Sailing in the UK is surprisingly complicated. The tidal range is very large, and the currents strong. Our departure from Caernarfon was very much governed by these. The harbour itself is inside a big metal gate, that opens for about 4 hours each tidal cycle, when the water is high, and then closes, to keep enough water in the harbour to keep the boats afloat, when the tide drops. Consequently, we could only leave when the gate was open, near high tide. On the day we planned to leave, the gate was to drop at 7:00 am, and for a boat our size, we were advised to wait another 20 minutes, to allow the water to rise a little bit more.
Our goal for day 1 was Holyhead, about 20 miles north of Caernarfon, up the west coast of Anglesey, the island at the northern edge of Wales. However, because of the timing of the currents in the Irish Sea, we couldn't go the most direct way, clockwise around Anglesey. Instead, the only way to realistically (pleasantly at least) get there in 1 day is to go counterclockwise around Anglesey, which involved going out through the rather intricate Menai Straights, and then waiting for a couple of hours along the North coast, before rounding Carmel Head, at the NW tip, which gets very rough when the current is running strong. After a lunch break at anchor, we rounded it at slack water, and finished off the trip into Holyhead harbour.
It was nice to get on the water, and satisfying to solve the navigation puzzle of getting to out planned destination in reasonable time, and smooth waters.
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| Along the Menai Straights |
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| Sara driving through the "Swellies" |
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| A modest Welsh estate |
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