We had an early start to catch the strong tide that flows round the Mull of Kintyre. There was no wind, so we had to motor. We hit 11.5 knots on the SW corner of the Mull. Once we reached Machinish Bay the wind picked up a little, so we got the sails up and sailed / motored up to Gigha Island through the sound and anchored in a spectacular little bay with a white sand beach at the North end of the island. A really nice anchorage with a view over the sound of Jura, and the mountains of Jura in the background.
After a days rest to the recover from the rigours of the Bristol Channel overnighter, we left Milford Haven and sailed North through Jack Sound, across Brides Bay and transited Ramsey Sound hitting 11.8 knots past the bitches getting swerved all over the place by the crazy tide.
We stopped for the night at Porth Melgan, a fine anchorage just South of St Davids head. It feels very remote surrounded by cliffs and sea caves. We spotted the first of many jelly fish and also a pod of dolphins.
Thursday 24th June, 2021
Woke to not a cloud in the sky and not a breath of wind. Decided to head north across Cardigan bay to Aberdaron. 7 hours of motoring across a flat, glassy sea.
The wind finally picked up a little with 10 knots from the south west and 2 knots of favourable tide. On reaching Bardsley Sound, all hell broke loose with 25 knots of apparent wind against a strong tide, but it was short lived, and we arrived at Aberdaron to anchor in the east of the bay. Strong winds that night made the anchorage rolly but the bay still provided reasonable protection, and excellent holding with winds up to 25 knots.
We stayed another day at Aberdaron. It was way too windy to go anywhere!
Aberdaron Anchorage
Saturday 26th June, 2021
Sailing through Bardsley Sound
We left at 5 in the morning to catch the favourable tide through Bardsley Sound. Two other boats left the Aberdaron Anchorage at the same time, which gave us the confidence that we had done our tidal calculations correctly! It was a beautiful sunrise as we sailed through the at slack water. We got the sails up and enjoyed the favourable wind angle. A call on the radio from another boat called Grace was an unexpected surprise when they texted us the picture of Azimuth above that they had taken as we passed them in the sound. Many thanks to Grace!
Sailing through Bardsley Sound at sunrise
We had intended to sail to Anglesey, but the wind angle was perfect for a transit to Northern Ireland. It would have been a beat to Anglesey, so we decided to change plans and go for it. It was a little rough, but the wind and tide gave us a COG of 330 to 340 degrees for hours. 3 hours from Ireland, and the tide swung against us as well as the wind veered, so we made for Carlingford Lough, a large Fjord inlet right on the border with NI. We anchored at the first anchorage in the Lough called Greenpoint. The anchorage had little room with lots of boats on moorings, and the the tide ran very strong. We also had strong offshore winds coming off the mountains. Great views of the Lough and big hills mixed with castles and industry.
Sunday 27th June, 2021
We left Carlingford at lunchtime with the tide and motored North for an hour. The wind picked up and gave us some fantastic sailing conditions, force 4/5 with smooth seas giving us a long tack in to Dundrum Bay and a tack out in to the North Channel. Stopped for the night at a beautiful anchorage behind Kearney Point just North of the entrance to Strangford Lough.
Monday 28th June, 2021
We had to fight our way up the North channel! With wind from the North West, right on the nose, we had a 5 hour sail from the Anchorage at Kearney Point up to Bangor Marina. It was exhilarating tacking with 25 knots apparent, Azimuth cut through the moderate seas at 8 knots. We lost the wind for the last hour and motored in to Belfast Lough and onwards to Bangor Marina, where we were allocated a berth that was way too small! Luckily our neighbours to be were on hand and helped us get in to the berth. Thanks to Rick & Caroline off “Snowgum”. Time to head to the Salty Dog Pub for tea!
It had been a long time coming! The lead up to to this trip had been a long slog. 28 years of working came to an end on Friday 20th June and finally retirement started. What did it feel like? Well it started with a 3 day hangover after a night out with my work collegues. Then it felt stressful as we did the final preparations and dropped off the kids at a dodgy looking Air BnB in Bristol. Final shopping and rushing around and then it comes time to leave.
We left Portishead at 1430 to find that the wind prediction was actually right for a change? Enjoyed the downhill tide past Barry, steaming along at 10 knots SOG. Made it across Swansea bay at 6-8 knots until the end of the tide and then the wind shifted more downwind and we slowed to between 3 & 5 knots SOG for several hours towards Worms Head.
The wind filled in again at 2 in the morning giving us a beam reach with 12-20 knot apparent, and 8-11 knots SOG. Shifted to a close hold with SOG 5-8 knots off Milford Haven until it turned in to a 25 knot headwind! Motored the last 2.5 miles in to Dale anchorage and arrived 0530. Right now after a few hours kip… retirement feels great!
Watch the video roundup of our family trip sailing in Croatia in the summer of 2017. We had a weeks cruise out of Dubrovnik with Sunsail, to explore the Islands in the National Park.
