It was a very early start; my alarm went off at three thirty in the morning, Chris was already up and about. We left at five minutes past four and picked Barrie up at his home and then went on to pick up Andy. The roads are quiet at that time in the morning and it was just after six when we arrived at Manchester Airport. Due to security measures, since a nut case crashed a burning vehicle into Glasgow Airport, we had to drop off in the Car Park; Chris then drove the car home. The check in was in chaos as the Baggage Conveyor Belt was not working and nothing was moving. A member of the check in staff asked if any one waiting had only hand luggage, well all our gear was already on board Trinculo, so we stepped forward and were through in no time. Our flight left on time and we landed in Brest on time. Having no luggage to wait for we went straight through to the Taxi Rank and found only one Taxi there, although there was no driver in it. The driver soon showed up and ten minutes later we were pulling up at the Marina. Bob had moved Trinculo on to the Marina’s outer wall which we soon found and jumped aboard. There was no sign of Bob as we stowed our gear. Bob arrived back ten minutes later with crusty bread roll, Ham and Tomatoes; he must be getting in to this French Breakfast lark. After a look round some stalls and clothing purchased (you would think we had woman with us) we slipped our lines and left Brest’s Moulin Blanc Marina.
BREST TO CAMARET
The weather was a perfectly still summer’s day with bright sunshine. No attempt was made to pull the sails out as there was not enough wind.
It was lunchtime when we pulled in to Camaret and rafted up to the visitors pontoon. Our first priority was shopping and we were soon on the way to the supermarket. Despite the fact that Barrie was with us we only spent forty two Euros on food, which for us is good going. It was the Booze Bill that put the food to shame. I have to admit most of it was for home and not to be drunk on the voyage, but one hundred and seventy five Euros later we managed to leave the supermarket. We had to borrow a trolley from the supermarket to get it all back to Trinculo. It was then Crepe’s from a stall and then a beer in Donnegan’s Irish Pub, where we had visited on an earlier trip. Price comparisons came to mind, we could buy five litres of wine in the supermarket for almost the same price as a glass of beer, so it’s certainly not the alcohol duty that puts the price up. We booked a table at the “Laughing Crab” for the evening which was to be our last meal in France, the waitress spoke excellent English so no problems with translation this time. After our meal it was back to Donnegans for a beer while watching a recording of the Live 8 concert and then back to Trinculo for the night, it had been a long day.
CAMARET TO MILFORD HAVEN.
Andy and Barrie seemed to be in a hurry to get under way. It was only eight o clock, while I was still eating my breakfast that our lines were slipped and we made our way out of Camaret. We motored across to the Chenal du four and hit the still rising tide which slowed us down (we were a bit early). We passed through the Chenal du four and out in to open water. The wind was from the North West at two or three knots which gave us a speed of around three knots, the engine stayed on. By mid afternoon we had fallen back in to our watch pattern of four hours on and four hours off and were crossing the shipping lanes in the English Channel or should I say Le Manch, as we are still on the French side of it. The wind moved (as forecast) to a Westerly force five, the engine was stopped and we were doing seven knots under sail. The weather forecast at this time was for the wind to back Southerly and to increase to a five to seven possibly gale eight later. A synopsis of the Countryfile forecast on BBC 1 was texted to Bob from Barbara. It looked heavy for Tuesday and possibly Wednesday, clearing on Thursday. A decision had to be made soon, do we pull in to Newlyn / Penzance in Cornwall or do we run before the storm by rounding Lands End and cross the Bristol Channel before the weather closes in on us. We put off the decision and put a reef in the mainsail, then sailed through the night keeping a very sharp eye out for shipping as we were in the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The Lizard Light came in to view and then the shore lights on the Cornish Coast became visible.
The wind was still force five from the West as we altered course to go round Lands End. The first light of the dawn appeared in the sky as we approached Lands End and the Longships Lighthouse. We carefully avoided Wolf Rock and set course for Milford Haven which was still a hundred miles away, making this the longest single passage any of us had made in many years. In fact I have only ever done one longer when we moved a yacht direct from Penzance to Fleetwood which is three hundred and twenty eight miles. The
wind dropped as we neared Lands End and the engine was started, which I’m sure the batteries appreciated, Sailing all night with Navigation Lights and Instruments on is a bit heavy on the batteries. As the Sun appeared the wind eased further now down to eight knots and the engine now had to do more work than just charge the batteries. Our voyage across the Bristol Channel, or Celtic Sea to give its correct name was fairly routine. We sailed most of it, motored part of it, sheltered from the occasional shower and welcomed the visits from schools of Dolphins on several occasions. We sailed through the day and in to the evening and as night fell two Lighthouses on the Welsh coast came in to view. These were quickly identified by their light sequences. We had read that the tide runs heavily across the entrance to Milford Haven. We were several miles off when we spotted the entrance which is very well lit. Trinculo was pointing at least two miles east of the entrance, yet the G.P.S. told us that we were on course, we were crabbing (both the wind and the tide were pushing us sideways). The pitter patter of rain was heard and our wet weather gear quickly put on. The entrance to Milford Haven disappeared in the gloom as the rain became a downpour. The entrance has two channels with a dirty great big rock in between these. The two channels converge in to one and then after rounding a West Cardinal Buoy you turn right into the haven. The Auto helm was put on standby as we made our way towards the entrance in heavy rain. A wave swept us in to the East Channel and all eyes were peering though the rain and looking at Charts. Two Cardinal Buoys were spotted and we headed for them. We had failed to spot one of the Red Channel Markers and passed to the wrong side of it. As we approached the West Cardinal a ship entered the West Channel, We had informed Harbour Control that we were coming in and were told that no other traffic was expected. We then heard Harbour Control warn him of our presence. We rounded the West Cardinal and ship cut the corner and passed us, local knowledge is a wonderful thing. It then stopped raining as we moved up the main channel following the ship. We motored through to Milford, following buoys and leading lights, pulled up by the dock entrance at the Mackerel or waiting pontoon. It was then a beer, supper and bed.
The forecast for the next two days was strong or gale force wind and rain. At highwater we moved Trinculo inside the dock and on to our allotted berth. It was then shopping and lunch in the local Tesco, then a walk into the centre of Milford. We called at the Trafalgar and the Alma (they like calling their pubs after battles around here) looking for a Real Ale. We were on our way back to the marina, when passing the Lord Nelson I spotted the “Cask Manqué” sign. This of course led to us having another beer; they had two Brains Brews on, Brains Best and the Rev James. It was then back to Trinculo for a sleep and food and then that evening we were back in the Lord Nelson. We called for a last one (Brains Best) at the Marina Bar called “Martha’s Vineyard on the way back.
The following morning it was raining when we got up and after breakfast arrangements were made to fill up with Diesel. We slipped our lines and moved over to the fuel berth, where we purchased one hundred and twenty five and a half Litres, which was less than we predicted. After returning Trinculo to her berth we took a walk round the dock and visited the local museum. It was then round to the Kings arms which overlooks the entrance. The weather had improved dramatically and we had a pint in bright sunshine in the pubs garden. We then returned to Trinculo and changed as we were eating out that evening in the Lord Nelson.
MILFORD HAVEN TO FLEETWOOD
We paid our berthing and fuel dues, slipped our lines and were out of the dock by eight thirty the following morning. The wind was as forecast force four from the North West, hopefully backing Westerly later in the morning. We motored out of Milford Haven using the West Channel and then turned west. The sails were hoisted before we turned North through Jack Sound in to St Brides Bay. The sea was a bit rough going through the sound, but eased once we were in clear water. We crossed St Brides Bay and then rounded St David’s Head. The wind direction was slowly backing and was almost Westerly when we passed through Ramsey Sound avoiding the rocks and entered Cardigan Bay. The tide turned against us and for the next six hours although maintaining a speed through the water of seven knots our speed over the ground dropped to well under five knots. Ten hours later we were clear of Cardigan Bay and crossing Canarvan Bay towards Anglesey. Our intention was to have a stop over at Holyhead before crossing the Irish Sea to Fleetwood. The forecast for the following day (Friday) was fine, but it sounded a bit rough for Saturday. It was decided to carry on passed Holyhead. The Coastguard put out a report that a lady had reported seeing flares on the Southwest corner of Anglesey, so I spent the next two hours in the cockpit keeping an eye out and saw nothing. The tide again turned against us as we passed around five miles off Holyhead and our speed over the ground again dropped to about two knots. We should have known better, never fight the tide around Anglesey, it’s long and hard and you certainly do not get very far. After battling the tide for most of the night, the tide at last turned with us and we shot away from the Skerries rocks and lighthouse. As the sun rose the wind dropped to less than ten knots from directly behind us or “on the chuff” as we often refer to this. We sailed rather slowly across the Irish Sea passing to the South of the Gas Rigs and then turning for Morecombe Bay. We then entered the Lune Deep before turning in to the Fleetwood Channel.
We were later than we had predicted and again fighting an ebbing tide. We made our way in to the River Wyre and picked up a mooring in what’s known as the pool as we had to wait until the next tide before we could enter Fleetwood Dock Marina. We experienced radio problems while trying to contact Liverpool Coastguard to inform them that we had safely arrived at Fleetwood. Bob ended up contacting them by phone. The dinghy was launched and we dropped Andy off at Knott End (he lives close by) while stopping off for a pint in the Bourne Arms. We got back to the jetty to find the dinghy high and dry in the mud as the tide was still falling. We were caked in mud when we got back to Trinculo. We had food and then fell asleep (just as well we set the alarm) and woke at eleven, in time to call Fleetwood dock and then move in to the Marina. It was then straight back to bed.
Kevan.
