Back across the Irish Sea

After a day spent exploring the pretty village of Kilmore Quay in the sunshine we slipped our lines just as dawn was breaking on the last day of meteorological summer for the 70 mile passage to Milford Haven on the Welsh coast. The forecast was for very light winds and sunny intervals so we were not expecting to sail that much - and that proved to be the case. What little wind there was (and several times our wind instrument registered 0 knots) was from directly behind us topping out at about 7k which is not even enough to fill our big light downwind sail. We also needed to keep our speed up to at least 5knots over the ground or we would risk being swept too far south by the tide and end up clawing our way back up the coast against the tide after a long day at sea - so we were set for a long motor.

The weather was as predicted and we had a beautiful crossing with blue skies and sunshine. We spotted several tell tale dolphin fins and seals popped up to have a look at us but other than that for most of the way we had the sea to ourselves. In the distance we watched the ferry cross to Fishguard and on the eastern side of the channel we altered course to avoid a large gas tanker making her way south through the short shipping lane towards the Atlantic - my AIS told me she was heading for southern Spain. Slowly the Welsh coast began to appear over the horizon first as the tops of mountains and then the craggy coastline began to take shape.


The radio however doggedly hung on to the Irish radio stations and we had to get a lot closer to the Welsh coast before eventually Prembrokeshire FM broke through! We identified the Smalls Lighthouse off to our starboard side just as expected and changed course slightly to pass between the eastern edge of Grassholm island and Skomer island a 5 mile wide channel used (as we discovered) by the Milford Haven to Rosslare ferry!

Rounding the southern edge of Skokholm island we turned the boat towards St Annes Head knowing that we were approaching the deep water channel that leads to the massive gas and oil terminals of Milford Haven. We are used to sailing close to big boats in Harwich and Felixstowe but there is always a slight sense of trepidation when in unfamiliar ground. The VHF, tuned to the port control channel was quiet, with only one boat waiting about 5 miles off for a pilot who wouldn't be with them until 19:00 by which time we hoped to be well up river.

As we closed on St Annes Head we noticed a few dolphin fins breaking the surface and then a calf and we assume mother came alongside the boat for a little while. It was a lovely end to a lovely day!

St Annes Head

After an hour or so we were tied up Milford Haven Marina ready for a good nights sleep. Our initial plan was to move on from Milford Haven to either Cardiff or Bristol and leave the boat there for the winter however on looking at the tides and the long range forecast it was clear that this was not going to be easy. Indeed the winds forecast for the following week were really strong with F8 & 9 mentioned - a little excessive for the start of autumn we felt! With that in mind we had a conversation with the nice folks at Milford Marina and it was agreed that Teteli would spend the winter tucked into the yard at Milford Haven. Although it is a longer drive than we would have wanted it is quite straightforward and the railway station at Milford is only a few minutes walk from the boatyard so getting home was easy enough.

So on the Tuesday morning we motored her around to the slip to be lifted out for her winter rest - after over 1000 sea miles this year and more rain that we could have ever imagined our 2017 season came to a fairly abrupt end. We have loads of memories and photos of this year and are starting to look forward to and plan the final leg in 2018. I will of course pick up the blog then for anyone interested but until then we have a winter of routine maintenance  and fixing of an anchor windlass to look forward to.


Lifting out - always a scary moment


Tucked up in the yard for the winter


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