Lady Ayesha: Penzance Bay to Milford Haven

From Penzance Bay our next destination was Milford Haven, around 120 nautical miles. The passage around Lands End was something we were a bit nervous about at first since all our sailing up until then had been in the Channel. There was some swell but the wind had veered around to the Southeast overnight, perfectly in our favour. Even with 2 reefs in the mainsail and the genoa rolled safely away we still made 5 knots through the water and 7 or 8 over ground thanks to a strong tide. It was a great feeling to pass Longships lighthouse off Lands End and Cape Cornwall, marking our entry into the Celtic Sea and the start of the next stage of our journey.

However, the wind wasn't to last, and by lunchtime it had dropped off to almost nothing, forcing us to use the engine to keep making way as the tide turned against us. Sadly we ended up motoring most of the afternoon and into the evening. By about 10pm we were most of the way across the entrance to the Bristol Channel, about 35 miles off the Welsh coast. The moon was managing to penetrate the clouds enough to add sparkle to the dark sea and I was becoming entranced by the rhythmic sound of water against hull as we lazily dipped and rose over each wave. A few extra splashes caused me to look over the side where I suddenly noticed that we had company. I called Jaime up from the cabin to enjoy the spectacle. Up to a dozen porpoises had joined us and were playing in our bow waves, skimming through the water, then leaping up and disappearing just as quickly. They only stayed with us for about 15 minutes, but it was an amazing experience that I won't forget. Just before the first light of dawn appeared across the sky we found ourselves dodging large ships and fishing boats doing pair trawling as we approached Milford Haven. It takes some getting used to, watching them all on radar and trying to interpret their courses when they are too far away to see their nav lights. Especially the trawlers who don't keep to any particular course. Even with their starboard nav light visible, and with us showing our port side, the huge tankers and container vessels don't seem to make any effort to change course to give way, regardless of the Collision Regulations, so the rule we adopt is if they're bigger than us, then we keep well out of their way!

Once into Milford Haven, there is a free pontoon provided by the Dale Sailing Club, just NW inside the entrance, if anyone is interested in making use of it. It has become a tradition to drink a beer to toast our arrival in port no matter what time we arrive. We'd only just done so, and were about to get a well-earned sleep when we were approached by a powerful RIB occupied by three port authority police, in combat boots and black uniforms, who tied up alongside. They explained that under the Anti-terrorism act which allows them to do whatever the hell they like they were coming aboard to inspect our papers, and search our vessel for illegal immigrants, drugs, firearms or whatever else. They were professionally polite, and failed to find any illegal immigrants, drugs or firearms, but took swabs of some white chocolate powder which was on the floor after a box of chocolates flew out of a locker during the passage, and asked many questions, especially about why we had stamps for places like Russia and Poland in our passports. (Cheers Branko!) We knew they were only doing their jobs, but we felt it was quite a rude introduction to Wales nonetheless. Especially given our lack of sleep and the mess that was left below after such a long sea passage. Anyway, they left us to get some sleep after that and we ended up staying in Dale until Thursday night.

There is an interesting coastal walk which we took around the headland which leads to views of Skokholm and Skomer Islands, and some dramatic rocky cliffs towards Saint Bride's Bay. We even found some people surfing on a small beach where we stopped for a while. We ate at the Griffin Inn one night, and spent several evenings at the Dale Sailing Club which has a great view across the bay to the distant smokestacks of Milford Haven's main industrial area.

The Griffin Inn, and SC moorings.