Neyland to Penarth

We crept out of Neyland a good couple of hours after low water but with only just over a foot of clearance under the keel in some spots. Always character forming. The idea of getting stranded in the entrance channel and sitting there blocking it up waiting for the tide to rise a little isn't appealing. We already felt like the main topic of conversation in Neyland (lots of folks walking up the pontoon for a gawp, seeing us then saying "we don't get big serious boats like this in here"). We had missed the crew of C-Spirit though, no sign of them during our stay.

Getting stuck and delayed would have been even more annoying as we had timed our departure to allow some time for a detour around the firing range we mentioned before and to still optimise the use of the tides up to Cardiff.

Heading out through the harbour, the range safety vessel Smit Merrion passed us and advised that they would be firing with a 3 mile range. Not too bad when the biggest diversion could be up to 12 miles! As we left Milford Haven we were treated to a lovely sun-down series of views:

The Castlemartin Range control man was most polite when we called - perhaps he thought that we looked "Naval". Or perhaps it was because they seem to have to chase most people by VHF or safety boat as people don't bother to radio them for advice? Anyway, he gave us the course to steer to clear the firing fun. As the light vanished we were treated to an excellent pyrotechnics show on the land. Battlefield flares hanging in the sky and making the beach look like day. Red tracer fire. It was all going on. Wonder what the cost per hour for the show was - actually no, we would rather not wonder. Our images of it are a bit feeble. This is the best that the tablet could deliver:

Very feeble really. The proper camera didn't do much better either as a wave interrupted a picture of the coloured tracer fire in quite a pretty way:

The range control guy was great, called us a couple of times to give us new courses that minimised the diversion we had to make and had a sense of humour when we left the range area and thanked him for the free fireworks show. All in all it was about an hour's worth of diversion but quite spectacular. 1 hour = just over £3 in diesel. We couldn't have bought a box of sparklers for that.

The detour isn't obvious from our track:

We would have just tucked much closer to the land when we left Milford Haven rather than making a big loop around.

The forecast shift in the wind from SE to SW had, of course, not happened. In fact is stayed SE'ly all the way to Cardiff but as it was pretty gentle, the waves that built up even when it was wind over tide towards the end of the run, were not unpleasant.

Heading towards Swansea, it got very boring frankly. Nothing else apart from buoys and land on the radar and of course nothing showing on the AIS either:

That is a pretty rare sight. Makes being on watch pretty simple though. As the sun made an appearance, we were treated to the most appealing sight of  the old coal / biomass fuelled Aberthaw power station. Even better was the news that it had just been found guilty of breaching allowed pollution levels, see BBC news report. We tried not to breathe in:

By now we were enjoying a good shove from the fair tide (on this trip you aim to take all the flood tide for the last part of the run as the further up the Bristol channel you get, the stronger the tide gets. Also, arriving at Cardiff around high water makes the locking in process quick and easy. Of course, as it was high water some folks were locking out of the main ship docks. They also had a grey hull but a little more weaponry than us and looked quite sinister in silhouette as they passed us:

She was HMS Kent by the way.

We reached the entrance channel to Cardiff more or less exactly at the time we expected (10:20) after a little wing engine exercise and of course a burn for the big Lugger too. The bad news is that the inbound locks are at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. Hence we pottered around a little before calling the barrage control and heading towards the locks. The cliff face at Penarth has been disfigured by some of the ugliest flats we have ever seen:

They look more like the concrete horrors you get on some south London sink estates than flats in up market Penarth overlooking the water and Cardiff Bay. Demolition needed soon! In the narrow approach channel looking towards the breakwater bounding the locks:

We had a great welcome. Lorna walked up to the locks with Pip and Poppy, her two dogs. Then Steve (the waterbus man who owns Bronwen the spaniel) was at the entrance to the marina taking pictures of us as we motored through. Lisa the marina administrator lady was waving from the office balcony. Then we got help with out lines as we moored and very shortly afterwards, one of the cleats on the pontoon was unbolted and moved for us so we could tie the stern of the boat better. This felt like coming home / a royal visit all rolled into one!

No maintenance underway to report or dramatic engine failures etc etc. Sorry to disappoint on our last major trip of the year. Mind you, we think that the forward facing white navigation light failed shortly before they were all turned off. Need to check that as it might need a new bulb. That one is the original so it hasn't done too badly really.

On a soggy cold day we will prepare a few numbers for those who like such things as a summary of the cruising season. In the meanwhile, we need to settle into Penarth life and prepare the boat for a less active lifestyle.....