Sean Thomas

After lunch and a practice session on instructing we raised the anchor at 15:15 and motored out towards the island, Ynysoedd Gwylanod, before raising sails at about 15:25 and sailing west to get a good lay line to South Stack. Engine off 15:30 The cloud cover had increased as the wind changed direction making it significantly colder. Gradually as we headed to South Stack the wind filled in so again the overfalls became quite bouncy. With the wind now blowing from the SW and the flood tide running we were only making 1kt boat speed but 5kt SOG. We had left Sean on the helm and he did very well with the difficult helming in these somewhat normal tidal stream conditions. Once round North Stack we did some training on picking up a fender, dropped overboard, under sail. This didn’t go too well as the rope being used to lasso didn’t stay on the surface. As I noticed the Stena Ferry appearing in the background we changed to a motor pick up with the boat hook. I called Holyhead Port Control that we were aware of the ferry and were changing course to stay to the eastern side of the TSZ before entering into the harbour after the ferry had passed. Another good day out on the water enjoying the western coastline of Ynys Môn.

Set off after Becca practising her instructing on engine checks etc. Winds WNW 12kt broken cloud. Our departure was timed to get the last quarter of the ebb tide flowing round The Stacks. Choppy as we sailed through the tide flowing against the wind between North and South Stack. Sun breaking through as we sailed down towards Rhoscolyn Head. Thought about stopping at Trearddur Bay but decided Borth Wen would probably be more sheltered. So resumed course to Rhoscolyn Head. Anchored as a training session, showing how to deploy the CQR anchor. At low water we had 4m under the keel and deployed 30m of anchor chain gradually resulting in good holding so we could settle down with the cockpit table in place for lunch. The lagoon was quite busy with motor boats and kayakers but all well behaved.

F5 to F6 ENE Cloudy conditions with short swell patterns on the flood tide going north to the Skerries. moored in the lagoon for lunch, watching the families of seals with their young pups. Returned in the afternoon after the tide change. Same weather conditions on the return to the New Harbour. we had a failure of the starboard lazyjack halyard which Helen helped sort out with a mast climb once we were back on the our mooring.

Race 2024-09-04 As we arrived onboard we were greeted by blue skies with significant anvil clouds out to the west. The winds were light Northeasterly with a distinctly cool feeling. WIth a crew of 6, Chris, Luke, Sean, Richie and Henri we got prepared for a spinnaker or code 0 start. There were 5 club yachts out for the evening accompanied by a Squib or two. The course around Meath, Penrhos and Clipera meant a very long slow spinnaker run from Meath to Penrhos, then Clipera to the finish; and as the evening drew on the winds got lighter. A very enjoyable evening with interesting sailing conditions on a pretty flat sea.