Arklow was our last destination in Ireland – the jump off point for crossing back over the Irish Sea – which we’d decided to do by a direct passage to Fishguard. When we’d arrived there at low water, we berthed on the riverside pontoon with just 0.2 metres under the keel. Realising we might well not have enough depth to manoeuvre on departure, we decided to wind the boat round on the pontoon – an interesting and perfectly accomplished little exercise which we haven’t done for very many years! After a couple of days in Arklow the forecast looked good for our crossing – which felt like quite a significant step. Ready to cast off just after 0600, although we were facing the right way, we found the boat wouldn’t move – we were aground! It took an hour and a half to break free, which delay unfortunately took us into strong adverse current, rather than slack as planned, to pass through the channel between the coast and Arklow Bank. However, as we reached the southern end of the bank, the current against us decreased, and we set off on a heading to Fishguard, with the 67 mile passage involving equal amounts of adverse and then favourable tide. It was a lovely sunny day, and though the water was very bouncy, it was a relaxed and enjoyable experience During the whole passage we encountered just two ships and one dolphin. We anchored off Fishguard at 1900 after 11 ½ hours – back into ‘home waters’!

The following day saw a complete change in the weather to persistent rain with very poor visibility. Fishguard is a very shallow bay, so we were anchored a long way out from the harbour – which we could hardly see – and it all looked rather godforsaken. However, from the next day on, we enjoyed fabulous warm sunny days for the remainder of our voyage.

Going ashore we found the picturesque little harbour buzzing with holiday activity. It was good to stretch our legs strolling up to the town and walking a little way round the bay. We dinghied ashore again that evening, at low water, having to paddle the last stretch into the harbour, which wasn’t deep enough for the outboard motor! We met old friends who live in Pembrokeshire and enjoyed an extremely congenial evening catching up on the intervening years.

Next, on to the island of Skomer, encountering bouncy overfalls off Strumble Head and headwinds round to St David’s Head in steepish seas, but good tide. We zoomed through Ramsey Sound touching 10.4 knots over ground. After some very heavy overfalls at the southern end, we crossed St Bride’s Bay on a flat sea in glorious sunshine and picked up a visitors’ buoy in Skomer, North Haven.

We did not enjoy a good night. As the wind dropped the rolling increased violently and at one point we clashed with a boat on the neighbouring buoy. Previously we have visited the South Haven - a magical, solitary experience, surrounded by seals and birds. By contrast North Haven felt more ‘ordinary’ with the comings and goings of trip boats and a couple of buildings ashore. However, the advantage of North Haven is that we could go ashore. The informative warden explained all we needed to know – mainly about the wildlife, but also, surprisingly, about evidence of prehistoric habitation – a standing stone and stone dams. We set off climbing to a plateau with spectacular views out to sea. Rabbits and birds on the path seemed unfazed by our presence. We saw choughs, kittiwakes and huge rafts of puffins.

After lunch we set off for Dale, in Milford Haven – somewhat against the tide through Jack Sound, despite predicted times. The passage, although only 10 miles, was a quite unpleasant blip in the weather, with torrential showers of rain and increasing swell making the boat roll uncomfortably. Though it seemed impossible that swell wouldn’t penetrate into Dale, it didn’t, and we arrived to anchor in a different world of calm, sunshine and warmth! We stayed there for three gloriously sunny days, meeting BSA friends for a convivial pub lunch, visiting St David’s and walking along the mainland cliffs opposite Skomer with our other Pembrokeshire friends - and just chilling – relishing the sunshine which had been so absent from the voyage until now!

It was hard to tear ourselves away from this idyll, but our tour of Pembroke was not finished! Next stop was Tenby – 25 miles eastward into the Bristol Channel. No wind so no sailing, but a truly spectacular coastline of caves, fissures, holes and stacks. Also two firing ranges. We had checked that Castlemartin Range was not operating that day – recalling the occasion, years ago, when we had to be buzzed off by a range boat when our VHF wasn’t functioning! Manobir Range is always operating and we were called up and requested to keep as close to the coast as possible – which given the scenery suited us fine. We heard just one boom and were then given the all clear to make the passage past Caldey Island and into Tenby, where we anchored off North Beach.

Tenby, with its picturesque shoreline and beaches, rambling streets, remnants of the city walls and Georgian and Victorian architecture charmed us, and not having not ever been there before or since the age of 4, was quite an unexpected delight. Finding a place to leave the dinghy was interesting on a tide we knew would fall, but unsure as to how much. Somewhat more than envisaged as it turned out! Here we also had our first and only swim of the summer! Very much more enjoyable than anticipated, but sadly cut short by the number of large jellyfish, which while harmless, were not what you want to come face to face with.

The following day again dawned sunny and warm with the promise of light wind. We set off for Oxwich Bay on the Gower mid-morning at the start of the flood, motoring across the boring expanse of Carmarthen Bay. Sadly the wind never kicked in and we took the inshore route between Worm’s Head and Helwick Sands, with a very shallow and narrow channel at the eastern end. We arrived in Oxwich Bay to find a busy beach, but thankfully no jet-skis (apparently banned since our last visit). Within minutes of arrival we heard a Pan Pan from Milford Haven Coastguard concerning two missing divers between Oxwich and Three Cliffs Bay - just our location. At least half a dozen vessels of various sorts and beach life-guards immediately responded and, before we could call in ourselves, the divers were found fit and well. Almost immediately another potential emergency arose. A distraught mother on Oxwich Beach had reported that her two teenage sons on one paddleboard appeared to be missing. Milford Haven Coastguard started setting up a response, but this was abandoned as the mother seemed to have left the beach.

And so to the penultimate passage of this year’s voyage – Oxwich Bay to Cardiff – 44 miles. Again, there seemed a change in the weather with a forecast for good sailing wind. We set off an hour before the turn of tide and enjoyed an excellent sail under mizzen and genny which lasted for around 4 hours and we made excellent progress with 2-3 knots of tide. Despite a forecast for winds to increase, they dropped off. We have to admit that with wind behind us but a very rolly sea, we opted out of putting up the cruising chute and, with the water now brown and murky, resorted to the engine for the final push into Cardiff.

We berthed in Cardiff on the ‘wave break’ pontoon at Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, where my brother David is a stalwart member, tied up and went for drinks in the bar. We spent a couple of nights there – one evening crossing the bay to the pay and display boat-park at Cardiff Bay waterfront which was in full hectic and noisy Saturday night swing.

Our final passage this summer – Cardiff to Bristol - ranged from stress to bliss and back to stress. At the start, while jilling around the lock gate, waiting to get through the barrage, our reverse gear suddenly started making a very ominous loud rattling sound just as the gate was opening. We decided to continue into the lock – making a pig’s ear of it – and then decide what to do - return into Cardiff, or risk continuing into Bristol with a dodgy gearbox. Next, on leaving the lock we went aground – for about 15 minutes – having strayed slightly out of the dredged channel. Once into deeper water Chris took a look, just to check it wasn’t something obvious and instantly fixable – and to our extreme relief it was! A simple fix and we were off still not too late to arrive in Bristol at high water. There followed a glorious sail across to Bristol through flat (though undeniably brown) water, in a very light wind and warm sunshine, at a delightfully relaxed pace under mizzen and genny, carried along on a big Bristol Channel tide. After just over an hour we were off Clevedon and arrived at the mouth of the Avon in another hour. We enjoyed the most beautiful, peaceful trip up the Avon bathed in a mellow light. Somewhat earlier than our booking into Bristol we’d contacted the dock master, who said to come on up, and we arrived at the gates at 1930 to go through on free-flow. Lovely guy – he’d been watching our progress on Marine Traffic and was reading our blogs! The bridges were duly swung for us and we progressed slowly through the so familiar harbour towards the Arnolfini visitors’ pontoon – only to find it completely full! More stress as we tried to find somewhere else. Not quite the welcome we’d wanted from our home port! The view of the harbour in the fading evening light was some compensation and a celebratory bottle of fizz made things seem much better!

So from an edgy start to our summer, we finally enjoyed a couple of weeks of how we think sailing should be! We’ve certainly never seen the Bristol Channel in such benign mood. Hopefully sailing in the south is always like this!! Bodes well for next year!