Mark Rosenthal

it was our intention to sail to the Skerries for lunch but the forecast had underestimated the wind speeds. . As we approached the entrance to the new harbour and called the Port Control we were warned of two ferry movements 1 on its way in and one outbound. we turned to port and headed back towards our mooring. once the Ferries were clear of the entrance we turned a d headed out but soon realised that the winds had increased and turned more northerly hence our decision to abandon our plan.

Following on from a busy day including driving to Pwllheli and back to get the replacement battens I didn’t arrive early enough and although the crew were on board and making preparations as the launch was busy with a lot of demands from the Squibs and other cruisers I was even later getting to the boat. As a consequence we were late getting off the mooring after I had attempted to fit one of the new long battens. The batten, after all that, was too short, so we set off with 2 battens still missing from the main and one in the jib. We checked in with Dawn, thank you for running the racing, to say we were entering the race and then followed the 2 other yachts who were out crossing the start line as we finally got the jib setting, Winds light NE. Of course in the rush to set off I forgot to set SailTies to record for the start! Course 1 had been selected and so we sailed towards the aluminium jetty gradually catching the other boats then tacked as soon as it was feasible to round the end of the breakwater and take advantage of the tide on our way to Meath, the first mark of the course. WIth our early tack we were now ahead of the other two boats as the crew struggled to get the code 0 rigged for the reech down to Penrhos. We intercepted a call on the radio from Hellhound saying that Penrhos mark, the second mark of the course, may not have been put in place yet. We reported that we had the coords on the chart plotter and would use this as the mark before returning the waypoint 3, Clipera. There was some activity in and around the Ferry Terminal with the fuel tanker talking on Ch 14 and as we tacked away from where Penrhos should have been, towards Clipera we received a warning hoot from the fuel tanker and immediately tacked again to show our intentions. By now the other two boats had retired but we carried on until we almost reached Clipera but with the crew getting cold and the wind dying away we also retired and headed back to the moorings. Back on shore we all met up in the clubhouse for a drink and dinner.

Rain started at 05:20 but has eased off by 07:30. Winds up around F5 - 7 After an early breakfast as I waited from the arrival of the crew I worked through some of the remaining tasks on my list. This included cleaning the terminals on the solenoid for the engine stop and other engine checks. Chris arrived first and got to work on preparation for sailing. Sylvia and Andrew followed in good time for us to leave as scheduled and off we went from Hafam Pwllheli in strong southerly winds. As we left the channel into the bay the short chop in winds up to F7 made getting the sails set quite difficult and we lost 2 battens from the mainsail having got caught in the lazyjack halyards. Once under sail we headed out on a port tack sailing in close to Llanbedrog then tacking and heading away and back towards the SCYC area before tacking away heading for the gap between The two St Tudwals Islands. The waves here were getting quite steep so we tacked again to get to a point where we could sail between the mainland and the island. Once through the sound we found ourselves in significant short wavelength waves and continuing high wind. That, along with the ever changing tides, required us to tack away from Cilan Uchaf. On our next tack our course to Barsey Sound was achievable and we settled to a brisk but lumpy sail across, my favourite location, Hells Mouth, and with tidal assistance into the sound with a good NW tidal run. By now we were all soaking wet as it had rained heavily most of the way. Reminder to self, check sailing jacket and salopettes for Waterproofing! Once through the sound in near perfect conditions the wind being almost dead south our sail to South Stack was a dead run. The rain was now far less with a hint of blue sky to the west. Chris and Andrew rigged the newly recoated spinnaker pole, a lovely job by Partington Marine, to ‘pole out’ the goose winged jib. So with a preventer and the pole inplace there was no need for any sail changes until we turned to round South Stack; just some very awkward helming in the following swell. Sylvia and Andrew were given the opportunity to trial their skills but keeping the sails from flogging or an accidental gybe was too challenging in the very cold atmosphere. Our projected course and timings worked perfectly arriving at the two major tidal gates at the right time and the onto Flair IV's mooring only a few minutes after the schedule. Holyhead Sailing Club's Botswain, Tony came out on the club launch to collect us from the new shiny mooring buoy and nice clean strop. A perfect end to a slightly challenging day!

Sunshine and a cold ENE 4 as we left Porth Penrhyn. We motored sailed down from Gallows Point until we turned to port to sail through Puffin Sound. Quite choppy waters as we sailed up towards Point Lynas. Making 10+ knots all the way around the top of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) through inside middle mouse and west mouse flanked by beautiful gannets. As we sailed round Carmel Head the winds abated gradually and eventually we had to motor again as we neared Holyhead Breakwater. Once at the mooring Al threaded his strops through the shackle on the Buoy as we cleared up ready to disembark.

NE winds light to moderate. Assisting Trevor deliver his yacht from Doc Victoria to Holyhead. Sea conditions were fair

CHPSC [Clwb Hywlio Pwllheli Sailing Club] Winter race series, race 2 winds light SSW racing round the cans.

Crew Tess Luke Andrew Sam Left mooring at 0620 Hoisted the main as we passed the knuckle. Engine off once round the end of the breakwater North westerly wind giving very little wind under the breakwater Seastate slight 10:10 making 5 - 6 Kt 179 deg winds increased to 17-18kt cloud cover 90 %. 11:10 winds strengthening. 20 - 22 direction 195 deg having to tack to get further west. Sea state no choppy putting in our first reef. We reached our planned waypoint almost to the minute at the northern end of Bardsey Sound with a gusty but quick transit through the sound. At around 15:00 as we crossed Hells Mouth, aptly named, the wind speeds were increasing as the rain started. 15:52 with the hig16gusty winds now directly behind us we furled the jib. 16:33 With the winds now in the mid 20s we headed up to wind and dropped the main. Engine failure 16:42 as we motored into Pwllheli Harbour. MAYDAY called and mad16preparations for running agroun. As the tide was nearing High Tide the RNLI were tasked from Pwllheli 16:48 beached on the groyne. The RNLI team arrived in their small rib and a tow was organised taking Flair to the Fuel Pontoon.

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.