Round Anglesey Shakedown Cruise Rally

Conwy to Caernarfon | Caernarfon to Holyhead | Holyhead to Conwy

This must be the largest Shakedown Cruise we have had in recent times and must bode well for the future!!

Forecast South or South East 3 or 4 increasing 5 for a time.

The fleet left Conwy early Saturday morning, just after low water, enroute for Menai Bridge and the Swellies. Artemis kindly volunteered to feel for water through the Swatch and we followed in close succession with the depth bottoming out at 2.3m on my log as we crossed the bar into the straits.

At 13:00 we reached the Menai Bridge and rendezvoused with the Marina fleet who had left earlier to beat their gate. Lunch was soon sizzling away and we awaited the arrival of the rest of the fleet and slack water in the Swellies. At 14:15 Criselda tested the water in the Swellies and finding it slack we all cast off and followed.

The Swellies transit was perfect with absolutely no current at all, perfect for the first timers.

The serious sailing started at Nelsons Statue in the shadow of the Brittania Bridge. After the absolute calm of the Swellies it was surprising to find quite a stiff breeze coming straight at us. The fleet was made of stern stuff and not put off by this in the slightest. Up came the sails and 15 cruising yachts rolled up their sleeves and started tacking up the Straits in close quarters. Awesome!! Lee and Judith Cutler of Spring Breeze did particularly well showing us how to do it with three small children on board. John and Ray Lloyd also showed off their Dinghy sailing skills by short tacking a Legend 36 up the straits. John and Ray, you’re not supposed to be able to do that, hasn’t anybody told you!!

Thanks to Mark, the harbourmaster and Graham of Nutcracker, all the boats were squeezed into the Victoria Marina and once safely tied up we compared notes and beers.

That evening we carried out our customary invasion of the Royal Welsh Yacht Club set in the medieval walls of Caernarfon town. A good time was had by all and with an early start the next day in mind we made our way back to the marina.

Forecast South West 4 or 5 occasionally 6 later.

"Occasionally 6 later”, hmm? Well with a 6:30 start we should be in Holyhead by then shouldn’t we!! The forecast was read out to the gathered boats and with no pressure to continue the more sedate crews made their decision to retire. This left 13 diehards determined to complete what they’d started. All the boats where deemed seaworthy and we cast off at 6:30; with a Le Mans style start we all cleared the gate in minutes.

The trip out to Caernarfon Bar was sublime, only the wake from the yachts disturbing the calm sea. The smell of cooking bacon wafted out of our yacht as we motored on. Before we new it we were there, and hoisting the sails for the trip up to South Stack. With 10 knots on the beam the conditions were ideal for our Etap and we were making over 5 knots under full sail. The fleet all fell into line with every scrap of sail up and we all settled down for a perfect sail up to South Stack. Without warning we were heeling at a crazy angle and the boat was rounding faithfully up into the wind, at least she new what to do!! The wind had just gone from 12 knots to 25-30 knots in the blink of an eye, and it wasn’t a gust, it stayed there. When we reached Holyhead we swapped stories about this point of the sail. Ray in Cabernet was coming up through the hatch with breakfast, Keith in Morwenna was below putting his waterproofs on and Ramla’s skipper was answering the call of nature. Danni in Nutcracker watched aghast as the fleet was laid flat. But we were made of stern stuff. One by one we reefed and sorted ourselves out and within minutes we were making way towards Southstack once more, never to be caught out again. 12:00 saw us rounding the breakwater into Holyhead in close formation and many of us settled down for an afternoons rest to gather strength for an evening meal in the yacht club.

Aperitifs were served on Cabernet where Kit declared it was his first Gin and tonic on a yacht with ice. That evening 13 of us shared a cruise meal out at the Holyhead yacht club, which served good sailing sized calorie laden portions of honest food at affordable prices. Suitably fed we retired to the bar to wash it down with Draught Bass, heaven!!

Forecast South 4 or 5 occasionally 6.

When I checked www.theyr.net website yesterday it said the wind would drop in the afternoon. So why isn’t the coastguards saying that? All the yachts were consulted and warned of a possible rough passage but the decision was unanimous, we were going.

After all the worries this leg turned out to be a glorious sail. The events of the previous day were fresh in our minds so on Myfanwy we were cautious with sail area; but some of the heavier boats carried on with full sail. Does Ray ever reef? Lynas came and went and the wind actually started dropping as per the previous days forecast. Should I put the rest of the sail up or not? In the end the decision was taken away as one of the fleet called for a partner to watch him as his boat had developed a small leak. A quick risk analysis was carried out after a crew transfer was suggested. Due to the freezing sea temperatures and the relatively slow rate of the leak I deemed a crew transfer more dangerous than the risk of sinking or exhaustion and we elected to stand by on watch. In the event the leak was brought under control and we all made our way into Conwy after 6 hours of sailing.

All agreed that it had been a thoroughly enjoyable sail and Gwyn of Rachel Fach added that it had just the right element of challenge. Some of the fleet had limited experience at the start of the cruise but by the end they had proved their competence and had become hardened sailors keen to tackle the Isle of Man trip.