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How sailing got
in here .....
After a 25 years lapse, I recently
got back into sailing, crewing in three boats
belonging to the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, here in South
Wales.
Enjoying sailing as I never did before, experiencing the challenges of the Bristol
Channel with a tidal range only second to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, and seeing some interesting
ships, some naval, I hope visitors to
www.naval-history.net will not object to seeing
personal material in this way.
Naval-History.Net has lots about
ships and the men who sailed them, but little about the
seas they sailed on. If you have similar tales of your
local stretch of water, wherever it might be, you might
like to add them to your own site or to this one.
1. Motor boat
Watchful
I have to admit that my first trip
across the Bristol Channel was not sailing, but in motor
boat WATCHFUL owned and skippered by Tony Beasley
(right, on the left with Dave Adams). Tony,
Lieutenant, RNVR (Rtd) and
ex-Sea Cadet Corps commanding officer was once the owner
of ex-HDML.1001, which served off Normandy and which he
sailed across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. That story
can be found in
HM HARBOUR DEFENCE MOTOR
LAUNCH HDML.1001 - her Royal Navy and subsequent career.
Watchet is a pleasant small town,
with nice walks, decent pubs, good fish and chips, and a
fascinating little museum. It also has a high tidal
range (photo - what you sail over to get in during
Spring tides) with just a sill holding back
the water in the Marina.
When we first got in I was
amazed to see ex-Fast Patrol Boat HMS GAY
ARCHER - whoever thought one of those would still be in
existence! A little later I was pleased to see the
handsome ex-Naval tender LOYAL GOVERNOR, and what appeared to
be the hull of an old Admiralty pinnace -
BARBARY-T.
In closing this trip, the last image is approaching
Penarth Head and the entrance to Cardiff Bay (now
non-tidal with the construction of the Barrage) and the
Cardiff Docks. Penarth Head with St Augustine's Church
on its summit has long been an important landmark, and I
am told the Admiralty has paid for the tower to be repaired
so it would remain in existence.
Penarth Head obviously sticks in
sailor's memories. A Canadian officer serving in
corvettes based in Milford Haven in World War 2, emailed
me about sailing to Cardiff for a refit, and remembering
having to go round a headland to get in. Did I know it?
Yes, I lived there!
2. Cardiff's
Tidal Range
Penarth Head with the tide in
(the preceeding image) is somewhat different from
the tide out.
The first two images show the
buoys marking the "Wrack" passage - Welsh for "witch" -
out of Cardiff Bay nearly high and dry, with Penarth pier
peeping round the corner in the second one.
The final two give some idea of
the the lift or drop the barrage locks have to provide
to allow passage between Cardiff Bay and the sea. And on
an extreme Spring tide, it can be greater than this,
with moored boats experiencing almost white water
conditions as the lock fills. Mooring springs are recommended.
3. Yacht El
Pinereto to Watchet
After a number of
attempts over the months to sail across were thwarted by
bad weather or difficult tidal conditions, we at last
made it in 42-footer EL PINERETO, an ex-charter boat
owned and skippered by Gerry O'Keeffe (in the first
photo and on the helm in the second).
The second photo also
shows, from left, John Jenkins owner of 26 ft CAROLANN
who knows the local waters so well, I reckon he has
walked the bottom, Gerry again, crew Gareth Lloyd, and
Barry Upton who owns another 26-footer, as yet unnamed.
On the way out we
were overtaken by HMS RANGER.
Again, the tidal
range at Watchet, but only Neaps this time.
Possibly a better
photo of GAY ARCHER. This time I also had a chance to go on
board and speak to her owner Paul Childs.
EL PINERETO in
the Marina.
Motoring out from
Watchet. The town and harbour can be quite difficult to
spot going in, especially in a morning mist.
Finally the Norwegian
MV AASFJORD, to whom we are grateful. On the way over,
the winds increased to 6/7, gusting 8, and we met her
off the Welsh coast near Lavernock Point. After passing
a navigation buoy, she stood on for a while before
turning, saving us some awkward manoeuvring.
4. A Proud Dad
Poppy aged 11, my youngest daughter
had her first sail in August 2008, then two more in
September - all out into the Bristol Channel. Two trips
were on CAROLANN and one on EL PINERETO. She took
to it like a duck to water. Even in a Force 4-5 in the
smaller boat, not an ounce of concern.
Then in October, some of us tried to
make Swansea in EL PINERETO, but westerly near-gales
meant all we did was tack back and forth across the
Bristol Channel. Eventually we gave up. My attempts to
capture the sea-state with a camera were not very
successful, but I later found I had made a short and
noisy video. Poppy's response when seeing it was "that's
not rough", so I reckon we have a real sailor here.
I have since bought my first boat for
25+ years - a 16ft Wayfarer cruising dinghy. Poppy has
already been out in it once, in December! No
fair-weather sailor either.
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