A great sail

We agonised over leaving Watchet.

I had really wanted to sail along the Somerset and Devon coast but the wind was not going to let us. So Swansea it had to be.

We could either leave on the morning ebb or the evening one. But the weather on Friday looked dreadful so the morning it had to be. But high water was 04:23 BST. For once I checked sunrise. There was a nautical sunrise about 4:30. That's when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon and the horizon might be visible.

So we decided to leave at 5am - we didn't want to set the alarm earlier than 4!

The winds were forecast gusty but not too strong. It was the sea-state that worried me. A solid moderate. Myweather2 forecast about 1.5m swell. And it would be wind against tide.

We really didn't know how well we would point but we knew the tide would help and sailing was probable.

The forecasts also predicted showers and not much sun.

The reality was both better and worse than predicted. We had a great sailing breeze all the way. Right at the top of what we can handle by reefing but Robinetta was really nicely balanced. The sea-state was at least as bad to look at as I had feared. The sun shone and we had blue skies all the way.

The boat handled it brilliantly and for once, the wavelength was long enough that few of the waves stopped us.

Worm had an exciting ride, proving once again that Iain Oughtred designed the world's best towing dinghy. Once or twice she actually went flying off the top of a wave and she got thrown around a lot. But, as usual, she arrive in port safely with hardly any water in her.

Sailing needed lots of concentration and some effort and we were tired out by the time we arrived but it was a really fun and enjoyable sail.