Anglesey Circumnavigation In A Drascombe Lugger Dinghy - Dinowic To Trearddur Bay

This is my 3rd sea adventure this season and so far this has been the longest one!
This time it's not ll sunshine and ripples in the ocean as we encounter worse weather, bigger waves, the dreaded overfalls around rhosneigr and also have our fair share of problems as we try to navigate our way around the West coast of Anglesey.
Enjoy!
00:00 Intro
02:23 Starting off and the journey
07:14 Down the Menai strait
11:17 Abermenai channel beckons!
13:00 Into the Irish sea
19:36 A lot of water in the boat?
22:06 We have a leak!
25:12 Outboard issue!
27:18 Sailing through overfalls
31:07 Finding Norman!!!
32:07 Finding cover
33:12 The journey ends here
36:02 Exploring the bay
42:03 Going home
43:52 Finale
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[@anotherangleUK]

Well done Dave, nasty confused sea together with the leaking boat was a real test. Good call to stay safe and try again another day. All experience and confidence building.

[@SailingWithDave]

Cheers Phil. As one of my ex-Royal Marine friends tells. "It's all character building"!!!

[@philj3727]

I am sure i would find that quite nerve racking, unknown leak , some lumpy water and the guide guy out of sight. Very enjoyable to watch from my armchair😂

[@SailingWithDave]

Haha. Yes at the time it seemed like the gods were against me. Mist worrying was that leak. I was worried something might go and we'd have water gushing in!!

[@carltonbirds]

Good luck hope you make it.

[@SailingWithDave]

Well not this time Gary, but that gives me the excuse of trying again!!

[@DinghyCruisingKingfisher]

Well done Dave. Bigger adventures!

[@SailingWithDave]

Hopefuly we can go a bit bigger in 2024!! Planning in the trips at the weekend!!

[@topazbill8876]

Well done Dave, great filming and narration. Those tidal overflows can be quite exciting, in Western Australia we add a few Great White Sharks as well for excitement. Probably the biggest difference is that your summers are like our winters.

[@SailingWithDave]

Haha!! Many thanks for the comment. I guess the pro's of UK weather are the cons too and Australia demonstrates that in a way. We have crappy weather but no nasty bugs, although some are now coming across to the UK due to global warming. I heard of huge hornets and also some poisenous spiders which is shocking news for us Brits!!! We have a lot of basking sharks in UK waters, mainly up north, Scotland way I think, however they're extremly dosile and safe, more likely to get attacked by a seabass or gang of Mackerels!!!

[@HELIFAN1]

Nice adventure with some savage moments. Sorry to hear about you struggling with leaks and engine failures. I agree; Neptune probably sent out a message to you. Beautifully edited btw 👌

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks Helifan. Yes, for sopme reason we had an awful lot of bad luck last season. I have no idea why and hope we shook all of it out!!!

[@mutley192]

what a great vlog , didnt go to plan but you certainly had an adventure which is what its all about , the highs and the lows, all a learning experience , despite the overfalls looked as though lulu handled the waves well , u need to get a bungy strap on norman lol

[@SailingWithDave]

Haha, for sure. That little Wanderer shoots off in the slightest puff of wind. Yes didn't got to plan but means we can give it another shot next season!!! Overfalls were scary, but bear in mind its the first time I have ever experienced them. 100M into them I was fine and Lulu didn't break a sweat.

[@user-di8if9gs9l]

Wonderful adventure Dave. Hope you got things repaired.

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks for the comment. Keep watching as we locate and repair the leak!!

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

Well done Dave, always better to be sensible and cautious

[@SailingWithDave]

Cheers Tommo. Yes I think so, esepcailly when not as experienced as you could be. There's always a next time!!

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

@@SailingWithDave plus you never would have found that lovely cove, if you had sailed on that is

[@SailingWithDave]

@@fat_tommo_goes_boating Definitely, it never fails to amaze me what amazing places you find when sailing. I think in hindsight we weren't going to sail around the headland anyway. But because we lost Norman at that point I think it shows just how easy it would have been for an inexperienced sailor to just crack on. If we had, I htink we would have been going around South Stack at about mid tide, the wrong way.

[@fat_tommo_goes_boating]

@@SailingWithDave for me, the most interesting bits are where the land meets the sea, actually being out at sea, is ok but not the same

[@iansenior9759]

My Drascombe Lugger had a leak at the front of the centre plate casing. I used Sikaflex to seal it. Your boat handled well going through the overalls.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Ian. I think thats a common fault on the Lugger. They leak where the centreboard pin is attached to the C/B casing as it slips and moves over time. I read the mast foot can also leak. The water seemed to be coming in from the back though so I originally had my eyes on the side crack I fixed already (Although did a very good job on) or something in the rearthat could leak. You know, this boat has done nothing but amaze me both in crazy high winds and also on the seas with decent waves. She's never flinched. I do worry about the boat potentially swamping, but so far we've ben nowhere near. Just me gritting my teeth!!!

[@iansenior9759]

@@SailingWithDave Hello Dave. I'm from a dinghy sailing background with my dad on a local pond. Love my Lugger it's looks and tan sails. Remember been off Harwich in a lumpy sea and motored back in to Shotly Marina and the boat took the seas very well. Like you say its a bit scary wondering how you and the boat will cope in the rough stuff. I sail now with the centreplate fully down fin keel style. In a dinghy you were raising and lowering it according to wind direction. I'll subscribe to see more of your adventures.

[@SailingWithDave]

@@iansenior9759 Many thanks Ian. Hopefully the channel has a lot to offer for a Lugger owner. Lots of projects as well as sailing!! I forget who said "The sea gets the sailor before it gets the boat" but it's so true. On the lake, i'm at one with her, but on the sea I tend to get a little bit scared at times, but really so far there's been no need to.

[@davidmeijer1645]

How well does Lulu keep up with her Wayfayer friends, I wonder?

[@SailingWithDave]

Not very well i'm afraid, especially when beating, however if you keep watching then I am slowly taking on advice and making some changes to her. The boom makes a huge difference, as does a spinnaker and booming out the Mizzen on a run. New sails also made a huge difference too and although only just filming Season 4 all of these things have made a difference in a recent trip. Lulu even kept pace with the Menai Class racers on their Running leg (Just about!!) I don't think there's much overlap with the Lugger and the Wayfarers/Wanderers when it comes to sailing together. The Lugger needs a bit more wind to get her moving, whereas the W/W's will move in very light air. However recently on the Menai in 25kts+ Lulu and I were sailing gloriously well with all 3 sails flying high, when the W and W had furled all sails and went under motor as the wind was too much for them.

[@rogerkrajci6332]

That was an interesting video Dave I know it’s a bit disappointing not to be able to reach your goal, but I was curious as to why you didn’t use your pump to pump the water out of your boat instead of using the Baylor just just curious and have you found out what where the water was coming from? Is it something serious or just a minor Problem 😮we will find out in the next video I never miss one of your videos. It’s really interesting thank you for doing it. Good luck to you God bless.

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi Roger. Many thanks for the lovely words. Yes dissapointing to not make it round even the South Stack at Holyhead but it gives us an excuse to do it all over again next season!!! In fact i'm meeting up with the others this week to discuss our plans for the coming season 4. I think also you have to take into consideration my inexperience. We did have a discussion about the weather. The bosun at the club was really against us doing it, so really that was it for me. I think looking back, maybe we should have gone on until we couldn't but at least by stopping you're guarenteed to fight another day! The bilge pump I have on board is good but requires a bit of work to pump it. It's often on the wrong tack to reach too, which is why I probably didn't use it and probably using the bailer just gave me a bit more control over the boat and to see where the water was coming from. I guess I got used to using the bailer from the Mirror Dinghy days too!!! But no other reason really. I have fitted an electric one now and tested it last week. It's amazing!!! Yes in coming videos we focus on getting Lulu fixed again and we do indeed find the leak and fix it. I didn;t really want to spend any more time on the trailer than I have to at this stage in the season. Every week is a week closer to the end of the season now!!!

[@roberteastwood9886]

As someone else said, nice editing!

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks Robert, i'm going to try and do more like this.

[@user-yb8ks6yn7o]

Great day on the water David. The boats you looked at in Porth Diana were the Trearddur Bay 14 and the Seabird Half Rater. You were wise to pull into Trearddur Bay given the state and time of the tide. Does Norman use electronics to get his tidal predictions or just paper calculations?

[@SailingWithDave]

Hi There. Many thanks for the comment and the boat info. Well Norman is born and bred Anglesey and has sailed round the island more times than he's had lunches so he does know his way around the sea and weather. We all definitelyuse a number of tools and resources to help with weather but for me, i'm just not that experienced right now. TIdal predictions I use a very handy excel spreadhseet that a local club here publish. It's very accurate and has tides for lots of places around the Island. I also use Savvy Navvy which is very good at giving you current data. We also refer to the main ports/harbours and clubs for data too. Port Dinorwic Dinghy club were very helpful as were the guys at Porth Diana. There was no question of carrying on that day, regardless of weather. Going clockwise, it seems to be common knowledge that you reach the south Stack at about 1 hour before LW, then use the tide to take you through. So the plan was always to stop at Treaddur and catch the mornings tide. I think that would mean a 06.30 start for us. However it was weather coming in at around midday that had everyone worried. It was quite windy for about 3 days after that before settling. We did discuss going and then pulling out in Holyhead somewhere, but myself and Mark ended up feeling that there would be a better time maybe to do this. We spoke later to the RNLI who told us if in doubt then there's always another day. They said we were right to not go but alaso told us that the weather ended up OK, however you can never tell. They also said if you need them, you know where they are so there we go!!! Maybe next time I need to grit the teeth just a little more!!!

[@papataffy]

Great to watch again. I was little bit perplexed regarding overfalls, because I think she would handle it easily even if the waves would be more rough than this. Am I wrong? What happened to the boom? You decided to skip it for this trip?

[@SailingWithDave]

Many thanks for the comment. So what i would say is that everything on camera looks so much smaller than in real life. Having said that I would agree that the overfalls weren't really any issue for Lulu or me. I think once into them it was clear the boat was well within her capabilities and I was fine in the end. I think the worst waves I have experienced were in the Puffin sound in the Conwy video I did a few weeks earlier. These were large and rose above he bow to the point you wondered if the boat was going to plough straight through them, but she rose easily and not much, if any water came over the bow: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2eZaIlngKyigtk Interestingly, Norman, whos not only a very expeirenced sailor of yachts and dinghies, but a born and bred Anglesey bod too. He said he was remarkable impressed by the Lugger. We even chatted about space to store one!! He has since told me he would need something with a bit of extra speed in her, but that didn;t take away from the fact how amazed at her seaworthiness she had. I spoke to the RNLI about "Overfalls" and why they were so dangerous. What transpired from the converstaion is that as a novice at sea, I was plainly thinking that the slightest inkling of overfall was a deadly mass of waves that needed to be steered well clear of. Overfalls are in fact not that in most conditions. In fact sailors seem to be more worried about pots breaking or their comfort when it comes to overfalls. Of course in the wring conditions, they can be extremely dangerous, esepcially for a dinghy. However you need a few ducks to line up in weather, wind over tide, swell etc for them to be dangerous. There are a ew exceptions where they are just plain dangerous like Mull of Kintyre, Portland Bill etc. Yes I chickened out on the boom!! It was a mix of not finding a place to stow and also having 1 extra thinkg to worry about. But it will be present on the next one for sure!!

[@papataffy]

@@SailingWithDave well, many things to learn here. As I am still in the phase of deciding which boat to build (probably J. Welsford's Sweet Pea with yawl rig) I enjoy to follow your learning process. What I've noticed that Lulu has some Viking blood in her.

[@SailingWithDave]

For sure. She definitely wants to gobpmaces I'm not so sure about!!! Hopefully she'll bring me up to her standard!!

[@glenpollard6101]

The steering tension adjustment on most small outboards is not intended to lock the motor in a fixed position. On Tahatsu motors it specifically warns that this could lead to a failure or the tensioning hardware

[@SailingWithDave]

Well Glen, I have since found that out!! There is a kit that can lock the motor but it's permanent so I would lose the abilty to steer with it when needed. Not ideal. I have fixed the screw myself now but you have reminded me that I need a system to lock it straight. Maybe the 3D printer will come up with something!!

[@jimjenner4243]

I use a piece of metal bent in to an L shape attached to a bit of string. It pops in and out of one of the holes on the handle I carry the engine with. Works a treat and is very easy to get out and put in. My engine tends to make the boat turn to port so it goes on the port side.

[@SailingWithDave]

@@jimjenner4243 Cheers Jim. Between you and Glen, who sent me a pic, I have now learnt that the engine does indeed pull itself to port. Prop wash I think Glen said. So I think a good old piece of line will be the answer!! Many thanks for the help to both of you. Simple solutions are the best!!!

[@LNM0000]

Taking up, I think the phrase is. ll the planks expand and everything gets tight. Leo sprays salt water all over Tally Ho decks to achieve the same. Fresh water no good though... Has to be salty.

[@SailingWithDave]

Yes it's a remarkable process and i'm told the boat is fully watertight when it's done.

[@bgt7874]

Leave the outboard at home next time and you'll have a lot more fun.

[@SailingWithDave]

I know a lot of people don't like outboards on dinghy's, but for me it's for safety. Because of my lack of experience on the sea I want to try and keep as close as I can with the others so I hit the dangerous points together, although keeping up with these 2 is still quite difficult. The answer is to sail alone i'm told!!!

[@philj3727]

I know i would feel safer with the outboard !

[@SailingWithDave]

Me too!! ​@@philj3727

[@robingraham6820]

@@SailingWithDaveGood sails, good boat, good engine, good oars, good anchor, lots of anchor chain, and if it still goes pair shaped, you can always use your good mobile phone or good VHF radio. Have all the options you can get on board, safety first. Good safety will lead to good adventures. Oh, and good luck fixing that leak.

[@SailingWithDave]

@@robingraham6820 Many thanks Robin. Yes the leak was a bit of a worry. I was most concerned that it would just get worse and rapidly worse, but in the end it was OK. Since this I spoke with the RNLI a few times about Anglesey and they said the same thing. Make sure you have the right equipment to call for help, make sure you have the right equipment to buy you time for them to arrive, IE keep warm and help is never far away. I carry everything I can!! VHF, PLB, Phone, Flares, elecronic flare. I also carry Tadpole the Packraft, so if things look tasty I can tow her and use her as an adhoc life raft. I canblow her up with my mouth in about 4 minutes!!!

[@edenhunter9904]

easy on the dramatic movie music bud - there are no beheadings in the vid ....😉