Dream of White Horses

We went through Bardsey Sound at 7am without a problem but then had light winds and an urgent appointment with South and North Stacks on Holy Island. We had to do more motor-sailing but managed to be on schedule and went round the South Stack with just a bit of rough water. The biggest worry was that our Navionics app had already. for the previous hour, had a big blue westerly tidal flow arrow against us at North Stack. It is Sunday 13th June 2021.

Distant views of Snowdonia and getting nearer to South Stack at last...

 

In terms of tidal flow we were kept guessing to the end, and as we approached North Stack I had in mind that we might need to turn back and get round to a safe bay on the south side of Anglesey to wait for a tide.

 

Castell Helen with its distinctive plumb vertical red wall but with one or two easier climbs on it. Then Gogarth itself with some harder but classic climbs.

As we sailed close to the rocks of North Stack we were visited by two or three Pilot Wales swimming with the boat and jumping out of the water, fantastic. 



We went round the corner and sure enough the flow was against us, but the the wind was blowing strongly off the cliffs and we easily pushed through the couple of miles to reach the safety of Holyhead harbour. A helpful harbour master ‘Olly’ drove us to get our can of diesel filled at the local supermarket and we found food at a local store, even though it is a Sunday in a quite traditional area of North Wales.

It is a month since we left Blackwater Sailing Club in Essex. Apart from Pete having a hissy fit, when struggling to take down the Spinnaker, we seem to have managed to get on well living within a fairly confined space and despite some early starts and many late finishes. We generally have another month to go but to get right round within that time seems a bit unlikely at the moment. We do not mind long days but prefer the shorter ones! We are stocked up with diesel and sitting on the dock of the bay wondering if we should stop on the Isle of Man or go straight for Northern Ireland.

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