Good planning and good luck came together to provide us with an easy night sail across the Irish Sea, back to Wales. We approached the (sand) bar just as dawn was breaking, giving us reasonable visibility and, more importantly, slack tides to make our way through this notorious, sand-shifting entrance to the Menai Strait.
The channel markers were not exactly where they were supposed to be on the charts, but we put our hopes on the supposition that they had been moved to match the current entrance ... and we were right.
A dolphin leads us in. It's understandable how seagoing folk can become superstitious when this sort of thing happens to us.
After an hour of winding through narrow, sub-ten metre deep channels, we approached Caernarfon. What a sight!
Wowsa! A very impressive castle, right on the waterfront!
Once again, our timing was impeccable. The marina, which is right outside the castle, has a sill that must be crossed in order to enter. The tide has to be either two hours before or after high tide. We were able to make our way straight in. Too easy!
Safe and sound.
After doing all the post-sail tasks, we went for our customary 500-metre-radius explore from the marina and found a chandlery (boat supply shop), grocery store, a very nice waterfront promenade and a yacht club (closed today, but open tomorrow- we'll be back!). We also walked right around the castle wall - a very impressive structure.
The Caernarfon Castle (in its current form) was started in the 1200's and kept in use into the 1700's. Because of its size, good condition and because the town had grown inside and outside the bailey (the main area inside the walls), it was able to make the leap from utilitarian to a romantic, historical landmark. It has become one of the showpieces of Wales and has been beautifully maintained and continues to be restored.
It was so alluring we chose to spend a day wandering through the interior walls and buildings.
By: William Ashton, Public Domain via wikipedia.org
How discouraged would you be as a 17th century foot soldier, approaching this as you are wearing 40+ pounds of chain mail and carrying a broadsword?
Ha! We found an entrance through the town wall!
... and the skies cleared for our visit. Glorious!
The view from the Eagle Tower. Notice the masts? All the buildings in the foreground are in the old bailey.
The view to the west, out to sea, over the bar where we had come in. What a wonderfully defendable castle this must have been!
The Afon Sieont (river) that almost completely dries to mud at low tide. The pastures in the background were bursting with colour.
Many of the rooms inside the castle contained details of the change of control the castle went through over the last six centuries. The exhibition also gave insight into the social structure and different roles of everyone that lived in and around Caernarfon.
King Edward I of England, depicted as a chess piece in an excellent display.
Very well done.
This was a panel explaining the panels of a large "stained glass" display overhead in this room. We now know what a "Marshal" is!
One of many beautifully-done displays inside the castle buildings. This one had the added dramatic effect of pigeons flying in and out while we stood examining the detail of this piece. Many of the rooms have open-to-air windows.
A sitting area along the top of the ramparts. The sculpture is part of a multi-location group of sculptures called The Hands That Built The Castle. I interpreted it as the king collecting taxes and having it trickle down to the rest of the community. Supposedly.
The castle is so scenic and iconic that it has been the location of the Investiture of (then) Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales.
Setting up for the investiture of Charles III in 1969 - from wikipedia.org
Facebook has actually bettered our lives lately - it reconnected Sean with an old workmate. Toby and Sean had not been in contact since their days at Veer in the early 2000's. After Toby's tenure at Veer, she had met a lovely Welsh fellow and relocated with him to Wrexham. As we were posting things to Facebook and tagging the posts as being in Wales, the algorithms decided to show Sean some of Toby's posts ... also in Wales. A message was sent from our end and yes, Toby and her family would be delighted to meet up with us.
Toby, Ollie, James found us in the marina
They drove out to Caernarfon and picked us up for a road trip! A tour of Anglesea had been planned, including a reconnaissance inspection of the Menai Bridge, a yummy pub lunch and a look at where Oceanmoon (their sailboat) would be relaunched and moored.
The bridge we plan to get our big, tall mast under. More on that in another post.
The lighthouse and channel mark at Black Point. We need to keep between them when we exit this side of the Menai Strait. Does that look like a tidal race to you?
A walk on the sand bar at Red Wharf Bay, where Oceanmoon will be moored.
It is reassuring to be able to walk out and inspect your mooring (the red buoy, just visible) in ankle-deep water, before you commit to having your precious sailboat spend a season depending on it.
Wow, the Menai Bridge looks very different 6 hours (and half a tide cycle) later. Where did all those rocks come from???
What a fortuitous reconnection with Toby and a chance to meet James and Ollie. We hope to see more of them - certainly if we are back in the area, but even if they come to find us.
Kate's mum has been virtually following along with us and has coincidentally been watching a travel documentary series on the telly about the Welsh steam trains that have become a tourist attraction. Well, didn't Kate have to take a journey on one just to see what all the fuss was about?
An immaculately-kept piece of history
Just as well kept on the inside.
Have fun, Kate! Sean will be back on the boat, catching up on 'blog posts.
A glorious day to rattle along up over the mountains of the Eryre National Park (formerly known as Snowdonia) to the pretty seaside town of Porthmadog. With Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) as a backdrop, the views were stunning. Daffodils and polyanthus grew along the rail reserve, lambs frolicked in the brilliantly green paddocks and the sun shone down. But did you know, you can catch a train to the restaurant and gift shop at the tippity-top of Snowdon - the highest peak in the country?? Certainly saves a climb!
How the cane-and-walking-frame set climb Mt. Snowdon. Very civilized!
This is an intriguing door. Wonder what is behind it?
The Royal Welsh Yacht Club holds the distinction of occupying the oldest premises of any yacht club, anywhere in the world. We had the pleasure of meeting Karl, a member of this yacht club who spotted us in the marina, came down to Chinook, knocked on the hull and introduced himself. He offered advice on transiting the Menai Strait when we voiced concerns about the bridges and powerlines.
He invited us to join him at the Yacht Club that evening for a drink. It would have been rude not to go.
The inside of the Royal Welsh Yacht Club, which features draft ale and stout on tap, along with metre-thick, cannonball-proof walls.
We felt very safe.
We have had a crew member find us in Caernarfon - Eyvan! They will be staying with us for the next week or so, experiencing this whole 'sailing' thing that Dad and Kate seem to be so enamoured with.
Very happy to have you aboard, Eyvan!
Before we left Caernarfon, we decided to do a boat maintenance/emergency drill by cleaning the paddlewheel of the electronic log (speed measurement). This involves creating a rather large hole in the bottom of Chinook. You must pull out the thru-hull fitting and quickly put the blank plug in to stop the ingress of water. This breaks the principle rule of boating (Keep the water on the outside of the boat), but only temporarily.
Little sea critters think that paddlewheel makes a great hidey-hole.
Eyvan offered to video the process ... in slow motion.
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Love the video, especially the credits. Paul C
ReplyDeleteThanks! Fun to make but we are not turning into YouTube content creators!
DeleteThanks for that video. Now I know why I prefer to do that on the dry!)
ReplyDelete