Back in New Quay

I have arrived back in New Quay, made an expensive mistake, spent time talking with and getting help from amazing friends and family and ready to laze away the summer in this fantastic place.

The trip up from Milford Haven was mostly uneventful with light winds but St David’s Head was a little exciting. Winds, tides and waves constantly changing direction and a rocky coastline stretching miles out to sea. I motor sailed through the last section because I took a short cut between two rocky islands to reduce the time in those confusing seas, visibility was poor so I was cross checking the chart plotter with the GPS on my phone. In strong winds, I would avoid this area by passing much further out. This is exactly the place where I needed the radar, but never used it 🤔. For lots of reasons, the display is at the nav station and I did not want to leave the cockpit, I trust the charts, no other shipping etc. So why do I have it? Well the short answer is it came with the boat. I need to consider what to do in future about this.

After an overnight in Fishguard, my arrival in New Quay was special. I knew there were several people on the shore welcoming me in but frustrating for me not to be able to rush ashore to meet them. I had to anchor, tidy everything and get the tender out before coming ashore. New Quay needs a deeper harbour, in fact all the harbours along this coast could be a sailing mecca if the authorities invested time and money in dredging and providing docks.

I posted this on Facebook just before I arrived…

About 1.5 hours away from New Quay. Feeling a mixture of excitement, impatience and a little emotional. Under a year ago I was sat on my own in a tiny flat watching YouTube videos for days on end about other people’s adventures. I said to myself the same thing I said 5 years earlier before I went to Africa on a motorbike, stop dreaming, do it.
So here I am doing it.
I set myself some milestones to achieve before I cross the channel. The last was to sail around from the South of England to New Quay. I have proved to myself that I am physically, mentally and emotionally prepared to sail around the world and that the boat is capable and safe to do it in. Thank you to all that have helped me get this far. Here’s to a great summer in New Quay and the next step, whatever that may be 🤔

Now the the expensive mistake, again summed up in a post…

Overnight I lost my tender, its my own stupid fault, I secured it to the boat last night and got dotty and my shopping aboard and could not of tied it correctly. It was there when I went to bed and gone when I woke up. Its an offshore wind so likely on its way to Ireland. Reported to coastguard but on the off-chance someone finds a small zodiac inflatable with a black 3.5hp motor of the back mark TT Lady Cindy, please contact me or the coast guard. In the mean time if anyone has a tender for sale in the New Quay area, please let me know. I am OK on the boat, I have plenty of everything I need for at least a week, although I would like to get ashore to see friends and family at some point in the next few days.

The response has been overwhelming from offers of lifts, loans of tenders, watching local sales sites in case it was stolen and messages of support. To cut a very long story short, I got a new tender with a Honda 2.5hp engine from a local dealer, it went pop on first usage, has been patched and will be replaced under warranty. And thank you Clive for the book on knots 🤣

The last few days have been amazing for me, I cannot walk 100 paces without somebody saying “hi john” and stopping to chat. My sister did my washing, I have had lots of offers of lifts, been out fishing with my stepson, drinks and a meal with friends, even sat on the box outside my old shop with dotty like we did for days on end during lockdown. This is a special place.

I am getting my second covid jab today and need to do some shopping so a day mostly ashore, I have been invited to a steak night with a very special family tomorrow, need to help with some book keeping in the shop and I want to take as many friends out on the boat as possible so really looking forward to the next few days.