Not So Round Anglesey Race

The Round Anglesey Race started well at 11:30 with Sarico in second position in it's class going through the Swellies between the two Menai Bridges. Thereafter the race began to unravel some as the weather (or lack of it) took hold.

I started off dressed in full weather gear of Gortex waterproofs and fleeces as rain showers swept in, but about 5 hours later was down to T shirt and shorts as we passed through Caernarfon Bar. By then the wind had dropped to almost nothing and the sun was beating down very hotly. At one point (this being a sail-only race), we had to drop the anchor and then watch as we 'sailed past' some yachts, as they drifted backwards in the strong tidal current. A couple of Dolphins also surfaced at this time to have a laugh look. Needless to say this prolific wildlife photographer missed this blip opportunity and his only pictures were of their splashed re-entry.

Come 5pm the chance of getting round Anglesey in under 24 hours was very remote, so Skipper Dave abandoned the race and dropped anchor in a nice little smugglers cove at Llanddwyn Island - where I was at last granted permission to fish and managed to catch a small Red Gurnard on a spinner (returned unharmed). A lovely dinner of Chicken curry pre-cooked by Dave's kind wife Georgina, and then a wait for tides to allow us to motor back to where we had started the morning in Victoria Dock, Caernarfon. We ended the race at 10:00 over 12 hours after setting off, with a cool beer in Sarico's cockpit.

I am writing this back home in Beaumaris now. A great days sail, but feeling quite deadbeat, and really glad to be back in my nice warm comfy bed.