| Date | Saturday 13th May 2006 |
| Time | 1100 |
| Tide UTC | 13 1028 7.31 2247 7.19 0443 1.54 1703 1.30 14 1103 7.35 2321 7.23 0519 1.44 1740 1.35 |
| Crew list | Carolyn and Glen plus Roxie |
| Distance | 52.1 miles |
Having dragged ourselves out of bed at 0730 we were fairly relieved to be able to take our time to leave the mooring when we arrived at the clubhouse at 0900. We preferred the Llandbadrig option as we had not been to the top of the island this season.
The plan was to leave the moorings at 1100. Safari left first at 1045, most other boats leaving soon after. The wind was northerly and we managed to sail up the straits towards Puffin. The sound was reasonably interesting with long waves around 2-3m high:
Jenna at Puffin Sound
After the sound, the faster boats disappeared and Cloth Porridge, Safari and Jenna were together. We tacked out to the east, in order to make a further tack to Lynas. The tide was taking us there so we made a good course despite not being able to point at Lynas.
Des Founds was around and on the radio. He contacted Derek Jones on Cloth Porridge and wanted to move to channel 79. Nothing more was heard as this is a duplex channel – something pointed out by Jean on Whispered Secret shortly after.
CP and Jenna then parted company from Safari who headed more out to sea. Safari were more on the ball than we were and managed to make a course direct for Point Lynas before us. However, we were fortunate enough to see some dolphins on our course:
Dolphins in Red Wharf Bay
As we approached Point Lynas, Dansa came on the radio to say there was a bit of a lump near there. Some boats then opted to head for Moelfre to see what happened… we confirmed we would do this with Derek Jones as well. However, a few minutes later the general consensus changed – Derek Lumb asked if we were okay with this which we were. Derek had gotten ahead of us at this point and loitered whilst we caught up.
When we got ther however, the sea state at PL was moderate, nothing untoward.
Carolyn at this point was feeling worse for the wear and decided to have her tuna fish sandwich again, using reverse peristalsis. Derek Jones lifejacket was also feeling the strain and self-inflated, causing him to feel poorly as it constricted his neck.
Somehow after this, we pulled into the lead and so heaved to let CP catch up. We passed Porth Wen and were surprised how open and exposed it appeared – not as we remember it.
Turning into Llanbadrig we chose a place to anchor and Carolyn helmed round in circles whilst Glen counted the chain out – 15m in 4m depth. It was dead calm and hot and sunny.
We noticed that True Brit were having some problems with a lobster pot they had ensnarled:
True Brit lobster fishing
This was eventually freed whilst we watched drinking a cold bottle of Spitfire.
Derek Lumb rowed over shortly and invited over for a drink on Whispered Secret at 1830. We decided to leave taking Roxie ashore until after then. Glen dropped Carolyn off on WP and went to collect Derek Jones. On the way I spotted some floating line in the water – attached to a lobster pot. On the way back Derek hauled it up and we deposited it nearer the rocks.
Later we had a barbeque on the beach overlooking the boats:
Boats at anchor
Barbeque on the beach
This was rounded off by Derek’s fantastic pancakes:
Derek and his many pancakes
We made it back to the boat at about 2200 after enjoying a sunset:
Sunset on the beach, 2100
Sleep wasn’t too bad as it was very calm but periodic checks to make sure depth wasn’t going down too fast were needed (there was a lot of anchor chain out). Derek Lumb tapped on the hull at 0730 to make sure we were up in time for the 0800 lift-off. We quickly walked Roxie and got ready.
The sea state outside was much calmer than the previous day, with no wind. Derek Jones wanted to look at a little cove he had spotted on the way:
Small cove near Llandbadrig
We then took the inside track and parted company from True Brit who went straight across the bay. We were very fortunate to do this as we were once again visited by the dolphins who played in the bow wave and put on a full display.
We were heading directly for Ynas Moelfre to see what it was like there, before changing course to head directly for Puffin. The rest of the journey to Puffin was done under motor. Once thorugh Puffin we could put the sails up and start sailing. Derek Lumb came on the radio to check up on us and said there was no wind in Beaumaris. Shortly afterwards we tried putting the crusiing chute up:
Jenna with Chute
This proved very hard to do at first as the main took all wind from the chute and the line that pulls the snuffer up and down getting caught. Eventually we got it working for a while until the wind died to nothing. Good practice however. When we got back to the mooring the burgee halyard broke, so we will now have to fix this.
Lessons Learned