk.

Wed 24 May

Inverie (Knoydart), lovely walk, friends to supper.

Thurs 25 May

Armadale, nice walk around castle grounds and tea

Fri 26 May

Rum, walk to Palace

Sat 27 May

Rum, 9 mile walk, almost to Harris

Sun 28 May

Mallaig again.  Drinks with Penny Lane

Mon 29 May

Eigg

Tues 30 May

Epic mountain climbing. 

Wed 31 May

To Kilchoan

Blue whales sighted 

Long walk to Achnaha volcano.

From Mallaig to R(h)um, Eigg and Kilchoan.

Loyal reader(s) will remember that Albatross has been mysteriously off line for several days  ....

Mallaig has everything a yacht might need: beautiful walks, lovely food, great company and absolutely no need to go sailing ... but after our third night in port (aware and concerned for our reader(s)' anxiety), we both felt it was time go sailing again.

Going sailing again.

To Rum (previously Rhum), one of the "small islands". Rum is the biggest of these islands and has semi-derelict palace built in 1897 for someone to have parties in. 

The palace

As we weren't invited, we walked most of the way across the island towards a village called "Harris" from which we could see the Outer Hebrides. Rum doesn't have much of an Internet connection. I expect this might have been a problem from party-goers long ago, as they'd have to made conversation rather than playing with their phones. Two night on Rum, then off to Eigg.

The mountain 

We anchored in South Bay, Eigg. The heat wave had started. We climbed the  mountain and generally had a nice time.

The top.

Intrepid Jean.

Our anchorage from the mountain. 

After climbing the mountain We had a beer. This was good. Very good.

Today we went sailing again; to find out whither, see tomorrow's entry.

Exploring the Small Isles?

Dear Reader(s),

I wanted to respond to your concerns, so eloquently listed below, with regard to the absence of recent updates. 

As you noted, this might have been due to a number of factors:

"The electricity is off in Scotland...

You have run out of coins for the meter...

You didn't have a long enough cable to connect to the socket....

The computer has fallen over board...

You have fallen over board...

You are having too much fun to write....

Too many celebratory red wines...

The dog ate the computer....

You've been eaten by seagulls...."

I will let you know in due course.

A day off in Mallaig

We went for a "run". This was mainly at walking pace. We got lost and it wasn't entirely my fault. 

Jean thought we should clean the boat today, so I spent 5 minutes bashing a rug and another 40 talking to people on the pontoon, while she did the washing and cleaned things. 

The laundrette has  a cunning plan for making money: when your cycle has finished, the machine locks itself and demands extra money to let you get your clean washing out.

We like Mallaig with its friendly people and great facilities. 

Great news!  A fellow sailor from SG will be joining us for the trip down from Oban. We might even call in at The Isle of Man.

Plockton to Loch Torridon to Mallaig and something about the weather

Refreshed by a night moored at Plockton, we set off for Loch Torridon ...."Diabaig", actually. 

XC Weather forecast F1-3, but The Met Office  said up to F6.

We got F7.

It is often said that in Scotland you can get four seasons in a day. We got just the one, winter.

Torridon looked wet and cold

Torridon.. 

We decided to anchor in a pretty little loch just a little way up Torridon. 

Loch Diabaig.

Our anchorage.

Being without Internet, we could only speculate about the impending weather (well, if guesswork is good enough for....  etc).

Anyway, we decided that although Ullapool had been our target destination, even though we could probably get there in a couple of days, getting back might have been a problem, and anyway, who needs hypothermia. And my socks were wet.

We would head back to civilisation...  Mallaig.

Fully dressed  for winter gales, we motored quietly back to Mallaig. Wind F0-2. No rain. Quite pleasant. 

We even hit 13 knots down Kyle Rea.

13 knots.

It's  a lovely day in Mallaig and we are now safely berthed and drinking tea.

Tobermory to Mallaig to Plockton

Mist turned to rain, then it got windy and cold.

Dreich.

Mallaig however, is very nice, and when the wind dropped and the sun came out we were happy and warm again.

Mallaig harbour marina, next day.

So, off to Plockton. Up the Sound of Sleat, into Kyle Rea, whizzing through with 4 knots of tide, down Loch Alsh, under the Skye Bridge, along a rocky coast,  and into Plockton. 

A nice calm sunny day. 

Sailing surrounded by mountains. 

Plockton has a stately home...

.... and some moorings. But not a lot else...  apart from stupendous mountain views and flat, calm sheltered water.

Tobermory

Tobermory is as nice as ever.

We walked to the lighthouse and had Genoa cake for tea.

Tobermory marina

Dunollie Castle, Oban

A nice day off, sightseeing in Oban

Tobermory tomorrow 

A day off in Oban

Shopping and a walk up to McCaig's Tower

Looking out over Oban Bay towards Mull from McCaig's Tower

Craighouse to Oban

Passage planning, like many of the joys in life, is often different. Today's passage plan had several objectives of varying importance:

1. Not leaving before dawn

2. Not going against the tide

3. Avoiding the Corryvreckan Whirlpool of Death

4. Not getting cold and/or wet

5. Not getting wind over tide up the Sound of Luing

6. Agreeing on the correct pronunciation of "Luing"

7. Ditto "Dorus Mor"

8. Deciding the best route past the 7 knot overfalls past Pladda

9. Choosing the best moment for lunch

10. And so on

In the event, we decided that the best time to leave Craighouse was "definitely 0530", "definitely 0730", but possibly "later this week ".

We left at 0600.

And arrived at Oban at 1200, where we ate our sandwiches and went back to bed.

We like Oban.

Oban, from the excellent "Transit Marina "

Craighouse, Scotland

A foggy day till we arrived.

Moored at Craighouse on Jura outside a distillery.  Warm and sunny now.

Some pictures

Jean at the helm

Alisa Craig

The cliff coast of Islandmagee

Ardglass to Glenarm

This time we set off late enough to get the tides right and early enough to arrive before dark.

Everyone loves Glenarm; its friendly charm, excellent facilities and free washing machine. And of course the Black guillemots. 

Today, we stayed put. Jean did the washing and I watched the guillemots. 

Glenarm

Ducks

Ardglass

We love Ardglass.

..... and to Ardglass

We definitely weren't doing another long day, but Greystones wasn't far enough,  Dun Laoghaire didn't appeal, Hoath might be shallow and full, so we motored the 91 miles to Ardglass.

 It was really very pleasant until the favourable tide ran out and we realised that we would be arriving after dark. But the weather was kind with only a few drops of rain, whilst meanwhile. Devon was being flooded.

Ardglass is a gem of a little harbour although easier to enter in daylight.

We rafted alongside a Hallberg Rassy crewed by a sleepy-looking man in a fluffy bathrobe.

Dale (Wales) to Arklow (Ireland) to Ardglass (NI)

Up at dawn. Our route inside Skomer and outside South Bishop; motoring with the tide was easy enough till it turned and we had 2.5 knots against us for the last 3 hours.

Arrived in Arklow, pretty tired, but  having avoided the plethora of fishing pots outside the harbour. 

It was reassuring to be greeted by the ever helpful, friendly and welcoming man in charge of the marina and visitors'  pontoon. 

Cash Only  35 Euros a night, and a trip in his car to buy some fuel.

Strangely reassuring as well to see that little had changed since last year: the hole in the pontoon made by a fellow sailor jumping off his boat, the local engineering works and the sewage in the river. 

Back to the boat

Up at 0529. Hire car back to Wales. 

Albatross was fine and had been well looked after at Rudders Boatyard. 

Lunch, then motored the 8 or 9 miles up to Dale. Anchored.  

A brief sleep, then enjoyed the lovely evening sunshine. 

Meanwhile in London, a man in a hat had sat on a chair.

Dale to Rudder's Boatyard ... eventually

Up early and off towards Milford Marina (who "wouldn't be busy" and who "didn't take bookings") but turned out to be "completely full".

 F6 and raining.

Neyland Marina was also "completely ....."

Rudders Boatyard "would definitely find us a mooring ".

And they did!

I love Rudders Boatyard. 

    Rudders Boatyard

Nice taxi to Travelodge. 

Very welcoming. 

All good now, after an alarming morning.

Thinking about alternative hobbies.

Newlyn to Dale

Having spent most of Monday worrying about the weather,  we decided to stop agonising and to leave for Wales on Tuesday, but only if the weather looked OK.

Most of the other yachties at Newlyn were convinced that setting off for Wales on Tuesday was a silly idea because it would be cold, dark and windy, with rain and fog (but not necessarily in that order).

There was however, a very nice man from Sweden,  sailing alone, who thought our plan was a good one. He would set off with us.

The forecast was E or SE  18-20 knots, maybe 22.

We got 24 knots off Land's End.

It was rather cold, but did not snow.

At about 2200, I went below, took off my wet weather gear, put on a third sweater, put my wet weather gear back on, and then went to bed.

Thanks to a good supply of Lidl's pork pies and a couple of Stugeron, plus 2 or 3 short sleeps, we endured.

We arrived safely in Dale Anchorage (Milford Haven) at 0830 and went to bed.

We lost  contact with Arn from Sweden soon after rounding Land's End.  He could see us (on AIS) but we couldn't see him (as his AIS didn't transmit). Rather like having a towel over your head when avoiding the gaze of the Ravenous Bloodbatter Beast of Trall (perhaps?).

We hope he's OK. 

    Dale anchorage. 

Newlyn again

We went for a run and then enjoyed hot showers. 

It did not rain.

The shore power works.

The nav lights work.

I mended the leach cleats.

We walked halfway to Mousehole.

We like Newlyn. 

                Newlyn

Newlyn to nowhere

Today, remarkably, it actually wetter outside than inside the boat.

It's raining. 

A lot.

Who's worried about rain? 

Me.

Later tonight the wind will turn and become a northerly. 

Getting soaked then having to motor against an, albeit light, headwind for 12 hours  doesn't appeal.

We will keep warm in Newlyn for now.

   Jean cooking and keeping warm. 

Penzance to Newlyn

Leaky bottom fixed and a good night's sleep, now for another day off in PZ.

I started the day mopping out the bilges. Last time I did this I was encouraged to find an assortment of beer bottles under the floorboards generally near to where Tim had been sleeping. Alas, this time, no beer just water. 

Anyway, soon we were off on foot to Newlyn for cleats with which to tension the line wot tensions our leach (leach line?), thence to coffee at the thermal baths (30-35 degrees C), then  back to the boat. 

If you stick 12 volts up a wire, why does only 8 volts come out the other end?  Anyway, we have some battery backup nav lights, so it will be fine.

Next, over to Newlyn to catch the early morning (1030 hrs) tide to Dale (Milford Haven), tomorrow. 

        Newlyn

Penzance Harbour

Penzance to Penzance

A day off in Penzance.

I was much relaxed after 12 hours sleep. 

We walked to Lidl and replenished the ship's larder.

After lunch I failed fix our "Nav lights". It's good to be visible at night at sea, but we have another day here before we set off for Milton Haven, so still time to make them work.

Rather more alarming was finding three inches of water under the floorboards....  we were leaking, but from where? On balance, I decided that the water tasted mote like seawater, than sewage and not like rainwater at all (but it's difficult to be sure these days). Anyway, we eventually traced the source of the ingress to the "prop shaft seal", which I have now adjusted.  So hopefully we will not be sinking tomorrow after all.

Fowey to Penzance

Had an easy  downwind sail to the Lizard. Got a bit windy from there to Penzance. Three reefs and almost no jib. Gusted 37 knots outside the very lovely marina.

Now nicely moored.

Tea and flapjacks. 

Will have a day off tomorrow. 

Dartmouth to Fowey

A good first day.

Saw dolphins and lots of seabirds. 

We were visited by an exhausted Chiffchaff.  It sat quietly next to a winch for twenty minutes,  eyes half shut and not interested in ham, lettuce or water. Staggered around a bit and eventually found and ate a dead housefly. A few minutes later he/she was new bird, rushing around the boat, inside and out and making short flights away from the boat. Eventually she left and hopefully made it the five miles or so to the Cornish coast.

The Summer Cruise 2023

Some last shopping then down to Stoke Gabriel Pontoon, epropulsion in our trusty rubber dinghy down to Noss. Unpacked, supper, now ready for tomorrow's voyage to Fowey.

Dartmouth to Dartmouth

Spring shakedown 

Exciting Winter Upgrade!

Launch Day

Back in the water again.

Galmpton to Noss.

Cold but happy.

Winter lift-out

Anticipation. Execution. Refection. 

 Another epic voyage. 

 Anticipation. 

Has Gampton (aka Galampton) remembered that we've booked to be lifted this week? 

Will it be deep enough in their dock? 

Will it be too windy? "Yes, all booked, Sir" "It should be deep enough" 

"What is the drying height?" "1.7 Metres, Sir" 

"What do you draw". "2.0". 

Tidal height 4.3. Should be fine ...... 

The weather. 

BBC said 43 knots 

Met Office 37 knots 

XC Weather 25-37 knots 

Pocket Grib 35 knots. 

Usually, if one forecast looks bad you can find one that's better. 

I checked all 4 every few hours for a week before our lift-out booking. 

They fluctuated mildly but all 4 continued to look rather worrying. 

Would we be able to get to Albatross, moored 3 miles down river in our trusty "Green Thing" (2.4M plastic boat) powered only by its little electric motor before dawn against the tide with the wind gusting about a gale? 

 Execution. 

Dawn broke. 

We were already up. 

The river was flat calm. Wind about 10 knots. 

 The incoming tide was running downstream. (So much rainwater flooding down from Dartmoor that the moon had given up and the tide was going out.) 

We wizzed down to our mooring, boarded Albatross and set off for Gampton (Galampton) Quarry (where lift-outs happen on the Dart). 

 Would it be deep enough? 

 

Tidal predictions Greenway Quay: HW 0946 = 4.18 metres 

Atmospheric pressure 1015 mB Add "2 inches" "because it's been raining a lot on Dartmoor". 

 Therefore depth = 4.18(tidal height) plus 0.05(raining a lot) less 1.7 (drying height) equals 2.53 metres. 

We'd arrived at HW and the atmospheric pressure was 1015, so, as the boat draws 1.95 we should have 0.58 metres depth under the keel. 

 In the event the depth read "0.2" very briefly just before we docked, though it was 0.4 when we got right in. Anyway we survived. 

 The crane lifted Albatross out of the water and this time I remembered to turn the boat's engine off (this is really very important). 

We jumped back in the Green Thing and wizzed back to Stoke. 

 Reflection. 

Sailing and boaty stuff is rather mysterious. The weather is unpredictable and is sometimes even better than you (and everyone else) expect. 

Tidal height calculations are best left to the dog, if you have one aboard). 

A hot bath after sailing is good. 

 Next week: Aunty Fowling and polishing ones topsides.

2023 has arrived !

The New Year is here. Time to plan this year's cruise. To Scotland again. The weather's going to be great so we're aiming at The Northern Isles again. Orkney, Fair Isle and Shetland (perhaps). We hope to leave Dartmouth about 17th April and head West. Coast-hop to Penzance, across the Bristol Channel and over to Ireland. Arklow ideally. Arrive in Oban about 8th May. And Stromness by the end of May. Then ... who knows?