Today was all about tides. The high tide travels north and is 2-3 hours later in Conwy than it is at Pwllheli. So the plan was to leave Pwllheli at about 2½ hours before high water giving me time to get to Bardsey Sound to arrive at or about slack water and then to carry the tide north up to Caernarfon where again I would arrive at or near slack water. The remains of the northward flood would carry me through the Menai Strait where I would arrive at Conwy again at or about high water.
Well, it would be a good trick if I could carry it off and much to my surprise it worked and worked amazingly well.
Setting off from Pwllheli I needed to stop at the fuel pontoon to top up after the trip from Milford Haven. I wouldn’t need all the outboard tanks full for this leg as it was just 80 miles and the weather was good so I topped off the main tank and just one of the 30 litre outboards. I always have at least one of the outboard tanks full so that I can run the auxiliary engine if needs be.
Through the harbour entrance it was clearly looking calm and I settled in to a steady 20kts with great visibility and very little wind. My route was to take me a little further out than most would plan for as I wanted to give East and West Islands a wide berth. Given the incredibly clear visibility I had on the run south west from Pwllheli I was expecting to see Bardsey Island in the distance as I turned westward. I couldn’t. I could see a fog or haze layer and that was all. I really didn’t want fog on such a beautiful day so I was hoping that it would clear before I arrived. It did. Slowly, Bardsey Island appeared out of the mirk and soon Bardsey Sound became clearly visible.
On the way to Bardsey something caught my eye off the starboard side… something black that looked at a quick glance like a pot marker buoy. I longer look and I saw it was a seal with its head above the water just bobbing around. I slowed and went around for a closer look being careful not to scare it. It just bobbed up and down watching probably wondering what in blazes I was doing. I got some photos and clearly it wasn’t going to juggle balls or hoops so I set off towards Bardsey again leaving him bobbing up and down behind me.
Arriving at Bardsey Sound I was hoping that the tidal plan worked out and it would be nice and quiet and so it was but none the less I still had to come off the plane for about 300 meters where there was some lumpy bits.
I set course north east now for the Menai Strait and simply sat back and looked at the wonderful hills of North Wales off to my right. You know, we have fantastic scenery here in the UK and I couldn’t help feeling that this kind of view is what inspired me to do this trip and here it was… looking every bit like a Mediterranean vista as you could get without being there.
The Menai Strait is a thin strip of water that separates Anglesey from North Wales. It is a very strange place as far boating is concerned because the tides enter it from both ends and at different times. So it is possible that the tidal stream is flowing southwards in the northern section of the strait and northwards in the southern section at the same time. Also, it is quite narrow and with a rocky section between the Britannia and Menai bridges, called The Swellies, the stream can run at 8 kts at spring. Clearly this makes a passage through the strait something that must be planned carefully. I did my planning but I had a secret weapon called Richard (AKA Kawasaki on the ybw.com forum). He lives and works on the strait as a boating instructor and he called me and gave me a very thorough briefing on where the latest positions of the marks were and how to safely get through The Swellies. Thank you Richard. Approaching the Caernarfon bar I looked for the first marker gate and headed for it. The shear scale of the area that is the bar is overwhelming a little and my first thoughts were to passage the bar at 6kts giving me time to find the next mark but it was clear that I would be there far too long and so I stayed on the plane especially as the water state was still flat and I wanted to make good use of it while it lasted. At each mark I spotted the next, checked it on the chart (the paper charts were well and truely used for this leg!) and turned towards it. It actually was great fun and very satisfying when through to have navigated through the bends and turns of the entrance to the strait. I would not have liked to have done it without good visibility though. The charts are only a guide as they move the buoys to match the actual channel and some of them are not near their charted positions. Be warned!
Once in the strait the water was smooth and it took on the character of a river. Caernarfon past by on the right bank with its famous castle very prominent and shortly after came Port Dinorwic. This looked like a very quaint town and given the state of high tide boats were streaming out of the harbour as I passed by. The huge country house on the left bank marks the approach to the Britannia Bridge and then on to The Swellies and so I started to get together my plan, and the notes from Richard. Just before the bridge, on the left bank is a staue of Lord Nelson. A strange place to find that eh?
Lining up the white triangle on right bank with the centre of the right arch I passed through. I was following a couple of yachts so it felt a little like I was cheating because if they got through then I definitely would with just 0.9m draught but at times where there is a real potential to get it wrong I am never adverse to a little help so I was more than happy to follow them through. Once at the triangle (which turned out to be a white cone stone on the bank, a kink to port and I headed towards the Swellies Rock south cardinal mark. This is on the Swellies Rock and looked more like a metal gantry than a cardinal mark but sure enough it had the two down pointing arrows of a SCM. At low water this rock is dry but it was high water and there were no rocks at all visible. 50yds from the mark a kink to starboard and then heading for the centre of the next bridge, the Menai Bridge being careful to clear the Platters, a set of rocks on the starboard side, then under the bridge and I had passed through The Swellies without incident! At this state of tide, at high water and with no more than ½ to 1 knot of stream, The Swellies is very benign and quite easy but I can imagine how difficult, if not impossible it would be at mid tide, on springs, in a yacht. An awesome place.
The run from the Menai Bridge to the north end of the strait was planning again but a lot more bumpy. I think that the wind with tide I had all the way from Pwllheli was now wind over tide. Passing out of the strait to the north I passed Puffin Island and then a kink to starboard to take me towards the fairway marker for Conwy.
Going in to Conwy there is another winding entrance following marks to stay in the deep channel the final bit of which is a section parallel with the beach. There was little swell but it am sure that it would be quite tricky if a swell was running as you would have no choice except to take it beam on. The time was about HW as I passed over the tidal gate and put it on my allocated berth. A great run.
The leg took about 5 hrs and took about 76 ltrs of fuel.
Click here for photos…
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