Celtic Cruise


This page updated Saturday 2nd October

		Celtic Cruise

	Sunday 8th August


	The Celtic Explorer Crew has at Holyhead: skipper Jeff Herschel, mate Frank Jones, bosun James Allen, together with Mary Gandy, Elaine Parsons and Richard Smith. Moored alongside while a F6 gusting 30 knots the NE went through overnight.


	Monday 9th August

Rain lashed the boat overnight, but the crew slept peacefully and after a good breakfast were away at 08.30hrs for the long run to Arklow in Eire. Initially the seas were very lively, but by mid-morning winds were down to F5 with the wind backing to the NW Force 4. So a good sail throughout the day, reaching Arklow at 19.25hrs and berthed alongside in the River Avoca beside the marina entrance. A very attractive tree-shaded location, but a fair step from any good restaurants. So cooked a feast on board and had an early night. Days run 76nm


		Freyja moored at Arklow in the sun.

	Tuesday 10th August


	A beautiful morning, as we wait for the best tides to take us south, as it will be an overnight sail to Waterford. Depart 10.30hrs in sunshine, running down the coast that has surprisingly few places offering shelter for passage-making yachts.


	Plenty of time to hone navigation skills as fair winds on the quarter drive us along at 6 or more knots, frequently accompanied by pods of inquisitive dolphins. 16.00hrs off Tusker Rock and the skipper decides we have sufficient light to run the unmarked Saltees Gap off Kilmore Point.

	Now 21.15hrs, the islands are just ahead but the sun has set and in glorious twilight we run the gap.


	Wednesday 11th August

00.15hrs we are just off Dunmore East and are starting the 15nm run up towards Waterford. Avoid running down an un-lit boat fishing illegally with nets in the middle of the channel. Crew change and now its eyeball pilotage for 15 miles up the estuary. 04.00hrs and the tide that brought us upstream is running strongly along the pontoons, but we are soon berthed and asleep. Days run 97nm

Later.... Nobody seems in the least interested in our arrival, but we soon learn that we need to go to the City Hall to pay for the berth and to have our mobile phones registered to open the gate to the pontoons. Shock, horror, until we learn that the call is ‘free’. Dinner ashore at Wongsons Chinese restaurant.


	Thursday 12 August

Leisurely breakfast and a visit to the newly re-opened Waterford Crystal factory and its award-winning modern showroom. Depart Waterford on the ebb tide at 13.25hrs towards Milford Haven. Everyone looking forward to a long overnight sail. Enlivened at supper time by a very large pod of dolphins surfing the swell behind us. Wind NNW veering NW F4 and F5, strengthening F6. Excellent ship’s stew for dinner ‘on the run’ before settling into watches.


	Friday 13th August


	05.40hrs and Freyja is off Vomit Point having made a fast passage under genoa alone. By 07.00hrs we are just outside the entrance to the marina at Milford Haven waiting for free-flow through the massive lock. Days run 106nm

Hours later we are awake and headed for the cafe for an excellent all-day breakfast. Frank, our ex-coastie has arranged for us to visit the Coast Guard station that looks after the sea area Lundy and the Irish Sea. We are warmly welcomed, even though they are clearly very busy with routine traffic coming in from all directions. And the occasional need to break off from us as ‘all hands’ are required to find assistance for a sea-kayaker who has got into difficulties (‘saved’ by a nearby fishing trawler) and a cliff-faller who is airlifted away to hospital by a RAF rescue helicopter.


	Saturday 14th August

Depart Milford Haven at 09.15hrs, having first re-fuelled, and after dodging tankers, tugs and pilot boats we are off Chapel Rock by 10.00hrs and headed towards Lundy Island and points south. Wind WNW F4 and F5 veering NE force. Time passes, with frequent helm changes and the chance for everyone to slope off for a nap or to read, with the occasional cry of ‘dolphins’.
Come dusk and we are all now well into working watches, so a pretty uneventful night; if you exclude the pleasure of bowling along at a steady 6 knots with a slight sea under a starry night with a frequent meteor lighting up the sky.


	Sunday 15th August


	Dawn at 06.00hrs finds Freyja off St Marys in the Scilly Isles. A clear, even warm morning that adds real pleasure to motoring-in to find a mooring buoy in the crowded harbour. Days run 140nm


	Mary who is a keen bell-ringer can hear church bells being rung-up ashore and wants to go ‘tail grabbing’ and add it to her list of towers. James gallantly quickly runs her ashore where she is welcomed as they are one person short and there is a sally and a tail that needs a ringer. A lazy, hazy day with dinner ashore at The Scillonian Club with its panoramic view across the harbour.


	Monday 16th August

With a rising tide we take the short-cut across St Mary’s Roads and over the sand banks into the sound between Bryher and Tresco where in front of Cromwell’s Castle there are moorings. The dinghy is soon running a shuttle service to New Grimsby where on warm, sunny afternoon some wander the island and visit the sub-tropical Tresco Abbey Gardens; returning for a G&T before a candle-lit dinner on board. Days run 3nm


	Tuesday 17th August

Cleaned ship after a breakfast of boiled eggs and brioche slipped our mooring at 11.00hrs. The weather is benign but a sea-fog has come in overnight and visibility is poor. So it’s out northwards and then east headed for Wolf Rock. Visibility improves once off-shore and at 8 knots - wind NW F5 and taking full advantage of the tide – we head for Penzance where there is a tidal gate we cannot afford to miss. 22.00 hrs and we are rafted fourth out with a first class meal in front of us. Days run 50nm


	Wednesday 18th August


	Fuelled, watered and cleaned the boat and turned her over to the relief crew skippered by Alan Dransfield. Celtic Explorer ‘done’: 472nm - four over 60nm - and 24 night hours

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