A few days in Cardiff

Padstow seems a while ago now as we have had a couple of days in Cardiff, but more of that later. We spent a pleasant day in Padstow, walking along the Camel estuary in bright sunshine and having a look at the Doom Bar without as much water over it. With the wind in the East it looked fairly peaceful.

The Camel Estuary.

The channel into Padstow Harbour with the port hand marks on the sand.

We met a couple from Cardiff Bay Yacht Club who suggested that the strategy for our passage to Cardiff should be to leave Padstow inner harbour as late as possible before the gate shuts, then cross the bar and anchor in the bay to let the worst of the ebb ease off. This worked for us, not least because we didn't have to get up early! We finished off the evening with the obligatory Rick Steins fish and chips, good but debatable whether they were the best we ever had.

We left the harbour at 10.00 on Wednesday and crossed the bar to anchor in Hayle Bay and watch the surfers. Leaving the bay at 12.10 we rounded Pentire Point and found a perfect SE breeze between 15 and 18 knots and bright sunshine.

Pentire Point.

Tintagel Head

7.5 knots through the water and flat seas, perfect!

Hartland Point

Apart from an hour when the wind failed us we had a steady breeze for the rest of the day. Rounding Hartland Point and crossing Bideford Bay the breeze stayed with us and only played tricks on us just after passing Ilfracombe when a squall, just at coffee making time, forced us to drop a couple of reefs in the main and partially reef the genoa. Two hours later, at 22.00 the wind died and went to the East so the engine went on. As the tide slackened and turned against us we started to question the timing strategy we had been given. The tide is much stronger as the Bristol Channel narrows past Ilfracombe than it had been off Padstow. We spent a few hours making less than a knot over the ground, which pushed our original arrival time back but at least meant that we arrived at Cardiff Bay Barrage in the daylight.

Entering the Barrage for the first time when the tide is low is quite daunting, there are some very high walls and enormous lock gates!

Debbie at the helm, waiting for the gates to open.

Turbulence as the lock fills.

Tide free Cardiff Bay is quite a contrast to the Channel outside. We made our way to the visitors pontoon at Cardiff Yacht Club, where our son, Richard is a member, the reason for coming to Cardiff in the first place.

On the visitors pontoon.

We had always intended to stay a few days in Cardiff with Richard but our stay has now been extended. We topped up the water tank, turned a tap on and the outlet fitting on the pump burst off, showering the galley area with water! A call to Whale pumps determined that we needed a new pump head kit. Stuart at Force 4 managed to find a kit at another chandlers which he could have with us on Monday so it looks like Tuesday earliest departure and no sailing blog for a few days.

 

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