Peel to Holyhead

We went to the harbour office and paid our dues, which were much reduced for rafting on the wall for the Weekend.

The first bridge swing would be as soon as the flap gate went down at about 10:30. We were ready to go and were just about to back out of the pontoon when we heard the harbnour master announce on the radio that the flap gate was lowering. Perfect timing!

Felinheli and Phyllis, plus 2 motor cruisers and 2 bermudan sloops came out with us. We got Robinetta's main up as we motored out and were on course with full main, no 1 jib, and staysail by 11:00. Felinheli and Phyllis soon pulled ahead, even though we kept the engine on due to lack of wind.

After about half an hour Julian got the reaching sail out and we put George on the helm while the seas were relatively flat. We flew the reaching sail all the way to Chicken Rock, which we gave a 3nm offing to avoid overfalls.

With the engine on we had made good progress and were about an hour ahead of our “worse case” planning.

Before we changed course to head for Holyhead we put the reaching sail away and pulled in the main in case we gybed. In the end the mainsail stayed out on the port side so we set the preventer again. An hour after the turn I realised we were doing 5½ knots, so lowered the engine revs, then turned it off completely. We were still doing 4½ to 5 knots once we flew the jib.

The trip from Man to Holyhead is complicated by the tides. We should head 173 °T according to the chart plotter, but having done the planning I put George on a compass course of 183°. This, plus the tide, carried us steadily west of our course on the chart plotter, which confused the “you will reach your destination” calculation time on the plotter.

For the first time in a long time I entered hourly fixes onto our paper chart to check our progress. The last thing I wanted was to be held to a standstill by the tides for 3 hours as had happened at Robinetta's last trip from Man to Holyhead.

I expected Robinetta to go 10nm west of the line, then be carried gently back to it as the tide turned. The swell had got up, and George could not cope, so Julian and I began hand steering in relays. By the time I realised the tide was not taking us in we were 13 nm west of the line and we gybed round to head in. This happened when Julian was in the middle of cooking dinner and I wished I had asked for the gybe before he started. We should have gybed an hour earlier, as soon as we got to the calculated 10nm off course. My fault as navigator for not trusting my own calculations.

We ate dinner in relays, unable to leave the helm, but Julian produced a good meal given the rolling conditions! 

As I took the helm again I glanced to the side, and saw dolphins swimming along side us in the swell. I called Julian back and he got a glimpse of them too, visible inside the wave that rose astern of Robinetta. I am pretty sure they were common dolphins, which are less common in the Irish sea! 

It was beginning to get dark, and I asked for the running lights to go on. The stern light refused to work, despite Julian working on it for half an hour, and the sea state was getting more and more challenging as the wind rose. By half nine we were reefed down to the first hoop, with the jib away, and Julian undid the hoop ready for the next reef. This went in at 22:40, and we were rolling horribly up and across the waves. By 23:30 I was getting overpowered again, and we dropped the main altogether, and went onto engine and staysail.

The chartplotter began to cut out. It would go straight back on, then die again next time we had a wave created lurch. Sometimes it would cut out as we were in the middle getting it back on! I really regretted those 3 miles too far west as we fought our way across the waves.

I put my head out of the cabin at about 0045, to get ready for my turn on the helm, and heard a warning whine from the engine. I told Julian, who had not noticed it for the engine and wind noise, and he throttled back. The whine continued, and we turned the engine off. With stay sail alone we did not have steerage way amongst the nasty waves, but we unfurled the jib and were able to make progress at 2½ knots.

We crept closer to Holyhead, having to turn the chart plotter on again what seemed like every other minute. Eventually we gaining the shelter of the breakwater at 01:55. The change to smooth water came as a blessed relief. We relaxed, but were exhausted. Holyhead marina is not well lit, and although we decided to head in when we reached it I bottled out. We had furled the jib at the last minute and turned the engine on. It was still whining, and I did not trust it. Entering the marina on staysail and dodgy engine, with a force 6 northerly to work with, felt wrong. I turned away rather than heading for a berth (we had no fenders or ropes ready, and the bowsprit was still out). Luckily there was an empty mooring buoy just off the entrance. Julian picked it up while I helmed, then we did the minimum of tidying up and tumbled into bed just after 02:30.