Theresa

I arrived at 09:00, as Matt drove into the car park, to get the first launch out to Flair but a small holdup as the launch driver could not get the launch to start. Not a long delay before we were taken out to Flair and started to work on the new backstay rope installation. As the rest of the crew, Tess, Richie and Harry arrived we moved onto general preparation for sailing and Matt got into his climbing harness for the mast climb to install the windex and to reattach the steaming/deck light. We were a little behind our nd intended departure but with the increasing wind we were expecting the thick mist to disperse; however it didn’t clear and navigating to the lighthouse at the end of the breakwater was done using GPS! With Fog Horns blaring from various sources we called Holyhead Port Control for permission to leave the new Harbour Area, the return message warned us of one of the Ferries about to arrive at North Stack so we planned to stay close to the breakwater as we headed out Westward. Winds were northerly F3, we were unable to verify the speed as there was no data being received by the wireless wind display; yet another job to get to grips with… Sea state round the Stacks was good as we had wind wind with tide. Knowing that the winds were from the north and our passage once round North and South Stack would be Southerly and then Southeasterly we had prepared the spinnaker ready to deploy. Since the mist was still dense we had very little sight onto the shore even though our course was close but we saw plenty of trains of guillemots flying around us. We also caught sight of a dolphin once past Abraham’s Bosom. A couple of large ribs were running along the shoreline as we stayed out across Trearddur Bay for a direct line to avoid Maen Piscar and to safely round the Beacon Rocks, or Ynysoedd Gwylanod (Islands of the Seagulls), We had been hoping to meet up with some other boats from Holyhead but only one, Live Wire had set off this morning and they had stopped, we later found out, in Trearddur Bay. so there were no boats in Rhoscolyn bay. We attempted to anchor but the kelp was so thick that we could not get a good bite with the anchor; after several attempts we decided to go further round into the next bay, Cymyran Bay (Bae Cymyran) where we could see another small yacht anchored up. As the tide was at low water at this point I was happy to go into quite shallow water to get protection from the Northerly wind. We anchored up for Lunch enjoying breaks in the mist allowing some pleasant sunshine and warmth. We could see down to Rhosneigr from here and it had been sunny all day there! Once the tide had turned and we had enjoyed a relaxing lunch we left the bay and sailed back with wind over tide and increasing mist, by now not just mist but fog! Our return trip was quick with the wind increasing to F4, white caps appearing, and our VMG to the waypoint at South Stack around 8kt. With the tide pushing us north we tacked a couple of times to avoid being carried too far north of North Stack and one of our tacks took us very close the South Stack even though we could not see it but the Fog Horn was very loud! The winds were fickle as we stayed close to North Stack once we had turned east so our progress was mostly just in line with the tide for a short distance. Fairly soon we were sufficiently far from Holyhead Mountain to get better wind at sea level and although we could not see the breakwater we pressed on towards the lighthouse and once cleared with Port Control we rounded the end of the breakwater and sailed up to the mooring. A very interesting day but not much in the way of photographic opportunities!

first day with reasonable weather since early December. Flat calm in Pwllheli as we motored out. A change in wind conditions could be seen a little way offshore. 8 - 10kt SW ideal for a sail to Cricieth and back within the tide window. HW Pwllheli was 11:19. As we returned the clouds thickened and the winds increased to around 23kt. we dropped the main and sailed in towards the channel on the jib and then motored up to the pontoons. A nice sail for the start of the year!

09:25 left the harbour 09:58 raised main A nice easterly 10 Kt breeze met us as we exited the harbour but this was on the bow so motoring out to the open seas was the only option. At the eastern end of the loch we raised the main and unfurled the jib, however after a couple of minutes it was obvious that the there was insufficient wind; back on the motor with the main pulling slightly we headed north. 11:35 altered course to go into Usinish bay.. feeding pod of common dolphins and gannets stopped motoring to watch keeping a safe distance. Crew went ashore for a wander and came back with Al’s collection of discarded buoys significantly enlarged, almost no room remaining in his cabin now! Lifted anchor. At 14:35 Resuming planned route to Loch Maddy Wind filled in a little from the East Northeast by 15:15 allowing us to sail for a while. Beatiful conditions with the sea mist forming just above the water making the coastline look spectacular, rising above the mist in the blazing sunshine, as we sailed past Benbecula. Arouind 17;10 the winds started to back and ease off so by 17:20 we furled the jib and started the motor to get into Loch Maddy and seek out the anchorage in the sheltered bay at the SE corner of the loch. There are a couple of moorings but the advice is that these should not be used so we anchored and watched our swing as the seabed here is very weedy. A late dinner on the cockpit table cooked by Tess skillfully managing to provide Al a non spicy variant of our pasta, and everything else that needed eating, stirfry.

We saw the 3 super motor yachts, that we had seen as we left the Ross of Mull, in line racing north. The wind continued at around 10 - 12 Kt until aroun 10:00 when it started to die away. Our speed over the ground dropped to around 5kt on a course of 330. This is when we saw the first significant pod of common dolphins. The approached us from our port quarter and played around under the boat around the bow, beautiful to watch! After about a half hour break we saw a second smaller pod at 56-43.72N 6-54.5W. With all our first round of watches nearing completion we are now some 21Nm to our destination at Eriksay. 15:00 winds too light for the spinnaker and battery power down to 11.5, dropped the spinnaker and the main to motor the last 3.5 nm to the first waypoint into the An Anacarsaid Mhor. Conditions in the bay made it quite difficult to anchor safely but we ended up on the south side of the bay to the east missing two pots. 16:0 on anchor and checking swing as we were very close to the rock face. Following discussions it was decided that we would have dinner at anchor and then move up to Loch Eynort. The plan for getting Tess to her transport options on the 18th led to more discussions on how to spend the remaining days, a gradual move with short hops up the east coast, weather dependent to get us to LochMaddy in time for Tess’s departure. Having discovered that the inflatable dinghy pump had lost a steel retaining strip we jury rigged the pump, glue, duct tape and string being the chosen repair items. Anyway it worked and we were able to reinflate the dinghy ready in case anyone needed to go ashore before we set off. Al cooked macaroni cheese while we were tending to the tender and then we prepared to lift the anchor at 20:15. By now the warmth was beginning to fade a little but with very little wind and that there was was riptht on the nose, so motoring was our only option. ETA at the little marina is 22:05. With the srain in gently setting the glare on the water as we go west makes it difficult to see any pots etc. and now it is getting quite chilly.

Off anchor at 09:30 but flat calm so we had to motor all the way to our destination of Tyree. From here we are hoping to make passage to Barra either overnight or tomorrow. We moored on one of the visitor moorings at 12:15 and then sat in the saloon sorting out the shopping list. Fuel refilled tank at Gott Bay it appears we have used less than 20ltr since Portrush Al took Helen and Tess ashore at 14:00 with laundry, food bags etc before Al returns to the boat to pick me up with the diesel and water containers and the rubbish we collected from various beaches on our travels, Unfortunately there were no facilities for us to leave rubbish here so we had to bring the haul back. Al and I went to get Diesel which involved a 4 mile excursion kindly assisted by the café owner. A nice meal in the pub before returning to FlairIV for a quiet nights sleep

Plan to raise the anchor art 09:00 was managed to the minute as we motored in flat calm conditions away from this lovely anchorage. Visibility was slightly occluded but perfect conditions for motoring and recharging the batteries. With very limited access through my Vodafone network I am struggling to make connections to use the new apps I had hoped to take advantage of, Savvy Navvy and Sail ties. Approaching Staffa we did get good internet allowing me to update various pieces of the software mix. So Vodafone is not good here, Al gets much more connectivity on EE! Dolphins Helen saw at 10:20 The voyage to Staffa went without a hitch under motor and we passed 4 significant sized motor yachts with overall length in excess of 100m in the other small coves to the west of where we had spent the night, thank goodness we had been on our own! The sound between Iona and the Ross of Mull looked very interesting, with its Cathedral, but we had decided to stay outside the west coast of Iona so we motored on seeing boats in Tinkers Hole and avoiding the isolated rocks to the south of Iona. Rounding the Iona we headed north watching with interest the marine traffic arriving and departing from Fingals Cave. We had the Mendelssohn Fingals Cave playing on the radio from Spotify as we approached with a beautiful large French sailing boat circling around the entrance. We decided to M toro past the masses and anchored off the northern side of the entrance and sat down for our mackerel and salad lunch. After lunch Helen decided to stay on Flair IV on ancho r watch while we other 3 went ashore to look at the birds and get into the cave. The place was busy, although nothing like the crows at The Giants Causeway, but from our landing place we walked up the steep cliff path meeting lots of visitors who had come on the Staffa Tour boats. Having negotiated the human traffic on the very steep and busy stairs we finally made it into the cave. it is hugely impressive especially the accousatics for Tess singing. I received a call from Helen concerned about the anchor slipping just as I was about to enter the cave, I advised her that it was probably just the anchor chain slipping to straighten itself but asked her to call me if the situation developed further. In the cave I informed the crew and we then hurried back t the boat and after a slightly difficult launch with the dinghy in the now brisk Northerly wind but we made it safely back to Flair and prepared to set off on the second leg for the day eastwards to Geometra Harbour. With the wind now at 16 to 22 Kt this passage did not take very long from 15:00 when we raised the anchor to 16:30 on the anchor in the bay in around 6m of water at 2 hours after the start of the ebb tide. Passage discussions over a drink before Helen went for a swim have and then she and Al went off in the dinghy while Tess made dinner and I sat to write up todays log.

Day 2 After a very still night at anchor in Bangor Bay the crew seemed to have had a good night’s sleep and we were almost ready to up anchor at 08:00 but a slight glitch in the anchor locker meant a short delay; the anchor rope had got caught in the chain and stuck in the windlasst drive wheel. Flair’s new windlass worked well and my great uncle, Sir Geoffrey Ingram Taylor’s design, the CQR anchor, which had held us well, lifted as per the design spec with the windlass clutch tightened for the final lift from the sea bed. Once freed we set off with a quickly infilling wind sailing with the main and the code 0 with the SE wind at 8 to 10kn. A really encouraging start to the day. Flair made good progress across the entrance to Belfast Lough avoiding the odd ferry or two. As we rounded the end of the Lough and turned to port our apparent wind angle went beyond the useful point for the code 0 and the floater spinnaker was deployed in the reducing winds. By 11:15 we had to give up on the spinnaker too and resorted to motor sailing, this remained the case for the majority of the day. In the morning the passage plan route was given to Savvy Navvy to verify with the tides and timings this route was then exported as a gpx file and transferred to the B&G chart plotter. All good and off we set with the intention of being at Rathlin Sound by the time the tidal streams would be in our favour.

Monday June 6th 2023 Al and I met up and moved Flair IV from her mooring to the one remaining hOlyhead Marina pontoon to load up and take off surplus equipment. The other members off the crew, Helen and Tess arrived around 19:00 to sort out remaining food requirements before shopping. Al and I fixed all but one of the new LED lights in the saloon, the heads and the forward and aft berths. A beautiful evening as we sat in the late evening sunshine eating dinner in the cockpit. Day 1 Alarms set for 05:30 to get away from the pontoons at 06:00. Unlike the forecast we had quite strong Easterly winds as we departed under motor to the harbour entrance where we hoisted the sails and turned north. Wind speeds of 20 gusting 25 gave us boat speeds of 8plus knots heading up the west of the skerries. We ran a 1hr on 3 hours off schedule Mark, Helen, Alan and Tess.This changed a little as we had dinner now 20:40 Alan on the autopilot. We arrived at Bangor bay and anchored up at around 23:15. A long but productive day.