I set off from Milford Haven under sail with an overcast sky. Once past the Turbot Bank, south of Milford Haven, I was heading straight for Lundy. Long before I expected I could see it on the horizon - when it was still 22nm off. The wind relative to the ground was at right angles to my course, which would have been ideal, but with it being quite light my speed through the water brought it to almost on the bow so I was close hauled most of the way. That made for quite fun sail!

Lundy has no all weather anchorage. In prevailing westerly winds, the landing on the south east corner of the island has moderate shelter, but in the north easterly winds I had, there's no shelter there at all. Instead, I made for Jenny's Cove, half way down the west coast of the island. It's quite small and has no real landing place, though a fellow HR owner had been there the night before and landed and scrambled up the cliff to get to the pub. All I can say is that he must have been very desperate for a drink! The picture, above, makes the cliffs look lower and less steep than they were.

It was the deepest water I've anchored in, and needed a greater length of chain than I carry. I have a rope for extending the chain when this need arises, but this was the first time I'd had to deploy it. Big mistake not to have worked out the system before I needed it! Connecting a rope to the end of the anchor chain, while the anchor is down, and you're terrified you'll lose the end of the chain, is not a good approach. I figured it out, didn't lose the chain, and set the anchor safely and had no trouble. But that's an upgrade needed for next season!


<a href=“https://saillogger.com/log/02143”>Log of this passage</a>