Left Pwllheli late today - I was procrastinating about where to sail to, and today's plan took a while to mature... by the time I left I had both the wind and the current against me to leave my berth: the boat maneuvers poorly in reverse, and both the wind and current were coming from behind, pushing me towards the pontoon. I must of taken a good 15 minutes trying to get a feel for how the boat was reacting when untied (I would untie it, look, and quickly tie it back before it moved too much). I finally decided the time was right, put the engine in full reverse, and felt my whole body prepare for something bad as the boat slowly swung around to a point I could put it in forward gear, and motor myself out of trouble. Considering the situation, I was very happy with my departure!

Once out to sea I quickly realized that there was more wind than forecast. The wind speed indicator regularly hit 25 knots, with a maximum of 27 at one point. That's pretty serious wind. I sailed on a run all day until Aberdon Bay, the most westerly point of Northern Wales, hitting 6.3 knots as today's maximum. Today was a short sail, since the Northerly winds made it impossible to round the Lleyn Peninsula to go North.

Here is a shot of St Tudwal's Island, with some of Snowdonia's mountains in the background.

Here is a shot taken as I was cruising at 6 knots...

The weather is calling from some bad weather in the 3-4 days ahead, and that means I'm probably going to head straight for Ireland tomorrow morning. Have not decided quite yet, but it seems the more reasonable thing to do... I guess I'll keep Scotland for another year (and another log!!!)

Here is a funny sight as I arrived... These Welsh sheep are good climbers!!!

8:48:53 PM    
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