Summer's last gasp

11 Aug 11 saw Pipedreamer and her skipper along with 2 guests slip towards Port Dinllaen.  The weather had been rough and the trip delayed by a day.  Consequently, the sea was a little lively round the south of the Island, but we made good time.  We anchored in Porth Dinllaen, a delightful anchorage on the Lleyn peninsular which has its own pub.  We, however, stayed onboard for lunch.  As we made the return journey in the afternoon, the wind died and we completed the voyage motoring on a near calm sea.

12 Aug 11 and the same crew slipped north to Langdon buoy before heading east for Cemaes Bay.

Two days later we headed to Porth Wen with some friends for lunch.  Porth Wen is well sheltered from southerlies, which was just as well, given the lively gusts and showers.  It is also notable for its old brickworks and the fact that it is relatively inaccessible from land.  The return journey provided little comment from the crew until we came to berth.  The wind has an uncanny knack of conspiring to make fools of us.  I usually refer to this part of the trip as the comedy moment and we certainly provided some entertainment as we tried to come alongside the leeward side of the finger pontoon.  No matter how well briefed the crew or how alert and skilful the helmsman, a sharp gust at just the wrong moment can bring grown men to tears!  Still we made it at the third attempt without making premature contact with anything solid.

The weekend of 20/21 Aug was notable for the boisterous conditions we encountered at Carmel Head.  The forecast had been for SSW 3-4, increasing S 4-5 occasionally 6 later.  During our return voyage from Lligwy, we encountered gusts over 45kts in wind-over-tide conditions, which made for some interesting seas.  Berthing in these conditions on our normal pontoon would have been more tragedy than comedy and we elected to come alongside an into wind pontoon.  In stark contrast, the following day provided flat water and a gentle breeze to take us to the Stacks, Skerries Lagoon and back.

Two more trips are planned, but the weather is once more conspiring against us.

Where has the summer gone?

It is now the beginning of september and I have not made an entry since the first charter of the season back in may.  In my defence, there has been a lot happening and the summer seems to have flown by.  That said, all that activity should have given me something to report!

There have really been 2 main themes to the season: racing and chartering.  I shall deal with the racing separately as the season is not quite over.  However, I have probably finished chartering for the year.  I should have been out yesterday, but with a near gale in the forecast I cancelled.

Casting my mind back to earlier in the season, over the weekend of 9/10 Jul I took some friends on a circumnavigation of Anglesey.  The weather was fine and the winds light, which set the scene for a very pleasant weekend.  We caught the tide around the north of the Island with the intention of anchoring for lunch in Lligwy bay which is a beautiful beach just north of Moelfre.  Unfortuantely, the windlass decided this was the time to stop working and, after a 30 minute faff, we moved on, having a leisurely lunch under sail.  We made the swellies about 20 minutes after high water slack and sailed on to Victoria Dock, Caernarfon and a night in the marina with a fabulous chinese meal in Foos, just beside the dock.

The next day we were up early to cross Caernarfon bar before the ebb set in, so as to avoid any wind over tide.  In the event the wind was very light and the sea benign.  Shortly afterwards we found ourselves in company with a pod of dolphins.  However, they, like us, clearly thought it far too early and did not stop to play as they sometimes do.  We anchored for lunch just off Rhosneigr and returned to Holyhead, passing close in to South Stack to get the best view of the wildlife.  We were back on the pontoon by 1600, having covered 78 nautical miles and had a lovely weekend.

As it happens, the next charter was the following weekend.  A family of 4 just wanted to do as much sailing as possible.  The wind was much fresher than the previous weekend and indeed, we brought the whole thing forward 24 hours to avoid the strong winds forecast for the sunday.  We day-sailed round the north of the Island both days, seeking flatter water, and made it as far as Puffin Island on the second day before returning.  We covered 88 nautical miles in the 2 days and managed 8kts across Red Wharf Bay.

The next time out was with family and friends on 2 Aug.  It was a lovely day and we spent the afternoon making our way up to the Skerries lagoon - a 'secret' anchorage, where the provisions for the lighthouse used to be offloaded.

Well that's where some of the summer went.  At least I've caught up a little.

Good Friday Guinness?

I had promised the Master Mariner on our way down on the delivery trip that I would take him to Ireland for a pint of Guinness.  The first opportunity was this Easter - Good Friday to be precise.  I had to be back for Easter Sunday, so a trip over on Fri and back on Sat looked good.  A mutual friend, Nigel, came along for the ride.

The weather forecast was kind with an easterly on Fri veering all the way round to a north-westerly on Sat, both 3/4.  As it turned out the wind was light as we left Holyhead at 0700 and we flew the spinnaker in lovely sunshine for 5 hours - until, with a huff and a puff, the wind headed us by changing to SW from E. After a detour to the N and a few expletives, while the spinnaker was retrieved from being backed over the front of the boat, we resumed our passage westward, now close hauled and making good time.

We arrived in Howth at 1845 to be met by some friends who had gone ahead on the crossing - using the engine!  We put the boat to bed and went ashore to enjoy some of the local hospitality.  We managed a meal in a local asian restaurant, but could only wash it down with water.  That elusive Guinness will have to wait.  You cannot buy a pint in Dublin on Good Friday!

Spring

With the winter berthing period in Caernarfon over, we sailed back to Holyhead on 2 Apr 11 in a brisk southwesterly (6-7) breeze.  We made very good time, which bodes well for the forthcoming racing season, particularly after we have fitted the new genoa.

Winter

I decided to head south for winter.......as far as Victoria Dock in Caernarfon.  Here I expected to avoid the worst of the weather and still have the chance to sail in the Straits from time to time.  In the event, Pipedreamer moved to Caernarfon on 31 Oct 10 and did not sail again until 20 Feb 11.  She was sheltered from the worst of the gales, but the extreme cold during december was a concern - the electricity bill will be interesting!

Coding

Before you can offer a boat for charter, she must be MCA coded.  Now you would expect that if the boat had previously been offered for charter and hence coded, it would pass a coding survey.  Sadly this was not the case and I spent much of 2010 finding the wherewithall to make the necessary modifications to satisfy the coding surveyor.  This was finally completed by the autumn and the end of the 'season'.  Still, all had not been lost.  Pipedreamer VI had covered 800 nautical miles during the course of the year, provided a great deal of pleasure for friends and family and won her first race.

Qualification to Delivery

But first the qualification.  Although I had sufficient experience for a commercial yachtmaster, I decided it would be beneficial (and good fun) to do the Professional Yachtmaster Trainee course at Plas Menai.  With that and some commercial experience under my belt it was time to look for a boat.  I had decided it needed to be at least as commodious as the Starlight 35 and Sunfast 37 they sail at Plas Menai.  I planned to sail out of Holyhead where there is a Dufour agency and so a Dufour seemed a good idea.  All I had to do was wait for one I could afford!  After a year or so, there it was - in the Clyde.  The following is an account of the delivery trip.

As I start to write this we are snowed in – very unusual in Rhosneigr.  Casting my mind back 12 months, the challenge then was to deliver Pipedreamer VI, a Dufour 40, from Kip marina on the Clyde to her new home in Holyhead before Christmas.  Of course, attempting this in winter had not been the original plan, but the pre-purchase survey had picked up some issues that required rectification and there were delays with the paperwork, all of which conspired to turn a pleasant autumnal cruise into a winter delivery.  Indeed, we had looked at making the passage 2 weeks earlier, but had changed the plan to a sea trial in the Clyde when faced with forecast southwesterly gales.  Nevertheless the trial was very useful, confirming the speed (we had over 10 knots on the log) and capabilities (SW 5-7) of the boat and allowing the crew’s confidence to grow in relatively sheltered conditions.  It also allowed us to get up close and personal with one of Her Majesty’s nuclear subs, or at least her police escort, who informed us of her intended course and asked us to alter ours to give her a wide berth.

So it was with forecast snow and northwesterlies (F4-6) we set off at lunchtime Fri 18 Dec in the hire car to pick up the crew.  Emma, my daughter, and I picked Capt John Howard (Master Mariner) up from across the road and then John Mee (local fisherman and raconteur) on the way out of the village.  Finally, we stopped off at Star for John Glyn Jones, who was to act as mate.  The journey north was uneventful despite the wintry forecast and we were embarked by early evening.  There was a good deal of ice on deck and initially the crew were impressed with my attempts to dry out the boat’s interior, until, that is, the ice on the inside started to melt!  An excellent meal in the local hotel did much to restore morale.

We slipped south from Kip at 0848 on 19 Dec.  The forecast was mainly NW 5-7, but initially we had WSW 3-4.  It was very cold.  We started with one reef in the main and after fitting the radar reflector and radioing a transit report to Clyde Coastguard, we were ready for the open sea.  JGJ took the first watch.  He and I were going to alternate 4hrs on, 4 off.  The others could luxuriate in 3 on, 6 off.

I was back on watch at 1300.  We were beating with 2 reefs in the main and the wind was SW, building 5-7, with a front approaching.  At 1420 the logbook shows that the front was going through with the wind veering westerly and increasing, just as we were losing the shelter offered by Arran.  It was rough.  If memory serves, it was about this time that our Master Mariner was giving a master class in how to eat lunch (pastie and baked beans prepared by Emma) in such conditions, prior to starting his watch.  Unfortunately, at the moment critique, the boat rolled to starboard and he, along with his lunch and the cushion on which he was sitting, slid majestically, almost in slow motion, away from the table and onto the floor.  A little surprised, but undaunted, he was soon helming us on our way down to Ailsa Craig, which appeared out of the mist and rain about 1530.

By 1700 we had covered 50 nautical miles and were closing on the Mull of Galloway.  The wind had settled NW 5 and we were reaching in a quartering sea, but with another front approaching.  JH had learnt the lesson of lunch and was in the starboard heads (toilet).  However, this time the boat rolled to port and he unexpectedly burst out backwards, somewhat dishevelled and tottered across to the galley on the port side.  By now the boat had rolled the other way and was heeled well to starboard and he was propelled back into the heads, whereupon the door slammed shut behind him.  Unaware that his unplanned excursion had been observed, he reappeared some time later as if nothing at all out of the ordinary had occurred.

The second front went through just after 1900 and the wind again veered, this time to NNE 5-7, which allowed us to parallel the coast having gybed in the middle of the North Channel.  By 2100 the wind was beginning to back, forcing us round onto a more SE’ly heading and at 2315 some 6 miles south of the Mull of Galloway lighthouse, having waited for some large shipping to pass, we again gybed onto a more S’ly course.  Just after midnight with Emma and I on watch, a snow shower went through with a squall touching a gale and blizzard conditions.  By now we had covered over 100 nautical miles and were running down the west coast of the Isle of Man.  At 0200 we were off Peel and an hour later we were off the Calf of Man, on track to pass outside Chicken Rock.

At 0500 I took over from JGJ for the last leg.  The wind by now had backed to W 5-7 and we could make direct for Holyhead, allowing for the flood tide.  As dawn broke we were making 8 knots in a surprisingly (for some of the crew who could now see it) large following sea.  We rounded the breakwater 25 hours after setting sail and were tied up in our newly allocated berth by 1030.  We had sailed 171 nm in just over 25 hours.  We were also very tired and cold, but elated and exhilarated at the same time.  However, the crew seemed just as excited by the prospect of their return home to the luxury of a hot bath and a hot toddy…..or two.

The beginning of an idea

It all started when I was considering taking early retirement and wondering what I could offer by way of qualifications to a prospective employer.  The 30 year-old degree was hardly relevant, particularly as I had not had much cause to use it.  Experience counts for a lot and would no doubt make for an interesting CV, but there was an absence of real, hard, tangible qualifications.  I have always loved sailing.  My first recollections are of learning in a steel Enterprise on the river Nile at the tender age of 8.  I have spent many happy hours windsurfing and sailing with family and friends in and around Rhosneigr, Anglesey where I live.  So that was it.  I would get a sailing qualification.

Pipedream

The dream is to start a business offering Pipedreamer VI, a Dufour 40 sailing Yacht, for skippered charters.