Round Britain for the RNLI Blog

Well, it is still blowing a F4-5 here and it looks like it may still be blowing a bit tomorrow. Saturday looks better at the moment and so I will check it tomorrow but by feeling about it now is that I will depart Saturday.

In the marina we have at the moment a F4 with gusts and the outlook for the next few days does not suggest any significant change. The high pressure to the west is creating a steady northerly flow over the entire country and the high is not moving so the steady flow remains.

The sea state is forecast at slight to moderate and all the time moderate or winds above F4 remains on the forecast I am reluctant to set out. Although my boat can safely handle a moderate sea it is the combination of the sea state and the wind that concerns me because if the wind picks up even further then it wouldn’t be long before the sea becomes a problem for me. I have done trips very safely in moderate seas but only with light winds and where I am certain that the sea is calming and stands little chance of getting any worse. That is not the case at the moment.

I will keep it under review and post again either later today or tomorrow morning.

I am possibly looking at remaining here over the weekend the way it is looking at the moment…

Being held up for weather is not all bad. It does give me a chance to see a little of the places I visit and to get more of a feel for the country as a whole as I go round. Conwy is a great example. A very pleasant walk along the coast wall of about 20 minutes from Conwy Marina takes you to this bustling town. In the past it was certainly bustling with local traders and merchants but nowdays it is the tourist and holiday maker that fills the streets. Just a few miles from the seaside and holiday town of Llandudno Conwy is a small town with a history that goes back to the 1400’s.

The town is dominated by the castle and the old town walls surrounding the town but there are a few other attractions. The smallest house in Britain (or so they claim) is on the quay and in the High Street stands the oldest house in Conwy which rather incredibly dates back to the 1400’s and has been carefully restored by the National Trust. There is a small fee to non-members but it is well worth a visit.

Also rather unusually there are 3 bridges over the river all within a few yards of each other. The upriver bridge is the railway bridge built by Stevenson when he brought the railway to Wales. The down river bridge, the one you see when entering the port from the sea, is a modern bridge built in the late 1950’s to take motor traffic. However, for me, the most interesting of the three is the middle bridge. Built by Telford and designed originally for horse traffic without the suspension cables which were added later to take motor traffic. If you cross the bridge there is a little tollhouse on the other side which I found fascinating.

Also on the quay is the Conwy Lifeboat Station which houses a splendid D-Class Inshore Lifeboat (ILB). The pictures show it being launched on a training evening last night.

Click here for pics…