Speedwell of Rhu Ship's Log

29 th of August 2018 - Wales

We left Lundy at 0810. We had around 60nm miles to go, but the tides are strong in the Bristol Channel and winds were forecast Force 4/5 possibly 6 from the north west. The tide had just turned against us as we woke but this ensured we would have strong tides in our favour later in the day as we headed up the Severn Estuary toward Cardiff Bay. It was very grey with no wind as we left the harbour, it soon started to rain on and off and the rain was coming from behind so we had to put on our waterproofs and close the hatches to keep dry. Andy went down for a rest and to dry off just as the rain passed and the wind veered to the north west. By 0900 I had the genoa unfurled and we were sailing on a beam reach at around 3-4 knots over the ground. This soon picked up and we started to make a steady 5-7 knots. As the morning progressed we took in reefs in the genoa and then dropped the mainsail. We headed along the north Devon coast with the tide against us so we were making around 3 knots over the ground but had high hopes for when he tide turned. It was a very exciting full day's sailing with the wind on our beam for the whole time. The tide turned as the estuary narrowed and we made up for lost time. Slowly we were able to shake the reefs out and put the mainsail back up. We were now making 8 to 10 knots over the ground.

We headed up to Cardiff Bay where we had plenty of tide. The lock gate was open as we got between the two breakwaters and we passed through the Barrage at 1945. The gate to Penarth Quay Marina openefd for us and we were directed to a pontoon berth in the inner Harbour of Penarth Marina where we were helped to make ourselves secure. We were looking forward to exploring Penarth and Cardiff. 

Previous : Index : Next