Escape from Anglesey – 3 to 7 July 2014

3 July 2014 Caernarfon

Spent the day at Helen’s. Washed clothes

4 July 2014 – Caernarfon

Spent the day at Helen’s. Rained all day

5 July 2014 - Caernarfon to Porth Dinllaen

A fine morning and a bit more activity in the harbour. Left harbour at 2pm and beat very slowly against the tide towards Belan Narrows.  Crossed the bar with no drama and sailed to Porth Dinllaen.  This is a bay which is protected from the W by a rocky headland and so is a handy stopping point if the wind is from the W or S.  We visited the pub on the beach and found the whole place had a relaxed quiet holiday feel to it.

Leaving Caernarfon. Harbour is to R of the castle

Just outside Belan Narrows, looking back to Caernarfon

Lleyn peninsula

Caernarfon bar at I like to see it, calm, enough wind to sail and mountains in the background

6 July 2014 – Perth Dinllaen to Porth Dinllaen

The plan was to go through Bardsey Sound at HW slack.  Problem was this meant going against the tide all the way there. After 3 hours of beating we had not made much progress, so headed back to try another day.

Beach at Porth Dinllaen

Beach from the cliff

New lifeboat house, moorings beyond.

The red building is the pub. You can just see the see on the other side of the peninsula

7 July 2014 – Porth Dinllaen to Abersoch

Early start at 7 to get to Bardsey Sound for the LW slack.  This is a much better way to do it – with a lighter wind than yesterday it did not take long to pass the furthest point of our previous effort.  Saw lots of Manx Shearwaters. Not really the occasion to land at Bardsey as the anchorage requires settled weather from the N, so we carried on rather slowly and picked up a mooring at Abersoch.  The moorings are all run by South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club, quite a big establishment which has 3 launches to ferry people to and from their boats. The moorings seem a long way from the shore – maybe they allow room for a dinghy regatta between the moorings and the beach. Anyway the launch man said we could use a mooring. Going ashore, the outboard motor had been a bit sick and this time we had to give up and row.  We have hardly used the outboard at all, preferring to row as the dinghy is then very light to carry up the beach, so I think the motor is sulking through neglect.  Later, back at the boat, I took off the carburettor and removed a load of rubbish from the bowl. I think it was the result of corrosion, but I don’t know why it occurred.