Neylanding

Neyland has been a favourite stopping off spot for us ever since our first visit 6 years ago. Pretty area, friendly staff, sheltered mooring and the delights of a Co-op shop too. The little town is sad but a Co-op is a Co-op no matter where. Even if this one looks sad just like the town:

In Neyland the complex concept of social distancing had not caught on. No queue management outside. No "traffic management" inside, staff filling shelves in aisles so cosy that when you pass them you feel that you are already related. Yes, Neyland is all ready to have a little Covid outbreak. Especially from the hairdressers next door when folks were pottering in and out, the staff had no PPE and it all looked like the "old normal". As for the folks queuing to order food at the cafe in the marina - the police had to move them on / around / get some order. The marina office itself is a complete contrast, screens, sanitisers etc. All very well arranged.

Summary - if a Covid sufferer is wandering around Neyland, they will have an epidemic in the area pretty soon. Sad to see.

It didn't stop us from enjoying a few days there though. We have mentioned the owners of C-spirit (Ian, Cheryl and Matthew) in here before, we met them anchored off Skomer puffin watching back in 2016. Well, they are now the ex-owners of C-spirit and now have a new craft which we took some pictures of under sail:

They did the same for us as we departed - you will have to contain your excitement and wait for those images. It was great to catch up and hear of their adventures on the boat buying front, in a socially distanced way of course. Luckily it was nice and sunny standing on the pontoons.

Our next leg was planned as Whitehaven, where we can get lifted out. The forecasts had been tricky as you need to arrive there around high water to be able to lock in. Also, leaving Neyland at low water is not a good move. The timing of the trip is a niusance as to arrive at the right time, you end up pushing the tide off some of the headlands  where it runs hard. Still, it is what it is. Our original plan was to leave Neyland mid afternoon on Sunday, anchor off Dale again and then leave around 2am planning to pitch up at Whitehaven just after mid-day on Tuesday. Only the weather forecasts changed and the nasty windy stuff that had been forecast "up there" for mid afternoon suddenly got brought forward:

For folks who are not into using the Windy app / website, just take it that red and orange are not good out to sea. The red bit is force 7. Next stop a gale. Or in our case, a strong stay put message based on the old adage that the boat can take it but the crew does not want to.

That meant a change of plan, arriving one high tide earlier and leaving just after lunch on Sunday aiming for a 10pm arrival on Monday at Whitehaven with wave heights only up to 2 metres. We so wanted to outrun the nasty stuff....