Tales of Tails & Travels

As many of you will already know Skinny has finally left Scotland!! Over 2 lots of 2 days we sailed and motored our old girl down to North Wales. Winter sailing offered anchoring in subzero weather, short daylight hours and also experiencing the joys of a choppy Irish sea. We also had stunning sunrises and sunsets, crisp clear days and sailing alongside dolphins. For these trips we knew that it was going to be longer days and the Irish sea out of season, so we reunited the three musketeers and left the boys with their bro Mostyn the corgi and our wonderful friend Cari. They enjoyed Scottie Dog Walks taking them out by day and hogging the sofa by night whilst we were away on Skinny.

We set off on a still Monday morning at the end of January. It reached a high of 4 degrees Celsius but it was thankfully a beautifully clear day with no rain. As you’ll appreciate still means lovely calm seas; not exactly sailing weather. So the sails remained stowed and we used the motor. There was a delay on heading off as we had to put the main sail on: the week running up to leaving we had gale force winds so no opportunity to do it sooner.

Day one we left Kip Marina with the hope of getting to Campbeltown Harbour, but actually stopping for the night at a mooring buoy in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran. The trip took us along the coast, between Bute and Great Cumbrae, then Little Cumbrae before heading onto Arran. Leaving Inverkip we had the watchful eyes of a few seals as they stuck their heads up on the way past. The rest of the trip we soaked up the stunning West Coast Scotland scenery. As we arrived the sun was setting. Exhibiting some superb maneuvers on the helm and we picked up a mooring buoy. By superb I mean I slalomed through 6 mooring buoys 5 times before we got close enough that Jake was able to hook one. Jake made us a filling pasta dinner and we got an early night. Overnight it dropped to subzero giving a lovely frosting to the deck when we woke up, it didn’t matter though because the still winters morning offered us a stunning view of the sun rising behind Holy Island. The heating system I mentioned last time, yeah not in yet, we’re sorting out where to put the exhaust… Thankfully with sunrise the ice melted and we set off with the promise of some perfect sailing weather.

Day two had me wearing two shirts, two jumpers, 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of trousers, a coat, a headband, a pair of gloves and a snood and I was still cold by the end of the day. It didn’t matter though because the sun was shining and we had some brilliant sailing on a close reach. We sailed, leaving Arran at an angle across the Firth of Clyde, passed Ailsa Craig (the granite from this island is used to make curling stones) to then follow to coast down and into Loch Ryan landing in Stranraer. Towards the end of the day as we came up on Loch Ryan we had some chop and the wind was no longer with us so we motored the final part of the journey. It was a long day, which combined with the shorter day light hours because of the time of year meant we got into Stranraer in the dark. Jake helmed us in the dark thru Loch Ryan which offers a scattering of challenges including an underwater spit with a depth of -0.9m, several large Ferry terminals and a small marina with little room to maneuver. We left Skinny here for a few weeks as another storm rolled through and I had shifts booked back home.

Stranraer marina is small, and tucked out the way at the end of Loch Ryan, but it has all the basics that you need. Gail who runs the facility is fantastic. There is an honesty system for payment, with visitor berths being 7 days for the price of 5. And the facilities were clean and well maintained.

After a break and for a belated Valentines day treat we head back up to Skinny to move her onto Wales via Isle of Man.

Day three was LONG. After discussion on when to leave and concern over a 2 hour window either side of high tide for us to get through the sea gate at Peel on the Isle of Man, we head off at 1am. So yet again we navigated Loch Ryan in the dark. Keeping land to our port side we head around the coast, then leaving land as the sun started to rise we cut across the northern Irish sea onto the Isle of Man. We had checked out the weather on the run up to the trip; the predicted wind direction, visibility and rain cover changed every time we looked. It ended up that we headed into the wind all day, it rained all day and there was a notable 4m swell. All this to say I sadly got to see the jaffa cakes I had scoffed on the motor out of Stranraer again. The sandwiches I made and thermos I prepped did not get touched either. We had our hoods up and heads down as we just motored the day through. When land reappeared in the poor visibility our mood lifted, and we got into Peel with some hours to spare on the high tide. Sadly I have very few pictures of the entry to Peel, or this day in general as my phone had died and I was either staring resolutely at the horizon which was swinging in and out of view or I was hanging off of the side of the boat.

I really liked Peel. The entry cuts inside the sea wall and you get to enjoy the views of Peel Castle and then thru a sea gate. Due to the sea gate the marina does not suffer from sea swell. It is also in a perfectly central location and the showers in the facilities were the best we’ve used so far! We head onto land for dinner and to warm up before getting an early night.

Day four was another early start as we had to catch the tide, so we headed off before sunrise again. This was a straight trip across the Irish sea from Isle of Man then around the tip of north Wales and onto Holyhead. After the prior days experience I took myself a kwells for travel sickness, something which it turns out I get the drowsiness side effect, meaning I passed out for the 6 hours in which they are effective… So we agreed I will not be bothering with those again. Fortunately the rain had given up and the head wind was not as strong. Yet again we were motoring, but the swell and opposing waves had settled which made it a far more enjoyable experience. We also got to enjoy some common dolphins popping over to check on us and a pilot whale stuck their head up too. Holyhead marina sadly experienced a disaster in 2018 with storm Emma causing damage to some 80 boats, multiple of which sank and a resulting pollution that spread 26 miles. It seems nowadays it is locked in a political stalemate between the Stena Line ferries who own the whole area that the marina is in, the local council and the marina. The entry has a wreck that is noted but thankfully too deep to have been an issue for us. Of use there is a single finger pontoon and a field of mooring buoys. Alongside the main pontoon there is a half sunk old fuelling pontoon and another pontoon roped onto the finger pontoon. No one was in the office when we arrived so we moored up at the end of the pontoon and headed to find something to eat and the facilities. Thankfully we were able to guess the code for the facilities and the shower was hot.

The following day we were due some more high winds and I had to get back home for my next locum shift. So I left Jake behind and I made a rather long train journey with multiple rail replacement buses then a delayed train and a missed train back to the car in Stranraer. Jake was finally able to make contact with the office and there was a possibility that they would be able to take Skinny out to put on the hard. So we made the decision to have her put on the hard there so we could then enjoy heading down the Welsh coast or make a crossing over to Dublin for our next trip. Unfortunately on the day Skinny was due to be lifted out we were informed that they would no longer be able to get her out, oh and that we would not be able to leave Skinny on the pontoon (because of the previous disaster in 2018 no one is allowed to leave their boat…) We were put in touch with Ant who then took Skinny down the coast to another marina that has now put her on the hard.

This little 4 day way down highlighted a few jobs that we would like to have done before we spend the summer coastal cruising. So we are going to assess the anti foul and repaint, finally sort out a battery management system, and sort out the wiring for the top light on the mast etc etc. We are also going to look at maybe getting a stack pack and lazy jacks to make it easier to get the sail put away with just the two of us.