Mumbles and back

Louise took Tigger ashore in the morning. Around us, folk were breakfasting, and the smell of hot coffee drifted from boat to boat. There might just be enough wind to sail by, but that was 'on the nose'. So, when we'd all finished eating, and the dishes were put away, we set off under steam, for Mumbles.

Three times we eased back and tried the sails, but the longest we managed, before the wind dropped again, was about 30 minutes. In the end, we motored most of the 20 odd miles into Mumbles, the blue skies and warmth now replaced by an overcast sky, the bright colours of spring, gone for the moment.

The anchorage, beneath Mumbles' famous lighthouse, pier and lifeboat station, was, however, beautiful, and it was flat calm. The holding here was excellent, in thick mud, just off the long concrete slip at 'Knab rock'. With neap tides, and light winds, I did my calculations and left us with about 2 feet under the keel at low tide.

We enjoyed a beer and a warm welcome at Mumbles yacht club. It's been years since we used to come to Mumbles to launch our diving Ribs, and I was a little surprised that the place seemed far less busy and vibrant than I remembered. It was still only March, I suppose.

The sea was like a plate of black glass when we returned to Ishtar. Almost unbelievably, in this sheltered anchorage, only exposed to the East, an Easterly wind blew up almost as soon as we'd made the bed up, and another lumpy night followed. Most annoying. We had no worries, though. Since buying our Delta anchor, about 2 years back, we've never dragged, even though it weighs a miserly 6kg.

Louise had set the alarm for 06:15, but she was very very tired. I quickly dressed, started the engine and pulled up the anchor as she 'came round' and we were motoring away from Mumbles within 10 minutes. Heading SSE to avoid the Scarweather sandbank, the Easterly wind was fine for sailing, so I ran the sails up quickly, before Louise took over. It was a lot colder than of late as we looked back over the chilly water towards Mumbles

Looking Eastwards, across Glamorgan towards Cardiff, the sun was just rising

I left Louise to it, and retired below with Tigger. As the morning progressed, the wind from last night lessened, and by the time we'd cleared the sandbanks and Turned ESE, we were running the engine. We could have tacked back and forth up the channel, but time was against us. We had to cover 40 or so miles by sea, lock in, sort out the boat, then get home to Neath and wash and eat before Louise set off for her night shift.

The more I think about it, the more difficult I realise it is for us. Sailing gives a great sense of freedom, but, at the moment, if Tigger is with us, we still have to pump the dinghy and take him ashore each night, and we must still get back to Cardiff for work. When you travel everywhere at 4 miles an hour or so, you have to plan carefully. It would be lovely to be totally free and not have to worry about being in a certain place at a certain time.

Maybe one day.



Meanwhile, as we approached Aberthaw, a mere 15 miles or so from home, now with plenty of time, we switched off the engine and finally had a reaaly nice sail, tacking back and forth, upwind, setting and resetting the sails, until we were finally back off Barry

Then, an hour or so later, we were locking in and heading for our own mooring on the pontoon.

A bit rushed towards the end, but great fun, with great company.